Minocqua 2012

Aug. 4-11th we took our 4th annual trip up north, to Minocqua, WI, and stayed at a cabin on Mercer Lake.  We have had a very hot summer, but our week up north was a little on the cool side.  We really enjoy fires in our little cabin, lots of family time, playing at the beach, swimming, and fun outdoor activities.  

 This year we brought up a bunch of puzzles and a lego cabin set.  We also gave Jadon this Skylanders book, a video game guidebook which he studied all week.  It was nice to have a week of no electronics.

 Jadon enjoyed making nature collections and arrangements.  This is a nest for a chipmunk.

 This was one of my sand sculptures from the week.

 We are watching a ski show, the Minocqua-bats.

 Leah is showing a little frog she has captured in these nature tongs.

 The kids played at the beach a lot, catching frogs, playing with frogs, and making sandcastles.  We also took lots of kayak and canoe rides from this beach.

 Jadon and Leah love hanging out with their vacation friends, Ava and Greta.

 One morning we went out for a lumberjack breakfast at Paul Bunyans.  Then we went for a family bike ride along a nice trail.

 Brian had gone on a 2 hour bike ride the day before and then we did this shorter one as a family.  It was beautiful and definately one of the highlights of the week.  Below is one of the views from a bridge coming into town.

 Once again, the kids enjoyed the adventure of swimming out to this slide, climbing up, and either jumping off or sliding down.  Here, Jadon is about to jump off and below, Leah is sliding off the slide.

 There were 2 days during the week where it rained.  The first day we went to this Children's Museum and played.  Brian and I had a little too much fun in the dress-up room.

 On the next rainy day, we squeezed in pony rides before the downpour.  Leah rode Dora and Jadon rode Burdock.  Brian got Burdock galloping along the trails for Jadon.  That was a sight to behold.

 One night we had a fry fest and made these cheese curds.  Yum!

 On the last day, we took the kids for their first mini golf.  They did really well and we had fun.
We also went go-karting.

 We buried Jadon and turned him into a Mer-man.  Leah, Dane, Ava, and Abby all helped before going into the lake for our last swim.

 On our last evening we went to Black Bear with the Schasslers for some good pizza.  We got to sit outside, which is perfect so the kids can play when they're not eating.

All in all, it was a great family vacation.  We just wish it had been a little warmer.