One of Those Days...

This day has chewed me up and spit me out. There was nothing exceptionally stressful about it, but every inch of my body feels tense and tired. We stayed home all day because we've had quite a few busy days and I thought rest would do us all good. Not sure that played out. I was the referee for the day. It was Owen v. Olivia and they are worthy opponents. I don't think either one emerged as the clear winner, but the losers were me, my house and the laundry.

We'll hit the reset button and hope for a better tomorrow :)

New Hobby

Jacob decided he needed a hobby and thought he'd try his hand at photography. This was all kind of out of the blue to me, but he started looking at nice cameras and then he was hooked. I thought it was odd that he wanted to start taking pictures because we already know quite a few camera buffs (like Cha Cha Joe Joe). Anyway, he borrowed a camera and has been practicing lately. We have all been subjects...

Curious George

Tiny Tractor

Ants

Meme
Owen
Can you see his birthmark on his left shoulder?
It's shaped like a butterfly.
We think it's really fun, but I'm not sure how thrilled he'll be with it when he's a teenager.
Livvy Lu...as we often call her.

Another Budding Photographer?
As Jacob has been practicing, I've realized how technical it can be to take a good picture. I'm not really patient with that kind of thing, but since Jacob is an engineer through and through, he loves figuring out how things work and all the camera's features. I'm beginning to think this new hobby could be fun for all of us-he gets to do something he enjoys and I get fun pictures of my kiddos (and Curious George-ha)!

Home Again, Home Again!

Approximately one week ago, the kids and I returned from our extended stay in Minnesota and it's taken us about a week to recover from being gone for 3 weeks. Obviously I haven't blogged in a while, so I am going to attempt to catch up a little by recapping some of our family vacation to the North Shore.

I have spent the majority of my summers on the shores of Lake Superior. My parents grew up in small towns in northern Minnesota and most of my extended family still lives there, so I feel a little like it's my second home. I can't explain the feeling I get when I am back there. Comfort. Calm. Familiar. It's refreshing and relaxing and I yearn for time by the Lake. It has been my joy to share this special place with Jacob and my children.
My grandfather's memorial service was at the end of June in Grand Marais, MN, so my dad's entire family gathered for the occasion. When we weren't spending time with my family, Jacob, the kids and I were exploring a few of my favorite places. On this particular day we ventured out to Artist Point. It's a piece of land that juts out into Lake Superior and when you reach the point, you see an impressive panoramic of East Bay (my favorite place) and the shoreline winding up to Grand Marais.
It was a tricky little hike out to the point, but Owen and Olivia thoroughly enjoyed playing in the little wading pools left behind by big Lake waves. Owen slipped on some algae while walking into one of them and ended up a little damper than he likes to be, so we stripped him down in an attempt to dry his clothes. We were also able to watch the Hjordis (a sailboat) as it was journeying on the water. It kind of looks like a pirate ship, so Owen loved watching it.
Olivia is our little dare devil and would have walked right out into the water if it weren't freezing cold (well, it's like 34 degrees). It was a fun little family adventure on a beautiful day on the North Shore...doesn't get much better than that!