A Family Trip to the North Shore, Minnesota

Last weekend we headed back up to the North Shore where the boys were all about collecting rocks again! Oh I just loved our little adventure. We packed so much in! Hikes, pie for breakfast, rock collections, the alpine slide... Everyone is still buzzing today from all the fun over the weekend.

Truthfully I was a little mad that school was starting again and cutting into our adventure time... but now I remember how good it feels to have a little structure and scheduling. It feels healthy! And the weekends are pure bliss. 

Northern Minnesota: Road Trip Adventures with my Girlfriend Emily

When Explore Minnesota, in partnership with Passion Passport, announced a contest with the prize being a 10-day trip to Minnesota, I knew right away who I had to encourage to apply! I had met my friend Emily on Instagram about a year ago. I had also met her in person in February at the opening of the Mobile Photography Exhibit at the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio. We had so much fun in Ohio that she said she wanted to come visit in August! This was a perfect opportunity! The stars (preferably Northern Lights) were aligned! 

Emily wrote a wonderful essay and it was no surprise to anyone when Explore Minnesota announced that she was the winner! She was to be flown from her home in Philadelphia to here in Minneapolis, given a car, hotels and a small allowance to travel our state for 10 days! For the first half of her trip Emily traveled with her mom.

After her mom left, Emily spent a night at our home. My husband, kids and dog adored her! The next day Emily and I set off for a 4 day adventure up to the North Shore. I was so excited - I rarely go places with the sole intention of working on my photography - so I filled her rental car with props and dresses and cut-out hearts and off we went! 

We saw so many beautiful areas in Minnesota. We went all the way up to Grand Marais, where we discovered an old airport runway and so many colorful facades. We rode the Alpine Roller Coaster at Lutsen. We cooled off along the shores of Lake Superior. A true adventure. We had a blast! Thank you Emily and Explore Minnesota!

Here are some photos from the trip❤️

Split Rock State Park in North Shore Minnesota: A Mom & Boys Adventure

About mid-August I started to get that crazy nostalgic feeling that summer was going by too fast. I have a son starting first grade and one in preschool...

Emily & I gave the North Shore some love

I had just returned from a 4 day excursion to the North Shore with my friend Emily who was traveling as a part of an Explore Minnesota campaign. That was a wonderful trip and it inspired me to "kidnap" my boys.

So, two days after returning, I surprised my two sons and we set out on a final summer hurrah. Just me and the boys. Dad stayed home to work but met us for the weekend about halfway through our adventure. We ended up being gone for about 14 days. We are a family on a budget so I planned our adventure with that in mind. We ate picnic lunches each day and stayed at friends' homes and camped when we could. Most of the second week was spent at the family cabin.

It was great fun because we didn't have any concrete plans. I knew I wanted to show them Minnesota's North Shore and then end up at the family cabin over in northeastern Wisconsin..

I can't possibly share everything in one post so here are some shots from the day we visited the Split Rock Lighthouse and Gooseberry Falls. The boys love to collect rocks so it was a rock-themed day. We even stopped at a rock shop! We also splurged on huge slices of pie at Betty's Pies. Yum!

Thanks for taking a look!