Our BWCAW Camping Trip - The good, the bad, and the ugly!

The Bad:
Mosquitos. Everywhere. ALL the time. I'm talking 24/7.
And-
The bug spray that I brought did not work. At all. In fact, Tyler thinks it attracted them!

The Good:
During our trip to town for boat gas one day, I found a new kind of bug spray in the little grocery store there. And it worked! I think we have found our new fave bug spray! Its called Natrapel.

The Bad:
Tyler got his first ever bee sting during our trip. The bee must have been on his sleeping bag and it stung him when he laid down. I think the entire island knows he got stung... he yelled pretty loud... something about thinking he was going to die. ;o)

The Good:
We now know that Tyler is not allergic to bees like his Daddy!

The Bad:
The sun rises in the East. Our campsite was on the Eastern side of the island... therefore it was VERY hot in the morning and early afternoon.
And-
We had very little shade.

The Good:
I was able to keep us all lathered in sunscreen so that none of us got burned!
And-
We had our own personal beach right at our camp so we could hop in the water to cool off whenever we wanted!

The Bad:
Wood Ticks. We saw 4 of them during the trip. I found 2... and our friend, Octavious, found 2.

The Good:
Only 1 of them was attached. And it wasn't to anyone in my family. :o)
Actually I think that is pretty good odds for 5 people spending 5 days in the woods.

The Bad:
We left a few fish on shore on a stringer while we tried to catch a few more for our lunch. A swarm of Crayfish came along and chowed down on our fish. Ruined them.

The Good:
Tyler had fun catching the Crayfish to use as bait. That'll teach them! :o)
And-
A local Seagull came along and ate the remains of the fish, which was interesting to watch.

The Bad:
We wanted to see a Moose. We did not. We even went for a nature walk one day to try to spot one but the BUGS (have I mentioned the bugs?) were so bad that we didn't make it far before we had to turn back.

The Good:
We saw quite a few really fresh Moose tracks on the trail before we turned back. Something we hadn't seen before.

Our Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Trip

We decided to take the "scenic" route up to the BWCAW... along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Our friend was joining us for the trip and he had not seen the wonderful scenery that is the North Shore. Not to mention there is a little shop along the way that has THE BEST smoked fish ever!

The drive brought back memories of when we used to live "up north". We would drive in to Duluth, MN for our monthly shopping trips... of course we would have to hit a fast food joint while we there. The seagulls would always swarm us hoping we would share some fries with them. This was always a hit with Tyler. Well, the seagulls didn't disappoint us this trip... and they were HUNGRY! See? They ate them all!

Once we finally arrived at Fall Lake we had to make two trips to our island campsite to get all of our supplies there, so the kids and I hung back at the access catching frogs while the guys made the first trip with a boat load of supplies.

Daddy came back for us and off to the island we went...
Once we arrived at our campsite the kids were thrilled to see that we had our own personal beach! They didn't waste any time digging in!

Our first day was spent getting things set up and organized. An early bedtime was in order since we were all worn out from the early morning drive up. Emily had other ideas though... she had a hard time falling asleep in the tent. This was to be expected though, since it was her first camping trip, and she became an old pro by the second night.

Here is Octavious trying to soothe our uneasy, tired little girl...

Our second day was filled with, what else, more sand play and swimming!

Tyler and our friend, Octavious, made a cool bow and arrows from sticks and fishing line. I helped Tyler decorate it with colored electrical tape and feathers. He had a lot of fun with it and, to my surprise, it actually shot the arrows quite well!

No trip to the Boundary Waters would be complete without a Loon photo. I just love waking to these guys calling in the morning. So peaceful...

On our third day we had to make a run back in to town to grab gas for the boat, so we decided to make it a group affair... we all loaded up in the boat and rode back to the access, got in the van, and took a little ride around to see the sights. Sights like this...

And a group of Grouse we saw along the road...

And this local park that we stopped at so the kids could play...

I know. Those are some BIG kids, but what can I say.

Our campsite on Fall Lake was on an island called Mile Island, due to the fact that it is a mile long. There are MANY other islands on the lake though, and we especially liked this teeny little one...

Our fourth day was filled with more of the same... sand, swimming, and playing. I got to do a little shore fishing while the kids played...

I ended up catching two real nice Perch. It was so relaxing to be sitting there looking out over the lake while the kids played away in front of me. They really enjoyed the sand and water so much. I think it was the highlight of the trip for them.

In the meantime the guys were out fishing in the boat and Octavious landed this 14 inch Crappie. Wow!

We also attempted a nature walk on our fourth day. It was a flop due to the BUGS. BUGS everywhere... buzzing you, stinging you, sucking your blood... you get the point. We were really hoping to spot a Moose... that didn't happen, but we did get to see a few good sized (and fresh) Moose tracks.

Speaking of those BUGS... They seemed to like poor Tyler best. he spent much of the trip doing this...

Needless to say, we used a ton of bug spray and itch cream during our stay in the Boundary Waters. Tyler was also lucky enough to get his first Bee sting during the trip. The good part is that we learned that he is not allergic to bees like his Daddy.

We left pretty early in the day on the fifth day. A little more fishing...

And some Peek-A-Boo...

And it was time to head out.

All in all it was a good trip. Things would have been a teensy bit more fun if it wasn't for the BUGS.

Did I mention the BUGS? :)

We're Boundary Waters bound!

We are leaving early Wednesday morning for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We'll be camping on an island in the middle of Fall Lake near Ely, MN for 5 days. Sounds heavenly, huh? Wish us luck though, this will be the first real camping trip either of the kids of been on. I think it will be fun for them. Lots of fishing, playing, hot dog roasting, swimming, sand castle building, nature walking, smore eating, scavenger hunting... We're hoping to see some wildlife... moose, bears, deer, loons, wolves...

I'll take lots of pictures to share!