Maple Trees

Yesterday I loaded up the kidlets and drove up to Lutsen, a ski resort on the North Shore.  Obviously we weren't skiing.  In fact, I simply don't ski.  Skiing would be bad news with my degree of uncoordination.  Instead, we took a gondola ride over to Moose Mountain to observe the changing maple trees.  I love maple trees in the fall.  Hordes of other people had the same idea, but we patiently waited in line for a long while to board the gondola.  

Mr. Sneaky Pants calls it the granola ride.  Sarah and I tried all morning to teach him to say "gondola,"  but it was just too much for him to remember.  After hearing him call it the granola ride so many times, I started calling it "the granola,"  too.  It just rolls off the tongue better.  

Anyway, the granola ride was fantastic, and the view from Moose Mountain was stunning. Breathtaking.  Amazing.  Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of it because of the swarms of people with cameras crowding on the observation deck.  They were so enraptured, so in awe of their natural surroundings that they were clamoring over one another like ants in a bowl of sugar.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to reign in three small kids in the middle of a crowd, so I didn't make it very long on the observation deck.  

Even though there were some difficult moments regarding kidlet attitudes, the trip was worth it.  We drove a bit through the maple forests at sunset, and took in a few gushing waterfalls, that were really in their prime because we had lots of heavy rain last week.