Reunited and it feels so good....

This weekend, after a short stop in Minneapolis to have dinner with Sandy and Will, we went up to Brainerd, Minnesota for a Swanson family reunion. The Swansons are Pete's mom's side of the family. The majority of the family is still in the midwest, but a few came from as far as Washington D.C., South Carolina and California. I believe it's fair to say that a grand time was had by all. I don't seem to have many photos of the extended family, as I tend to be Henrycentric. Here are some highlights...

Sandy knew she had to have this yellow Schwinn when she found it at a flea market. I believe this is the first test ride. Henry loved it! We all enjoyed the chance to get out of the car and stretch our legs before the last couple hours of our trip. We walked down the street to have dinner at Rix which, despite the corny name, had pretty yummy food.


After a long drive we checked in to the Garrison Inn and crashed. The next morning we drove out to Uncle Steve and Aunt Pat's cabin on Crooked Lake. The weather was beautiful and we made the most of it. Here's the house....And the lake...
...complete with bathing beauties out on the dock.


We took a few boat rides...here's a shot of Henry checking out the lake. He wasn't fond of his life jacket.
Here's a view of the house from the lake. That's Liz and Van out on the dock.
Henry really wanted to give the boat lift wheel a crank every time he passed it. Fortunately he has a patient Bampa.


A few of us enjoyed some chilled refreshments throughout the day. Our hostess, Pat, even brought the grown-ups some frozen margaritas while we floated around on our rafts! The next morning we headed out Highway 18 to Paul Bunyan Land! We were greeted by Babe the Blue Ox.
Once inside, Paul greeted all the kids by name! He chatted us up a bit too....Grandpa Peter asked how many pancakes Paul could eat...Paul's answer was "How many flapjacks? Oh, about five or six hundred." Good old Paul. There were lots of other things to see and do, including Sport, the reversible dog. We enjoyed a few rides, took a train trip, played bumper cars...
Here are Pete and Liz on the Ferris wheel.
We weren't sure what the deal was with this turtle.

Aunt Liz took Henry for a tractor ride while I smashed up with the inlaws and Van in bumper cars. Those folks are vicious! Here we are on the train, enjoying the scenery.
The bouncy tent was one of the highlights of Henry's life so far. He LOVED this thing!
Pete and I wondered if we'd every make it out of the 'magnetic mine' alive...it was soooooo spooooky! We saw such amazing wonders as water flowing uphill.... and then, this weird room...which had bars and mirrors.... I don't know. The person who designed this attraction may have been smoking something.

Henry did like the carousel ride almost as much as the bouncy thing. He perfected his waving skills.
Okay, well, blogger's being pokey uploading the rest of the shots. And this is probably enough excitement for now anyway. I'll post the rest of the pictures tomorrow. You can just wait in anticipation until then...