Naturally Optimistic

Glensheen Mansion from the lake side So we made it to Glensheen today. No bike ride or picnic. Instead a nice hearty breakfast at Perkins. That worked. Looking down the main hallway from the living room. The tour was great, as usual. I think I have been there at least 6 times. The first was shortly after it opened (1979/80....?!) It is a beautiful home and I love all of the rich fixtures, decor and history. I wish I had longer to spend there. I wish I knew more about really how the family spent their 'every' day days there. My favorite room - the breakfast room The grounds are amazing - the vegetable garden makes me so envious! But holy hannah - they need to get in there and pick some produce! There are flowers upon flowers upon flowers. The formal garden screams to be photographed, the trails in the woods beckon you to explore. The kids really enjoyed the grounds, as did Steve & I. I am thinking a picnic on the grounds (grounds only passes are available for...

I had a great idea for today. We have a gift certificate that my folks gave me (early) for our anniversary for a "Rose Garden Picnic Basket lunch" from Valentini's (located, right by the Rose Garden)....AND we have passes to area attractions which expire tomorrow. I asked Steve if he'd like to go to Glensheen with me & the kids & do the picnic thing and he said - yeah, sure! So, the plan was go park at the Rose Garden, bike with our picnic lunch to Glensheen, tour the mansion & gardens and then head back for our picnic along the Lakewalk somewhere. I called the restaurant this morning to see if we could get a basket, what comes in it, etc. They're not open on Sundays. WHAT? I checked their website...they're not open on Sundays at all in the Summer (hi! They're RIGHT on the LakeWalk....) or in the Winter (makes more sense). I would've never thought a restaurant would be closed on one of the busiest Sundays in Duluth! Ah well...on t...

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!

Today is the Solstice...I believe at 5:16pm or something. Exactly. But it's not very summery. With highs only in the 40's & 50's (WHAT?) & rain & wind, it's pretty hard to be in the spirit of the season. On our longest day of the year when it *should* be light until 11pm (well, light-ish), we won't be able to enjoy it because it'll be cloudy & dark. Hmph. AND we had a babysitter lined up for tonight - had her in place for probably over a month...but I sort of dropped the ball & didn't talk to her until last night & now she's not available. Argh. Well, we're going to make the best of it. Steve & I are going out anyway! Carolyn's going to come down to watch the kids, we're going to have happy hour & then possibly go to a movie. I'd love to be hiking out West on the SHT, but it's just not going to happen this year. Ah well, next year? Luckily we took a little family hike to the creek after supper last nigh...

Fishing with Grandpa - Paddling on the lake in the canoe - Hanging around & Smiling - Decorating cupcakes for the 'birthday party' - playing with cousins - Just chillin' We went to a lake home my folks rented in Frederic, WI. We were there the first part of the week, my sister & her tribe the 2nd part. We overlapped on Wednesday to have a "Teddy Bear Picnic" & celebrate mine & Kathy's birthdays. It was fun. But DAMN steamy!!

Yesterday was such a perfect summer day, Steve & I decided to take the kids to the beach. It was sunny, hot - but not too hot; not buggy or humid...just right. We had so much fun swimming. The big lake was actually "warmish." I mean, I still thought I was going to hyper-ventilate the first time I got in, but once in it was very refreshing & quite pleasant! Dahlia had so much fun "swimming" but mostly had fun making sand castles. I had fun making sand castles too. August was fairly mellow & enjoyed napping on the beach. I think the beach umbrella was one of my best impulse purchases this summer! I even got some reading in while feeding August....

I made these blueberry yogurt 'popsicles' yesterday as I had a whole lot of blueberries left over from the 4th. They are okay - great flavor but I'm not sure about the texture. I'm sure the skins from the blueberries contain all the 'good stuff' but it made the popsicles a weird consistency. At least they taste good!

Well, it's been a busy last few days. We were supposed to close on our new house on Friday, only to find out on Thursday that a city-required inspection hadn't been done...this was the fault of the selling agent which made it super frustrating. Thankfully our agent is super-on-the-ball and double-checked to see if this had happened. The inspection happened on Friday and there is work that needed to be done. Closing wasn't looking good - however, things got squared away at the last minute, money was put into escrow by the sellers to finish the work and we closed an hour later than scheduled! Yay! After closing we came home (old house) and loaded up a few bulky items & supplies and headed to the new house! We set up our card table, fed the baby and cracked the champagne - only to realize it tasted more like vinegar. Ugh! What a buzz kill! Ah well. A few friends stopped over and we had our first unofficial gathering in the back. I gotta tell you - love the new house for ha...

Last Sunday we took a family bike ride on the Munger Trail. It rocked. We had a picnic, we biked about 10 miles in the perfect biking conditions - sunny, warm but breezy (cool) and a great trail. The bike trailer really evens out Steve & my abilities which is awesome. It gives him a extra workout (maybe I should be hauling the trailer) that's for sure!