And I will make you fishers of men......

Home Away From Home

Mimi and Papa (also known as my parents), recently invited us to spend the weekend with them in Papa's retirement present. The camper currently resides at Ponderosa Campground on the beautiful Lake Zumbro. We left early Saturday morning and made the 56 mile trek to help them with several “spring clean-up” projects.

Easton Entertaining Mimi

It was a successful two days as we built a deck, moved a shed, weeded, mowed, trimmed, cleaned, raked, hung a shower curtain and stacked wood. The wind, which was blowing like crazy at times, didn't even bother us. We cooked out, roasted marshmallows and slept in bunks (not comfortable, but tolerable).

The boys had a great time exploring our lot and checking out the new playground equipment. After the tasks were complete we decided to take a little boat ride on the lake and try our hand at fishing. We cast our poles out into the water and before you knew it the fish were a biting. Owen, Paul and Papa pulled in a total of 18 nice crappies, some measuring as large as 12 inches. Owen enjoyed reeling in the big ones. He placed each one tenderly into the live well. His biggest concern is that one, especially the larger ones, might have teeth. Easton HATED his life jacket and was whimpering a lot, but once he got to touch a fish he was all smiles. As long as the boys were catching fish, he was happy.

"Look at what I caught Mom!"

"What is this strange thing?"

We finished the day with a campfire and woke up to fish for breakfast. We are really looking forward to spending time with them this summer. We are so blessed to be able to share such times with our family. There are fish to be caught, sunrises to witness, campfires to tend and memories to be made. Welcome summer, please stay a while.

Exploring, Trading and Teething!

I have a new favorite grocery store. Unfortunately, it is way too far away from my front step to frequent often. Trader Joe’ s, in St. Paul has some of the coolest, yummiest, junk-free food you can find. Their pizza was awesome (and nitrate free!), there organic apple juice rocked and I found almond milk for 1/2 the price I pay in Owatonna! I was floored on the prices. I try my hardest to purchase organic fruits and veggies, hormone-free meat and minimally processed/preservative-free food. The bad part, these always come with a hefty price tag. I was thrilled to walk out of Trader Joe's with 6 full bags and a receipt of $70! I wonder if the city of Owatonna would consider adding such a grocery store to our community!

The Science Museum of Minnesota

We spent our Tuesday exploring the science museum. Touching dinosaur bones, looking at our eyeballs and learning how electricity works were just a few things we experienced with the White family. The parking fee was WAY TO HIGH ($9 for 4 hours) so I am glad I packed a lunch to save us a little money. Owen had a great time guiding McKenzie (age 2) all over the museum while the little boys (Easton and Mitchell) tried to eat the plastic dinos. The mommas (Becky and I "friends since Jr. High school") got to catch up and have a little adult conversation. I wish we lived a little closer so we could do it more often.

Easton is getting 5 teeth. His lower central incisor came in at the beginning of January and since then we have deemed him “Easton, the one tooth wonder"! The little man got a little cranky at the beginning of the week. His sleep pattern changed, he began drooling like crazy and his diapers were not "normal". All signs pointed to another tooth. It was at that moment I noticed the other lower incisor was pushing its white little self threw. Later in the week, while crying, I caught a glimpse of a top lateral incisor, no both lateral incisors, no both lateral incisors and both top central incisors too. 5 teeth are making their way into my baby's sore little mouth. Thank goodness we stocked up on Hyland's Natural Teething Tablets. A huge thank-you goes out to my boss and his discovery of these magic little pills.

It is a gorgeous day here in Minnesota. After working this morning (ugg) I ran to Medford to get a shower gift, played soccer in the back yard, weeded the garden (can you believe there are weeds already??), dug up worms, and tried to clean up the house. We are winding down the day now. Baths were given early and there is a huge ring of dirt around the tub. The boys are having a snack and watching a “Veggie Tales” movie. Everyone is worn out from the day, a good one indeed.