Mitchell is two!

Mitchell turned two on July 11th. We did not really do anything special since we'd celebrated while camping.

He thought the day was great. We set up "a bath" in the backyard. Here he is eating cheetos in "a bath". Can life get any better?

We saved a Little People race track for him to open. I'd say the day was a success!
Mitchell is a cute little dude but VERY BUSY! He's learned how to climb out of his crib this week, much to our dismay. He is learning more words each day. He keeps us entertained by wondering what he'll do next!

Bear Lake

We went camping at Beak Lake with my side of the family. I had not been to Bear Lake in years. It's really high this year.

As the lake came into view as we drove Mitchell kept yelling "a bath!" as he pointed out the window. Pretty much any water is "a bath". He loves to get wet.

Our first evening was quite cool, but Mitchell was still in "a bath" as soon as possible, fully clothed.

The desire to be wet must run in the family since I think all the kids did take a little dip that night.

Mason chillin in Bill's big chair.

The next day we went to the Minnetonka Cave. We had to wait a while for our tour so we had a picnic in the parking lot. Mitchell kept taking everyone's food & drinks to finish himself.


Finally getting to go in & cool off.
We all enjoyed our cave tour. Mitchell kept pointing to the rocks & declaring "a rock". I don't know how many times we heard "a rock" on our tour but it was lots.

There are 444 stairs in the cave.

On the beach Emma kept hunting for little shells.
The big girls made a sand couch.
Mitchell wanted to get into the water in his clothes so we finally put him in his suit & life jacket & turned him loose, even though it was a bit chilly.

We celebrated Mitchell's second birthday a few days early. He got lots of fun toys to play with at the lake.



Mitchell ate a huge marshmallow. He was SO STICKY, so was everything around him.
The lake was so high that the boys were playing in the weeds in water up to their waists.
Mitchell was loving every minute on the beach by "a bath".


Our friends have a boat that they took us out on. Mitchell wanted to drive it.

I was the first one on the tube.
Mitchell liked the boat ride. It rocked him to sleep.
Sarah & Becca stayed on the tube for a long time.




After a few fun hours on the boat it broke down. Todd & Mason towed it in on a jet ski.
Bill decided he'd pull the boat in just for fun.

Mitchell spent a bit of time in his pak-n-play in the trailer, until he learned to climb out of it! He's wearing his Happy Camper shirt from Becky.

Fishing on the 4th

We went up to Mantua on the 4th with Todd's family. The kids got to do some fishing. Mason was a natural & can't wait to go again.

Sarah & Claire had more fun wading that fishing.
The little kids liked picking weeds at the campsite.

When we got home we did sparklers & a few little fireworks. The kids were bummed that we did not have any of the big fireworks that are now legal. Lots of our neighbors in the circle above us did, so we just enjoyed theirs from a little distance, for free.