Up at the Cabin

Up at the cabin with Nona & Grandpa the kids are always crazy excited. They find something to explore in every direction, but somehow they are a relaxed sort of crazy... we all are. We have nothing but time to spend with each other, and so many things we want to do! 

After our long semi-peaceful (thank you iPad) trek up north, we barely bring in our bags and bags of toys, clothes, snacks, electronics, bedding and grooming supplies (hey, this is not a camping trip) before Norah is already begging Grandpa to bring her out to the dock to fish. We all follow them out and witness Norah catch her first batch of blue gills. She must have caught at least 45 fish that week. She even brought me out once to show me how it's done, and as she was about to put her line in the water a fish literally jumped out of the water onto her hook! No one caught near as many fish as she did, and I attribute this to her fidgety four year old self. What fish can resist a big old worm thrashing about all over the place? That night we decided to go to the resort next door for some dinner and then head back for the kids bedtime. 

All four of us share one cozy room at night, and after the kids fall asleep us grown-ups kick back with a beer together out by the fire and scorch some marshmallows (OK - only I like them scorched). We stay up way too late knowing we have some early risers building up energy as ours diminishes to nothing. We call it a night when we finally realize we've missed our chance of being bright and cheery in the morning. 

Waking up in the morning means a bed of 3 (dad has no problem sleeping in) cuddling in the light of the sunrise watching for a kitchen light to appear through the crack of our bedroom door. "It's on! Nona's up!" I reluctantly release from the cuddles and kisses of my two little munchkins and watch them run out into the living room to play trucks with Grandpa and to help Nona make breakfast from scratch. I try to go back to sleep, but it's useless. My babies are out there having fun and being cute. I can't stand to miss it. I also know they're making coffee out there - even if it isn't my usual punch you in the face Starbucks :) I convince myself I don't want to get used to sleeping in anyway, and I drag myself out of bed. 

We spent our week fishing on the dock, having island picnics, cruising on the pontoon, swimming in the pool, swinging on fighting over the blue swing and braving outings to town and to Madeline Island. I believe this was our 3rd year in a row, and what a tradition it has become! Before we even left home, Norah was recalling details from last year about the cabin we have been lucky enough to get every year. Maybe I am easily amused, but I was amazed.

Thank you Grandpa & Nona for yet again another wonderful week up at the cabin!


The whole fam out fishing off the dock


BEEP BEEP!!!! Clark figured out where the horn was right away. 


Story time with Nona!


"No more monkeys jumpin' on the bed!"


Helping Nona make pancakes at dawn


My little chef


... and actress :)


MuahHaHaHa HA!





Bewildered that I actually got a shot of them together, both looking at the camera AND smiling!


Twice!





On the ferry to Madeline Island... Clark was in love


Two peas in a pod!


The beach at Madeline Island


I guess the ducks looked hungry??


I guess I looked hungry too!


DUUUUUUUUUUCKS!!!!!!!!!!


Collecting sand - I'm guessing to make some sort of "food" 


Making a sandcastle with Dad


Blue Raspberry "Superman" ice cream.. YUM!


The Superman sugar had him climbing the walls of the ferry. Why didn't anyone want to sit by us??


mmmm.... Watermelon!


Sluuuuurrrrp


Lots of quiet moments with grandpa fishing off the dock


YEAH! Rock CANDY!!!!












Clark loves to be in front of the camera. Norah - not so much!



Love ~ Renee

Happy 4th Birthday Princess Norah!

My darling baby girl turned four today. Every year I say the same thing, but with every year I feel it a little more than the last; life is going by in the blink of an eye. There is nothing better than to see your children grow into intellectual young people :) They catch you by surprise, like when you ask them if they had fun at their friend's birthday party and they tell you "Yeah - it was fun Mom. It was also interesting and exciting." 

To celebrate today we went to the brand new park they just finished building at Lake Harriet to play and to have a picnic dinner. We heard it was a super fun playground. The First thing Norah and I did was go down a slide together because she was a little nervous. Turns out it would have been less scary going separately! Her leg got caught in between my leg and the edge of the slide and burned her poor little skin off of her toe and leg. There was plenty of screaming and crocodile tears before dad noticed that the Trolley was running and said "Who wants to ride the train!?" Then there was more screaming, but this time it was excited "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" screams. So we took a ride on the trolley which was even more fun than the park and we had our picnic dinner at the lake with fancy cupcakes for desert. It was a perfect evening, minus the missing skin.

Yesterday was the big party day. We had a princess bash for her and her friends. This year we mixed our very dear forever friends along with a couple of Norah's bestest girlfriends from school and our awesome new neighbors who have two boys about the same age. I think everyone had a pretty good time - we even had a lot of fun at our own party! 

That calls for a HUGE thank you to Grandma Renee and Grandpa Mike. Grandma Renee cleaned my house TWICE (Yes twice)! She came over the day I made the cake and without a word she scrubbed my house from top to bottom! I just wanted some company and an emergency companion in case for when I panicked and screwed up the frosting. Then she did all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen after the party was over! Grandpa Mike took charge of the grill and Colin and I were free to socialize, take photos and run the kids games. It was fantastic. You guys are the best!! 

Oh and the games... Auntie Tegan made all these fun games for the kids and bought a million little prizes for them. They went crazy over this stuff and were screaming and jumping over the moon when they won :) You are also the best Auntie Tegan - Thank you!

Thanks to my hubba hubba love who took over the camera for a bit so I could be in the moment at the party instead of viewing it through a looking glass - while I am a photography junkie, it is nice to take a break once in a while :)




























Love ~ Renee

Wait! Is it still July?

In honor of the Peruvian Independence day this past weekend, which was brought to my attention by a very dear friend, I thought I would finally remember to post our American Independence day photos! 

At least it is still July. Right?

Here we all are having way too much fun at our 4th of July Block Party! It was like 105 degrees that day....

The party started with some intense bike decorating



Everybody on your mark!


Get Set...


GO!!!   We dressed Norah's bike up as a firecracker.


Sweaty little Clark (OK, we were all sweaty) was riding in his sweet red white & blue stroller.


The bike race - I mean "Parade" :)


The highly desired tree swing - scary and fun - we had to wait in line forever to get a turn!!


Mine!


As you can see in the above shots Norah was wearing a cute 4th of July shirt. She had to go home and change into her Easter dress because her chocolate lunch spilled all over her.




Kid-friendly firecrackers.... and yes, we successfully tried the real ones that night. Just Norah and Mom!


Clark didn't know whether to laugh or be scared!


"Woah!!!"

Norah and I did walk to see the big time fireworks show at the nearby golf course that night. She didn't know what to expect and I hadn't been to a real fireworks show since before Norah was born, so when the real show started we both ducked for cover!

Norah remained as calm as she could and politely requested that we go straight home :)So we packed up the blanket in the stroller and started our walk back. Every few feet or so I would turn her around and ask if she wanted to see. The first 2 or 3 times she said "No. Let's keep going Mom." and so we did. Until she started asking me to stop every few feet to watch and finally said "Can we just sit right here and watch all the way until the 'finanny'?" It was the perfect spot. Two blocks away on the sidewalk across from the lake looking through a clearing of trees allowing for a view of almost every sparkle. This is what having kids is all about.

Love ~ Renee