Getaway to Mille Lacs
Throughout all of the events of last year, especially losing our babies, we knew remembering would be important – remember/commemorating those mile-markers, the difficult days, and remembering where God had taken us. We know May 16 will always stick in our heads. After reading many books and talking with those who have experienced loss, we knew getting away around this day would be good for us. A few weeks ago I was looking at a map and we thought it would be nice to explore more of Minnesota – which led us to Mille Lacs.
You may have heard of this town even if you don’t live in Minnesota – it made the national news as “glacier” type ice moved towards the shore and eventually damaged some of the houses along the lake, as it paved path. We did not head up there for that reason at all, but we did end up seeing snow!
On the drive up, it got into the hills again – SO GORGEOUS!
We had deep conversations about the past year, our babies, how we just can’t wait to meet them one day, and just our love for two children whom we’ve never met. Tears definitely flowed, but I would call them good tears as they were also tears of just moving forward – continuing to figure out life without them. For a year, we were planning our life WITH kids – now we go back to planning life without them. Hard to do at times because we just want those two back – but God has done wondrous things in our life since, and we know He knows what He is doing!
Not everyday you see a fence like this!
On the way up we stopped in Little Falls, where the Minnesota Fishing Museum was. It was fun to visit – not that we need to go again, but it was neat to see how fishing has evolved through the years!
Old wooden boat
Great way to tell the weather! It had a rock hanging on a hook next to this sign
I would so drive one of these!
They didn’t mess around with spearing back in the day!
Clever minnow trap
Record-size fish
Dream cabin someday!
Can’t you see Dan and I playing Skip-Bo and Battleship by that table?
It’s crazy to think that we live west of the Mississippi!
We brought our bikes along because we read that there were some biking trails here – so glad we brought them!
We only saw 2 people and 2 cars the whole time we were at this park!
We thought it would be fun to climb the observation tower…
As I looked up, I started to freak out because I am afraid of heights…but up I went!
We made it to the top! Definitely above the tree line!
I NEVER let go of anything – even to take a picture!
Dan proving that he is not afraid of heights…I will also say that it was so windy that the tower moved at times – YIKES!
You can see our bikes leaning up against the fence below…Dan also hacked a loogy and it took 5.4 seconds to land – there’s some trivia for the day!
Not as calm as I look
Yes, those are icebergs! Who would’ve thought in MAY?
Taking the scenic route along the lake
Another view of the iceberg
After Mille Lacs, we headed down to St. Cloud to check out this all sports store called Scheels – awesome store!
We heard a lot of hype about the restaurant Five Guys – we decided to jump on the bandwagon while in St. Cloud and see what it was all about. Best burger I’ve had that I can remember! You can choose your own toppings, not too greasy, their fries are amazing and you get a lot of food for your money! This Dutch girl loved that!
We had such a wonderful day together. Though it was a trip of remembering, we also had many laughs and joking around – normal Dan and Kristin laughs. It felt good after a long week of emotions. We feel refreshed and ready to continue learning how to move forward.