Grand Marais Camping

Whew!  We made it through our biggest camping trip of the summer without any catastrophes -- no one got hurt, I didn't forget to pack anything important, and we all had fun. 

We left on Tuesday and drove the four hours to Grand Marais, where my entire family was going to be camping, including both Derek and Laura who live out of state.  It really was amazing that we were all there and my only regret is that we never got the group photo Dad suggested taking. 

Tuesday we spent setting up camp and visiting.  The campground was almost full when we got there, but, thanks to the helpfulness of someone who suggested switching campsites, we were able to get three sites next to each other. 

Wednesday we hiked along the beach to the Au Sable River mouth, where the water was much warmer than Lake Superior.  Clare loved splashing in the shallows.  She even caught her first tadpole, after quite a bit of practice.  (That's a stick in the picture though, not a tadpole...)

Clare hiked with Matt up to see the falls.  She insisted upon walking barefoot.

Karl wasn't sure what to think of the water at first.  After getting swished back and forth a few times, he decided he liked it after all.  

 

 

Heading back to the campsite.

 Of course, the reason we came was to celebrate the Fourth.  We watched the parade from the same spot we've watched it from in years past -- a shady, grassy spot not technically on the parade route.  Although we miss some of the fire trucks, we are the first spectators that anyone sees so the kids get lots of candy. 

Clare and "Apple Pie"

 Clare sat for the first few minutes with her hands over her ears, refusing to even hold her candy bag.  That didn't bode well for us, so we grabbed her ear muffs.  She was happy then! 

They fire the fireworks from the beach, only a hundred yards or so from where we sit to watch them.  It's a pretty amazing show for a small town.  (When I lived there, the permanent population was less than 500; it tripled in size during the summer tourist season.)  We found a spot on a hill and Clare and I were able to lie on our backs to watch.  Matt had a sleeping Karl in the Ergo so he had to stand up.  Clare LOVED the fireworks and kept up a commentary the whole time: "There's a green one!  How come they make so much noise?  What's that big boom sound?  Do you think there will be a purple one?  I think a red, green, purple and black one is next!"  And so on. 

Waiting for the fireworks to start.  Behind the orange fence is where they fire them off. 

After the fireworks were over, around 11:30 pm, we gave a hungry Clare some cold cereal in a bowl to eat before falling asleep.  Staying up so late took its toll: she fell asleep with her hand in the bowl.

And again on our walk the next day...

Karl's Fourth of July outfit

Our handy chuck wagon.  Great for food prep, cooking, storage...

On Friday we spent the day at the Bayshore Beach.  The water was freezing.  The kids didn't go much deeper than their knees though we adults dunked under several times because sitting on the beach was much too warm and it was too windy for shade tents or umbrellas.  Clare took an hour's nap in the stroller before we got to the beach and Karl took an hour's nap in the stroller at the beach. 

A special treat: ice cream from the West Bay Diner.  This has become our special eating-out place in GM; last year we had their amazing made-from-scratch, cut-up-the-fresh-pineapple-while-you-wait pizza.  Clare requested "pink" ice cream.  Could that smile get any bigger?

Karl amused himself while we ate our ice cream.  All he needs is someone to smile at him and he is all smiles himself.  He's the sweetest little baby.

We had packed enough food to last us through Sunday but decided to head back Saturday instead.  Mom, Dad, Laura, and Derek had left Friday to go kayaking on a river downstate and my two brothers and their families were planning to leave Saturday to get a "vacation from their vacation" before starting work again on Monday. 

I'm so glad we decided to leave early -- I was exhausted by the time we got home and moped around the house before Matt, very wisely, told me to just go to bed.  I was asleep by 9 pm.  Both Karl and Clare were struggling with a huge sleep deficit and were out by 6:30 even though they'd both taken naps on the way home. 
 

All in all, it was a wonderful vacation and will probably be replicated next year.