Summer Week 7

Happy Friday! Somehow we are already done with week 7 of summer. It was a busy one! 

On Monday Maya and I cleaned up and reorganized the play room. 

On Tuesday we hung out at home (a couple of us in the kennel…?!) and then met the Dahlen’s at the beach! Later, Maya and I went to the Lynx game. 

Wednesday was birthday day! She was up early and opened presents before Callie even woke up. 

Then we were off to get supplies and pick up the very exciting and very much alive birthday presents! 

Welcome to the family, Nibbles and Shadow! Maya has spent weeks researching gerbils and trying to convince us that we need them for our family. She finally got her wish for her 12th birthday. 


I never thought I’d say it, but they are actually pretty cute! And Maya is a great gerbil mom! 

Later, her BFF came over to hang with the gerbils, go to Chipotle and stay for a birthday sleepover! 


This week our street has been an absolute disaster of construction and road work. On Thursday morning we came back home and found a FedEx truck completely stuck in one of the construction holes. Ooops! 

Then there was more gerbil time! 

Mitchell and Isla had fun with them too! 


Today we had Olive and Chris and I went to my friend Taylor’s wedding! 

I’ll be hit or miss with blog posting the next week because…I’m going to Sweden!!!! There will for sure be a Tuesday Timehop, but my guess is as good as yours as to when the next post will be. But when I’m back, it will be very epic! 

Timehop Wednesday: Happy Birthday Maya Leigh!

This sweet and special girl is 12 today!!!

How did that happen????

Her little face through the years melts my heart, starting with 12 years ago! 

Happy birthday Maya! We love you so much! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Hey all!

We are about 28 hours home from du Nord and it has been a whirlwind! 

Yesterday we stopped for lunch on the way home and then Luna was happy to see us. Last night Callie decided to do some blue streaks in her hair, so I got to help (and turn my hands a bit blue).

Today we got ready for Maya’s family birthday party! We cleaned some and did laundry and grocery shopped for the taco and rainbow cake party. 

After some slip n slide and tacos, Maya opened presents. 


During the party Callie helped Lucy dye her hair tips blue! 

And then rainbow cake! Maya and I had fun making it this morning. 

Now it’s time to gear up for a big birthday week! 

Summer Week 6: Camp du Nord!

Hey all! Happy Saturday! We had a BIG week…up north at Camp du Nord!!! 

On Sunday morning Chris worked his magic and got our car packed TO THE BRIM. I had 5+ hours to work on my cross stitch to donate to the auction that takes place at DuNord. 

We met up with most of our trip mates at Tobies: Uncle Dan, Auntie Hanna, Mitchell, Isla & Jeremy, Jennifer, Cam, Gus and Mae! After Tobies donutes we went to pick up our final trip mate, Callie’s friend Maia.

We got to camp exactly at 3pm, got all unpacked, and headed to the beach! 


Later, we had frozen pizza for dinner and played games in the cabin.


On Monday I woke up for a 2 mile walk and then the first morning of the 7:45am Polar Bear swim. 

After a leisurely morning and breakfast, we sent the kids off to the first morning of age group!!!



The adults did our first big outing- hiking to Old Baldy (eating fresh picked blueberries and raspberries along the way) and then swimming in Slim Lake. 

After getting the kids back and then lunch, we headed out for some paddling to du Nord point.  We also did some swimming and a little rock climbing.


Back at camp we had ice cream and I got some quiet time to finish my cross stitch.



We headed to dinner for our first meal at the dining hall! They always serve amazing bread and desserts- including this blueberry pie! Then later, the kids did some playing on the field that was right outside our cabin.  It was so awesome that they could all just go out there and we could watch from our deck! 


Tuesday was a bit cooler and overcast. While the kids were at age groups, the adults took it easy. I did a lot of reading in various places. 

The afternoon consisted of more ice cream, field time, reading, puzzling and inkle-weaving. 

After dinner we did more fun stuff at the cabin (we finished the puzzle!) and then the adult ladies had our sauna night from 11:15pm-midnight. It was glorious! 


Wednesday was another chilly overcast day, with on and off rain. Chris and I met up with the Koch family and other family friends for lunch at a pizza oven built by a boy scout at a nearby camp site.  YUM!

That afternoon was the family sauna! The little kids were not fans of the hot room, but they liked to run down the ramp into the lake.


On Thursday the adults did a paddle outing during age group. First we canoed, and then paddle boarded. On the way back we saw Cam and Maya making s’mores with their age group. 

The upside down picture of my legs above is a still I grabbed from a video of me trying to do a head stand on the paddle board...it was a bit too wobbly of a board from what I'm used to, and the video turned out mostly terrible so you can just see that I got my legs up for 0.25 seconds.  Ha!

Then it was lunch and more playtime. We also saw the auction display of what we donated! We had won “Chippy” a few years ago at the auction, and we brought it back this year so it could find a new home (along with my cross stitch).



Then it was FINALLY time for some fishing! I can't believe it took Chris until Thursday to get out on the rocks with the kids to fish.

Later, a few of us had some beach time, some more cabin time and dinner time.  We had a great time each night going to the dining hall.  We always had a counselor or two sitting at our tables and the kids had fun sitting on their own and doing their own clean-up!

That evening after the auction, a few of us (and all the staff!) ended up in the lake! Our auction number also was drawn and won us all a free scoop of ice cream. 


Hanna and I went over to the Koch camp site later for some blueberry cobbler and then we got the cabin ready for Callie’s friend Maia’s birthday the next day! 


On Friday morning we celebrated Maia’s birthday before age group. During age group all the adults napped and had quiet time in the cabin…it was a bit rainy again and we were all SO TIRED.

There was a camp game for game for the kids to play, then lunch and cake and some art projects while it rained. 


Then there was another big camp activity- the counselor hunt! So many of those poor counselors covered themselves in mud and hid in the woods...no thanks!!! But the kids had a blast running around and taking their counselors to "jail."


Jennifer and I headed up to the camp store to scope out the ice cream and get a warm chai. Once again, a few of us ended up in the lake! 


Friday night was closing celebration, which consisted of all the age groups doing some sort of skit! Since we had so many kids of various ages with us, there were a lot of skits with a kid or two we knew in them. 


Then it was time to take some group pictures. The lake was so beautiful that evening! 

This morning we packed up, cleaned up our cabin and stopped by the camp sign on the way home. 

We had such an amazing week!!! I’m so grateful for the special time in the north woods with good friends and family. Click here for some videos of our adventures! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday! Only a few pics from the weekend. 

Maya and I went to see her friend Lita in a community theater production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” 

And the pretty 6am sky this morning.

I’ll be back on Saturday for the Summer Week 6 photo dump! It’s gonna be a good one!