The MANY, MANY pics from the trip to Minnesota and back again!

 We went to Minnesota on the 30th of May and stayed until the next Friday.  Everybody had a great time! Here are some pictures (okay, LOTS of pictures) from our journey!  

Our first stop on the road trip - a rest stop for dinner.  Had to play a short game of "Duck, Duck, Goose" to burn some energy!  

Already had the life jacket on and we were many, many hours away!

Sunset on the drive

Stopped in Owatonna on Friday night and we were ready to get up and go on Saturday morning!  Had to stop at Cabela's on the way to get Korinne's first fishing pole! Thanks, Uncle Ben!

We made a little pit stop at the Mall of America to do a little shopping and visit the theme park. Meeting the Ninja Turtles made Kohen's day!

Karlee opted out of meeting the real turtles but posed by the fake ones by the ride. 

Kohen LOVED this ride.  It went SO high too!

They had a blast riding rides in the Nickelodeon theme park

The Mall of America wore everyone out.  That was good, though, because it made the rest of the trip go much faster .... for them!

Fishing pole in each hand.  Ready to fish!

Pa pretending he was going to eat the fish

Kohen and his many catches of the day

A favorite Minnesota stop - Zorbaz.  Macho nachos, pizza, beer and arcade games; right on the lake.  What more could you ask for?!  They were even representing the 'Show Me' state, as you can see above. 

Karlee loved playing on this beach.  She played for hours and hours in the sand.  She was Dannika's side-kick most of the week. Although, Korinne refers to her as "Da-kitty", not Dannika!  Karlee really loved playing with Morgan, Madison and Dannika. She even named her three mermaids after them when she got home. 

One of my favorite pics!

Another favorite - the fish were still breathing and Korinne was mimicking them by opening and closing her mouth.  Anyone that has been around her knows she is the biggest copycat on the planet.  She will study people and stand exactly like they are standing, does everything anyone else does ... I guess it doesn't stop at copying people.  She copies the fish too!

The city of Perham

View from the beach

BBQ Night - Korinne loves babies and made fast friends with Macy.

She was fascinated by the fish.

S'mores - round one!

Uncle Mike fishing off the dock

Lamberty cousins - just missing Ben and Kim

This picture does not do the size of these fish justice.  There were two very large fish laying on the side of the highway while I was out running one morning.  I have seen a lot of dead animals on the highway but even after all my years of going to Minnesota, seeing two large fish was a  first.  I had to take a quick pic - I just wish I would've put my foot next to them to show the size.

The Perham Express - had to take the annual ride before the Turtle Races. 

Turtle races - Karlee was pretty upset she didn't win.  She has quite the competitive nature. 

Taking a little fishing break to play on the Ipad.

Kohen, Mike and Mark.

Tired girl!

She must've been REALLY tired - laying on the kitchen floor!

The whole crew - We were only missing Michelle this year.  Quite the crew!

Dance party time!!!!  The kids danced up a storm and then Cora, Abby and Karlee serenaded us with "Let It Go" and "Do You Want To Build  Snowman"

My little copycat copied Toby the entire night. She did EVERYTHING he did, and I mean everything!

S'mores - Round II - last night of vacation for us.  Most everyone else stayed until Saturday. 

S'mores, S'mores and more S'mores!

The last fishing night 'keepers'.

Kohen was completely enthralled with this fire and was throwing anything and everything in it.  He even burned his old shoes, as you can see above. Chad gladly let him throw in his fishing jeans.  This brought pure joy to him for several hours. At least Lynn was making him solve math/word problems before he was allowed to throw anything in.  So the pyromania was made to be educational at the very least!

The next several pictures are of the beautiful sunsets we saw every night.  

Korinne was not ready to leave.  We packed everything around her the morning we left, including the blankets that were on her and she was zonked.  Vacation is hard!! 

The ride home

Great vacation was had by all!