Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday! The weekend flew by, as usual.  The girls slept over at Boom's house on Friday night and had a fun morning over there on Saturday.

I ran 7 miles on Saturday morning ad had 13,000+ steps under my belt by 8:30am!  Later Maya cleaned and organized the basement play area and Luna was cute.

This morning Callie stole my phone and had fun with Luna.  We will be getting her a phone sometime soon because MIDDLE SCHOOL (*insert scream emoji*) but she doesn't know that yet so she likes to remind us that is is probably the ONLY 11-year-old EVER that doesn't have a phone.

After I learned how to do fishtail braids (how cute?) we headed out to Nine Mile Creek for an adventure with Luna.

And this afternoon we met Boom, Auntie Yoda, Uncle Craigles, Lucy and Mila at the beach!

Have a great week!

A Picture Update

Hey everybody-

I have survived my first three work days of the school year.  I'm SO tired, but it feels good to use my brain again.  Ha!  Here are the pics from the week:

On Monday the girls had their annual check-ups and then we got donuts!

Then we went to Minnehaha Falls, which had NO falls or any water in the creek.  It was crazy.

On Tuesday morning we headed to the Bakken Museum.  Lots of fun things to do and see!

Later that day Luna snuggled with clean laundry, the girls went scootering, and Maya ate an early dinner before her last gymnastics class.

She just loved her four gymnastics classes, so we signed her up for gymnastics this upcoming year!  

Wednesday was my first day back to work and the girls hung out with G-ma.

The girls hung out with Pa on Thursday, and Callie had middle school orientation that morning!  She got this shirt and had a fun time.  Eeeeeeeeek!

Today the girls hung out with Boom and went to a couple different museums! 

Have a lovely weekend!

Timehop Tuesday

Ok guys. I go back to work tomorrow so my summer is over. So I thought I’d do a Timehop that’s just going back to June since every day the past few weeks I wished to be able to transport back to mid-June! 

I gathered my favorite 6 pictures from June, July and August 2021. It was truly a difficult task! 

Ans now it is time to rev up for fall and all the challenges and opportunities it will bring!

Happy (Belated) Birthday Uncle Craigles!

Oooops! Totally missed posting yesterday that it was Uncle Craigles birthday! Hope you had a great one!!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday!  We had a nice relaxed weekend.  The girls spent the morning over at Boom's on Saturday since they slept over. 

Then we picked them up and took them to Auntie Cat's where they helped clean all her camping gear!

We decided to do a movie night last night, and instead of arguing about what movie to watch, we all put two options in to a bowl and drew one.  The girls collaborated and put a bunch of Harry Potter options in (my two options were "Callie's Choice" and "Maya's Choice" and Chris put "Willow" in the bowl twice because he knew I would hate it) but thank goodness we ended up watching Harry Potter 3.  Whew.

This morning we finished up the last 3 chapters of "The Mysterious Benedict Society" book, which meant we could finally start watching the show!  It is SO GOOD!

Then after a bunch of errands and relaxing time we had our first DECK DINNER in over a month!  It was such a lovely evening.


Have a great week!  

A Picture Update: Summer ‘21 Week 10

Hey everybody.  Here we are.  Week 10 (for me).  I go back to work on Wednesday.  If you missed my Monday blog, click here for my general feelings lately and the gift I was given.

Anyway.  Our week was pretty chill.  On Monday we went over to help Hanna and G-ma at Hanna's house a bit and Maya sat in their little red firetruck.  And the girls are nonstop taking photos of Luna. 

On Tuesday I met Hanna and Isla for lunch and Callie got the LED lights she spent her cabin swimming money on!

On Wednesday we met friends at a splash pad.

Yesterday we went to the beach and Pa came over for Lego Masters (and Luna snuggling)!

Today the girls went school supply shopping with Boom and then got creative, as usual.  And they get to do a sleepover!

I organized our pantry and went for a few very windy walks with Luna!

Before bed we have been reading chapters of “The Mysterious Benedict Society” (fun family read, highly recommend!) so I FaceTimed the girls tonight at Boom’s house to read more. My eldest child kept doing this. Not distracting at all.

I’ll leave you with the fact that it is 90 degrees outside and I made homemade Broccoli Cheddar soup for dinner for me and Chris. The heart/stomach wants what it wants I guess!

Have a great weekend!

Timehop Tuesday

Isla turned 6 months on Sunday, so I thought I’d go back and find pictures of the girls and all the cousins at (or around) 6 months! 

A Gift

For the most part I have been able to compartmentalize summer and the upcoming fall.  Well, really I have just been denying any existence that fall is approaching.  Because with it comes (in my mind) pretty stressful things: another unknown school year, Callie's first year of MIDDLE SCHOOL, and just the idea of being out of the pretty controlled environment we have built for ourselves over the past 20 months.  Of course now, with the COVID cases increasing, the idea of having three of us in three different schools is enough to make me want to wrap our house in Bubble Wrap and just stay put forever.  

So my sleepless nights have increased this past week and today, with all the news of the world and everything else, my anxiety kicked up a notch.  I am planning to use this last week of my summer (the girls still have another few weeks) to do fun things and I am going to work hard to be present for that.  

Anyway.  All this to say I was stress cleaning our desk drawers today.  They have been filled with junk and random things that we haven't looked at for years.

But today, on the day of my internal panic button getting pushed big time, I found a card from my dad.

It was a Christmas card, likely from 2013 or 2014. He must have had my name that year, and the card explained the gifts that he got me.  

I had a good cry.  I shared it with my mom and sisters.  And now I'm just grateful for this special gift sent at the exact right time. 

Weekend Wrap-Up: The North Pipe Lake Cabin Edition!

Happy Sunday everybody!  We have had a fun and BUSY few days!  It all started on Thursday afternoon. We picked up Boom and Iris for a GIRLS GETAWAY!  We rented an Airbnb cabin in Comstock, WI.  We packed a very full car and stopped in St. Croix Falls on our way (and got some treats, of course).

We arrived at the cabin about 3pm and got all settled in.  The girls were very excited about the room with the bunk beds, Iris loved the bed by the windows, and we LOVED the view!

Of course we headed straight down to the lake.  It was very deep off the dock, but that didn't stop the girls (and me) from getting on the floaties and jumping in the water!

That night we made Gymnastics Pasta for dinner. I happened to remember on the way that I forgot to pack the spaghetti I was going to bring...but the candy shoppe we stopped at sold fancy pasta!  Then the girls relaxed (and did cartwheels) in the cabin.

After dinner we played the Meme game outside and the girls and Boom watched a show on the iPad before bed while I enjoyed the sunset on the hammock.

On Friday morning the girls were up early.  They went down to the dock for a bit and we went for a walk in the woods.

Then Cal and I went out on the lake in the double kayak!

While we waited for the sun to hit the dock we played Horseshoes, enjoyed the yard, and had lunch.

After lunch it was LAKE TIME!  This time we got out the big float and the girls (and Boom) had A BLAST on it!  See the video later for evidence. It was a hit! They also did some swimming (because we bribed them with money...ha!).

As we were trying to get the big float out of the water, I managed to drop my phone in the lake.  Thankfully, it was in the shallower part and I was able to recover it after a few minutes.  But my face and drink below conveyed my feelings about the situation.  Thankfully I had a back-up device to continue taking pictures of our evening fun!  Including...a campfire and s'mores!

On Saturday morning I went for a walk and enjoyed the beautiful sunrays.

We spent about a half hour in the lake before packing up and heading out. 

Callie was VERY sad about leaving and has a good mad face about it.  On the way back we stopped in Lidstrom for lunch and ice cream!

It was an awesome little getaway and just what we all needed before the busy fall starts soon.  Click here for a video of all our fun!

This morning I ran 8 miles.  I caught the sunrise coming up over Normandale Lake and it was lovely.  

Then we had Mitchell and Isla at our house for the day!  It was VERY fun and VERY busy!

We ended the weekend with an hour at Bush Lake.

Have a great week!  Enjoy all the summer moments while you can...we sure will be!