Camping at Itasca...

We packed the car last Friday morning and started on our long drive up to Itasca State Park for a weekend camping trip. A little over half way, Oliver spotted and read a sign that said "Treasure City". How could we not stop when two little Misters were talking about what kind of treasures awaited us there. So Daddy pulled off at just the right time and there we were. With large, sparkling eyes these two boys went in search of all they could possibly want.

 

To their dismay and disappointment, we left empty handed but with great attitudes and gratefulness that we got to stop. Back on the road again and another hour or two we were at the camp site setting up our tent. Auntie Mick and Uncle Hung weren't too far behind us. By the time we were all set up they were just unpacking and setting up their own site.

We decided we'd take a walk over to the Mississippi Headwaters and meet them there soon. On our walk we saw and touched a big painted turtle. The boys named him "scratchy" because he had claws and used them when he really wanted to get away.

 

Eventually we made it to the beginning of the Mississippi river and we played in the water. Daddy crossed the rocks but the boys were too busy wadding in the water to join him, except for a photo opt.

This happened to be the only nice day of our camping trip. It rained Friday evening and didn't ever really stop. We did try to enjoy our time. Saturday in between down pours we went for a hike to the fire tower. Unfortunately Oliver and Daddy had to turn back to find a restroom. Lucius, Casen and I climbed only a short way up the tower, no one else wanted to climb any higher with me. Mormor waited at the bottom for us so we could walk the mile back, through heavy doses of mosquitoes, to find Morfar, Daddy and Oliver. We enjoyed lunch and tried for another hike before dinner, but had to turn around because Copper dog was becoming too much of a tick magnet. This hike was quickly followed by a lot of tick checking and double bagging of clothes after people were stripped down to their birthday suits cause the ticks kept coming.

 

Lucius and Oliver spent Saturday night in Mormor's trailer because our tent was leaking. So Jerimy and I spent our night on the air mattress in the very middle of the tent hoping we wouldn't soon be on a floating island. Fortunately we were spared from getting too wet because the plastic over the tent seemed to work. Whew. After breakfast and packing in the rain on Sunday we decided to call it a wonderful weekend and head home to dry out. Thankfully it was sunny when we arrived home!

colorful park...

Just some fun photos from our evening walk down to the colorful park near our home.

 

Bigger bike...

Sometime in the last few weeks, Lucius decided he wanted to try to ride a bigger bike. On his little bike, he could FLY. His little legs were going round and round so fast. I figured it didn't hurt to let him try, so I got the other bigger bike out and off he went. Now he can go fast without his legs going quite as fast (The tires on the red bigger bike are larger than blue bike). Its crazy how fast he's growing up.

outdoor quiet times are back...

ahh, summer. How we've missed you. I can't be indoors very long when the weather is so amazing. So the return of outdoor quiet reading times are back!

Photography: green edible garden

One of my raised bed gardens is all green: lettuces, snap peas, garlic, green beans, and cucumbers. It’s fun to see them all growing together, even if they are all green. I’ve been enjoying fresh garden salads for the last week and my lettuce only seem to be getting bigger. I am totally hook on this whole gardening thing, especially since I don’t have to go out and buy my lunch, just pick it.

Sandlot Sports: Kickball

The second Monday of June we played Kickball. There were 12 kids total that night, a few more 6 year olds to balance out the ages. For those who arrived early or on time, we practiced kicking the ball and running the bases. Oliver and Lucius were enjoying themselves, as were the rest of the children.

 

 

Then sometime happened (not sure what exactly) that was out of Oliver's control and it made him too upset to play any longer. It's tough to fully understand as his parents, let alone try to explain. But we're working on it and hope he can let things go a little easier in the future.

Other than that the night was super fun. Uncle hung was a huge help managing one "team" of 5 or 6 kids, while I took the other "team". Everyone seemed to have fun, which is my main focus. Then we had a picnic dinner, played on the playground and ventured back home again. I love summer evenings!

Photography: ants...

Playing around with my Macro filters again. This time I spotted a few ants on my mothers flowers. I heard something about the ants help to open this variety of flower, I just thought it was fun to watch them work.

Lucius and baseball...

We can't pass a park without Lucius stopping to watch whatever sport is being played. He spends most of his time practicing baseball or soccer whenever he's in the yard. He keeps score, runs bases, and even pretends to be different players. After last weeks T-ball, his hitting has gotten noticably better. When daddy pitches to him (which he prefers to hitting off a T), he hits the ball almost 80% of the time. He's even worn out the grass in one spot of the front yard from all his practicing. I love this goofy, super sweet and highly dedicated kid!

Here's him in action.

Last day of Kindergarten...

Oliver's last day of kindergarten was Tuesday June 10th. We got up a little early to take a few photos. I found the outfit he wore the very first day of school so we could see how much he's grown (click here to see last fall's photo). After pictures we walked to the bus stop for the last time. Oliver did not want me to stay, but we watched him get on the bus.

 

 

Then Lucius and I had almost three hours to kill before we'd walk to Oliver's school to pick him up. We rode our bikes down to the park, where Lucius ran right to the swing. While he was swinging a lady, who was walking her dog, came past and a deer was following right behind. It was so tame it wasn't even 6 feet away from us.

Eventually it was time to pack a lunch and scooter down to school. We were still early but we waited and then said goodbyes to his teachers. No tears, no complaining- just another day. I'm not sure he was completely understanding that Kindergarten was OVER. oh well. The boys rode their scooters down to the nature center where they picked a nice bench to sit and eat our lunch. We saw another deer in the woods while we ate.

Then we headed home where we past a school friends house. Oliver's school friend came over to play for a few hours and then we took him home. It was getting warm out, so I gave the boys a choice: we could play in water at home or drive to the wadding pool. They choose the wadding pool. We had the whole pool to ourselves for a while. It was a fun way to end our year of school. I'm totally looking forward to a summer of daily adventures with both the boys.