Flashback to Grand Marais, July 4

I've been meaning to post these photos for awhile now but realized only this week that I've never actually viewed these pictures: there hasn't been time.

Our annual Fourth of July camping event was much warmer than the past few years.  Sunny skies and 70 degrees with no rain made for a very nice weekend of tent camping.

This is the first year we've brought the kids down the log slide.  It's a very long, steep sand dune that was used in the "olden days" to send logs to the shore where they could be taken away by ship.  It's not for the faint of heart or faint of muscle as it's an easy 10 minutes down but can take an hour going back up.  When Dad worked for the NPS here, he was sent to rescue a man who was stuck on the log slide with no water, out of shape and unable to finish the climb.  We're more than a little proud of Clare and Karl who managed to climb the entire thing themselves, except for a boost over the vertical ledge partway down.  Nora was supposed to ride with me in the backpack but she refused to sit in it and we ended up sitting at the top waiting for everyone else to finish playing on the beach and head back up.

So steep you really can't walk upright very well.  That's Clare, Karl, and Matt coming up.

I did it! 

Almost there.... Karl climbs in his undies because his pants got soaked in the lake and were slowing him down.

Poor Karl was so exhausted afterward he couldn't hold it together any longer... another great family photo.

Our vacation wasn't all work...  here's Nora at the mouth of the Sable River, part of which she floated down in her puddle jumper.  This is a girl who loves water.

Camping is sometimes just too much fun... Nora fell sound asleep on Daddy's shoulders on the walk back to our van.

Sable Falls.  There's a smile from Karl!

 Of course the main attraction in Grand Marais is the parade and fireworks.  This year after the parade, Matt took Clare and Karl to see the ambulance up close.

Karl also got sprayed with the firetruck's fire hose and his face just "lit up", Matt told me.  Karl talked about that for weeks: "Remember when my face lit up from that fire truck hose?"

And the sign of a good vacation: too tired to even finish her sucker, Nora fell asleep with it poised just before her mouth.