‘Up North’ and new experiences

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Mackenzie, Charlie and Henry.

The adventures of the Thompson family took us on a week-long vacation where we stayed at Sandy Pines Resort in Backus, MN, at the end of June. This was our first full week of vacation since Mackenzie was born in 2014. We were all very happy to adventure together to a new resort.

On the way to the lake we made a pit-stop at Treasure City in Royalton, MN. It’s a fun stop if you need to stretch your legs and find a trinket or a new bright yellow t-shirt like the one I found for Mackenzie. Our first surprise of the vacation occurred at this stop when we ran into Chris’ family who were also on their way to the resort: his mother Gloria, sister Angie, her husband Matt, and their boys Henry and Charlie.

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Welcme! Wait, what does that say?

The cabin we stayed in had a lovely but misspelled welcome sign that made us laugh all week. We were on a quiet end of the resort and we had a fun walk to the swimming beach and the playground past the cabin our other family members stayed in. The kids had a blast swinging and playing in the sand all week. The adults had a good time deciding whose turn it was to make sure the kids were still having fun at the playground, and of course someone to help push the swings!

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Waiting for pancakes.

Sunday morning at the lake was a bit chilly so we headed into town for Mackenzie’s first-ever breakfast from a local cafe. Because of her previous peanut allergy, she hadn’t been able to eat breakfast from a restaurant. She had a great time “patiently” waiting for her pancakes. Mackenzie also experienced a couple of firsts when it was a little rainy and we traveled with Grandma Gloria to the nearby town of Walker. We ate at a Mexican restaurant – Mackenzie’s first trip into a Mexican restaurant – which happens to be her mom’s favorite. She also got to browse at a candy shop and picked out her very own giant lollipop!

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Lollipop from Mackenzie’s first trip to a candy store.

The resort had fun kids activities four days of our week-long stay. The kids had fun painting a bird house on Monday, Tuesday was a treasure hunt, Thursday the kids made sun catchers out of beads, and Friday morning they made sand art.

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Painting a birdhouse.

The Thompson family is already looking forward to another fun vacation at Sandy Pines Resort next summer. The adventures of 2017 and the week at the lake will live on as will the stories Mackenzie tells about her week of many firsts.

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Mackenzie, Kate and Chris.