Northern Lights, Loons & Eagles

Thursday, July 23: Today was another beautiful day. Tom, Leah & I went out fishing mid-morning and didn't quit until 2:15. We told Leah that whoever caught the most fish would get a candy from the lodge since she was missing the resort fishing contest. Well, she proceeded to catch the first 7 fish, including a crappie, a bluegill, a nice perch and a few nice rockies! Finally Tom and I caught a few, and we ended up with a total of 13 (Leah- 8, Linda- 3, Tom- 2). Tom is cleaning fish right now so I'm here blogging and chatting w/Karrie. We hope to ride the Mi-Ge-Zi trail this afternoon. Then tonight, Tom & I plan to go into Bemidji to celebrate his b-day (tomorrow) with a nice dinner at Tutto Bene's while the kids have frozen pizza back home.

Wednesday, July 22: We woke up to sunshine and a fairly peaceful lake. Seth was up for fishing so the 3 of us headed out. The fish weren't biting too well due to the glorious sunshine (it's always a trade-off), but Linda managed to haul in a walleye right off the bat (without really trying), and we caught a nice perch and 4 rock bass to round off the day. I decided I wanted to move to Minnesota after listening to the loon's song, watching the bald eagle soar through the sky, and recalling the Northern lights we saw in the sky the night before. Minnesota is just so cool! Tom reminded me that I only ever visit Minnesota in the summer, and that I should try it in the winter before I decide to move here.

In the afternoon, Tom went for a little bike ride, but it was cut short by rain showers. The kids enjoyed some swimming in the lake and just general hanging out around the resort. In the evening we headed to Grand Rapids (MN) to Zorbaz for pizza. It waz zpectacular!

"Pop up" showers

Tuesday, July 21: Although it was cloudy when we woke up, the forecast was for a perfect, sunny, summer day with a high of 78! Tom, Seth, Cameron & I headed out for fishing around 10:00. At first we went to the Strawberry Bar area and had very little luck. We then moved over to the point off of Star Island where we had fished last year, and ended up with a total of 16 perch and 1 rock bass by about 1:30. We were not sure we wanted to quit, but the sky looked like rain (although it had been sunny and clear most of the morning) so we finally decided we better head in. Well, we decided about 3 minutes too late! When we were approaching the dock area, we were hit with a downpour and all got soaking wet. We were laughing hysterically as we yelled at Tom to "Hurry up!" It was quite a hoot.

It turns out the downpour was a typical Minnesota "pop-up" shower, and after it was over, the rest of the afternoon was sunny and nice. The kids played basketball and hung out around the resort and we all went over to Sah-kah-tay for ice cream cones. Tom and I took the girls out for some evening fishing while the boys took the bikes out to the Mi-Ge-Zi trail. We had no luck fishing and headed in at about 8:30 for a late fish dinner (thanks to the fish we caught this morning!). It was a beautiful day, and the rest of the week is supposed to be more of the same.

Monday, July 20: Monday we woke up to another cloudy day with rain in the forecast. It was also quite windy, so once again, we decided fishing didn't look so good. Linda and the girls decided it was a good day for shopping and headed off to the mall in Bemidji. Since there is no clothing tax in Minnesota, it is always a good time to stock up on those clothes for fall! Tom and the boys also headed for Bemidji mid-afternoon to catch the latest Harry Potter movie (#6), the Half-Blood Prince. They reported it was really good.

After a good afternoon shower, the rain did let up enough for us to be able to make hamburgers on the grill for supper. The evening was spent reading, playing basketball & pool, Facebooking and playing cards.

Rollin' right along!

Sunday, July 19: Sunday morning we packed up the bikes, a picnic lunch, our bathing suits, hiking/biking clothes, cameras, etc., and headed off to church (once again at the E-V Free)! The plan was to continue on from church down to Itasca State Park. The weather cooperated beautifully, as it was sunny and in the high 70's/low 80's, and everything went as planned. When we arrived at the park we enjoyed a little picnic. Then Tom and all the kids rode their bikes from the picnic area down to the headwaters of the Mississippi, while I took the van down to meet them. We walked through the headwaters and some of us waded up the stream. Then Tom, Jared, Cameron, Seth and Leah went on another (longer) bike ride, while Chloe and I went on a hike. We met up again an hour later and headed back to the resort where we had dinner and time for some more fun and relaxation.

Saturday, July 18: Saturday morning we had to say good-bye to all of our cousins. We first had a little photo shoot to help us remember how big all the kids were this year! It's always so quiet and lonely after everybody leaves, but we eventually adjust to dynamics of being "our family" again. The weather finally began to improve throughout the course of the day on Saturday. Tom, Seth & I took the boat out for some fishing in Allen's Bay, Dick's Bay, and the Potato Islands in the late morning and early afternoon. It was a bit chilly, but we were able to catch 13 fish, making it worth our while. We pulled in 3 perch, 1 bluegill, 8 rock bass and I got my first decent Northern from this lake!

Jared and his buddy Cameron spent the whole day driving up to join us. We kept calling him to check on their progress, and they finally arrived at about 7:15 p.m., making the trip in just under 14 hours. They did a great job and didn't even get lost once! We had hot dogs and brats on the grill after they arrived and enjoyed a leisurely evening all together again.

Friday, July 17: We woke up to another cold and windy day. Once again the high temperature was only supposed to be in the 50's. We decided to skip the fishing again today, and tackle our laundry instead. In addition, we stayed inside our cabin reading books and hung out at the lodge. The kids have been playing the game "spoons" a lot with their cousins. In the evening, the whole gang (20 of us) headed into the town of Cass Lake for pizza at the Great River Pizzeria. We had never been there before, and found it was quite good, although they did have a little difficulty handling a group our size.

Cousins, Colors of the Rainbow, and Cold!

Thursday, July 16th: (Today is the anniversary of Tom & Linda's engagement on the shores of West Lost Lake in Minnesota--22 years ago!) It's 11:30 in the morning, 55 degrees, and cloudy. This isn't really what we were expecting for our July vacation at the lake! It is unseasonably cool here and will remain cool tomorrow. Mom & Dad called and have decided that they are going to go home early, since this is their 2nd week in Minnesota and it's just too cold to fish anyway. We're trying to find alternate activities (like checking email, blogging, etc.). This afternoon Tom and I will head off to the Forestedge Winery. The kids won't want to miss Karrie's treasure hunt at 4:00. They are definitely enjoying the cable TV and plethora of DVD's they have available. Hopefully better days are ahead!

After the winery (which was very busy due to the blustery weather), Tom & I headed to Bemidji to catch a movie. We saw "The Proposal," a romantic comedy, which was an appropriate choice for the anniversary of the day Tom proposed to me. The kids enjoyed the treasure hunt with their cousins back at the resort, and when we returned we took them out for dinner at the Casino. It was "Walleye buffet" night, and we found it to be quite tasty with decent service.

Wednesday, July 15th: It was another cool and windy day, but no rain, so we headed out for some fishing. We headed for Dick's Bay where Leah caught a nice crappie, and we got a couple of rock bass. We were fighting the wind all morning/afternoon, and after trying the Potato islands and only getting only one more rock bass, we decided to call it quits. We got a little disoriented on our way in and started heading in the wrong direction. So we battled the wind and huge waves even longer as we turned around and found our way home.

In the afternoon, Seth and Luke wanted to go see a movie (Transformers) in Bemidji, and since we still hadn't made our "big" grocery run, I took them so I could go to Wal-Mart. They enjoyed their movie and I was able to finally get our kitchen stocked for the remainder of the vacation. In the evening, we watched a movie in the lodge which featured Birch Villa back in the 60's. It was fun. Mom & Dad came down for a short visit while Leah and I fixed our spaghetti dinner.

Tuesday, July 14th: The weather turned and it became cool, rainy and windy. Seemed like a good day for shopping! So the ladies headed off to Walker (Linda, Mom, Aunt Sone, Deb, Wenda & Pam). We enjoyed lunch together at The Village Square (the ice cream place) and browsing through the shops. The kids stayed home with the dads for the fishing contest which was held off the dock. Some of the guys tried to go golfing in the afternoon, but were rained out.

When we got home we were treated to the most beautiful rainbow we've seen yet over Cass Lake. We could see the whole rainbow from one end to the other, and it seemed to have more colors than the average rainbow. It was gorgeous!

That evening Seth and several other relatives competed in the Texas Hold'em tournament. Seth ended up coming in 3rd and Kara came in 4th.

Monday, July 13th: We headed out for our 1st morning of fishing with Seth and Luke in the boat. We thought we'd try our luck in the Potato islands area. We caught 16 total fish (6 for Luke, 10 for us), all rock bass save one perch. We ate ours for dinner that evening and they were delicious! Monday afternoon was spent cleaning fish, reading, and chatting with relatives. I ran off to Teal's to get some more groceries for supper while Tom took a little bike ride. Paul's wife Pam has arrived for her 1st visit to Birch Villa. The kids have been having a great time hanging out with cousins and friends. Chloe plays with cousins Erin, Leah, and Lindsay and friends Nicole and Emily. Leah enjoys spending time with Kara and Courtney, as well as the younger girls. Seth and Luke are inseparable.

Sunday, July 12th: Sunday was a beautiful, sunshiny, warm day. After saying "hello" to the gang, we all headed off to church at the E-V Free church of Bemidji. Deb & I enjoyed the Highlander Grog coffee they always serve afterwards. Mid-afternoon, we all gathered for the traditional family pork-chop fry/picnic. There were 21 of us this year including: Deb & Roy's family (6), Phil and Wenda's family (5) (new this year), Uncle Roy & Aunt Sone and Paul (3), Mom & Dad(2), and us (5). The picnic included lots of great food and laughter, and we were thankful for good weather!

The kids did some tubing after dinner and the rest of the day was spent lazing around the resort. Mom & Dad are staying at Horseshoe Resort again this year, but found out that Karrie has a cabin (#1) available for them next year at Birch Villa! We're all so excited they'll get to join the rest of the gang here!

We're Ba-aackk!

Saturday, July 11th: Saturday morning we hit the water again until about 2:00 p.m. when we finally had to drag ourselves away so we could get on with our "normal" vacation.

This year Jared is joining us for the 2nd week only, so we had an empty spot in the car (although we managed to fill it up with stuff quite easily). We missed him at the water park and wish he could be here with us now, but realize he needs to work to save money for college, etc., as he starts at Notre Dame in the fall.

After a long drive, a stop for supper at Zorbaz in Grand Rapids, MN, (on Lake Pokegema), and a quick grocery stop, we finally arrived at our cabin at about 11:40 p.m. Saturday night. The girls were really tired and went right to bed, while Tom, Linda & Seth unpacked the basics.

Friday, July 10th: This is the annual lake log for the Hanstra family's trek to Birch Villa Resort on Cass Lake in Minnesota. This year our trip started on July 10th, 2009. After a stop at the eye doctor's to get Chloe's glasses fixed, we were finally on the road (at about 11:00 a.m.) and headed for our first stop--the Wisconsin Dells. Mom and Dad (Kingma) had given us a gift certificate for a room at the Wilderness Lodge waterpark which we decided to use as our overnight stop this year. The kids were really surprised when we pulled in to what they expected to be a typical hotel stay. We had a riot on all the tube slides, body slides and lazy rivers in the many indoor and outdoor waterparks. That evening after the parks closed, we went to our room and ordered out for Moosejaw pizza--yum!