2 Girls and a Dog: Bemidji and Bay Lake Vacation

It's hard to be back from vacation! We enjoyed such a good time! First we were at Ruttger's Birchmont Lodge in Bemidji, MN. The first night there we went and saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice - FUN movie! On Monday the girls enjoyed spending some time at the children's program while Jon and I explored downtown Bemidji a little bit. I also found a new favorite treat that I will HAVE to go get again the next time we are there - it was a huge rice krispie bar, on a stick, covered in caramel, then rolled in peanut butter chips and then coated with hard chocolate. OH MY GOODNESS! It was incredible! After picking up the girls and having some lunch we relaxed on the beach for the rest of the day - it was so nice to just relax. The girls enjoyed building sandcastles, kayaking and swimming.

Tuesday we went swimming in the morning, had lunch downtown and then the girls enjoyed exploring the Headwater's Science Center in Bemidji. That afternoon and evening we spent more time at the lake.

Wednesday we headed out for Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge near Brainerd, MN. Wow - what a place! Thanks again for the gift, Serena. It was really really nice and quite the resort. Our room had a balcony off the golf course and after checking in on Wednesday the girls wanted to go to the outdoor pool and then the beach. They loved swimming at the pool and looking for shells, reading and relaxing at the beach. Wednesday night we ate dinner at the restaurant at the lodge.

Thursday morning was Jon's golf time. We all headed out on The Lakes golf course - Jon said it was the nicest course he's ever played on and it was beautiful. He and I golfed while the girls helped with driving the golf cart. Some of the holes were absolutely gorgeous! It was a lot of fun. We followed up golf with lunch at the restaurant there at the golf course. It was a long wait for food, but sure did taste good! That afternoon after some downtime in our room we headed back to the pool and the beach for more swimming and shell hunting. Emmy found a lot of shells and was quite the happy girl. I even found a shell to replace the one that Tre lost at our house last summer! :) Thursday night we kind of snacked for dinner and then went out on a pontoon tour of Bay Lake in the evening. It was quite relaxing - Emmy slept for the entire ride.

Friday after we relaxed and then checked out we stopped in Brainerd before heading home to enjoy Pirate's Cove mini-golf. It was a very fun course. The girls had a blast and I have to say it was awesome to kick Jon's butt at putt-putt! I even had 3 holes-in-one (Jon had zero). So he may have royally creamed me on the real golf course, but I got my revenge during putt-putt.

It was good to get back home and sleep in our own beds Friday night. Vacation was a wonderful change of pace and much needed for all of us. After a whirlwind trip to Iowa this weekend we'll settle back down for one more week of summer before school starts on the 25th. Here are several pictures from our vacation.