Parenthood Adventures: Duluth!

Hey Everyone,

Ben, Ruby, and I just got back from a great trip to Duluth. I have so much to say, but don't know where to start. Sorry if I'm a bit all over the place. Ben and his brothers are obsessed with looking for (agate) rocks. I'm not the biggest fan, but I go along with his passion and somewhat (haha) support this obsession. The real reason why we went to Duluth was to get some sort of rock buffer? I don't know. Ben was originally going to go up himself and pick it up and just come back until we decided to make a little trip out of it. I'm SO happy that we did. It was been way too long that Ben (and Ruby and I have spent quality time together outside of our home. In fact, I think it is the first time we have done anything like this. We have of course gotten out, but it almost always includes our families or friends. This was just the best and just what I needed.

We woke up early on Thursday and took off. Ruby still isn't the best about riding in the car. She did pretty good on the way up however. The thing with Ruby is she is almost like clockwork. She eats every three hours and sleeps every three hours. Her schedule goes something like this....Eat at 1:00, be up for about an hour and then nap at around 2:00 for about half an hour to an hour and then be up until she eats again. Ruby sleeps the best in her crib. When we know she is tired we can lay her down awake and she will fall asleep. It's beautiful. When we were out and about or in the car it is almost always a disaster. She will put up a really good fight before going down. We got to Duluth and went to check into our hotel. Our hotel was Canal Street Lodge or something like that. It is a beautiful hotel that is right on Lake Superior. In the morning they brew Caribou coffee. How could you not be impressed? Anyway, Ruby and I took a nap and when she woke up we got ready to go swimming. We mostly went swimming so I could see Ruby in her ADORABLE swimsuit. (Thank you Carley's if you're reading this!) Ruby loved the water. She was splashing around like a maniac and trying to drink some in the meantime. Yuck! After we were done swimming, we got cleaned up and went out for dinner. It was super hot outside, but it was still fun to walk to the restaurant. After dinner we walked along the boardwalk. It was so exciting that Ruby fell asleep! :) Please don't call CPS on us, but we put Ruby's pack and play in the bathroom where it was super dark and away from where we were sleeping and the TV. Let me tell you people....she slept from 7:30 P.M. until 6:45 in the morning. It was AMAZING! The funny thing was that at home Ben NEVER hears Ruby wake up. However, in the hotel he said he went and checked on her several times because she wasn't making a peep. I didn't wake up at all either. It was wonderful!

We had a good night's rest, ate breakfast, and went for another walk. We also dipped Ruby's toes into Lake Superior. It was COLD, but she didn't mind too much. It's kind of funny, the majority of the pictures we took, it looks like Ruby was not too happy. I assure you though she was very happy! I think one of the best parts of the trip for me was turning my phone off. I didn't get on Facebook, I didn't check my email. Well, I lied....I did get on my phone to read my devotional, but that was it! It was so nice to disconnect and pay close attention to my husband and daughter. If you haven't done this in awhile, I highly recommend it. I think I might try to do this once a week. Pick a day and turn it off. We drove up the north shore a little ways, ate some lunch, and headed back home. It was a great trip and SO so good for the soul.