Naturally Optimistic

A few photos to tide you over before my full account...

We had a wonderful weekend at the Mesaba Co-Op Park celebrating Juhannus or Midsummer. It's a place & a festival we'd never heard of before a few weeks ago when twice in the same day it was mentioned to us. Once to me by friends & once to Steve by our neighbor (who happens to be on the board & very involved). Turns out they all know each other quite well. Crazy. I'll spare you the details about the park (you can read a bit more about it here ) & just say that it's unique to say the least. A bit like summer camp for adults as GTR said (she was there with her family too - first time she'd be there!) There were activities for young & old; potlucks & meals served in the mess hall; great music for dancing; open stage, yoga, sustainability workshops, fairy house building & the most enormous bonfire I have ever seen. We brought food & we also ate at the mess hall (we weren't quite sure what to expect). How easy though to not REALLY h...

Well, internet, it has finally arrived. Our first camping foray as a family of four. I'm excited (but man I hate packing). I will be out of the wired-world for a few days to return with many happy stories, lasting memories, new friends & oodles of photos. Maybe a little sunshine on my cheeks & a few mosquito bites too. Have a great weekend!

*Get two kids changed, dressed, fed, etc. (repeat throughout the day) *Make banana bread for weekend camping trip *Make pickle/cream cheese roll up thingys for Carolyn's party tonight *Make veggie pizza for Carolyn's party tonight *Cut up pineapple for tonight/weekend *wash dishes *Pack for weekend camping trip Included but not limited to: clothes for self + 2 kids swimsuits diapers swim diapers wipes towels sunscreen bug dope sleeping bags sheets potty chair changing pad therma rests air mattress tents camp chairs head lamps beach ball + sand toys mosquito netting for Auguts bouncy seat Food camping 'box' with supplies *lunch with a friend (we'll see if I get that squeezed in or not) *putting puzzles together with Dahlia *clean house for upcoming visitors Bertil & Maud (from Sweden) + Sudhara next week! I'm tired already.

Or camping with toddlers! Our northwoods adventure started last Saturday. Of course it took us forever to get packed up and out the door, as it usually does. We didn't make it to the Ranger Station in Tofte til 4:45pm! (they close at 5pm). It is so frustrating and no matter how much we try to pre-pack and be more efficient it gets worse instead of better. I felt bad for Dustin & Anna (hi Anna!) who were ALWAYS waiting on us. Hmph. The hiccups on this trip started when I realized on the way out of town that I forgot my glasses. Yeah, that sucks. And I have nEVER done that before. It's not such a big deal during the day, as I wear contacts almost exclusively, but at night before bed, and in the middle of the night/morning it's a real pain in the ass. 2nd hiccup came on the washboard like conditions of the Sawbill Trail. My oh my do they need to grade that road. It was terrible and while driving along it I thought the dashboard of the truck would fall off. It didn't, t...

On Saturday after Kate left we packed up and headed to my favorite vacation spot. Gordon, WI. Sometimes its hard to discern sarcam in the written word, I was using it in the first sentence. Just to clarify. Steve's Dad owns some property down there and a small little "cabin." We try to get down there once or twice a year with his Dad & Trudy as they LOVE it. For me? It's not that great. I'm scared of swimming in rivers (and lakes) so that's no good (yes, I have issues, I'm aware). There's no hiking. An overabundance of ATVers & shitty little red-neck bars and it usually rains when I'm thee. So Saturday was HOT hot hot. And we had to take the non-air-conditioned truck because we were town a trailer with some fence posts for Steve's Dad. Awesome. Nothing I like better than sitting in the middle of a hot hot hot truck (stick shift mind you) while roasting my ass off. It's awesome! We did stop at Culver's for some frozen custard wh...

We took Dahlia on her very first camping trip this weekend. Our goal was to be out of the house by 11:30 on Friday morning (we had a showing of our house then)...but we weren't even CLOSE to ready. We (ahem) are slow packers. Instead I ran the errands (liquor store, groceries) and Steve went to fuel up and get an oil change for the truck....5 hours or so later we were on the road! We made reservations at Sawbill Lake Campground in the Superior National Forest, at the end of The Sawbill Trail. It was a lovely campground. We were in the site next to some friends - close enough to hang out, far enough to be alone. Friday night we got everything set up and had a very late dinner. Dahlia was intrigued by the tent and fell asleep almost immediately. That was awesome. Steve & I enjoyed our hot dogs over the fire and a couple beers and the gazillions of stars. Ah heaven. Saturday we were going to take Miss Dahlia canoeing but it was so damn windy. The lake was CHOPPY and that scared ...

Last weekend Steve & I got away for a little R&R. I hadn't been camping since last summer and we hadn't backpacked yet together with our new wedding gifts (gear!). I had the one weekend in June off and it timed perfectly with Grandma's Marathon here in Duluth which equaled a perfect weekend to get the heck out of dodge. Our plans were to leave "early" but we still didn't really leave til mid-afternoon on Friday. That's how we operate. We loaded up our new packs (REI's "Venus" and "Mars" - aren't we cute?) and hit the road. Steve had an inspection to do in Tofte so we took the long way but I didn't mind driving up the North Shore with my honey and enjoying the view. Of course we DID have to stop for Dairy Queen in Two Harbors. The clouds were ominous and the weather radio reported that a string of storms were moving in. As we got closer to the state park the rain came. And I mean it CAME. It poured. For a while we wer...

Steve & I are off for the weekend to do a little backpacking in the George Crosby Manitou State Park which is up the North Shore (Lake Superior). Our packs are ready to go and hopefully I'll make it with 30lbs of stuff on my back. I'm trying to simplify but it's not that easy. I am mostly looking forward to setting up the hammock, opening my book and hanging out with my sweet husband. later!

I just heard from Steve! The phone rang. "Stevie" came up on my screen. Yay! But there was nothing there. No sound. No crackle. Nothing. Still not good for my Hollywood-esque imagination. The phone rings again. "Stevie" again but this time with crackles. Still no voice. Disconnects. The third time the phone rings I hear my sweetie's voice! THANK GOD. "Are you okay??" The crackling is so loud and obtrusive to the conversation but I can make out that yes he's okay and he's so sorry to have made me and everyone else worry so much. They tried to paddle out yesterday but the weather had "turned to shit" and they were unable to leave! They were afraid if they tried paddling through the high waves that they wouldn't make it!!!! I'm glad they didn't try to be superheroes and stayed put even though it gave me an ulcer. He said he got a signal on Monday and was able to retrieve a message from me then but by yesterday everything was ...