Duluth Day 1

Day One


We picked Rachael up from preschool, with the van all packed up with all of our suit cases, lovies, blankies, movies, snacks, coats for all types of weather, snow boots, mittens, hats, sunglasses....I was ready for IT ALL.  I even had two strollers, my big jogging one & my "everyday" jeep stroller.  My mom thought I was crazy packing so much, but I've learned, if you underpack, you will regret it, with kids.  So, in the church parking lot I started their first movie, turned on the navigation system & headed North.


We only made one pit stop in Moose Lake to go potty, change a diaper & switch movies.  We got back on the road & Rachael loved watching the scenery as we drove.  All the beautiful rock & pine trees, with very little snow!  We arrived at our hotel, that I booked at the last minute on priceline, at about 5:30pm.  We got only the things we'd need for that first night out & then ordered dinner.  We ordered sandwiches from Erberts & Gerberts & waited...& waited...& waited.  An hour & a half later, our sandwiches arrived.  Their store is one mile away.  I was NOT happy.  But, we layed out a blanket, had a picnic & watched the first night of Dancing With The Stars (Rachael's Favorite Show!)  


The first night Daniel slept with me & Rachael got her own bed.  We all fell asleep about 830pm.  The room was small, the hotel was noisy & not really worth it.  The next morning we went down for breakfast, although there wasn't much there.  We ate a little, then checked out of the hotel & headed for the Lake Superior Zoo. 


Our hotel was up the hill quite a ways from the water, so as we headed down the hill, the kids got their first view of Lake Superior.  They cheered & clapped & Daniel kicked his legs.  They thought it was so cool how huge it was, they loved the lift bridge.  


We drove to the Zoo, which I thought we were lost.  Navigation put us in sort of a run down section of town, so I thought it couldn't be correct.  So, I turned down a street to look it up on my phone again, but we were in the right area!  So, we finally got to the zoo, which appeared tiny, right at 10am, which is when it opened.  With our MN Zoo pass, we got in for half price, which ended up being like $5.50 total.  

 I love how the bear posed for our pictures!  Daniel refused to wear his mittens, he wanted Rachael's instead.  It honestly wasn't that cold, unless we were in a shady area.

 Rachael loved this bear...we spent a long time at his area, the other bear in there was asleep but this one posed for pictures & then was playful & fun to watch.

 Happy & Muddy kids.  I let Daniel out to walk near the tigers, but their shoes & the stroller were COVERED in mud.  Our zoo is beautiful, and I once asked how high a tiger can jump to a zoo keeper.  He told me to be legal, a zoo must have a fence like 19 feet high.   This zoo, was maybe 14 feet so we tiptoed by them & hoped they didn't notice :)

 The kids LOVED the polar bear who had just tipped over his food tray.  You can see the food on the ground there, which looked a lot like dog food!  He was throwing that white tray around the area & then chasing it.  Rachael & Daniel laughed & laughed, they loved him.

 This is a beautiful spring running from atop a high hill although winding throughout the zoo. They had beautiful rock bridges you could cross over.  The kids loved seeing it & standing on the bridge looking down at it.

While we were standing there looking at the lions, over a ways, a tiger growled, so as I Took this picture all the lions picked up their heads.  The male let out a huge roar, which TERRIFIED Daniel.  He started crying, wanted into his stroller & we headed inside the building for the few animals in there.


We saw a white skunk, lots of birds, a few monkeys, a white tailed dear, llama, pony, goats, rabbit, ferret, toads, snakes, geckos, and a few others.  We had a great time & the zoo turned out to be much better than expected as we drove up!


Then, we ate lunch at Culvers & Daniel was falling asleep.  So, I called the next hotel we'd be at until Friday to see if we could check in early.  Luckily our room, complete with a crib for Daniel was all ready.  So, we headed over to the Marriot Extended Stay.


Once we got EVERYTHING in our room, we took a long nap.  Our room was beautiful & had a kitchen in it, so I made dinner & then we went swimming.  After bath time, bedtime.


Wednesday, was the Children's Museum, that blog will be next!!!