A little Northern Exposure!

Chuck, Dallin, and Grandpa Tom headed up north for their second annual fishing trip. They packed up Wednesday morning and made the 6 hour drive to northern Minnesota's Rainy Lake in Voyageurs National Park. A gas station they stopped at on the way up had a "pet" deer named Al in the back that liked to be fed seeds and corn out of ice cream cones! Dallin loved being able to get so close to a deer, and Chuck said it was one of his favorite parts of the trip!

They had great weather & so so fishing. Dallin caught an 18 inch walleye (too big to keep), but Chuck and Grandpa didn't believe him at the time when he said he had a fish on. They had just pulled into a part of the lake that was more weedy and they both told him he had a snag. He said no, I've got a fish, and reeled it in all by himself. Sure enough he pulled up this great big walleye! Chuck quick grabbed the net before Dallin lost the fish, and snapped a few pictures of this proud moment!

Poor Grandpa Tom caught only a tiny small mouth bass:( but snagged something even better...a fun weekend with his oldest grandson and son-in-law! Chuck finely caught a keeper on the last day of their trip, a 27" Northern Pike!

Dallin loves these trips and looks forward to them all year long. He had to wait until he turned 8 before Chuck would take him on such a long trip. Now poor Grant can hardly stand the fact that he has to wait 2 more years before he gets to go along! It was amazing how much quieter the house was with Dallin out of the mix, but I missed them both more than I thought I would. Thank goodness I had the Olympics to keep me company at night!

Chuck & I are heading off to Oregon tomorrow night to be at his Dad's Wedding. We are taking Ava with us and leaving the others back home with my mom. The kids are disappointed they aren't coming, but it's such a quick trip, and we don't want the headache:) We decided to rent a car and drive (crazy!), but I think it will be a little bit of an adventure. The drive is soooo beautiful, and it a great time of year for a road trip! Hopefully I will still have this positive attitude a week from now! Well I'm off to shop, clean, and pack!