Family trip to Lutsen, MN

Spencer was able to take a couple days off so we could go on a family trip to Northern Minnesota.  We stopped for one night in Duluth, MN which was where my Grandma Dunkley served her mission.  We went to a park and rode these awesome bikes! We got a lot of great looks with my massive belly and the three boys riding in the back.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We rode along Lake Superior and then found a couple places to throw rocks into the lake-- a favorite of the boys!  We were lucky and had great timing with the lifting bridge and were able to watch it being raised so the boats could go through.  We ate dinner at Red Lobster-- which is one of Reece's favorite restaurants because he gets to eat some fish!  Then we went to our hotel for an awesome swim party! Even though we have been swimming almost every day this summer-- swimming at the hotel is always a fun adventure.  

On our 2nd day we traveled up to Lutsen resort where we stayed for the night.  We went to Gooseberry falls which was heaven for our boys.  They could run around and be wild and crazy jumping on rocks, throwing rocks, just having a great time being boys.  It was also stunningly beautiful.  Reece got pretty good at skipping rocks too!

We had a rough night in Lutsen.  We shared a cabin with our friends the Rutledges.  We asked for a pet-friendly cabin but they didn't have any available.  We decided to chance it and see if the boys would survive it or not.  Unfortuntely, Tanner had a really hard time breathing.  We left the next morning and went North to a little city that had the "World's best donuts".  Honestly-- they really were the best donuts I have ever tasted.  I enjoyed a stroll through some of their boutique's while the boys had another fun adventure with Dad climbing rocks and then throwing them into Lake Superior.  It was a win-win.  We then went to the Alpine Slides which was a HUGE hit.  Benson just about killed me. We did two runs and on the first run he realized that if he pushed the level all the way forward he would go super fast.  He told me that for his second run he was going to keep it all the way forward for the entire run.  I didn't realize he was serious about doing that until I went down with him on the opposite track.  He was going so fast I couldn't keep up with him.  I just about wet my pants from laughing and also from being scared to death that he was going to fly off the track.  That kid has some serious guts.  Reece was also hilarious and did the opposite and just enjoyed his ride down the track.  Tanner sat on Spencer's lap and was in hog heaven.

So on our 3rd day Tanner did great once we left the cabin but when we returned he started to struggle breathing again.  To make a long story short-- we had to leave that night and go home because Tanner wasn't going to make it through the night.  Spencer and JD gave him a blessing and off we went.  Within 30 minutes of leaving Tanner was back to his normal self.  A week later he had his annual allergy testing and we found out that his cat and dog dander are extremely high.  No wonder the poor guy couldn't breath.  We were giving him strong steroids and breathing treatments and nothing did the trick until he got a blessing and we left.  We were still blessed to get everything in our trip that we wanted to see and accomplish.  We were also blessed to have Tanner recover so quickly after we left.  Ashely told the company what had happened and they refunded us that night's stay which was really nice of them.

Tanner transitioned into a toddler bed! He was so excited to give his room to the baby in mom's stomach and get his own little bed.  It made me giddy watching him be so proud of his new achievement of sleeping in a new room, downstairs, next to his brothers in his new little bed.  He transitioned with ease and never looked back.  Good work Tanner!