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.
