Long Lake

We spent a fun filled weekend up on Long Lake with the Hansen & Risler families!  Great adventures were had by everyone; including fishing, boating, mosquito swatting, eating, playing in the water, digging in the mud, and sitting around the campfire. Saturday was a bit overcast & cool, but apparently the fish were happy about that, as several were caught much to the kids' delight!

Simon, Lucas, Blake, Hadley & Piper all enjoying a delicious dinner back at the cabin (Bennett was eating with the adults).

Thankfully, Sunday dawned sunny & hot, and the boat ride on the lake felt wonderful.  Randy, Blake, Myself & Piper, Mandi & Bennett pictured.

Blake, Hadley, & Bennett all quite happy about cooling off in the lake.

The whole crew - Hansens, Andersons, & Rislers.  And yes, there are THREE pregnant bellies in that picture - Mary due the end of Sept, me the end of Aug, & Mandi the end of Nov!  

Thanks for such a great weekend Hansens & Rislers!

Girl Vacation 2012

The girls & I trekked on down to Grandma & Grandpa's lake home this past week for our annual 'Girl Vacation' (this was last year's girl vacation).  We had the best time soaking up all of the sunshine and Grammie & Grampie's love!  We also found time to see Uncle Mike play softball & visit with his sweet little kiddos in the process.  {Piper, Brooklyn, Hadley, Savannah, & Jeremiah}

The following day we were lucky enough to have a little park picnic with Katie and Audrey & Cece along with Auntie Heidi and Kenzie!{Piper, Hadley, Kenzie & Audrey pictured.} We were also able to see Uncle Nathan for dinner that night as well!

Found time for a beautiful morning cruise on the pontoon.

And of course the highlight of any vacation to Grandma & Grandpa's... swimming!

Thanks for a wonderful vacation at your house - We are anxious to be back again soon!

Northern Cousin Weekend

We spent a great Father's Day weekend up North visiting with Grandma & Grandpa A, aunties & uncles, and of course cousins.  

It started out a little rough, with Piper 'bonking her eye on Had's metal bed frame' (as she told anyone who'd listen!).  

But was seemingly much better that evening when it came time to run wild through the yard with cousins Ava (pictured) and Sydney.

We spent Father's Day morning scoping out all of the farm animals.  From Grandpa A's cows, to Uncle Frank's long horns, and even some of the Anderson Kids' new little black chicks.

Needless to say it didn't take Piper long to doze off on the way home, and rest that little eye of hers.

Beach Buddies

Our latest summer 'craving' is meeting some of our favorite little buddies down at the beach early in the morning before the sun is too hot & the crowds are virtually non-existent.  It has made for some really lovely mornings, for both kids & moms alike. Pictured below (playing with someone's abandoned cane!) are Ty, Jack, Hadley, Piper, & Owen.

And running down the beach is Ava, Piper, Hadley, Owen, & Jack, apparently still in need of a cane!

 

Madeline Island

In an effort to take in as many fun family outings before 'our baby' (as the girls affectionately refer to it!) arrives later this summer, Kyle booked us a adventure on Madeline Island this past weekend!  The warm sunshine was invigorating, the girls' smiles were ear to ear nearly the entire weekend, and the time spent just the four of us was irreplaceable. After a 3+ hour drive on up to Bayfield, WI, much to the girls' delight we hopped on a ferry to get out on the island.

Out at the rental cabin, the girls found plenty of treasures worth claiming, including this tiny toad they promptly named 'Little.'
 

 

The cabin was quite charming, but dangerous too!  With three different bedroom lofts, slats through the ceiling big enough for Piper to fall through, and wooden ladders so steep that you had to climb down backwards, it was a little bit tricky for the girls, not to mention me & my growing belly!

The girls loved using the pulley-bucket system to get their stuffed animals up those steep stairs to their tree house bed (pictured below)!




 

Despite the balmy 67 degree temperature, and the even colder (numbing!) water temperature of Lake Superior, the girls adored combing the beach for unique rocks to bring home to their collections.

Gorgeous view out into the rest of the Apostle Islands.

After a lovely but cool morning at the beach, we dried up to try a little fishing.  Not much luck, but they sure had fun riding back on Daddy!

Apparently Piper hadn't gotten enough of the cool water earlier in the day, as her pants were soon soaked, and was down to her undies in no time :)

Had stayed a bit drier, and continued on her hunt for interesting pieces of driftwood.

Throughout the island, these beautiful lupine flowers could be seen blooming everywhere, and the girls wanted to pick them all!  

Take Two

Kyle is attempting a second take at the GInormous garden out at our land this summer (click here to see last year's attempt).  As before, we already have a beautiful, size appropriate I might add, little garden right in our very own backyard.  Infact, Kyle & Hadley worked diligently over the past two weekends fencing it all in from the determined deer in our neighborhood.  But apparently, once a farmer always a farmer.  With the nearly 100 yards tilled up again this year, Kyle set to work planting rows upon rows of vegetables with a little help from us.  I'm thinkin' far more than our growing family of 4 could ever eat!  He plans to fence this one in as well this year, and line the rows with brown paper grocery bags & straw to keep the weeds down.  So what kind of yummy things can we expect, you might ask?  Well, let's just hope its more than last year's giant garden yielded, as we took out a whopping 4 baby pumpkins thanks to massive amounts of weeds! I think it looks like I belong in a rice paddy with that sunhat, ha!  Sure beats the heat & humidity we tried to plant in last year.

Hanging On

I feel like our clocks have been ticking a bit more loudly lately.  It may have something to do with a newborn making an appearance in less than 3 months, but I think the real reason for the seemingly rushing sense of time, is knowing that Hadley will be heading off to Kindergarten soon.  I want nothing more than to scoop up each hilarious, or tender, or even crabby moment and hang on to it with ALL I've got. Because I know, when this fall rolls around, things will never be the same.  No more always happy-in-the-morning Hadley, no more crazy made up games that Piper has to/gets to follow, no more bare feet skipping across the playroom floor (Piper always wears socks), no more requests for extra broccoli or cabbage at lunch (like Piper would eat those), and no more shared laughter between sisters who are inseperably sweet best buddies. 

Seasoned parents are always telling you to enjoy it while you can, because it will pass in an instant, but I didn't ever really know what it was they were talking about. I get it now.  And for me, it will be watching two sisters split from what they have come to know & love... spending each & every day playing, and laughing, and arguing, but loving one other like no one else can.  I know that it is not over, per say, as they will still have this summer and then their evenings and weekends together.  But I am also not naive enough to think that their friendship won't hit a few bumps now and then, and will ultimately change its structure.  Change is always inevitable, and most often it is good.  Its just making the change that is tough, and I already feel it for them.  

As I use up yet another box of Kleenex thinking about all of these amazing albeit scary changes, I will finish with one of my favorite pictures of them lately, in addition to trying to remember a few of the funny things they've said to me as of late. 

Just finished up breakfast, and decided the old umbrella stroller might be fun to push each other around in.  Nothing but giggles in their pjs for at least an hour as I happily cleaned up the kitchen and watched from afar.








Piper:  "There isn't room for that Hadley, its cramjam in here!"

Hadley: "Ooo, I smell cow poop, Daddy.  I love how farms smell, ahhh."

Piper: "Can I smooch him in your tummy, Mama?"

Hadley: "I want to smooch her in your tummy, Mama!"

Piper: "Kermit is my friend, Hadley, so I will make choices for him!"

Hadley: "You scared me so much, Daddy, you shook my bones, and now they hurt!"

Piper: "I can do it by myself, Mom, I'm true"

Hadley: "Whoa, Mom, your tummy is really bumping out now!  It got bigger while you were sleeping last night!"

Piper: "We were only in the neighbor's yard because Had's buck was there, Mom.  We had to drag it out.  Its an 11 pointer."
Hadley: "No, it was a 150 pointer, Pipe!"

Piper: "Its okay to toot when you are hunting, Mama, cause it just sounds like a buck grunt."