Swimming

We had a gorgeous day yesterday. We went for a 10 mile bike ride and then cooled off in the grand Lake Superior. The water has been much warmer this summer. Being such a big lake, it often doesn’t warm up enough for my blood. However, yesterday was a gorgeous day for a swim. Isaiah seems to be enjoying the water more and more and we are all having SO much fun!

Fun with Friends

The moms that I met in yoga while pregnant are still very much a part of our life. Things have slowed down this summer with everyone’s busy schedules, but we have still managed a couple play dates. Here are some pics with Isaiah’s friends Suvi and Leona.

First Haircut

Isaiah got his first haircut at the end of July. A few comments had been made about Isaiah’s mullet, so we thought it was time to say goodbye to it. Isaiah watched mom get her hair cut first and then it was his turn! A friend of ours did the honors of cutting his locks, thankfully the avocado pit kept his attention.

Family Vacations

We had the opportunity to spend some time near Lake Winibigoshish in Northern Minnesota with Nathan’s family. It was a relaxing few days and nice time with family. The weather was perfect and the sunsets were awesome. It was fun for Nathan and his family to be back at Lake Winnie as they used to go there every summer when Nathan was younger.

Our next trip was to South Dakota for Veronica’s family reunion. This was our first time camping with Isaiah since he became mobile, so we were curious how it was going to go. We cheated a little and packed the pack n’ play to help “contain” Isaiah while he slept. It went pretty smoothly, despite the storm the first night. So, again, we cheated and crashed in my parents’ cabin. Thankfully that was an option! J Isaiah got to play with his four cousins (all girls) that are all within six months of each other and had a blast. This year, Nathan and I were in charge of shirts, so we made all 122 members of my family t-shirts. The shirt that Isaiah is sporting is what we designed. After the reunion, we had an extra day with my family, so we took Isaiah swimming. He seems to have adjusted to the water after his swimming lessons.

The last vacation we had was again with Nathan’s family. We went camping near Stillwater, MN. We arrived a night early so we could spend some time in Stillwater; however, that seems to have been a mistake. Again, camping in our tent, a storm (or should I say 3) came up over night. I am afraid of storms, of course, so this was NOT a fun experience for me. We ended up running to our car for two of the storms because of the constant thunder and lightning and how heavy the rain was. We even got hail during the second storm. We went back to the tent after storm #2 hit and found ourselves in ankle deep water. Inside our tent was mostly dry, but we thought we’d for sure end up lying down in our sleeping bags and the water would all seep in. So, we called my sister-in-law who lives 45 minutes away and decided to stay there. So, at 2 AM we drove to Stacey’s house. During the drive, we encountered ANOTHER storm. We found ourselves driving about 20 m.p.h. Once we arrived at Stacey’s, we were exhausted! Luckily, when we woke up, the heat dried out our tent and camping pads and we were able to enjoy the sunshine. Isaiah had a blast in the lake and a fabulous time with his cousins.

Fruit harvesting

We have had a great time berry picking this summer. Unfortunately the strawberry season was very short this year, we almost didn’t get to pick at all. Luckily it worked for us to go on the last day of the season and pick for a couple hours. Isaiah loved the fresh berries and exploring the strawberry fields. We picked about 5 gallons of strawberries and made 19 pints of strawberry jam…yum!!

Next, Veronica and her coworker spent a Saturday morning at the raspberry farm. A little less hectic since she didn’t have a 1 year old to chase after! J Veronica picked about 9 lbs of raspberries!

Lastly, Veronica, Nathan, Isaiah and our friends Laura and Sam picked blueberries. One of our favorite berries, simply because we LOVE blueberry pancakes. J We all went camping together and then got up bright and early to go pick blueberries. Nathan and Veronica alone picked about 15 lbs! I can’t wait for all those pancakes!

Cherries are not berries, but we have found ourselves picking a lot of these lately. Our gardening buddies live next door to a rental who don’t pick their cherries. So, we have spent time at their house and have picked about 3 gallons! YUM!! Our new favorite jam is cherry; it’s like eating cherry pie filling in your peanut butter and jelly sandwich…who could complain? Nathan made a cherry pie from scratch (crust and all) and it was fabulous. Thankfully our friends have been able to spare us a little time as they have a cherry pitter that makes it very easy to remove the cherry pits. We have a deep freezer and shelves full of our berry bounty!

Boston

Isaiah and Veronica took a trip to Boston in June to attend Veronica’s cousin’s wedding. Veronica’s dad, sister and grandma went as well, so it was great quality time with them as well as her family on the East Coast who she seldom gets to see. For some family it was their first time meeting Isaiah and for others, like my grandma, it was a time to catch up. My grandma calls Isaiah her prince and hadn’t seen him since he was 6 months old. She had a great time playing with her “prince”. Plus, Pearl and Isaiah had a blast spending time together and playing. Thank goodness for Pearl; I wouldn’t have survived the trip without her! Being a single parent for a week was trying, but made much easier with ALL her help!

Isaiah loved the sand at the beach, although wasn’t as big a fan of the water. He collected rocks and seashells and even had his first ride on a carousel (not a big fan though!). We enjoyed some time at a state park hiking and near the lake.