Jumpin July!

Wow, I just sat down to catch up on my blogging and realized July is half over! I really can't think about that too much or I start to panic. There is so much fun to be had and so little time before the long cold winter returns, both literally and figuratively.

So let's get down to business...

After much anticipation by all July was nearly here and on June 28th Dusty the girls and I headed down to the Melby (that's Great Grandma Adeline's family) Family Reunion in Chanhassen. We stayed with my Mom and Dad and had a nice time. The reunion picnic was very nice. Judy and Joy did a fabulous job preparing everything. The best thing for me was just seeing Grandma glowing having so much of her family together. It was great for the girls to get to see a sampling of how many people are in their "big family".

After the reunion Mom, Dad, and our family went to a great little park in Shakopee to let the girls play some more before we all went our separate ways. I was heading to the airport to go see Amber, George, and Ronan. The girls were heading down to Grandma and Grandpa Johnsons for the week, and Dusty was hitting it hard at work trying to catch up while we were gone.

The girls had a great time while at Grandma and Grandpa's they made several trips to the story time at the library, the pool, the nursing home to see Great Grandma and much more. I had a wonderful time in Texas just holding the baby and hanging out with Amber. Highlights included a manicure/pedicure at a little spa, a trip to Galveston to play in the ocean, and taking Ronan for his first professional photographs (quite an adventure).

Once my family was all safely reassembeled in Duluth on Sunday
July 6th, our week didn't slow down much.
Monday morning the girls started swimming lessons at UMD, every day for two weeks!! Wednesday we had Freja's homeschool girls group that meets at our house every other week. This week our topic was "Making Friends". My format for the day, "How to wing it and convince all the Mom's you have everything under control". Then, on Friday Freja had horseback riding lessons up by Two Harbor until noon after which we scooted home to meet up with Shila, Kevin, and the kids, picked up a pizza for lunch, and were on the road for a camping trip by 2:00. Whew!

Camping was an adventure by itself. We decided brilliantly that it would be OK to head up the shore looking for two adjacent campsites without reservations! It took 4 state parks and two hours, but we did find them. We got everything set up and ate dinner just in time to pack it all away so that it didn't blow away in the impending severe thunderstorm. Oh well, we were all tired anyway. Dusty and Naomi fell fast asleep, but even after giving Freja a little Benedryl to help with her "bug bites" she kept me awake through the whole thing absolutely freaking out.

We did all survive the night and had a great breakfast courtesy of Kevin before we set out on our day hike to Lookout Mountain. It was a gorgeous view and I think Freja and Naomi were quite impressed both with the vista and the fact that they had climbed that high. It was old hat for Ellie and Max after their adventuring in Montana but they still had a good time hanging with their cousins.

Sunday AM the Tobosa's headed out early while we stayed and took our time loading up and had some last minute "s'moring" with the remains of the campfire. That is kind of a joke as Shila and Kevin were not keen on our camping tradition of eating smores for desert after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So, we abstained until they were gone and s'mored our little hearts out. Oink Oink.

On the way home we stopped at the coolest agate shop in Beaver Bay. The girls could have stayed there all day looking at the rocks and geodes. We will definitely be doing a big unit on rock and minerals soon!

Whew! That brings us to this week. Yesterday we had swimming lessons and then went to afriends house to slip and slide. Today, swimming lessons, lunch at Bixby's, a meeting for the upcoming Art-In-Me festival I am helping to plan, then the girls came home and painted their birdhouses that they made while I caught up on a little office work.

Right before dinner Freja and I went on a little bike ride. I don't think I have been on a bike in 5 years. Ouch! You really don't use those muscles for much else. Freja was so happy to be able to
be able to do a big girl thing like go for a bike ride with Mommy while Nomi stayed home. She hasn't been liking growing up too much. More responsibilities, higher expectations. I have to be purposeful in pointing out the perks like horseback riding, staying up later to read, rides with Mom. I think she's coming to terms with it though because she really stepped it up tonight at dinner and helped with the cooking and setting the table all without being told what to do. I feel like we are turning a corner and she is starting to work through this transitional stage. Thank you, Jesus!

However, Nomi, my little carefree ray of sunshine was very concerned tonight about "sinking" at swimming lessons. She decided she doesn't really want to go back and doesn't care if she can't swim. Oh bother, just when you think you have it all worked out....