Itasca State Park

Two Saturdays ago we made the drive to Itasca State Park in Minnesota.  It was a long, boring drive.  OK, so it was only long for me and boring for a couple of the kids.  Our plan was to drive over there, look through the park, then find a place to eat lunch on the way back.  Sounded like a great plan, except we changed it mid-park viewing.  We decided we would head over to Grand Forks and stop by Cabela's to exchange a coat that didn't fit Stephen.  That added a bit to our drive (yah a long bit!) and also eliminated the chance for lunch.  We finally ate again at supper time, but it was worth the wait as we ate at Culver's.  That is Brech Earl's favorite.  :-)

 You can just barely see the water behind the kids, mostly Gianna.  That is the start of the Mississippi River.  We have crossed the Mississippi River more times that I ever imagined we would.  We have crossed it in numerous states and used it as a landmark for drives.  I am glad we were able to see where it started.

Why when you say, "Look at me and this will be over sooner," does there have to be ONE or TWO that just won't look at the camera.  This is a particularly telling picture on how many pictures it took to get the kids to look at the picture.  In the above picture Blase is smiling.  In this one he is doing the "death to the picture taker" glare. 

 We got to the open area just in time to see a riverboat turn around and head back down the river.  As you can very well imagine - that was followed by many requests to ride on the boat.  That's just what my stress level needed to send me over the edge.  We did NOT take a boat ride.

 There again - look at me...at me....AT ME!!!

 Gianna and the twins hung out with me while the boys and Darren did a bit of hiking.  She was being a ham for the camera.  She was also every person's best friend that day.  I'm sure she made the day of at least three old women and one dog that stood taller than she did.

 This tree was just hanging out over the road.  Can't say I was excited to see that.

 Thanks for the "nice" picture guys.

It was great to see fall colors and clear skies.  Oh and a few hills too.