It was less than a month ago when I wrote my first half of my ‘Northern Minnesota Fun’ post (see post HERE) and now summer is almost over. Soon, I have to go back to work and baby Parker is going on 4 months old! Where did time go???
I’ve taken a little time out on Instagram and blogging to focus on family. So many highs and lows have happened. We had a big reality check on life and I experienced a new level of emotion I never realized I had. I had to take a moment for myself and family to reprioritize. But this blog is still my creative outlet and with posts like these, my time capsule. A time capsule of a memory of my time with my kiddos at a place I love, with the people I love. Here are some highlights of our second half of our Minnesota trip!
Blueberry Picking.
Holy cow. I’m just one with nature and picking berries like crazy while in Minnesota. My first part of Minnesota we went strawberry picking at a Strawberry Farm but for blueberries we actually picked WILD blueberries. My mom and I wanted to make a wild blueberry pie so we needed at least 4 – 6 cups of blueberries. A wild blueberry tastes dramatically different than the ones you buy at the store. They are smaller but are packed with flavor. They are so good! Little did I know that blueberry picking involved head to toe bug spray and bug outfit. The horse flies were SO bad! I guess horse flies are attracted to heat, movement, and the color blue (as well as other colors but we laugh because my mom not only looked like a blueberry but was a horse fly magnet!).
The bugs were bad, but we were prepared for it and it was awesome to go in the middle of the woods and see carpets of blueberries. We picked for about 30 minutes and had over a bucket of blueberries and enough for wild blueberry pie! FYI- hands down best blueberry pie I’ve ever had!
Hanging out at the cabin.
My dad owns 60 acres of land that is surrounded by state land. Everything is run off of a generator and there’s an outhouse. The outhouse is really nice (clean, tiled, filled with my mom’s art masterpieces…aka her “painting with wine nights”, and smells nice), BUT I refuse to go in it. I’d rather find a nice spot in the woods than stare down a dark hole. This cabin is my dad’s hunting shack, but my parents love to come out here to unwind. The cabin has bunk beds, couches, table, stove, refrigerator, and even satellite TV but all in one room. Everything is run off of a generator. Its cute but very simple. We all love to come here for tractor rides, BBQing, campfires, star gazing, and just to be in nature!
We decided to camp there one night, with toddler and baby. A little background. Jaxin, our two-year-old toddler, is still in a crib and will be in a crib for as long as possible. He sleeps good in it and more importantly, parents sleep good! We put him in bed at 8 and he will happily be in there for a solid 12 hours. We always put him in his own room with no distractions. However, when we went to the cabin, we decided it was a good time to try out a big boy bed and have a slumber party/ camping night at the cabin. I thought I could wedge a barrier around his little body and have blankets surround his bottom bunk like a fort my parents and I enjoyed conversation and wine in the same room and he would sleep like a champ, because, well, he always does. Right? If you’re a parent of a toddler, I’m sure you can laugh with me. I couldn’t keep him in bed without me giving him my iPhone so he could watch his favorite show, “Little Baby Bums.” However, he still would bounce out of bed and would join, what I’m sure he thought was a party. I would try to put him back in bed with iPhone (to keep him IN bed) but soon it was 11PM and I took the phone away and made us turn off the lights only to have the TV on. He lasted a total of 5 minutes in bed before he would bounce from bed to couch to me to grandpa to grandma touching noses and giggling and dancing. Finally, we turned TV off and with all of us in our bunks, you could hear his pitter patter feet running around in the dark, clunking on who knows what and repeating his party time antics. I would put him in bed only for him to get out and continue the party. Long story short, at 1:30 AM, we decided that this might not work and we went home. My parent’s house is only 20 minutes away from the cabin and of course, Jaxin quickly feel asleep in his car seat and was a wet noodle when I put him in his crib and didn’t wake up until 9AM the next morning. More importantly, I was able to sleep in until then as well! We tried. And now we laugh.
Horsin’ around!
One of my best high school girlfriends had invited us over and Jaxin was able to go horseback riding. He loooooves horses and it was so fun to put him on a horse other than one that rocks.
Pool / Boat / Lake.
Not many people could spend a month with their parents, but I am so thankful for my parents every day. On top of being the best parents and grandparents, my parents are hilarious, amazing mentors, and have such a positive outlook on life. As my dad always say,
“Your gratitude will ultimately determine your attitude in life.”
Anytime I’m down or challenged with any life obstacle, my parents would have an optimistic twist to it, and always remind me how blessed I am and we are as a family.
When we were on a road trip (my parents, my two babies, my dog, and myself), we were all laughing because I asked my parents if they ever thought that their mid-thirties daughter would be bringing her two babies with her and living with them again for a month with her babies. But they love it just as much as I do. There wasn’t a day that went by when my parents told me how special it was that we were there to spend time with them and how much they appreciated it. Feelings were obviously mutual because as you can see, we had an absolute blast!
Thanks for reading! Xoxo, Rachael
