We just cam back from our first official family vacation! We went to Emily, Minnesota with Tyrone's family. The family gets together every two years so this was the first one for me. At first Tyrone and I were not sure about going. It was little more money then we were wanting to spend and we also considered spending our vacation time alone with Ty's girls. We FINALLY came to the decision to go! We decided we would extend the original vacation plan so that we could fit in a few days alone with the girls. This worked out perfect! We flew into Minneapolis on Thursday the 26th. We spent the next two days at the Mall of America; visiting the underground aquarium, riding rides at Nickelodeon Universe and eating at the Rainforest Cafe. We had a ball! But after all this I think the girls favorite part was having their own hotel room and swimming in the pool!
On Saturday we left the Minneapolis area and headed 3 hours North to the small town of Emily. The drive seemed much longer than 3 hours. the girls rarely complained, they were great. Tyrone and I were the ones who kept saying "Are we there yet?" Once in Emily we stayed in a lodge house with all of Tyrone's family. The lodge was right next to the lake. The girls spent most of the week at the lake both swimming and fishing.
Monday was mine and Tyrone's 2 yr wedding anniversary. The family agreed to watch the girls so we could spend some time together. We left Monday afternoon and headed 2 hours West to Duluth. It was the neatest little town right on Lake Superior. We stayed night their and headed back to Emily the following afternoon.
The rest of the week was spent at the lodge with the family. We played with the kids, read books and had many late nights playing games. We got a little restless after a couple of days but enjoyed the time to relax. I was off of work for 12 days! this is the longest amount of time I have ever been gone, I loved it!!
Our last day in Emily was Friday the 4th of July! We went to another small town, Crosby, about 30 minutes away. we enjoyed the parade there in the morning and then went back again that evening for the fireworks. It was one of the best firework shows we had ever seen. Tyrone made the comment that night that Friday was one of the best days he had spent with his family. That comment made every dollar spent and every mosquito bite we endured all worth it! We had a really good time.
Saturday morning it was time to leave Emily. Tyrone and I had enjoyed our time on Duluth so much that we wanted to take the girls there. We spent all day Saturday in Duluth(longer then planned). we rented a bike carriage that had two benches and peddled around the city. Every time we needed to back up all five of us made the appropriate "beep, beep, beep" in unison. It was nice to have stranger look at us and smile at how much fun we were having. We arrived back to Minneapolis area about 10:00 that night. We had to be up at 4:00 the next morning to head to the airport.
We are glad that made the final decision to take this vacation. It was nice to get away and be able to spend uninterrupted time as a family and get to know the extended family better!