Family Vacation - Day 1

We finally took our first ever family vacation, spending a week at the Little Winnie Resort (named for the lake) near Deer River, MN. That's 4 hours north of the Twin Cities, for those who are wondering. We packed up what seemed like everything we own and crammed it in the van (thank goodness for stowing seats), along with a week's worth of groceries. Feeling a bit like the Griswolds, we pulled out of the driveway right at our "latest time we should leave to make the most of the day." Victory #1.

The drive was mostly uneventful, aside from neither child napping and Mariella being pretty fussy for the second half of the trip. We arrived at the resort, got checked in, and promptly discovered that we would be quite cozy for the week. The entire cabin could fit in our living room--possibly with room to spare. Mariella's pack-n-play just squeezed in next to the double bed in our room. She was mere inches from having to set up shop in the kitchen. Luckily, we weren't planning to spend a whole lot of time inside.

We unpacked the food first, leaving for later the issue of what else to bring inside vs. leave in the van, since clearly everything was not going to fit! The resort has a great playground, so we headed over there first.

Jacob immediately found the "merry-go-round." This toy nearly made him throw up more than once, yet he just couldn't stay off of it.

Mariella got in a lot of practice time on the basketball court

Jacob worked on his dunking skills

Mariella liked flying down the slides at breakneck speed. They were slippery.

We took a quick look at the lodge and pool, had a little dinner, and let the kids play outside for a bit longer until they were worn out and ready for bed. Day 1 of vacation was a success!