Camp Waub-o-jeeg

Finally, we went camping! It has been way too long. The kids and I headed to Taylor's Falls, about 1 1/2 hour away from home.  Its gorgeous country and I can't believe we haven't gone there sooner. It was the kids' first time to stay in a tent more than one night. I forgot to take pictures of the first half of the trip, but we made a list of our adventures. My favorite thing is that the kids came home raving about how all the things that went wrong were the best adventures. They were so incredibly involved and helpful and competent. We had talked about the fact that they were going to have to be responsible for helping with everything along the way since it was just me (without Jim), and they took that very seriously. They took turns being charge of the fire, delegating jobs to the fire "helpers". They did dishes, cleaned up, cooked french toast one morning almost all by themselves and we all were so glad that we went. I'm a very proud momma.
Our list of memories that we made last night:
Adam got a bee sting and 29 mosquito bites and dealt with them very well
Kids ran from another wasp
We had 4 fires and each one got easier and easier to light
Kids made french toast for breakfast
We claimed the campsite, several islands, and a small swimming hole in the name of Laura, Adam and Jenny
We lost Adam's shoe in the muck, never to be found again
Laura rode her bike once in her swimsuit, just to prove we were glad to have brought our bikes
We took the longest canoe ride ever, 4 hours, and were very proud of ourselves at the end.
We love our swimming hole on the St. Croix river that is very hidden and no one else know about it
It was HOT, in the 90s and I think Laura got a bit of heatstroke, so we skipped a dinner over the fire that night and went swimming first, then came back and ate cold food and she felt better
We hiked a bit and saw one really cool, deep, smooth glacial pothole that some girls were hanging their feet in so I couldn't get a picture.

We stopped at several spots along the canoe ride and this is on of our islands that we claimed. 

The kids set about making our version of a inukshuk, using sticks instead of rocks.

Laura had this awesome plan to use sticks held by pressure instead of gravity. I love it when the kids come up with things I hadn't thought of.

Can you see Laura's sculpture between the two trees in the middle?

itchy and scratchy

Franconia Sculpture Garden

Annual pilgrimage home

Pictures, in no particular order...

Now THIS is vacation

Why not?

Waa-haa pilgrim.

sew, sew, sew

We built a swing!

aaaaa....

The kids beat us all at poker, until Gpa Phil came through at the end.

I forced the kids to go hiking on a 98 degree day. Notice the shade? See, I'm not too mean.

They disagree

Crazy hotel pool fun

Ava

Is running with a punk better or worse than running with scissors?

How does barefoot on the gravel factor into it?

Happy 4th!

Yay USA!

Pretty sparkler dancer

Ava's not gun shy

Love this

Caught the parachutes!

Lunch at Crown Center, Kansas City

Union Station, Kansas City

My daughter in a "C"

We stood in front of the giant spoon with a cherry in Minneapolis, 

why not a giant shuttlecock in Kansas City?

Outside the Hallmark Museum

My dog

Not only can my "super-sniffer" Ava NOT figure out which is our hotel room door, she also can't figure out if a wall actually has a door. We have gone up and down the stairs countless times in the last 2 days and she stops and waits for me to open the door at every. single. landing. no matter if it is a door or a blank wall. Sweet, naive Ava.

My How She's Grown

August 2009

June 2015

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Grandma B's quilts

Mom passed along some quilt tops that her mom and grandma made, probably in the 1930s or 40s.  We talked about what to do with them and decided that the Twin Cities was bound to have better quilting resources than Ponca City. We needed to have someone who would want make an effort to keep them true-ish to historical practices. I checked around and found Sandi Irish. She works at the Quilt Cove in Eagan, but also has her own quilting business on the side. I don't know anything about quilting, but I do know that I am so very pleased with the finishing work she did and feel very happy to have these special pieces. 

Happy Father's Day!

We curled Laura's hair for fun the other day.

 

And a shot of Adam's icky smashed finger nail that has almost come all the way off. 

You're Welcome!