Fishing, Shopping, Biking, etc.

Thursday, July 19: Wow, it's hard to believe it's our 2nd to the last day! Time has flown by, and yet it seems like we almost "live" here and home is so far away it's like a distant land. We woke up this morning to a little more wind than we really wanted to fish in, so decided to put off fishing 'til this evening. Leah and I worked on a craft instead (needle-felting), Jared & Chloe slept in until almost noon, and Seth & Tom read books. It was just a very relaxed, lazy morning--just what a vacation should be! The sun is shining warmly outside and I decided to catch up on my blogging and get my pictures posted, while looking out the big picture windows at the lake. The kids are swimming and Tom is STILL reading. I think he's on his 5th book this vacation.

Wednesday, July 18: Today Chloe & I planned to meet Phyllis in Park Rapids for a day of shopping, so Tom and I headed out early for a little fishing before I had to leave. We caught 7 perch on Strawberry Bar in a little over an hour, on a very peaceful lake. Chloe and I then drove to Park Rapids (an hour's drive) which gave us plenty of time to talk about life... We then met Phyllis for lunch at Minnesota Ice Cream Fountain. We enjoyed sub sandwiches (and later went back for ice cream sundaes). We then got down to some serious shopping.

In the meantime, Tom, Leah & Jared rode the Mi-Gi-Zi trail again, this time starting from our cabin, making it a 17 mile bike ride. They later reported that Leah did a great job keeping up the pace. Seth opted to stay home and finish his book. In the evening, Leah & Seth headed out fishing with Tom to SB, where they were able to catch 16 more perch to add to our numbers. We all came together again quite late and by the time the fish were cleaned and supper was ready it was REALLY late (10:30!), but we (the kids and I) had a special meal planned. We had a mini-early birthday dinner for Tom, since I had gotten him some gifts while out shopping that I knew he'd want before his birthday next week (a life vest, a fishing rod tube, and a tub for his fishing stuff). We had steak on the grill with sauteed mushrooms, baked potatoes, and tossed salad. Yum! It was worth the wait.