Sapshots from the last coouple weeks

It's been a while since I've sat down to blog. Here are a few things we've been up to.

The weekend before last, Jeff took Carter camping. It was the first of hopefully many such trips and was a huge success. When they returned, I asked what the best part was. His answer: "I got my own can of pop at dinner and I drank the WHOLE thing!" Not exactly the type of memories we're trying to create, but, hey, it's a start.

Because some construction at Carter's school was delayed when the MN government shut down for a couple of weeks, the school is starting a couple weeks later than originally planned. Since that freed up some time around Labor Day weekend, we decided to go to my brother's place for a few days. Since we haven't visited them since they moved two and a half years ago, we figured it was about time. Also, they had not had a chance to meet Gavin yet.

At the beginning of the trip, we stopped at my parents' house for a day to see my aunt and uncle who were visiting from California. Then we drove on to my brother's place and had a great weekend and I learned several things: 1. My sister-in-law makes awesome peach crisp (or cobbler?). No surprise; she is a great cook. 2. I still can't remember the difference between crisp and cobbler. 3. Jeff and my brother can replace a window in a surprisingly short time. I'm beginning to wonder if Jeff should tackle our windows himself instead of hiring it out...(famous last words) 4. Touring an 1880s town with five kids 5 and under is not only doable, it's really fun. 5. You have to scare a prairie dog to hear it bark. (Just the men and kids went and no, they didn't scare them.) 6. I need some new creative ideas for entertaining kids in the car. (We have a no DVD rule in our car.)

I was also reminded of a few things: 1. It's stinkin' windy out on the prairie. 2. Sharing inside jokes with family is just about as good as it gets. Except for maybe creating new inside jokes. 3. Standing by the no DVD rule is only going to get harder and harder.

On our return trip, we spent an evening with friends that we see far too rarely. We were blessed with wonderful food and great conversation. I love it when conversations with distant friends are as comfortable as if you see them all the time. Our boys had a great time with theirs.



I started this post about a week ago and am finally going to publish it. Hopefully additional blogs will follow about dedication weekend and first day of school...