August in Minnesota

Every other year we go to Minnesota to visit Brendan's family, spending a week together in Ely. This year we started out our vacation (after 2 days of driving) at the Byrne Elk Farm. Brendan's parents have a great place for kids to play and run. Even though it rained for most of the 2 days we were there, the kids spent most of it outside, running around the elk fields, trying out Brendan's old skateboard and riding on the driveway in the surrey with the fringe on top.After 2 days at the farm, we drove 6 hours north to Ely, where we met up with Brendan's two sisters and brother and their families and his parents at the Garden Lake Resort. We spent a week fishing, swimming in the lake, playing games, basically just hanging out together. Meredith caught the first fish of the week! Here's Meredith with cousin Maddy and the fish!There were 8 kids, ages 3-12. The younger ones had a treasure hunt every day. One day the 2 older girls put on a carnival for the younger kids, with face painting, tattoos, watermelon eating contest and boat rides. Meredith wrote a play for the other kids to act out. They really had a lot of fun. Here's Jeremy and Jason with cousin Helen after a boat ride following a clue.One day, Mindee and Beth (Brendan's sisters) and I went out with a fishing guide. Such a fun, relaxing day. We caught about 10 fish, including my first fish ever! We even stopped on shore for lunch cooked by our guide; he fried up some of the fish we caught in the morning with some potatoes. Delicious!So here's the whole Byrne family: top row: Jim and Eileen Byrne, the parents
next row: Dave Hutchinson, me
next row: Shea Byrne, Beth Hutchinson, Maddy Hutchinson, Jason, Brendan
next row:Bethany Byrne, Alaina Hutchinson, friend Paige, Jeremy, Meredith
at the bottom: the Antons - Dave, Mindee, Helen, Charlie