Braden's vacation

I got to go on my first vacation last week.  On Friday we drove to Clear Lake, IA to spend the night and break up our long drive to Walker, MN.

Here I am with Daddy at Clear Lake!

We got to stay at Uncle Josh's family lake house, and Daddy even got to go jet skiing while Mommy met a friend of hers for supper.

On Saturday we drove for a looonnnnnggg time to Minnesota.  I slept a lot, and also played with toys in the car.  I only cried a little bit, and Mommy and Daddy said I did a good job in the car.

This was our destination:  Big Rock Resort on Leech Lake.

Daddy's family has been going here for years.  It is a fun place! We stayed in 2 cabins right by the lake (this is actually the view from the boat harbor):

Our cabins:

Each cabin had its own kitchen, a full bath, and 2 or 3 bedrooms.  

I found some fun new things to play with in our cabin: a cooler and laundry baskets!  These kept me busy all week. 

I used the laundry baskets to "cruise" around and practice my walking skills.  I had a great time playing with my cousins too!

Addie woke up early every morning to come and play with me.  She earned the nickname "mama 2" by the end of the week.

She also let me have some of her ice cream!  The lodge at Big Rock had yummy ice cream cones. Whenever I saw someone eating one (or anything else that looked good to eat!), I would hurry over to them in hopes of a bite.

There were lots of fun things to do at the resort. . . .

 . . . a dock for fishing in the boat harbor. . .

 . . . swimming in the pool (I only got to go once because Mommy and Daddy thought it was too chilly for me, but my cousins got to go every day!) . . .

 . . . more laundry basket fun in our cabin . . . 

(see the handle they made with Grandpa's belt?)

 . . . enjoying the beautiful view . . .

 . . . and campfires almost every night.

Of course we made s'mores (and pies) - everyone said they are so yummy!  I just got graham crackers.

We had to bundle up in the evenings, because it got cold.

Some people liked reading books (Grandma said she didn't read as many this year.  I think she was too busy playing with me!), or we had fun just hanging out in the cabins . . .

 . . . and enjoying the scenery outside.

I also got to go on my very first boat ride.  It was fun, but windy! I only got to go on the boat once.

I watched Daddy and Aidan tube. Brrr!

The big kids and Daddy played on this cool water trampoline in the lake. I can't wait until I am big enough to try it . . .

 

 . . . and someday I want to learn to ski like Daddy!

I learned something new this week . . . I figured out how to walk 2 or 3 (and even 4 one time!) steps!  I can also stand up without using anything to pull up on now. Mommy and Daddy are so excited!  Mommy video taped me, but it is on our other camera that she doesn't know how to upload.  Maybe she will post a new video of me walking soon.

 

I stayed in the cabin with Grandma when Mommy and Daddy went fishing. Aidan caught a lot of fish!

Everyone was cold on the way back to the cabin after fishing one day.

We had a great vacation at Big Rock! We're already looking forward to going back next year. :) 

I am a little sad that Mommy has to go back to work soon, since summer vacation is almost over.  I think she is more sad . . . she keeps worrying about getting ready for school!  I am so excited because she told me we are going to go to the pool every day that it is hot outside this week, since we didn't swim much last week.  We'll have a lot of fun during these last days of vacation!