What’s a trip to Springfield without a trip to Scheels?  What’s a trip to Scheels without a ride on the ferris wheel and a spin through the presidential characters and maybe even sitting through a simulated Nascar race?

This year may have been the last on the ferris wheel for this boy.  Not a fan of stopping at the top.  Just like his mama I guess.  

Then these animated, moving, realistic, totally awesome and completely creepy figures of the presidents.  

Eeek.  Not sure he was a fan of them either.  

We did manage to spend a mere 3 hundo on running shoes for the big kids’ upcoming track season. Now THAT is scary!

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I despise gambling (boring and a painful to lose money.)

It is FREEZING in those casinos.

Nutso, nobody sleeps!! (Remember we met those people we know and they hadn’t been to bed yet and it was 10 AM, 10 IN THE AM!!! What the heck?)

But you know what…..it was AMAZING!!!!!!!

 Remember when I made you take a million selfies?  Because my make-up was ON POINT!

Remember, the girls got a regular cab ride and the boys pulled up in this dually limo and we were jealous of you boys?  Sweet ride!

Remember I took a few photos of strange men because I like their outfits?  For realsies, that is a good looking get up there! (Actually a little light on the starch and crease, but hey, ain’t nobody perfect!)

Remember all those dumb selfies?

Rember honey why we went?  It wasn’t to gamble and loose our money or hang out in the casinos or stay up all night.  We went to the NATIONAL FINALS RODEO ON SATURDAY NIGHT BAAAABY!!!  Holy cow I was on top of the world!!  Countin’ it as one of the many highlights of my life.  Right up there with birthing three babies, marrying a superman and Piatt County Rodeo Queen back in the day.

Remember when I just wanted to stand in this crowd and listen to the thump of the base and the strum of the guitar and watch the cowboys and cowgirls?  

And how I realized I am one of those people who would lay their body on the sub woofer if I could? 

Remember how we bought alot of boots and like 22 pairs of jeans for you.  Sup with that?

And how we took alot of selfies.  Remember, mama’s make-up was pretty twelve o’clock.

Love ya my Cowboy (farmer. whatever close enough.)

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We aren’t Hoosiers either, nope, not from Indiana.  But my husband’s dad is a Hoosier, and thanks to a group of hoosiers dating back several generations, we get to enjoy this gorgeous, remote setting year after year.  It has been passed down several generations in his family and now our kids are the 5th generation of our family to lay their heads on the pillows in these sweet cabins. 

I plan to do a few posts about this…but Justin has gone here nearly every year of his life.  I’ve been going now for maybe 16 or 17 years of my 20 years being around this clan. The kids have gone every year with the exception of the last 2.  So, it was DIRE that we go this year.  We made some adjustments in our schedule, missed some stuff we like to go to, sucked it up and…..ahhhhh arrived in the Northwoods for a week of awesomeness.

These are the kids that ran the show with us this year.  Ages 6-17. We had 8 kiddos in these little cabins along with their parents and of course Mimi and Papa.  That was a party of 16! A marvelous, fun, energetic, giggling, planning, fishing, wrestling, talkative, silly, glorious party of 16!

Everyone got along for the whole week.  In close quarters.  I mean CLOSE.  Like sleeping inches from one another in a dark cabin with no electricity and very limited (no cell service) electronics. Poor Mitchell (the biggest of our brood) snoozed his nights away on a cot nestled at the end of two cots shoved together where the big girls slept, right at their feet.  This bed was inches from bunkbeds housing two more kiddos. Not a single complaint.  Not one from anyone.

These kiddos LOVE this place, “better than Disney” is what they say!

Our week was filled with sun glorious sun! See that tan (um burn) line on the little one there in front? We got burned, we got toasted, we got wet. Alot. 

After settling in and tidying up our accommodations after nearly a year of vacancy and stillness tucked in the bush on this island (think, sweep, check for spiders and mouse poop,) we headed over to Moose Bay.

A quick boat ride and we docked  in Moose Bay ready for a hike.  A for real, sometimes it’s touch climbing the rocks, no trail, no park rangers, deer flies bite hard, bears are real, HIKE. 

Blueberries, brambles, vines, fallen trees, carpets of moss covering rock after rock, fallen trees and all!

This year we struck gold.  Blueberries were plentiful and the bear poop in the berry patches made it obvious that the bears were in on the secret. 

We collected blueberries forever and had to pull ourselves away. I don’t think if the 16 of us picked all day we would have picked them all!

Cole and Jace climbing rocks.  These kids were troopers on the hike up the rock.  They could scale about anything with ease!  It wasn’t quite that easy for the rest of us!

The girls stuck together all week.  Love to see their friendship, just like their mamas so many years ago.  Hope they stay BFFs forever.

Papa Mike on the ascend.  I wonder how many times in his lifetime he has made this trek? 

We made it!  Just look at that view!!!!

We have many photos over the years of ourselves and friends and family on this rock, it just never gets old.  It also doesn’t get much less scary, I mean, what if one of my babies went tumbling down that drop off?  Snap a quick pic and get away from the ledge!

Mimi and Papa on top!

I know it isn’t untouched, I know a few people see this spot every year, but NOT MANY!  This is pretty remote, pretty secluded and that is fascinating and awe inspiring to me.

After breathing the fresh air, filling our lungs with the smell of pines and scarring our legs from the brambles on the way up the rock, we are rewarded with this beautiful view.  And we are thankful for the opportunity and inspired by the grandeur of God’s creation.

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