August 2014

Cass Lake adventures continued into August. There was plenty of swimming. 

Playing on the Anderegg's floating blue mat.

The requisite trip to Pike Hole for some grub. 

(Cue the Jaws music) Teddy isn't behind the bench swing, is he?

Peeping Teddys and Nates. Nothing but a riding mower back there. 

A rite of passage.

Baking with Grandma. Teddy loves to taste all the ingredients before they are incorporated. Strangely, flour is one of his favorites. 

Mrs. Shippee's net. We set the bench outside of the Shippee cabin as the boundary for how far Teddy could walk down the path by himself. As far as I know, he didn't disobey and that's good enough for me.  

Looking at this picture, Teddy reminded me that Aunt Jessie used the net to catch a frog. I think we also had a couple snake viewings this summer, too. 

Debating how much dirt is too much to eat. 

Jo says, "no such thing as eating too much dirt."

Hijinx in the Anderegg's Super Cube™

Burning things with Uncle Ben

Building a train in the Shoppe. To be rebranded next summer as the Star Island Joinery. 

Lunch

3/4 of the Davis family

Wandering down the slashway

Bathing beauty at the South Shore campground beach

After dozens of readings of Planes: Fire and Rescue, we took Teddy to see his first movie. Grandma, Grandpa, Mama, Daddy and Teddy drove into Bemidji. Teddy got popcorn and lemonade and sat in Daddy's lap the whole time. He was riveted. There were a few scary parts, but being intimately familiar with the storyline already, Teddy knew things were going to work out alright for Dusty and his friends. 

A celebratory Dairy Queen afterward. 

Cheers!

Even after the host of snacks at the movie, he powered that cone down. 

I think this was my 3rd annual birthday visit to the Sandtrap with Brian. 

I was terrible as usual and lost interest after 6 holes (maybe fewer).

But I love driving the cart!

Brian in his element

Mama's birthday! Grandma made a delicious blueberry cake. Yummm.

Snuggly Jo

Walking to the "tennis court" past Mrs. Shippee's cabin required an adult. Here's Jo trying to catch up to Daddy. 

A stick so big it takes two kids to carry it. Boys. 

Everyone dunks!

Nate didn't want to relinquish the ball. Brian's arms got tired.

Daddy showing the kids the amaaazzzing videos he put together for my birthday (see previous post). For the record, they made me cry, they were so good. 

An early morning boat ride up and down the shore

Gilligan and the Skipper

Aww, Daddy gettin' some snuggles

Eventually we had to go home. We spent a night in a motel in Minneapolis and they didn't have any cribs available, so we improvised. Also for the record, she loved it in there. 

The next week Grandma came for a visit and we went to the Academy of Sciences in the city. 

We saw the fishies. 

Visited the living roof

Stopped for a quick bite at the Velo Rouge before heading home.

Back to the usual routine at home. Playing in the yard...

Snoozing...

A visit from Grandpa

Toasting to Teddy's long overdue haircut.

Someone learned to make funny faces this month.

Good thing we have enough lawnmowers to keep all these workers busy. 

July 2014

July was fun, July was hot. July was also 6 months ago, so it's a good thing we took some pictures to remind us what we did.

Like a quick mid-year check up from the Rouspil cousins.

Jo's love for Reggie grows, but his healthy distrust of the kids remains constant. 

A super fun playdate at the park with the O'Connor girls

Jo was a little skeptical at first

But she quickly learned the ropes. 

I have no idea what was happening here, but she's so cute, who cares?

Teddy helping Daddy wash the car

This is what happens when you put a 3 year old in charge of the hose

Quickly leading to a very wet boy

A trip to the local beach to splash around

Lookin' good in our shades 

Jo helping Daddy with the yardwork

 

And this is how it typically ends up 

This was also the month that Jo's ringlets first appeared. I love them. 

General silliness

Teddy fulfilling his big brother duties

My company threw an elaborate Bring Your Child to Work Day, complete with fire engine visits, kettlecorn, bounce house, photobooth, yoga, arts and crafts, pop-a-shot and a custom t-shirt.

We had such a fun day, but I'm afraid Teddy thinks I work at a carnival.

He says next year we can bring Jo, too. 

 Hanging with Uncle Chris at Lila's birthday party

More silliness

Waiting for the red-eye to Minnesota. Surely, they'll fall asleep in the stroller at the airport, I thought. Ha. 

They did sleep all 3.5 hours of the flight and that should be enough for anyone, right? 

Luckily, they also slept most of the 4 hour drive to the cabin, too. 

Look who we found at the cabin - Baby Maisie!

And also the Golden Book of Planes: Fire and Rescue (foreshadowing)

A leisurely breakfast with Nate and Grandpa

Learning to unwind from soon-to-be-retired Grandpa

Rocket ship rides!

Family boat rides. Sorry, Reg, no room.

A lot of playing in the water. 

Teddy was frighteningly confident in the water this year for a boy who doesn't know how to swim. 

 Aren't they the cutest?

Teddy quickly adopted this cabin hat as his own. It came home with us. 

We camped overnight by the Knutson Dam - our first foray into the Great Outdoors as a family.

We kept it pretty simple. Grandma and Grandpa dropped us off in the boat in the afternoon. We set up our tent, cooked some hot dogs and s'mores over the fire (though most of the marshmallows were consumed straight out of the bag), watched the sunset next to the dam, read some stories and went to sleep. In the morning, we had breakfast and hitched a ride back to the island. A big success. Maybe next summer we'll stretch it to a full 24 hours of roughing it :)

It was a month full of adventure. More than Reggie could handle.