Back to the regularly scheduled program. The kids have recently reminded me how much they love looking back at our adventures. Let’s be honest I have over 10,000 pictures on my phone and I’m tired of the storage is almost full notification popping up. So I’m going to take a stroll down memory lane and share our past year. We are going to start off with a little hop, skip, and a jump back to Minneapolis. The second time around made for a smaller learning curve and a little bit faster transition. I knew I wanted to jump into my role as stay at home mom as quickly as possible. We signed up for the Children’s Museum, Crayola World, we went to Toddler Tuesday at the MOA, and most importantly we signed up at the YMCA. We also had a long list of things we wanted to do this time around that we didn’t do last time we lived there. One of those adventures was driving up to Duluth. 
Randomly one Saturday we decided to ditch the city and take a 2.5 hour drive North. Grey got in a nap and we made it in time for lunch. We stopped at Culver’s for some burgers and of course a custard! Then we were off to see the Tall Ships and the BIG rubber ducky. I was very excited to see the tall ships. I have toured them before with my mom and aunt in Mystic. The last time I saw them I was in high school. My mom let me take her camera and I got a few shots of some sailors up in the ropes just hanging out. The life of a sailor always seemed like the ultimate adventure. It was fun to share these same memories with Zoë and Grey. 
The kids were ready to stretch their legs and explore. We let them get their sillies out at the park while Tommy got the tickets. I love watching the kids explore new environments and letting them be free to run around and make new friends. Zoë has no fear and will jump right in. Grey loved rocking on the boat and Zoë loves “helping” him.
Once we made it in we walked around to see what life was like when sailing on a tall ship. Zoë learned to tie knots, we learned about spinning yarn, and checked out the kitchen where people were prepping and cookin’ meats.
Then we wandered over to see the GIANT duck. As we walked around some more we decided we wanted to find a lighthouse. So I found one across the bridge in Wisconsin. Luckily it didn’t disappoint. 
We drove down a back road through some beautiful trees to a little pier and at the very end of the pier was a light house. It was a little too treacherous for Grey, maybe Zoë could have navigated it. Instead Tommy set out to climb and traverse the rocky pier. 
The kids and I hung out on the shore and played with driftwood. We got a few more pictures before we headed home. 
Adventuring is my favorite and as much as time tries to erase the past, on this day, in this moment my heart was full. 
I’m thankful for this space to share our life and our journey, the good, the ugly, and the even better. I want to keep this space alive for Zoë and Grey. So I’m going to continue to unpack. And those 10,000 photos have to go somewhere! Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Memory Lane
It is well with my Soul 