Small children and water seem like two things that shouldn’t be combined. However, we have found that our best family adventures with two young children along have taken place in our canoe, on the water, in the Boundary Waters. Of course, when we say that, we raise a few eyebrows. These are the three most common responses: “You must have grown up in a family who always took you on the water.” somebody recently remarked when they saw us paddling a river with our 2.5 and 4.5 year old children. “My kid is way too crazy, they would totally jump…
Lake One BWCA
Our first ever trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) was back in 2016 over the long 4th of July weekend. We had idyllic weather with a sandy beach campsite and spent the weekend swimming, paddling, and having a blast. Since that first eden-esque trip we have made it a family tradition to head into the BWCA every 4th of July. This past year the weather definitely didn’t cooperate and we learned many invaluable lessons while out. As we put in at the popular Lake One public boat launch we enjoyed sun and warm weather. Rowan instantly had…
Canoeing with Babies – The Basics
Where does the baby go? Doesn’t your toddler just jump out of the boat? We get these questions frequently when speaking about taking our two children on canoe trips. They are now seasoned veterans of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA) and after multiple trips with both children, in a variety of seating arrangements we have finally come up with the a seating arrangement that works for us! The sad news is, that since last summer, and the last open water we saw, our children continued to grow and develop so our once crawling baby is now a terror…
BWCA with a Tween, a Toddler, and a Baby
We were very disappointed when our first trip of the season to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) was canceled due to cold weather back in May. Our four day, three night trip to Clearwater Lake during the long 4th of July weekend came soon enough, though, and we were busy packing and planning in the days just before the trip. It would be our son, Jack’s (2 years), third trip to the BWCA and our nephew, Ryan’s (10 years old), and daughter, Rowan’s (8 months), first time in the BWCA. Aunt Katie (who joined us on our inaugural visit last…
7 Best Boundary Waters Entry Points for Trips with Babies and Toddlers
Here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, there are plenty of lakes and rivers to go canoe camping. Why do we drive the extra distance to enter the BWCA? For our family, it’s the special sense of place we have while we are in the wilderness. It’s a feeling we haven’t experienced anywhere else in Minnesota. It’s important that our children grow up learning and discovering in the wilderness so we put in the extra work and make our pilgrimage to the Boundary Waters as many times we can each summer. Read more about what the Boundary Waters mean to us With…
Save the Boundary Waters for Them
When I entered Wilderness for the first time as a confused and lost 19 year old girl I had no idea the path life would take me on. Now, 11 years later I’m a wife, a mother to a son and am expecting a daughter next month. Wilderness for me used to be my sanctuary. After meeting my husband, Bobby, wilderness was a setting of bonding and discovery. As we were starting our lives together we entered wilderness together and did extraordinary things. We learned about each other, we learned the importance of communication, we learned to care for one another,…
What Not to Do in The BWCA: A Toddler’s Tale of Woe
Any time you take the leap and bring a toddler along on an adventure it’s a toss-up as to whether or not it will go well. Sometimes, like our first trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) with 23-month-old Jack, the trip is a resounding success and you come home feeling energized and encouraged (and let’s be honest, pretty sleepy too!). Other times, the journey isn’t successful. When this happens we always go through a period of reflection. We ask ourselves, what went wrong? Why did it go wrong? What could we have done better? What can we take away…
BWCA With a Toddler
We had planned for a 4 day 3 night trip to the BWCA but, I ended up feeling really terrible starting after lunch on day 3. We were concerned I may have had a touch of heat stroke, and being 6 months pregnant we didn’t want to take any chances, so we ended up leaving that afternoon. In the three days and two nights that we were there we experienced, saw, and learned a lot. Finding a Campsite We had chosen Lake Kawishiwi because we were able to put right in from a boat launch at the primitive campground located…
Prepping for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
We wanted to plan a fun and epic trek for our extended Fourth of July weekend but weren’t totally sure what we wanted to do. Being six months pregnant was a limiting factor but, overall I’ve been feeling really great so we decided that a short overnight backpacking trip would be really fun. Alas, planning a trip over one of the most popular holiday weekends just a couple of weeks before the date isn’t the greatest idea and all the backpacking sites we were interested in were taken. This led Bobby to check out some hiking/backpacking options in the Boundary…