Aurora Peeping at the Cottage on Mother's Day Weekend

I had PTO to use up so we made a trip to the cottage for Mother's day weekend. It isn't too often we drive up on a Friday so fish fry was a must. 

I would've stayed home and painted, but you guessed it, it was still raining. On the way we took a slight detour up to Lehman's Supper Club up in Rice Lake. 

We've never ventured up here from our typical route, but it's kind of the start of Up North, which means lots of restaurants for the tourists.

The kiddos got spaghetti.

Of course we got the fish fry. I'd rank Lehman's as a mid to low tier supper club. Ambiance is meh. Fish was forgettable. Good salad.

After reading reviews later I guess the main attraction is the entree's that include a relish tray and popovers. 

But they do have a great bar.

My dad has been busy working on Chelsea's bedroom upstairs. She upgraded to a queen bed and we needed to get the box spring up stairs. 

It would not fit. Close, but we were really searching for a solution. One of us commented that the stairs were in the way. 

It was a lot more difficult than we thought. Note to self, it is not coming back down for a verrry long time. 

We finally managed to get the box spring up the stairs. The real question was why didn't Mike just get a platform bed? No one uses box springs anymore.

My dad does good work. 

I'm on team Chelsea. Her room turned out pretty great. Some folks questioned the ceiling panels, but they look great.

The next morning was lake time. 

Not sure why he's wearing this. 

Well, he wanted to sit on the back of Meadow's little kayak. And then found it he outgrew this type of life jacket.

Mid temps and a cold lake? Not gonna stop Blake from jumping in.

It's the annual put the dock in the water day. 

Aka Brooke watches while the MEN get to work. (I kid, sort of.)

Who would take the photos?

We told Theo to pay attention as it will be his job someday. 

He helped out taking the wheels from the lift back to shore.

Theo had fallen asleep in the car on the drive up which he never does. He stayed asleep even after we brought him in. The next morning we figured out why, poor little guy had a fever. When aren't these kids sick?

It's been the worst year of parenthood. Sick so many dang times. Hopefully Theo's built up some immunity by next school year.

Heavy spring snow had brought done a couple trees. 

Acrobat Meadow

And acrobat Brooke, I guess.

One of Blake's old coworkers runs the Eagle River History Museum. We got a private tour of the place. We have driven by many times and I never knew it was an old lodge. 

It's on a forgettable stretch highway with an odd assortment of businesses. Pretty cool inside, though.

This was our favorite photo. 

I need a print.

This book could be interesting. 

We played telephone at dinner.

And then the boys played Catan Junior. Of course Blake won.

As he does. 

This weekend was prime time to see the Northern Lights. The best time was the night before but it was cloudy here. I guess you could see them in Minneapolis and as far south as Arizona. But not us.

We saw a few very faint auroras.

Scott's phone was the only one that could capture anything. 

Pssst....the northern lights aren't really all the visible to the naked eye. They're really there, but if you need a long exposure to capture it, is it really that big of a deal?

Mom sure got spoiled on Mother's Day.

I added our stickers from our most recent campervan trip to our rooftop box.

We've got to keep track of them, since some will fall off inevitably. We always forget which ones they were.

We went out for Mother's Day brunch at Chef Rene's in Eagle River. 

Theo complained of having a bubble in his throat on the drive. Even after getting food he didn't have any appetite.

I now know what that means, but also have no clue what that means.

Brooke was looking beautiful, but Theo's stomach bug was kind of dampening the mood.

I spent half the time in the bathroom and Theo eventually threw up. But the food, especially the pastries, was great.

Me and my little loves. 

Blake was taking off to head back to Duluth.

The current new Oreo flavor is dirt cake. I've been trying to find it everywhere but haven't had any luck. 

Present time. 

We got mom Mini Brands and a wrapping paper holder kit. 

Theo had made me some things at school. 

He drew a picture of us geocaching and said he loves his mom because I give him everything he wants. 

Meadow made me a puzzle of all my favorite things. I love that she included steps. 

Lol.

Theo was feeling good enough to play down by the lake. Kids bounce back so quickly. 

I'm usually the first one to swim in the lake, but yesterday Blake and Meadow beat me to it. 

A few days later some folks on the Three Lakes group were asking if it would be warm enough to swim by the end of June. Ummm, yeah.

Brooke and Theo were watching a storm roll in.

Still my baby.

After the rain stopped the lake was super calm. Theo had been wanting to go on a paddle boat ride. 

It was a beauty.

Had to get some good drone shots with lighting like this.

Even flew the drone over by Crystal Creek.

Dreamy. The next morning it would be the first wildfire smoke of the year. Strange times.

Meadow has been wanting baked potatoes. Hamburgers and potatoes for dinner it is. 

No Northern Lights on our last night.

On our drive home, we stopped at our new favorite ice cream shop. They even take card now. 

Ice cream and cuddly kitties? Don't think Meadow could ask for more.