Our Grand Adventure

We were privileged to spend a week at Shing Wako Resort in Merrifield, MN (near Brainerd). We rented a cabin on Lake Edward. I spent about a quarter of my life packing for this trip. Seriously. For those of you who have never embarked on such a vacation, renting a cabin at a resort is similar to camping. They supply the bedding and cooking utensils. If you're really lucky, like we were this time, they will also supply the toilet paper. AND, to our delightment, they even supplied dish soap. We were living high! I only needed to pack bath towels, beach towels, paper towels, toys, toiletries, baby items, clothes, swimwear, bike helmets, a stroller, sand toys, fishing equipment, lawn chairs, bug spray, sunscreen and the kids. All this is well worth the effort however because: #1. Once we're there, I buy groceries and cook our own food. It's cheaper and less stressful than taking kids to eat in a restaurant three times per day. #2. A cabin is more conducive to relaxation because we don't all have to sleep in one room like we do in a hotel and I'm not worried about the kids making too much noise and getting us kicked out. #3. We have no set agenda. We can relax (I even got a book read.) and do things at our own pace.

Now that you have been educated about resort vacationing (whether you wanted to be or not), I will share some of the activities we pursued. I have published photos in the next post illustrating some of these activities. We biked the Paul Bunyan Trail (or at least four miles of it). Note to self: Always check to make sure bike rental facility is located near bike trail so your kids are not worn out biking TO the trail leaving them with little energy left to bike the actual trail. We rode some rides at Paul Bunyan Land. I did a little shopping at the quirky stores in Nisswa. The males went hiking. We made some smores at our campfire. We visited an indoor waterpark on one of the overcast days. We got a little sunburned. We got some mosquito bites. We lounged on the beach. We played in the park. We collected a gallon of dead snails and brought them home (I was not impressed). The males rode some go-karts. Cami collected a lot of sand in her diaper. The males did some paddleboating and kayaking. Evan got hit in the head with a paddle. You could hear the scream halfway across the lake. We all ate waaay too much ice cream.

Shing Wako was a nice resort. You could choose from a 1947 rustic cabin, a luxury condo or something in between. We did the something in between. The resort was immaculate and well-maintained. There was not a rusty piece of metal, broken glass, dead tree, rotted board, piece of litter, etc. to be seen. Lake Edward had clear, warm, shallow water. Cami loved laying on her tummy in the "surf." One could venture out 300 feet and still be standing in waist deep water.

The boys did not want to leave. We made it back safely, caught up on laundry, and are now returning to the daily grind.

I see I've published another novel. Until later.