Summer in Minnesooooota

I've been trying to wait until I have photos to post, but that seems to create quite a lag time in posts. So let me tell you about our week with a photo from the internet (see left)

After a horrendous week at the office last week, and after a week-long business trip I had planned was cancelled, I decided to join Josie and Cory on their long-planned trip to northern Minnesota. They had planned to go for a week to visit gramma and grampa while I socked away billable hours in preparation for our trip to Hawaii, but I decided I couldn't bear to be without them for a week, and I joined them. We all went to Lutsen, Minnesota, which is the home of the Caouette summer cabin (at least for the last few years) where Mick and Carol (aka gramma and grampa or "baba" and "baba") ("baba" is also the word for mama and, often, the dog) spend July each year. It's a beautiful cabin that sits on a secluded part of Lake Superior, a stunningly beautiful place. Lake Superior is also largely pointless in my book, since it is 35 degrees year round and thus is too cold for even short swims. And really, what is the point of a large body of water if you can't swim in it??

So, for water fun, Carol, Cory and I went on a 7 mile canoe trip up Clearwater Lake, a lake in the famous boundary waters of Nothern Minnesota. There were loons yelling at each other, but otherwise we were largely alone on the lake in our ginormous aluminum canoe (see photo left). (no, that's not us, that's another stock image from the internet - but pretend it's us in the canoe and you get the idea). It was just what the doctor ordered after months of long hours in the office or cooped up in the house with the baby (poor Cory). Cory noted that it would have been something that our buddies and fellow bloggers Wes and Christine would have loved. Speaking of Wes, I owe you a call.

Also went on a long hike in the mountains with Josie in the backpack where there were lots of views of the lake around each bend in the trail. Here's a photo of a nice british man modeling what we use with Josie (see left), who, as you know, is much much cuter than the baby in the photo. A constant topic of debate - what exactly is that land on the horizon of the lake? Answers: Maybe it's Michigan (no, that's too far away!) Maybe it's the Apostle Islands (no, they're too far south); Maybe it's clouds (No, that's definitely land). I'm sure those of you with families have had similar conversations about different topics. Once we had said variations on those seven sentences approximately 100 times each, we headed down the hill for some lunch.

Anyway, it was a wonderful, wonderful trip and we had a ton of fun. Cory and Josie are still there, leaving me very sad and very lonely without them. I came home to a refrigerator that may have been off since we left. I plugged it into another plug and it started humming again. I'm sure the food in there is perfectly fine. I'll let Cory check to be sure when he gets home.

photos to follow.

When my sister and I were little, my mother took us to ballet lessons, thinking of what beautiful, graceful creatures we would be. Much to her dismay, she wound up with a house full of stinky soccer cleats, dirt-encrusted softball socks, and clothing covered in sweat and grass stains. We seemed to have other plans, although my sister did enjoy wearing dresses, through kindergarten at least, and I wore exclusively purple (definitely a girl color!) for a full year.

It seems that sometimes children have different ideas about who they are going to be, and what they are going to do with their time here on earth, than their parents.


For example, our sweet Josie:

Josie likes her pink sunglasses. (see right)

Josie loves looking in the mirror and smiling, because she is quite fond of that adorable girl in the mirror.

Josie likes sitting atop her winnie-the-pooh choo choo train and smiling and waving in the full length closet mirror - preferably wearing her pink sunglasses.

Josie's wave is not the regular back and forth waive - it is a unique wrist rotation, devoid of any arm movement whatsoever, that caused the shop girl at the Sephora store to comment "Omigosh, how cuuuute! Look at those big blue eyes! And she's got the pageant waive down!"

I fear we might be in trouble.

See what I mean about teddy bears?

The Josie Journal

Josie Journal: I know, it's kind of a dopey name.

But this whole "blogging" thing is also kind of dopey, if you ask me. It seems terribly self-involved and absorbed - as though anyone is interested enough in me that they would be eager (or willing!) to engage in one-sided communication with me. A phone conversation with me is one-sided enough, as many of you can attest to. But whatever the general interest level is in reading what I have to say, it has become clear that Miss Josie is quite the hot topic for some folks. And some of those people live far away and don't get to see my Josie every day to see for themselves what she is getting up to. And Josie is not quite up to writing her own blog - yet. Ergo the Josie Journal.

So, for the first post I will tell you these things about that charming and delightful girl of mine (ours!), who learns exciting (to us, at least) things every day. In recent days she has learned the following:

1. That if you are feeling teetery when you walk, if you stop and stand still for a minute, you might just keep your balance;

2. Teddy bears make significantly more comfortable and better smelling pillows than do wrapped up diapers left on the top of the diaper pail, which happens to be within arm's reach of the crib;

3. That if you walk up to your mother while she is sitting in a chair, hold a book out and put your hands on her knees, she will probably hoist you up and read you Opposites with Oswald, That's Not My Puppy, or some other juicy tome as many times as you'd like; and

4. That if you put your arms around someone, they will have the urge to squeeze you and you can squeeze them back and it feels nice.