Turtle Lake (Warning: Photo Overload!)

We had a wonderful time up at Turtle Lake. We went up on Friday, July 27th and left on Thursday August 2. Dan came up for the weekend, although of course it would have been nice if he could have stayed the whole time!

Our visit was so relaxing; lots of swimming, reading, relaxing on the deck with the beautiful view, and just enjoying each others' company. Kate loved the water, as always; the three of us spent hours in there just floating and talking. And of course we hit up our favorite restaurant, The Five O'Clock Club (twice!) We love that place; it's on our list of places to go every time we're up north. During the week, we also took a boat ride tour of the St. Croix River. That was so pretty; Kate loved being on the boat, and my mom and I really enjoyed seeing all the rock formations, etc. It was very interesting; the guide pointed out a bunch of rocks that looked like certain things (George Washington, an old man, a lion, etc.) and the rocks totally did look just like that! (Maybe it was the power of suggestion, too, though... hmmm). Anyway, we had a blast our whole trip and can't wait to go up north again!

 Enjoying the beautiful view during breakfast... although Kate doesn't look too happy!

 Such a good helper to clear her plate!

She looks like she's plotting something, haha.

 I love her funny faces!

 Peek-a-boo!

 We got to have dinner with Uncle Fred and Aunt Kathryn on Sunday night, which was fun.

 Kate found this raccoon in the cabin and became attached to it the whole week we were there.

 Doing dishes became her new favorite chore, apparently!

 

 On the St. Croix boat tour

She loved playing with this 15-month old boy who was on the boat ride; I think his name was Elijah. She wanted to do whatever he did; if he fell down, she fell down. If he was walking funny (with that new-toddler waddle), she did that too. So funny to see!

Here's the old man in the rock. You can see it quite well in this picture, I think, but it was even more clear in person. The guide said it was featured on Ripley's Believe It or Not as one of the most realistic, natural-made rock formations.

 The view from our dock

 Ready to swim!

 Noodles, anyone? (Or, as Kate calls them, noonles)

 

 "I drive wheel?" No, honey, you can't drive that wheel!

 Our beautiful room