duluth 2012

We are back from a full week at Marmie's! Duluth is a great small city for children. Because they have a pretty short summer, people really take advantage of it so the city has tons of trails (for hiking in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter), parks, and outdoor activities for all ages. Brian, Dara, and Amara overlapped with us for a few days, and Jim took Jed out on several adventures to "shoot up the town," or, as Jed translated it, "shoot out the neighborhood." Eric and I even managed to escape for a date night!

Our flights were not terrible. Jed was an enthusiastic and cheerful traveler; Macon was less so, though he slept for part of one of yesterday's flights. Twice, Jed yelled "we're going down!" as he described our descent so Eric and I coached him to avoid yelling "we're going down" when on an airplane. Jed enjoyed getting extra snacks from the "flight attender," but poor Eric had to submit to a serious and intense search at the Duluth airport so we could keep the boys' favorite snacks. 

Enjoy the pictures! 

hanging around Marmie's

Eric's dad's army helmet was a bit hit. 

Dara and Amara

Marmie's delightful neighbors, Ilee and Will, shared their pool.

Eric and Amara

Does Amara seem extra contented? That's because she thought Eric was "da."

Uncle Brian listens closely . . . 

. . . and asks clarifying questions. 

chaos in the living room

Macon tries out the little car (sans battery).

Ilee and Jed chalk up the driveway

Jim and Jed get the Jeep out.

Jed watches the doe and her fawn.

out to lunch

at a park

fishing in Lake Superior

hockey! 

our ship comes in

at the Great Lakes Aquarium (or Quar'um in Jedspeak)

Our visit to the train museum happened to coincide with Thomas' visit.

inside the train museum

the view from the cab of a snowplow engine

back at Marmie's

in the woods near Marmie's

Thankfully, we weren't relying on Macon to drive us home, but here he's practicing at the Duluth airport.

And in Minneapolis he practiced piloting. 

Thanks to Marmie, Jim, Ilee, Will, Brian, Dara, and Amara for a great trip!