Crosslake

(Picture taken by Katie)








(Picture taken by Katie)



Crosslake Highlights

~ Grilling every night
~ Dancing while grilling
~ Having so many people to play with
~ Swimming- and especially (for me anyway) that evening swim with Ryan and Grace and Jackson
~ The tall pines and fresh air
~ The rocket launch (see next post)
~ Boating to the island
~ Bonfires
~ Fishing off the dock
~ Having Kirsten and her family join us this year
~ Time to read and write
~ Sunsets

Back to Grandma Sam's

We got to enjoy another weekend back at Grandma Sam and Grandpa Scott's before heading off to Crosslake for the week.  It was a nice couple days of swimming, beautiful weather, and more birthday celebrating.  The perfect way to start or vacation.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub Three Kids in a Tub

Sunday

After a full weekend of more birthday celebrating and visits from family, we ended our weekend by spending Sunday evening in Stillwater.  Dinner from the coop- eaten on the winery balcony over looking the river, a trip to the candy store, and a walk by the river.









It was the perfect end to a really good weekend.

Five

A Jackson size wheelbarrow and legos from us when he awoke this morning...
A party with friends at the beach...
Strawberry pie and ice cream for dessert...
Dinner at home with our family plus Grandma Lee and Papa (and more presents)...
A weekend ahead of us with more promised visits from family to wish him Happy Birthday...
So far I think we're liking five!

Black Raspberries Are Here

My favorite breakfast- black raspberries, plain yogurt, and our granola.

Strawberry Makin'

Our strawberry picking harvest translated roughly to- many meals of fresh berries, three jars of jam, five bags of strawberries for the freezer, a few tummy aches, one messy kitchen and...





this delicious pie found here.

Strawberry Picking

This is me at age nine sitting on my Grandma's deck with my big bucket of hand picked strawberries.  Each summer when I was growing up I would be invited to spend a week- all by myself- at my Grandma's house (my sister got her own week too).  The week would always consist of several of my favorite activities, one of which was berry picking.  I have very vivid memories of the "clunk" the berries made as they hit the plastic ice cream pail interspersed with sweet strawberry juice running down my chin.  One in the bucket, one in my belly.  That pattern would continue well past the point of a tummy ache.  I remember that inevitably the bugs and/or the heat would start to get to me and a part of me would want to stop.  Yet another part of me, dreaming of the strawberry jam and other treats we would surely be making later, would relentlessly push on.



Today I took everyone strawberry picking.  We do grow our own strawberries but between the deer and the fact that they are planted in the much neglected back gardens (at least since Nora has been born anyway) means that there's not much there to pick from.  But knowing how exceptional home-grown-right-from-the-garden strawberries are has been giving us all an itch to get our hands on some.



We did our picking at this wonderful all organic berry farm (that we will be revisiting again for sure) not to far from us.



The kids were really good sports, despite the fact that it was really hot and buggy (just like I remember).  It was however, hard to keep up with all the berry eating.



To keep us motivated we talked about all the things we would make with our berries, and we were all most inspired by the idea of strawberry shortcake and strawberry pie.  Yes, tomorrow for sure.



In the end we left with 7 and a half pounds of strawberries.  Although by the time we got home I'd say it was more like 6.

4th of July at Grandma Sam's

Highlights... (I didn't do so well remembering to take pictures this year so I'll have to rely on my memory)
~ Boat rides and swimming out in the middle of the lake
~ Two nights of fireworks and sparklers
~ The beautiful weather
~ The wonderfully fun crew of people that come up every year on the 4th and who so generously (and genuinely) spend some of their vacation time playing with our children
~ Grandpa Scott's homemade ice cream
~ That great nap I got to take
~ All the fish that were caught
~ Making a fish fry/farm egg breakfast with Ryan the next morning for everyone
~ Our trip to the candy store
~ The hour we spend at Pelican Beach with just the five of us before coming home

First Visit to the River this Season

Cinnamon-Rhubarb Muffins

Let's pretend I don't have 89 posts to catch up and just focus on today.  I love today.  The weather was sunny, but not too sunny... warm, but not too warm... breezy, but not too breezy.  I gardened without my rock eating sidekick for over two hours.  I jumped on our new trampoline (who knew how much fun a trampoline could be, I did not).  

And then, then to top it all off, I made these (modified just a bit)

For the muffins

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1 and a half cups white and 1/2 cup of wheat)
• 3/4 cup brown or white sugar
• 2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 8 Tbs unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups 1/4-inch-diced rhubarb

For the topping:

• 3 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 
  
•  In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and whisk to blend.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Lightly stir the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients with a spatula until the batter just comes together; do not over mix. Gently stir in the diced rhubarb. The batter will be thick.  For the top in a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Sprinkle a generously over each muffin.  Bake at 400 for 10 to 14 minutes.  Makes 18 muffins.  

Summer Solstice

Our beautiful sun catchers.  Made in honor of our summer solstice party that never really happened again this year.  Instead of having a party we had a really bad thunder storm and lost power (and some big trees).  We ended up driving to my parent's house at 10:30 at night.  I think we might be jinxed for summer solstice parties.

Beach Day

Summer

I think it is safe to say that summer is here.  At least I hope it is safe to say that (is it hard to believe I am still worried I might jinx us into more snow?).  Grace is home from school finally which has been so nice.  And last night I made a salad from our garden for the first time this season.  Delicious.



So far this summer I think most of my time has been spent following this little one around.  She is a busy girl.



I officially have no bees this summer which is a real bummer for me.   Last month they swarmed.  I have no idea where they went but I do know they are still alive and thriving somewhere.  We have been enjoying spotting them on our flowers collecting pollen.  While I am sad that I won't have any honey to harvest the fact that they are out there doing their good work and that they still come to visit makes me smile.



Inspired by the high number of ticks this year we decided to add some guinea hens to our little farm.  Supposedly they eat an incredible number of ticks.  And they are pretty cute too.  At least right now.



This week Grandma came out to get Jackson for a three day sleepover.  From what I've heard about their time together I have a feeling he will never come home.



Other then that this week of our summer has been pretty full with classes.  Grace has been at sheep/wool camp all week at farm school.  And Jackson is taking a mini golf class while staying at Grandma's.



As much fun as it is watch them enjoying learning all of these new activities I am looking forward to some lazier summer days starting next week.  Long walks, lingering in the garden and running through the sprinkler.  Yes actually that sounds like the perfect "to do" list for next week.