Summertime Update

The summer weeks have been flying by, and I am delinquent in posting our latest news. Early this month, we took a fantastic trip to northern Minnesota, where we stayed in a house situated on one of the 10,000 lakes. It was a great time of playing games, relaxing, and watching the kids throw stick after stick and rock after rock into the water. We did have our first encounter with true mosquito country, and became quite used to the odor of bug repellent. I was happy to discover, though, that the skeeters were not the size of hummingbirds, as some had led us to believe.




After our time 'up north', we came home and enjoyed Joel's birthday. He chose to celebrate with a family trip to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I was not so sure about this choice with our young brood, but it ended up being a good time. The MIA is very family friendly, it turns out. First of all, it is *free*free*free*. Secondly, they have a new 'family lounge' area, complete with family restroom, nursing room, and padded play area for the kids. It was a great place to take a break when the kids were growing weary of looking at the paintings and sculptures. Corrie really enjoyed it quite a bit, especially because she got to meet the Impressionists, just like Katie in one of her favorite books.

Daddy, Corrie, and Van Gogh

We are also enjoying our quiet days at home this Summer. Corrie and Jack love to make themselves busy in the backyard, or with various pretend adventures in the house. Wes is keeping me busy with his desire to crawl, explore, and chew upon *everything*. So far, we have managed to avoid any choking incidents or topples down the stairs. Good times.