peter marie: Fall Vacation '11

I've got a super sweet and content baby hanging out at our house today (he's the best, Julie!) and he's taking a nap right now, so here we go!

So we went out with RJ's parents to see RJ's brother and his cute family. There is a family that offers 2 (of their 3) lake houses for free to the staff at the Moody flight school where his brother works. Pretty sweet.

This was our view every day right off of Lake Coeur d' Alene.

The boys took the kids out on the canoe. It was in the 40s most of the week so kind of chilly, but still nice enough to play outside. The leaves had just started to turn brilliant colors so it was absolutely beautiful!

We didn't have a tv and basically had no Internet connection the whole time so there was tons of game playing and puzzle putting-togtherness going on. We did have a little dvd player so the kids got to watch a cartoon here and there. I didn't miss the tv, but I have to admit I missed the Internet a bit. However, I ended up being so thankful it worked out that way. So refreshing!!

Here's a shot straight from the deck on a beautiful evening.

Here is the adorable cabin the families with kids stayed in.

And the red cabin is where the grandparents got to stay...so they could escape some of the noise and early mornings. :)

Harper and her cousin Simon had so much fun together. They are just a couple of weeks apart.

The caretaker told us they had seen a "baby" moose around and one morning we got to see it! RJ took the camera and got some shots at a safe distance, of course.

Another beautiful morning. Just couldn't get enough of that view!

A shot looking down at our cabin.

We did tons of hiking and walking. The hills were crazy steep.

The 3 little cousins.

Sorry, RJ, but I love this picture...

Such a cute cabin, eh?

(sorry for the random order of these)

Harper with her grandpa looking up at me on the deck.

We (the men) built a few fires down by the water.

And we ate marshmallows.

And s'mores.

Since we were there for Halloween, we let the kids dress up and we just did a little trick-or-treating at the cabin.

We just sat in chairs and they went around to each of us. They had a blast.

This little costume is probably the funniest thing I've ever seen. I got it for $2 last year at Target.

I want to frame it.

More time out on the canoe.

Somehow Henry has gone his entire little life without bowling. He had so much fun and it was so cute to watch how animated he was with it.

Henry and Sophia were best buds the whole time.

A little dvd break.

All the kids together. The leaves were amazing!

And that was our trip. It was so much fun. Definitely ranks up there with my favorite vacations.

We flew back to Minneapolis and spent a couple of days with RJ's aunt and uncle. We got to sneak away for a little lunch date and go on a double date with RJ's cousin and girlfriend. Then Saturday was time to see my family. My cousin Elyse got married that night in a beautiful, old church in St. Paul and then the rehearsal was at the Minnesota History Center. I didn't have much space left on my camera for more pictures, but this is the dance floor with the capital in the background.

It was a beauty of a night, for sure.