poplar 2008

this was the first summer in six years that we wouldn't be venturing to the maio family cabin (er, I mean "cottage") in wautoma, wi. unfortuately we couldn't get schedules to jive and the harms' (scott, anna, and ethan) were gracious enough to open their house to us all. getting together with the harms', bansemars, and maios is definitely one of the major highlights of our summer. this year was especially fun because we spent it with the two babies - ethan and miles. their soon-to-be best girl friend came along too, but she is still cookin' away in her momma's belly.

ethan, baby m, and miles

we left rochester on thursday night around 6:30pm. miles was in his pjs, the car was loaded up, and the puppies were safe and sound at my parent's house (thanks mom and dad!). we drove until we needed some fuel (a.k.a. FOOD) - so we stopped in north branch for subway, ice cream, and a milk meal for mr. miles.
once we got back on the road we drove through foggy duluth and over the bridge into wisconsin...arriving at chateau harms around 11pm. friday was spent exploring beautiful amnicon falls state park. scott and kyle strapped the babies on their back/front and off we went. anna had to work and the others weren't arriving until friday night - so it was just me and the boys! the weather and the park were absolutely gorgeous. how fun it will be to return next year when ethan and miles are older and can splash in the waterfalls!!

amnicon falls state park

scott & ethan and kyle & miles

ethan harms...check out those lady killer eyes!

on our way home from the park

the maios (sarah, matt, and baby m) and the bansemars (shawn and melissa) arrived friday evening. we cooked out and sat around the campfire. it was a good thing that we got out and enjoyed the weather while we could, because we woke up saturday morning to a chilly rain. the ladies decided to drive into duluth and visit the lakewalk and canal park in spite of the unfortunate weather. we had a lovely lunch and even did a bit of shopping.

lake superior...BRR!

the boys (a.k.a. men) played their fair share of wii and indulged in some greasy burgers at the anchor bar in superior, wi. after spending saturday night playing games and chowing down on yummy treats, we woke up sunday morning, packed our bags, and headed for home. miles slept the entire way back and we made it to rochester in 3 1/2 hours! we have discovered that miles is a great lil' traveler...another reason we claim to have the world's greatest baby! thank you so much to scott and anna for allowing us to invade your home in the north woods. we'll be back soon!

completely entertained by the wii...sad.sleeping in on saturday morning...ahh vacation!!