Family Portraits 2016

It is so hard to get a photo of Bowie right now. He is always moving at the speed of light so any photo is a blur. He also refuses to look at a camera or say "cheese". Something about being photographed makes him very very angry so I really haven't gotten a decent photo of him in about 6 months. We had Angela Rabbitt take our family photos. I can't say I love them but I'm definitely glad to have something of this time captured on film.

More pictures of Bowie because he's darn cute and thoughts on summer.

Monday all the staff return to Lionsgate Academy to start a new school year. This was my first summer in a very long time WORKING and man was that a bummer. Actually it was and it wasn't. I enjoyed the work at LGA. Working summer school was a great experience and it was my pleasure to step in as a service provider and actually meet with students again. It was also an honor to be part of opening a brand new building and have ownership in the process of organizing and setting everything up. I was glad for the physical labor as it was a nice change from desk work. That being said it was a weird summer for me personally. I can't put my finger on it but it just seemed hard. I came to realize that I rely on my summers for my self care. I tried very hard to focus on my personal health this summer. I started seeing an acupuncturist for the first time and had cupping done. I established care with a new/rock star chiropractor. I became a regular twice a week at my local yoga studio. Josh and I tried and failed and tried to re-do our kitchen (success at last). I guess it was a very real and very introverted summer. In a way that feels boring or like I failed at maintaining my usual adventure life. In a way it was very much what it needed to be. I can say that I regained clarity of my mind and my goals this summer. I feel healthier than ever and I feel motivated to get some new things going in this upcoming school year. I feel confident about my job for the first time since I began and I feel excitement for my team and future in our school's new location. In a funny way it feels like now that summer is done I can finally begin to relax and enjoy some of the fun and adventures that are in store.

 

Blue toes.

Helping pick peas in the garden.

 

Bowie only loves water and loves it a lot.

Ice cream at the MN Zoo.

Jump City- He only wanted Grandma.

Actually he only wanted to play on this car.

Naked in a pool.

Bowie the Birthday Boy (AKA "I two!")

My son turned two and basically we partied about it all summer long. I will recap the events below. I wanted to first share my feelings about having a two year old. My son has grown so fast. I did not know it was possible for two years to go so quickly or that such growth and development could happen in such a short span of time. I knew it but I didn't know it. My son has developed into his own special person. In the world he is empathic and funny and mellow. At home he is assertive about his feelings and boy does he have a lot of them that he can cycle through quickly. He is like his mom in that he is so excited about adventuring and seeing new things. He is like his dad in that he loves to come home and snuggle and recharge. He is nuts about swimming and eating cookies. He loves trains and monster trucks and fire hydrants (to whom he sings the ABCs). He's brilliant and loves to read and count. He wants to hide under blankets and whisper. It's important to him to have a "thing" with others-whether it's a phrase, a game or a look that is special between only him and that individual. He is the absolute joy of my life.

 

We started birthdaying early at my dad and step-mom's annual solstice party at their place in Red Wing. Bowie chowed down cupcakes and ran through the sprinkler and enjoyed some news toys. The real hit of his life was the gift of a wooden train set that we have yet to see because my father only doles it out piece by piece but so far Bowie sleeps with his train pieces and loves them so much.

Party number two happened the weekend of his actual birthday. Josh's dad, aunt and sister all came to town to visit and his mom joined us for Nadia Cakes and back yard grilling. As you can see above the next real birthday hit of his life was the plastic red car that every kid MUST have. Bowie still has not figured out how to drive it with his feet but he is content to sit in it and hang out.

His last party was at my Aunt Lori's house in Aitkin. The whole family was there (Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, Uncle, my mom and step-dad, Lindsay and her BF Danny). Bowie was thrilled and spoiled all weekend. He loved his monster truck cake and still plays with his "cake car" at home. The hit there was definitely the teepee from my Grandparents. I have no photos of it but I can tell you he was very picky about who he would let in to read books to him. He also enjoyed a boat ride as seen above and had a predictable melt down when we tried to help him to swim in the lake.

Bowie is one loved child. Happy birthday Bunny!

Summer Road Trip (Duluth and U.P.)

We packed in a quick summer adventure. It is as follows. On a Wednesday we drove to Duluth and took in our favorite things...

G&T and Vikre Distillery

Cheers to delicious varieties of gin.

Vikre Distillery AKA my future sofa.

 

Bowie was mind blown by the lift bridge.

Treats at Amazing Grace in Canal Park. A must.

 

All of these exciting activities took a minimal amount of time so we paid for the Duluth Children's Museum hoping to keep Bowie happy and busy the rest of the afternoon. That place is a bust. Don't waste your time (or money). It also ended in a Bowie melt-down. We left to stay with Josh's cousin Ben, his wife Nicole and their son Elias for the night.

Peterson AKA Herseth/Bachman men.
 

Bowie thought Elias and his giant car/train collection were the coolest. He is right. The next morning we hit up our Duluth MOST FAVORITE the Duluth Grill for breakfast and then drove to the Upper Peninsula Michigan.

I love the Duluth Grill!

We had a plan to hunt waterfalls in Porcupine Mountains State Park. Due to our poor planning and sleep deprivation we drove past all of the waterfalls on our way into the park. Dejected we decided to hike to view Cloud Lake. Luckily this was way better than any waterfall I'd ever seen because we literally hiked INTO A CLOUD! We had lunch IN THE CLOUD and then briefly scored a beautiful view of the lake below before the CLOUD that we were STANDING IN hid the view again.

My view of Cloud Lake. It's there, I promise, but I'm IN A CLOUD!

After the cloud adventure we drove straight to Josh's aunt Kathy and uncle Ralph's lake home in Twin Lakes (Lake Gerard). They stuffed us full of delicious food and provided all of the amenities of a 5 star hotel. We were able to spend the next couple of days relaxing and enjoying good family time. Ben, Nicole and Elias came up a day later to join the fun.

Seen here are the horrible conditions we were forced to stay in.

Cousin snuggle time.



The whole gang  (including the BACK of Bowie's head).



The boys.

The toad prisoner.

Uncle Ralph took us to explore Agate Beach and we found many imposter agates. It was very relaxing to tune out the world and walk the beach thinking about nothing but the rocks under our feet.

We were lucky enough to get a date night in the town of Houghton where we sampled beer and had dinner at a brew pub and walked along the river. Josh also found this mural of naked people jumping into a lake.

In conclusion here is a photo of the most beautiful baby ever enjoying the U.P.