Children's Museum

On Monday (20 June) we went to the children's Museum in St Paul.  We met up with Madeleine and her mom Nanci.  Dylan's favorite places were the Habitot room and the water room.  Dylan also liked painting the rocks with a wet paintbrush.

Harvesting

It is official the broccoli seeds that I planted did not like this weather and have flowered.  I have pulled the straggly plants out and I am thinking about what I should put in their place.

Fortunately it has not been like this for all of our plantings.  We have had two big bowls of strawberries this week.  The strawberries are bursting with flavor even though they are not as red as the ones in the store.  We have also had some spicy radishes.  Dylan tried and tried them but they were not accepted.

Going on a bear hunt.....

We enjoyed another weekend at the cabin.  This one was more about reading, relaxing and walking (while fending off the vicious mosquitoes) as the weather did not lend itself to swimming or lounging outside.

The sky looked like this for most of the weekend.  I love the deep green of the water but would really like some warm weather so we can swim without having to sauna first.

Sharing the prime napping spot with Daddy.


Going on a bear hunt...


Note: we released the bear so that others might enjoy the thrill of catching him.

Dylan's first camp fire.


Hanging out on the swing with Grandpa.



Enjoying Auntie Sarah's water.

Up Up Up

One of Dylan's favorite things to do is sit on the couch and read.  He calls out "Up up up" and waits for you to lift him onto the couch.  Then he sits there turning the pages and making sounds.  I hope that he never loses this love of books.

We miss you.

Times like this are when it is hardest to be so far away.  It is difficult to see the grief on the faces of my family via Skype (I am ever so grateful for this technology) and I just wish I could reach out to share a hug with each of them.  I am sad to have missed reminiscing about Great Nana Campbell.  Auntie Noreen to some but Nana to me and my sisters, she was an intelligent, stylist and strong woman right to the very end.  We will miss you Nana.

Cabin Days - June 10-12

We arrived Friday lunchtime.  This meant we had time for:
Checking out the new deck (railings are coming).


Riding on the Tractor and Pulling the Wagon


Looking at the magnificent moccasin flowers.  On Sunday we found more of them in another spot on the property.



Checking out the water from the dock



Playing with a minnow in the minnow bucket.





Enjoying a sauna before dinner (Dylan took a pass on the sauna).

Talking old times, fishing and family with Jim, Jack, Judy and Annabel (Jim knows these people from when they used to visit Leech Lake back in the sixties, hopefully I remembered their names correctly.).


We had chicken cooked over charcoal, broccoli, new potatoes and pea shoot salad. We followed that up with rhubarb pie. The pea shoot salad was made from some of the contents of our CSA box. It was more work than I expected but worth it!



Saturday was nice and sunny, perfect weather for laying about on the deck watching Dylan play at the side of the paddling pool.



Even though Dylan had plenty of cups and things to play with he took all our cups to use in the paddling pool and then he ate the lemon from the iced tea.



The lemon was followed up by some watermelon which was a real hit.



In the afternoon we went for a ride in the boat.


The local loon was out.


We got to see the eagle babies in their nest.


Back in the day Sarah and Matt used to swim in the channel next to the boat ramp so we stopped their on the way home for Dylan to check it out. He was quite content to stay on the edge throwing sand and rocks into the water but enjoyed it when Daddy swung his feet in the water.




After the boat ride Dylan checked out a dragonfly.


On Sunday we went for a wagon ride and did some swinging before the long ride home. Don't be fooled by the picture I actually pulled the wagon most of the way.

Sharing

I know that some of you readers already follow these fabulous women/mothers/photographers but for the rest of you I just have to share because I LOVE LOVE reading and looking at these blogs.
Kelle Hampton
Dig this chick

Ok, Dylan you can wake up now.  :-)

Toddler Nap Blanket

Just catching up on a little of my blog favorites and saw these super cute toddler nap blankets.  I want one!

Tuesday Swinging

On Tuesday we went our early for a walk.  We got a little swinging in at the park before the heat got to be too much.  The mercury got up to 103F breaking records and roads (the heat caused highways to buckle).

Monday - Sprinkler Day

It was warm and sunny on Monday, ideal for playing in the sprinkler.  As the sun crept into our backyard it actually got so warm that I might have been heard asking Dylan, every two minutes or so, if he wanted to go inside.

The water table

So I caved in and got Dylan a water table. Here are a couple of pictures of him enjoying it (again with the need a little work on my photography skills!).