Waterslides and Waterfalls

At the beginning of last month, my family went up to the north shore of Lake Superior to enjoy the winter. After January's month long frigid temperatures, we wanted to see the north woods with its winter blanket. It was beautiful and totally awe inspiring. This picture was taken while hiking IN the waterfall. During summer months, this area is completely inaccessible. The water comes rushing through the gorge at tremendous speed and has no land areas. My husband and kids climbed onto this ledge with Bentley, our dog. While I stood taking the picture, I was on top of the frozen crust of the river. Normally frozen river ice is NEVER safe because it can have weak spots that people can fall into. However, the ice was extremely thick from over a month of sub-zero (Fahrenheit) temperatures. It was already starting to warm when we were up there, by the next morning, the ice had already started to deteriorate rapidly and was no longer safe. River ice will melt considerably faster than lake ice because of the movement of the water below.
My kids were lucky enough to be able to swim in the pool at the hotel. It was extra nice because the pool also had a waterslide. Both John and I went up the slide a few times, but we were definitely beaten out by the boys who both went up the stairs 5o times. 5o is equal to a mile down the slide and they had a great time meeting the hotel's waterslide challenge. Having gone down the required number of slides, the boys both got their pictures posted on the wall of the hotel and got a certificate to bring home with them that we can scrapbook. Alex did go into the pool the second day, but wasn't feeling that well the first.

We normally do not stay in hotels; our usual vacation accommodations are a couple of tents. Tents are fine; however, as my children will confirm, we have been rained out more than once. This year, we are hoping for better weather and I am planning on purchasing better tents as well. I have already been looking forward to camping and I am already getting questioning looks from my kids....ah, summertime memories. hehehe