back to school
Summer's out, and school's in for the 7th grader and high school freshman.
Have great day girlz!
happy birthday
Two layers of cookie dough, a chocolate cake, separated by layers of frosting made for nearly 10 pounds of birthday love.
Happy Birthday Shari !
motley resort
Spent the weekend at the Motley resort. Good food, fun family, and lots of time in and on the water.
10 mile
Thanks to Jeremy and Sibby, we spent a fantastic weekend at the 10 Mile cabin. It's a post-card like place near Leech Lake with big pines. clear waters, a sandy beach and a spacious, yet classic looking Northwoods cabin. The weather was near perfect, the kids mostly sunny, and as forecasted, a 100% fun.
camp cake
Isabel went to Camp Cake today, a day long live video stream with Yolanda of "How to Cake it". It's a YouTube channel of baking videos and fancy decorations. She loves this stuff and has watch more episodes than there are sprinkles on her cupcakes. Anyway, today she and a few hundred others spent from 10'til nearly 5 with Yolanda via live video stream making taco cakes and sundae cupcakes.
Believe it or not, they tasted even better than they look.
horse camp
"bout time for Isabel to saddle up for a week of Yee-Haws, Yippees and Giddy ups.
Have a boot stompin' time Isabel!
road trip
The summer road trip was epic. We kick it off with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals at the Minnesota Zoo, and shared a late breakfast with Grandma/pa the next morning. Arriving just before the sun we met George, Thomas, Theodore & Abraham at Mount Rushmore and later explored Custer State Park and the Needles Highway. The next day armed with what amounted to a candle in a bucket, we descended 200' below the South Dakota prairie and hiked a couple miles of the seemingly endless Wind Cave. It was amazing down there but despite my pleading, they didn't allow cameras :-(
After climbing our way out the of cave we made the drive to Estes Park, the doorstep to Rocky Mountain National Park. There we met Emily, Doug, Gabe and Eli for the highlight of our trip, a 4 day backpack through the majestic high country of the Rockies.
All in all 11 adventurous days that will long be remembered.
art camp
It was a busy week at the Duluth Art Institutes teen art camp. There was pottery, a self-portrait, a painting that included foreshortening and some fabric art.
there she goes...
off to her last day of middle school. Graduation tonight, class trip to Valley Fair tomorrow, she's excited, I'm smiling on the outside.
Where does it go...
hard work
This one's from 2011... Grace laying the ground work that would earn her a top spot at tonight's Honor's Banquet. She's among a handful of kids to graduate from middle school settling for nothing less than straight A's.
Smart she is, but it's her hard work that makes me smile the brightest.
YNP
Had near perfect weather for the Yellowstone trip... it was cold, the sun scarce, and it snowed often. No joke. Bright sun buries wildlife textures and leaves the landscape looking hot and harsh. Yuk!
So for five days I had it all... perfect weather, abundant wildlife, stunning scenery and a good friend to share it all with.
caymankind
Our week in Little Cayman was absolutely fantastic. Sharing it with some of our favorite people elevated it to possibly the #1 vacation of all time. Thanks for diving in John, Carrie, Caroline and John Henry.
Given the epic nature of last week, packing all the memories into a little video was a bit difficult. Thanks to an awesome soundtrack from the Cayman Tourism Office and some ruthless editing, I managed. The track is called "Caymankind", and was a community project to highlight their welcoming culture and friendly nature. It's perfect.
point of sand
From left to right ~ Grace, Caroline and John Henry on the dock at Point of Sand Beach.
island time
Life on Little Cayman moves slowly... there's no traffic, no stop lights, or stop signs for that matter. No malls, water parks or mini golf. With just 150 residents, three resorts and one gas station, Little Cayman isn't little, it's tiny. The reef that surrounds it however is bustling with life and arguably the finest in all the Caribbean. Coral canyons and sand chutes lead you through pristine blue water before plunging 6000' into the Cayman Trench.
We shared the sea with our friends, John, Carrie, John Henry and Caroline, and after leading the "life aquatic" for a full week, we were all a bit sad to leave.
lots more to come...
