HELLO August!

After a delay in leaving for the lake (Our poor, Maxie the wonder cat, got very sick but is on the mend now), we finally made it to the cabin for some fun in the sun!

We spent a couple of days with my Dad and Kit and then the rest of the time with just us- and it was just what the doctor ordered.

We took this photo during our first swim in the lake and I think I'll blow it up and keep it handy during the winter when I need to remember what summer is all about:

It's my favorite.

We spent loads of time in different boats, as always, because when you're at the lake, what else do you do?

Kai portaged the canoe for the first time and instantly my head raced ahead to when he will be a teenager going to canoe summer camp. I mean, he just has to love canoeing....it's in his blood. No pressure, right?

And, here are the boys attempting to stand up on the inner tube. Oh, those dare devils (you can't tell that the boat was really going not so fast)!

And, don't forget about Ruby! If anyone gets into a canoe, she points and grunts until someone puts her in it too and then look at how she lounges! Yep, it's already in her blood too.

Here she is hugging it- cause sometimes you just need to hug a canoe.

Then, here are some photos for the "cutest kids of summer" sweepstakes that I know we'd win...

(Why so many more of RJ you may ask? Because like I mentioned in a previous post, Kai boy isn't a fan of camera- we have many, many photos of a very, very forced semi-smile)

My dad and Kai started a "bone" project at the beginning of the summer and they finally have it finished. Here is Kai showing Ruby the deer bones that he found after discovering a wolf kill.

Our blonde biologist really liked examining them

Kai said he just wanted to talk to the wolves to make sure they were a bit nicer next time..

Finally, to leave you laughing- damn, the water was cold!

Next Stop...

We have been back from Ely for two weeks and it has been a whirlwind of fun, change, excitement, and faith.

Fun because we've spent a lot time with good friends, Kai went to two different summer camps, we did TONS of swimming, Ruby is finally saying a word or two and Kai has rode his new bike (with two wheels and no training wheels) every day and loves it.

Change because, as some of your know, Joe no longer is working at Memorial Blood Center. We get him home full-time and we are LOVING having him here with us. After spending so many hours at work over the past few years, it's like we are throwing him a huge "Welcome Back" party each day. I have that silly, butterfly-in-my-stomach feeling all of the time when I realize he will be home for dinner (he can help me make it even!), he will not be in Duluth staying in a hotel, he can help drive Kai to his activities, he can go on a run with Ruby in the stroller, we can talk about every little thing if we want and we can do something as simple as running up to Target together. It's been a wonderful change.

Exciting because as a family we get to create something new now. Joe will get a new job (fingers crossed), we will feel refreshed as a family after spending some down time together, and maybe a house project or two will be done too. Oh, and so many summer things to do still on our list. Talk about exciting!

Faith because even though we are surrounded by so much good, we need a whole lot of faith right now to know that things will be better with this change and that things will work out. We will have food on the table, a house to live in, and we will remain calm through it all (well, ok, let's be frank, probably not all of it, but I'd be happy with 50/50. We have certainly had our moments of freaking out...). My favorite quote is coming in handy now, "Never doubt the universe is unfolding as it should be..." Right on, brother.

So, to celebrate we leave Monday for Ely for a week. Here are some things we can't wait for:

1. Silliness

2. Camping

3. Hanging Out (nude if we want!)

4. Hiking and Climbing

5. Blueberries

Peace

If somebody was to ask me where my favorite place is, where I felt the most content, most peaceful, most honest about who I am and who I want to be; I would answer quickly, "Our cabin in Ely."

I joke with Joe that I'm pretty sure this is why he married me. Not only did he get me, but he got our cabin too.

For over 20 years, I've been coming to the cabin. Many of you have come along with me. We have shared sunsets, laughter, hikes, long swims, saunas, boat rides, trip planning, heartbreaks, new loves, the "TV" window, children, naps, mosquitoes, bonfires, and pesto.

For many years, it would take just 4 hours from Minneapolis to the lake. I would arrive at midnight on a Friday night and be back at work at 9 am on Monday morning. Or one summer, I spent the whole summer in Ely. Now, it often takes 5 or more hours (8 1/2 hours with Kai who was colicky is the record) and we go for much longer periods of time. With much more stuff.

We head back tomorrow after being up here for almost 2 weeks. It's taking all I have to get into the car.

(The "TV" window)

Up here at the lake, the world just slows down enough for me to to remember. I remember and feel deeply all the good stuff in life. No schedules. Just decisions like should we go swimming now or later? Hike to Ball Lake Trail or maybe head into town to get scones at the bakery?

Kai, almost 4 1/2 now, cried yesterday that he didn't want to go home either. He understands too. It's magic and it gets into your blood. Ruby hears a loon call and says "B-I-R-D" and rushes to watch them on our bay. I'm pretty sure she thinks they are calling to her.

It's a dream for me to spend time with my kids & Joe now here too. My Dad and Kit made a loft for Kai and wrote a birchbark note to him about it. They said they made it just for him as his own special place up at the lake. I saw him yesterday looking out into the woods from the small window at the peak of the cabin from his loft. In a split second, I saw him as a man telling his son about his grandpa making him this loft and how he spent years during the summer daydreaming from the spot, fishing with his Pops, and learning a deep respect and the ways of the woods.

Then, there is my mom who hiked with us to the Bass Lake waterfall a couple of days ago. It's not a long hike (1 mile there and back) but for Kai it was a grand adventure. I have hiked on that path with my mom probably over 50 times and to see Kai walking with her now and watching her pointing out wildflowers, the first blueberries of the season, and red pines and his excitement while swimming with her in the falls...or laughing with her as Ruby June jumps off the dock over and over again into her arms and thinking she must be tired, but Ruby insisting she does it one more time. Well, I'm sure you can imagine, it's like watching all of my dreams come true.

(First blueberry of season)

Kai said to me today, "Mama, tell me when you were a girl at the cabin. What did you like to do?" All I had to say was, "Just what you like to do here. Just the same."

I can't wait for many more years of "Just the same!"