Fourth of July

We had a very fun celebration of the Fourth. Joel's parents, brother, and grandma came over in the afternoon. The guys went fishing for a little while, and then we had a delicious meal together.

Caleb didn't get to go fishing this time, but he enjoyed sitting in the boat parked on the street just as much!

My hot hubby at the grill!

Yummy food!

(check facebook for many more pictures)

Strawberries!

The boys and I went strawberry picking with some great friends last week. We had four adults and six kids, but we still managed to get two bucketfuls for each family! We had such a fun time, and the strawberries were delicious! I even tried freezer jam for the first time with some of our berries, and it turned out great! I'm thinking this should be a yearly tradition!

Fishing

The week of June 21st was deemed Fishing Week. Monday Joel headed up north to a cabin on Hunter Lake with two high school buddies for some fishing. The boys and I joined them for a few hours Monday evening to take Caleb on a boat ride and let him swim a little. We had dinner together and Dairy Queen cake to celebrate Joel's birthday. The guys stayed until Wednesday.

Father Son Fishing = Priceless!

Then on Thursday, after bring Caleb to see the ENT (he will most likely get his tubes replaced in August), we headed up to Lake Vermillion to join Joel's parents at the White Eagle Resort. Unfortunately it rained quite a bit while we were there, but we still enjoyed time together in the cabin.

Micah enjoying the morning view of the lake out the front window of our cabin.

When the rain let up later on Friday, Caleb enjoyed the playground. That evening, Caleb and I joined Dave and Joel on the boat for a little while before bed.

Joel caught three walleye - 16, 21, and 22 inches! Too bad he had to throw the larger two back - they were in the slot. (I have a lot to learn about taking pictures of fish! Joel was quite disappointed that I didn't capture the whole fish!!!)

Caleb loved being in the boat, and did very well, but was a little nervous with those big fish flopping around in the boat!

Caleb couldn't be happier!

Beautiful sunset as we drove back to the resort!

And a beautiful full moon over the lake our last night there!

Five Years

Our five year wedding anniversary happened to fall on the Friday of our week at camp. Joel was such a romantic - he planned a wonderful day! As all the campers were lined up outside the dining hall waiting for breakfast, he got everyone's attention and had my dad read from 1 Corinthians 13 and say a few words. Then Joel pulled me up and said some vows in front of everyone! I cried! It was so thoughtful!

Then during naptime, Joel arranged for my grandma to stay at the cabin while the boys were sleeping, and the two of us went kayaking! It was a beautiful afternoon to spend on the lake!


Then he arranged for his parents to watch the boys for a couple hours so that we could go out for supper together (just the two of us!!! eating!!! not cutting anyone's food or entertaining a baby or trying to keep a 2 year old from having a tantrum in the restaurant!!!).

We ended the night with these Betty Crocker microwave delights in our cabin. The bobcat definitely added to the romantic atmosphere!

It was such a perfect day to spend celebrating our anniversary at the place where Joel proposed. Thank you Lord for 5 amazing years together!

Who Knew?!

Once upon a time, I attended summer camp for the first time following 1st grade. I absolutely loved every minute of it. The games were great, the music was fun, the lake was cold, I adored my counselors, and I grew closer to my Lord. I returned to Grindstone Lake Bible Camp every summer after. When I was almost 15, I applied to work in the kitchen, just for an excuse to spend more time there. Then I moved on to be an assistant counselor, and finally a core counselor for several years, spending entire summers at my beloved camp. I grew by leaps and bounds in my faith each summer as a result of the speakers, director, fellow staff, and campers. So many wonderful friendships began there and will continue for a lifetime. Joel and I met there, became friends there, fell in love there, and got engaged there. There are so many memories wrapped up in that land, I can't even begin to tell.

When Joel and I got married, we both felt disappointed that our time as counselors was ending. We really felt the Lord somehow telling us that we would return there one day, but it was hard to see how. Well, I really never imagined it would be like this. I probably would've laughed if someone told me that I would be returning one day as a speaker's wife taking care of her two young boys. God is so good.

That's my son on the tire swing I spent hours swinging and singing on with my best friend.

That's my son on the teeter totter where we ate our canteen.

And there he is at the same lake I spent every afternoon swimming back when I didn't care what my hair looked like.

Micah Smiles

Mini Vacation

Joel and I took off for a few days in the Twin Cities to enjoy some of the sites with the boys (obviously more for Caleb than Micah!). Sunday we went to St. Cloud to my cousin's graduation open house, and then headed to the cities. We were hoping Caleb would sleep on the way down, but he fell asleep only 15 minutes before we arrived. We met some great college friends and their families at a playland to catch up with each other. Then we headed to Burnsville to our motel. Fortunately there was a park within walking distance of our motel, so we could run some more energy out of Caleb before bed. Then came the interesting part. All four of us were sleeping in one room with two beds and a pack-n-play. Caleb normally goes to bed at about 8:30, Micah goes to bed at 10. We tried putting Caleb to bed around 9, turning the lights down low, and playing his bedtime music while we got ready for bed. He didn't settle down until we were all in bed after 10! And of course, he was up bright and early at 7:30 the next morning!

So we packed up and headed to the Minnesota Zoo for a beautiful sunny day. We slathered on the sunscreen, put Caleb in the stroller, and Micah in the Moby Wrap. It was a fun morning, but very busy with many school groups at the zoo.

Caleb loved the farm area where he got to touch a few animals!

We took a little break late morning to let Caleb play on the playground, but he was too engrossed in these tractors to even look at the slides!

Being so close to the airport, Caleb really enjoyed seeing airplanes all throughout the day - almost as much as seeing the animals!

We did all the outdoor long walks in the morning while the weather was wonderful. Then we grabbed some lunch and headed out to see if we could get Caleb a nap. We had no idea how it would go, or even what we should try, but we headed toward the motel in the van. Caleb fell asleep within 5 min of leaving the zoo. So we thought, Perfect! We'll just pick him up and lay him in his bed!

No sir. He woke up when we pulled into the parking lot, and stayed awake through an hour of quiet time on his bed. Grrr....

So we headed back to the zoo, arriving at about 4pm, when almost everyone else was leaving. It was glorious! We enjoyed two hours exploring the indoor exhibits in an almost-abandoned zoo. It was so quiet and enjoyable!

I loved the Minnesota Trail!

Goofy boys! And Micah loved the Moby Wrap! What a great investment!

Sound asleep for the second half of our afternoon visit!

Monday evening we had a late supper at Famous Daves, and then decided to try something different for Caleb's bedtime. We reasoned, he's completely exhausted from two days of no naps, late bedtime last night, and two full days of sun and activity. So we put in the movie Cars and hoped that Caleb would fall asleep before the 2 hours were over. No sir! Still awake and active! So he again went to sleep after we were in bed at 10.

Tuesday morning we woke up to heavy rain and dark skies. We headed to the Children's Museum. We brought Caleb there for the first time last summer, but this year he could enjoy so much more! Our first stop was the room with the water tables because he loved them last year. He spent lots of time here, and even though he was wearing an apron, he ended up so soaked that we had to change his whole outfit before moving to the next room!

We grabbed some lunch at Subway just outside the museum, and then headed back in to check out a few more rooms. We didn't get to see everything, but Caleb had a great time!

Our new plan for naptime was to drive around the cities while the boys slept. They both fell asleep fairly quickly, so we breathed a sigh of relief. We decided to take a loop through the campus of Northwestern College to check out the construction going on since we had time. During all of the stopping and starting and slow driving, Micah woke up, and in turn, woke Caleb up. Grr... only 30 minutes of sleep! Oh well!

We met Joel's aunt Marilyn at the Rosedale Mall for the evening. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen (which was delicious!) and then let Caleb play at the mall's playland since it was still rainy. It was very clear that Caleb was getting very worn out, as he got whinier as the hours past, but he still would go strong physically all day long! That night we didn't even bother trying to put Caleb to bed early. He just went to bed at the same time as us.

Wednesday morning we packed everything up at the motel.

We headed to the Mall of America for just a couple of hours. Caleb enjoyed a few rides at the park - especially this one where he got to drive trucks! He loved it so much that he begged to go on it again and again - 3 times!

Micah snoozed the morning away happily.

We stopped at LegoLand to play a bit, and then enjoyed lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

After lunch, we packed up and headed home! Three days was plenty for this family! We loved our time together, even through the challenges. These are wonderful memories we will treasure. And finally on the way home, there was 90 minutes of this:

(Check out facebook for a few more pictures!)