Pinewood Castle

Summer is . . .

sand & sun

swinging as high as you can

red, white & blue

park dates with friends

kites flying high

big blooms

babies pushing babies

frogs on the window

bubbles large & small

rocket stompers - the best preschool yard toy ever

that bittersweet realization that it will all end too soon, just when the best weather finally arrives

 

Summer is . . .

 playing tag on freshly mown grass, watching from upstairs while I give the little ones a bath

bringing the Monarch metamorphasis indoors

 

hours of fun with the water hose

first finger painting 

 

kitties in the garden

 

insect collections

family nature hikes

sipping smoothies for breakfast

 

endless afternoons in the backyard

 

admiring all of God's living creatures

And so much more . . . so I had better get busier withthe camera these last few weeks!

 

Thankful Thursday - Camping Edition

Last Friday night our family experienced our first real camping trip. By real, I mean that there was no option of taking shelter indoors if anything went wrong.

For years I have procrastinated family camping for fear that it would be too hot, that it would rain, that there would be too many mosquitoes, that the baby would cry in the night and not sleep well, that the showers would be gross. As long as we could possibly swing it, I have voted (and gotten my way) for a hotel suite or adjoining rooms. Well, this year we couldn't swing it so I decided to give camping a try rather than stay home all summer. A few hundred dollars in equipment is nothing compared to a week of hotel bills.

{The first night we were all in one tent and our luggage in the other. The second night the kids got the blue tent and we got the big tent with the baby}

Were my fears unfounded? No! When we arrived at our campsite (a county one - all the state parks are closed due to a government shutdown) it was nearly 100 degrees, humid, and with a relentless 20 mph wind. Sometime between pitching the tent in the wind and dinner I got a mega headache and by the time we were brushing our teeth a severe thunderstorm rolled in.

It took hours for the storm to subside and the baby to calm down enough to sleep and my headache persisted all night. Lying awake feeling damp, cross, and miserable I planned the speech I would give my husband the next day, explaining that camping was just not for me, that we should cancel our reservations for the rest of the summer and just stay home because this suffering and misery just wasn't worth it. Plus, the bathrooms were gross (rusty water, full of bugs), there was no swimming beach and mosquitoes ate us alive. My poor baby had bites all over his face and neck even though we tried to keep him in the tent the whole time. {Lori, you were right!}

God humbled my proud heart at His earliest convenience. When the birds woke me up at 5:00 and I check the news on my iPhone I realized how lucky we were that a branch did not fall and kill one of our children. How lucky we were that we did not take shelter in a nearby B&B that caught fire in the middle of the night. Lucky that we would not come home to find a tree through the roof of our house. Lucky, protected, spared. Obviously I do not know what misery really is. It could have been so much worse.

After the first night we actually had a great time. It was still hot, but the ultra high humidity broke. The wind died down. We left the campground for the day and explored Mankato, MN and saw the attractions on our itinerary:

The Hubbard House

The Betsy and Tacy Houses

The Bench!

And a huge highlight - I actually recognized a fellow blogger this time - not like last year!

This is Grace from Our Field of Little Flowers. She was with her LIttle Flowers group visiting the Betsy-Tacy houses too!

 

The next night in the tent was not nearly as hot or humid. We packed up, made it to 11:30  Mass at the beautiful church of Sts. Peter and Paul, headed to New Ulm and enjoyed this quaint German town.

The Wanda Gag house (Millions of Cats)

The Schell Brewery

the Cathedral

{photo from the Cathedral website}

and we climbed 100 feet to see New Ulm from the top of Hermann the German

Even though I am most grateful to be home and back in my own bed, I think I might be willing to try this camping thing again if it means we can explore this state.

Misery is relative.

 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. ~ Psalm 107:1

 

 

Thankful Thursday

Thankful that so much real life is happening that I hardly have time to sit at the computer and blog! Over the last two weekends we have enjoyed the Catholic Home School Conference (MCHEC), a trip to the Zoo, the girls' ballet recital, and more time in the gardens.

Also thankful that sometimes the weather in MN is nice enough to be outdoors for hours on end that the fresh air and exercise makes me too tired to stay up and blog at night.

Thankful for our adorable Little Prince, now fondly referred to as Walking Trouble, who creates messes wherever he goes! He "cleans" the cat dishes, "folds" my kitchen towels, brings us the pizza pan several times a day, and constantly climbs the stairs then immediately hollers for someone to get him down. There's no rest for anyone as long as he's awake.

Thankful for my dear friend and her daughter who helped me clean out the over-grown black-eyed Susan bed one weekday morning. I am thankful she let me reward her by sharing more overgrown plants: black-eyed Susan (of course), as well as lamb's ears, daffodils, lily of the valley, oregano, Russian sage and coreopsis.

Thankful for our children's Godparents!

Thankful for discounts at the nursery for a little instant gratification!

Thankful for finally finding some historical novels by Tracy Chevelier that I can't put down: Girl With a Pearl Earring, Falling Angels, and Remarkable Creatures. 

Thankful for stylists who can cut hair on a moving target. I could never have done so well. Buzz cuts I can do, but toddlers and little girls go to someone who knows what they are doing!

Thankful for Pentecost and the annual Twelve Fruit Salad. We should make this much more often!

 

Gel ant farms. Much better than sand!

That feverish babies recover with lots of nursing and TLC.

Thankful that not all deer ticks carry Lyme's. They are so tiny that for two days I thought my daughter had a little scratch on her face that scabbed over. When I saw the scab was flaking I impulsively picked it off only to discover that the little scab had legs! Yuck!

Thankful for lawn treatment that (supposedly) kills over thirty kinds of insects and that mosquito spray that makes our backyard bearable to be in after months indoors. Some chemicals are just worth the risk.

Thankful that by July I will have more time to finish ordering curriculum and preparing materials for the next school year. I am chomping at the bit to get it done and will share our plans when it's all decided!