If you thought you were off the hook for pictures from the weekend because my camera is filled with lake water, I'm here to inform you that you were mighty wrong. Two words for you: Cellphone camera.
Here are a few images from our weekend up north.
The hodag of Rhinelander, Wisconsin ...
The mythical hodag is Wisconsin's bigfoot. You can see the photograph that got everybody riled up and believing it was real HERE.
We made dinner one evening over a campfire. I feel I should point out that this is probably as close to camping with their mom that my kids will ever get.
One morning we went to the little children's museum in Eagle River. It was, not surprisingly, on the small side. But my kids loved it! It was charming and low-key, and there were lots of exhibits and opportunities for play. David and Mary wanted to spend all day there playing.
I especially liked the woods-themed activities--like camping, fishing, and a ranger station complete forest fire look out tower. (Like many children's museums, this one had a hospital area. Unlike many children's museums, this one included a real exam table, complete with stirrups. "Hey, let's go play gynecological exam!! Who wants the pap smear this time?!")
David insisted on showing this next picture to his second grade class.
"David," we said, "out of everything we did, you want to show them the picture of you inside pretending to fish?"
He insisted that he did. We explained that a lot of kids in his class probably went fishing for real, so it was kind of weird for him to bring a picture of pretend fishing.
"Oh, that's okay," he explained, "then everyone will know that my parents won't take me fishing for real so this is the best I get."
He's right, you know. David and Mary, when it comes to fishing, this is probably the best you're gonna get. (I think we might need some yellow marshmallows.)
We ate at Soda Pop's in Eagle River. It sells a bazillion kinds of gourmet bottled soda, plus they have an old-fashioned phosphate soda fountain. Fun!
Another time we ate at a beer garden in Minocqua. (We all had the root beer, of course.)
I think it was called Otto's. And it was soooo good! Highly recommended.
We spent a fair amount of time hanging out at the lodge. We stayed at the Wild Eagle Lodge, and it was great! It was really nice (and the rooms were spacious!) but rustic-feeling, and there was so much to do right there--beach, boats, indoor swimming pool, playground, campfire pits, basketball, volleyball, tennis, trails...definitely the kind of place you could hang out for a week. It would be really fun to go up with friends or family. (I wish we were going to live here longer...)
Mary really liked the nice indoor swimming pool and playing on the beach.
David and his dad did some exploring of the lakes--this time in a motor boat. (On their outing they spotted a real live bald eagle!! Isn't that awesome?!)
David was a good helper! Mary and I joined the boys for a couple of rides. For instance, one early morning we took the boat over to town. Beautiful (but cold!). (We had to drag Mary kicking and screaming. I'm not sure this was the right thing to do...but I don't see any boats any time remotely soon in her future, so hopefully she'll have plenty of time heal...)
We forced our kids on the wonderful Franklin Nature Trail in the very beautiful Nicolet National Forest. I highly recommend this trail! It takes you through different kinds of forests, to a lake shore, through a bog, and up a glacial ridge...all in just over a mile. Plus there is an informative, interesting interpretive brochure.
David found these trees growing out of an old dead tree very interesting...
There are a gazillion lovely, remote lakes in Wisconsin, like this one.
The kids did pretty well. But about halfway, they started to whine, especially David. And Mary was upset we hadn't brought a stroller for her. (What the heck??!!) Oh well. I figure if they never whined, then we were probably doing something wrong.
The highlight was this gorgeous ancient hemlock forest.
There are lots of forests in Wisconsin. But most of them were clear cut by loggers at one point. So it's very rare to see what a forest looked like before the logging. Somehow the loggers (who were nearby) missed this patch of hemlocks. It was amazing.
We also tried some biking. Everyone we asked and everything we read directed us to the Anvil Trail in the Nicolet Forest. It was supposed to be beautiful and very easy. So it was beautiful. And it was easy...if you're a mountain biker.
The problem is, well, at this time in our lives we are NOT mountain bikers. We are one mountain bike with a tag-along attached, one single-gear kids bike, and one cushy touring bike with a pregnant lady atop.
It was fabulous dual and single track mountain biking, complete with roots, ruts, and plunges. We lasted two miles. We need to stick to asphalt.
But we congratulated David on his first real mountain biking ride!
And then we went home.
