Happy Birthday Maya Leigh!

This girl is 8 YEARS OLD today!!

And the birthday girl through the years…

She is just the sweetest, goofiest, curious almost 3rd grader there is. We love you so much Booger!

(I’ll post the picture update tomorrow!)

Timehop Tuesday

It is Camp DuNord Timehops for today:

Campfire!

Family lake time!

A Summer ‘21 Week 5 Camp DuNord Wrap-Up MEGA POST!

Hey everybody!  Happy Sunday!  We have spent the past week in a lovely little northern Minnesota bubble known as Camp DuNord.  We left last Sunday and headed up north of Ely with G-ma, Pa, Auntie Cat, Uncle Dan, Auntie Hanna, Mitchell and Isla!  We were quite the crew, with three cars packed TO THE BRIM with all the things we (and tiny little children) would need for a week at family camp.

The girls were beyond excited and had been counting down to camp day for weeks.  On the way up, we stopped at Tobie's for the obligatory donuts.

We arrived on Sunday around 4pm, checked in to our cabin, and immediately went to check out the beach! Later, we attended the opening celebration with skits, songs, and all the information we needed to have a fun week at camp.

On Monday morning I was up before 6am so I decided to go out and get my run done!  It was beautiful.

At 7:45am each morning, starting on Monday, the girls, Hanna and I participated in the Polar Bear Plunge!   It was a big group of campers who braved the lake in the early morning, and we had so much fun.  Other fun things from the morning: a "troll" left clues and puzzles about a stolen pie mystery, and Callie got the first one on Monday morning.  We also all love to make Isla smile!

Before age group, we wandered around camp a bit.  After the girls went with their counselors for the morning, we continued to explore camp with Mitchell and Isla.


The girls had a great first day at age group, and we picked them up for lunch!

After lunch, was OF COURSE, beach time!

Then we enjoyed time out on the deck, in the cabin, and and dinner time!

Then it was S'MORES NIGHT!  On our way to the campfire, we saw some beautiful sunset sunrays.

S'mores were thoroughly enjoyed by all, and the girls' s'mores shirts (thanks Boom!) were a hit!

Look at those adorable cousins!

After we put the girls to bed, Chris and I went down to Siam Point and enjoyed the lovely view.

On Tuesday morning I got in another run before most of the family woke up.

Later that afternoon we had more beach time!  Callie also had fun meeting a new friend (whose family happens to go to our church!!!) and they were able to run around and hang out together. 

Callie and I also went paddle boarding!  

G-ma got these funny blue inflatable vests, so the girls surprised Uncle Dan and then everyone got in on the action.

We had a family sauna time before dinner.  It was awesome!

And then we had more cabin and deck time before bed.

Wednesday morning brought a colder polar plunge and lovely sunrays walking back to the cabin.

While the girls were at age group activities, the rest of us went on a hike to Old Baldy!

That afternoon, G-ma, the girls and I took a stitched creatures sewing class.  Chris, Hanna and Isla came along too!

Yes, that is a Poop Emoji that Maya made, in case you were wondering.

We enjoyed more cabin time Wednesday afternoon.  Auntie Cat and Maya decided to organize the fridge, because it was FULL and CHAOTIC. 

Thursday morning run: peek-a-boo sunshine! And then baby snuggles and homemade Eggs Benedict!


Dan, Hanna, Chris and I were able to escape the children for the morning to go hike at Bass Lake.  The hike ends at a little waterfall and beautiful lake views.  

And we definitely jumped in!

After lunch, the girls, Chris and I wandered down to the trading post to get our daily ice cream cone.

On Thursday afternoon, Auntie Cat took the girls on a mini Boundary Waters adventure!

And Chris and I went kayaking and then we wandered around camp with Dan, Hanna, Mitchell and Isla.

On Friday morning Hanna and I did paddle board yoga for the second time.  I worked on my paddle board headstand and was able to do it, VERY briefly! Then we ran into Pa and Mitchell looking for animals and saw Maya coming back from age group on a row boat.

After lunch, the girls wanted to go paddle boarding so we walked back down to the water front.  Maya hopped right up there!  And they played a game with Callie's friend out on the boards too.

On Friday afternoon there was a camp carnival, where kids could participate in a variety of fun activities! 

And then we soaked in the last of our beach time.  It was the most beautiful afternoon!

That evening was closing celebration.  Mitchell had fun running around the stage before it started.  Each girl participated in a skit with their age group.  And they had fun watching all the other skits and singing songs.

We had so many pictures from all of our fun at camp, so I put together a few more random picture collages to showcase it all!

Click here! for some videos of our fun (if you have 8 minutes to spare!).

I'm so grateful for the beautiful surroundings we were able to enjoy while being together.  

Thanks for another fun week, Camp DuNord!  The girls are already counting on more fun next year.

A Picture Update: Summer ‘21 Week 5…

…will be coming on Sunday as a whole week/weekend wrap-up!