Weekend Wrap-Up + More DuNord

Happy Sunday.

I started out the weekend working on perseverance.  I ran my 10 mile long run and made it in a pretty decent time: 1 hour 42 minutes 36 seconds.  It felt good to burn 1200 calories by 8:15am.  And I got a pretty sunray picture to boot.

But the most exciting part of the day was wedding dress shopping with Mari!  My mom, Laura, Mari, her future mother-in-law Julie and future sister-in-law Jessie all met at the bridal shop at 10:30am.  We had a lovely time watching Mari try on a number of dresses.  And YES, she found one!  Though it will not be posted here. :)

Mari and her dress are conveniently cropped out of the toast, but her arm is there.  Hooray!  She said YES to a dress!

We spent the afternoon downtown and spent some time with Missy Elliott the kitty cat.

I took the girls to the park by our house this morning.  It has been about a month since we have been there, and they both surprised me by doing things that they were too scared to do previously.  Especially Maya- she is fearless.  She loves to climb!

The girls played at G-ma and Pa's house this afternoon.

And Maya "helped" me empty the dishwasher.



IMG 9302 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

The evening ended with a stroller ride.

And now switching gears to DuNord.

The camp does a great job of having lots of different fun activities that you can choose to participate in if you want.  The girls participated in (from top row to bottom row) age group, a S'mores campfire, Callie and Hanna participated in the "Counselor Hunt", and Callie's age group even did a skit at the closing celebration!

There are obviously also beautiful outdoor spots to visit.  The first morning my mom and I did a VERY wet hike.  We had to go off trail for awhile because the trail was way to swampy.

We also did running/walking every morning on the road.

In addition to being active, I also made sure to just lay.  My favorite place to do that was Siam Point.

That's all for now.  Have a good week.

Happy Birthday Auntie Cat!!, A Picture Update, and a Little More DuNord

Happy Friday!

I need to lighten the mood a little bit over here, so we are going to have a big cheerful blogpost at the end of a crappy full moon week.  Sound good?  Good.

First up, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE CAT!  We were able to celebrate with her yesterday.

Callie still isn't a fan when everyone sings the birthday song.

But she will sing the birthday song on her own with her sister.  And it is adorable.


IMG 9247 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

As for the pictures from the week...My friend Adrea and I did a Wine and Canvas paint night.  It was really fun, and our paintings turned out amazingly well considering neither of us think we have an ounce of artistic ability.

Some other random stuff: Swimming lessons, swimming with Charlie, Mabel and Sylvia, and a 2-year-old check-up for Maya (she did great and NO shots!).

Playing outside downtown and at the park.

Callie went to Pirate Camp this week in the afternoons.  She LOVED it.  Especially all the treasure hunting.  And it was Maya's first experience being carted around so her sister could be dropped off and picked up at her activities.

But I had some good one-on-one Maya time, and took a couple of adorable videos.


IMG 9173 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

IMG 9219 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Ok.  Time for a little more DuNord before calling it a night.  Might as well keep the cuteness going...

...at THE BEACH!!!!  We LOVED spending time at the beach.  There were lots of water fights.  The water was beautiful.  The sand was soft. It was awesome.

Believe it or not I still have enough pictures for at least 2 more posts...maybe 3!  I'll try and do one tomorrow... and then maybe early next week!  Whew.

Have a great weekend.

Three Months

Today is the 30th, which means it has been 3 months since Dad died.

You guys, I don't even know what to say about it besides it is so hard.

Our support system is amazing but it is so hard.

We have no regrets or guilt or family issues but it is so hard.

Good things happen every day but it is so hard.

Every day there are sunrays but it is so hard.

Awhile ago I put out a request for people to send me pictures of sunrays and the sky that they find. I got pictures from around here, as well as Wisconsin, NYC, and even Hawaii. So I thought I'd share them today (along with some quotes that spoke to me), as a reminder that things are hard, but people are thinking about us and praying for us every day.

"One cannot run from a challenge without losing.  To flee is signing a death warrant to dignity and character, and, having run, there is no return; one is a weakling forever.  Meeting a challenge, though one may be defeated, gives strength, character, and a certain assurance that regardless of outcome, one will survive or go down fighting."
-Sigurd Olson

"He that will enjoy the brightness of sunshine, must quit the coolness of the shade."
-Samuel Johnson

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."
-Louisa May Alcott

"While we are born with curiousity and wonder and our early years full of the adventure they bring, I know such inherent joys are often lost.  I also know that, being deep within us, their latent glow can be fanned to flame again by awareness and an open mind."
-Sigurd Olson

 

"If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm."
-Frank Lane

"Life is a series of open horizons, with one no sooner completed than another looms ahead.  Some are traversed swiftly, while others extend so far into the future one cannot predict their end.  Penetrations into the unknown, all give meaning to what has gone before, and courage for what is to come.  More than physical features, they are horizons of mind and spirit, and when one looks backward, we find they have blended into the whole panorama of our lives."
-Sigurd Olson

"Joys come from simple and natural things: mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water."
-Sigurd Olson

"Music is sunshine.  Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood.  Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose."
-Michael Franti

 

"I do hope that our spring will be starting shortly and we will all be able to enjoy some sunshine again."
-Lesley Garrett

We all went out to dinner at my dad's country club tonight...the first time since he died.  I'll admit that my dread for the evening was significant, as was the mini panic attack I had in the car on the way there.  But we made it, and had a really lovely time.  And as we walked out, we got a nice view of the city in the sunset.

 

 

It doesn't feel like "spring" yet, but we'll just keep hanging on to the sunshine that we can find.

DuNord Megapost #2

I'll be honest that today was a pretty hard day. I couldn't get myself to do the things I knew I should do to feel better. Like run. Or shower. It was a cry alone in the car kind of day. A go through the motions and hope everyone survives kind of day.  A just PLEASE let us make it to bedtime kind of day.

Tonight I knew I needed to DO something, so here I am. Showing up on the blog so I can share more camp pictures. Because camp was awesome. And I need reminders of awesome today.

As I mentioned in my last post, we had 2.5 hours every morning to do adult things while the girls did camp activities with their counselors. We fully took advantage of those 12.5 hours throughout the week!

On Monday we took a hike to a spot called Old Baldy. It was beautiful and we even picked blueberries right off the path.

 

On Tuesday we five women drove into town and met with one of Mary's friends who gave us a tour of the author Sigurd Olsen's land and cabin on Listening Point, his house, and writing shack. It was all lovely, as is his writing about nature and his experiences in the north woods.

 

 

On Wednesday we went on a canoe trip to our favorite spot accross the lake to swim and relax.

 

On Thursday a few of us toured a different camp down the road. Camp Wiji is known for using and making wood canvas canoes, so we got to see the canoe shop, talk to the canoe maker, and see the lovely pine trees that are all around their camp.

On Friday we canoed to the other side of camp to walk around and explore a little.  It was REALLY windy on the way back, which proved to be a fun challenge in the canoe.

We were pretty busy in the afternoons too.  Maya was a trooper about naps, and everyone switched off staying with her in the cabin so we could all get out and do things.  Once she woke up, we kept the activities going: boating, going to the beach, or running around camp.  The girls loved it and were exhausted.

There were fishing and fires:

 And more canoeing:

 

And throwing rocks and pine cones and eating ice cream and playing tetherball and monkey bars:

 

And that doesn't even touch on the amount of time we spent at the beach, as well as other whole camp activities!  I'll save those for the next post.

I'll leave you with a story from our time at Listening Point.  Sig Olsen lived to his mid-80s.  On his last day of life he went snowshoeing with his wife.  How cool is that?  After he died, his family found this that he had written on his typewriter:

Since today was a hard day, it is hard to feel that kind of hope.  But that's why I took this picture. As a reminder that we need to have faith that there are good things ahead.

Weekend Wrap-Up: DuNord Megapost #1

Happy Sunday everybody.

As you probably know, on Sundays I do my weekend wrap-up.  Well, this weekend was mostly spent either in the car or managing tantruming children coming down from a vacation high, so I figured that most of this post will be of our trip. 

There were some moments today that were pleasant...the girls and I walked to the park this morning.  And Auntie Cat came over to make us dinner and play tonight.  I'm thankful for the fun moments in the midst of exhausted meltdowns. :)



Two things to note:
Upper Right: Maya spent most of the time at the park running on the blacktop instead
of actually playing on the playground equiptment.  I was finally able to get her to do some swinging.
Bottom: Yes, that is my winter baby wearing fleece footie jammies in July.  We don't argue it anymore.

On to DuNord!  In case you missed my first post yesterday, here it is.

Camp days consist of walking around, eating, going to the beach, hiking, laying by the lake, resting, chasing around children, participating in camp games, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings.  Therefore, it doesn't really make sense to do posts that focus on the chronological order of the week.  Instead, I have my pictures broken into different categories, which I'll begin sharing with you tonight.

I'll start by saying that it is about a 5 hour car trip up there, which is way longer than either of our girls have really gone in a car before (Callie has been to DuNord twice before, but that's it.  We don't really road trip).  Callie traveled with G-ma, Pa, and Auntie Cat (and Hanna on the way home).  Maya, Chris, Boom and I traveled together in our car.  It wasn't super fun, but we made the best of it by stopping for food, stopping at rest stops and trying to get some naps.

We arrived at our destination around 4:30pm on Saturday the 18th.  Our cabin, Lynx Lodge, was ready and waiting for us.  We spent a lot of great family time in this cabin, especially on the awesome deck.

I'll end tonight's post with pictures of the lake.  It is beautiful.  And fascinating how different it can look, depending on the day and time.  Here are a couple panoramic pictures I took of the same spot on the lake.

And some more shots of the beautiful water and clouds.

Up next: all the adult activities we were able to do while the girls were with their age groups and counselors every morning!

I put some photos on facebook, not nearly as many as I have.  So make sure to come back for more pictures and stories!

Have a great week.

DuNord Sunrays

Hello!  We're back!

Chris, the girls, my mom and I just spent the last seven days up in the north woods at Camp DuNord with the whole Gosselin clan: G-ma, Pa, Auntie Cat, Uncle Dan, and Hanna.

It was wonderful and hard and exhausting and inspiring and relaxing and everything in between. A writer and blogger I follow, Glennon Melton, would call the experience BRUTIFUL: a combination of beautiful and brutal.

It was beautiful because of WHERE we were.  The surroundings were breathtaking and the weather was pretty perfect. It was also beautiful because of WHO we were with. My wonderful in-laws were amazing and caring and kind and supportive of us and our grief. 

It was brutal, as you can imagine, because of WHO was missing.  A lot of the time up there was spent talking about and thinking about my dad. It was brutal because he was supposed to be there with us, in person, too.

So my first (of probably many) DuNord posts will showcase the sunrays of the north woods. I found many, because I couldn't stop looking up.

Shining through a window of our cabin in the late afternoon.

Glistening on the spectacular lake before sunset.



Peeking out over the trees early in the morning.

Shining through the trees AND the lake in the evening.

Reflecting on a different part of the lake in the morning.

Shining down on our deck in the afternoon.

Gleaming up with clouds in the sky all day.

Watching over us all week long.

Stay tuned for more posts. As usual, I have a bunch of pictures and stories to share.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAYA LEIGH!!!!

Our beautiful little girl is TWO today!

Her spunk, her smile, and her sweetness melt me into a puddle of gratitude every day.

She has captured the hearts of everyone who knows and loves her, and I'm so very thankful for my little Love Bug.

We are having a VERY special celebration in a top secret location!  More on her special birthday celebration later!