I took the kids on a rose hunt in a local suburb. We tracked down over half of the 20 statues scattered throughout the city. It was fun to see the different ways that the artists used paint and other mediums to decorate the 3D canvases.
I don’t have many photos of just me with the Shecklets individually, so I made sure to capture them today.
We’ve been fortunate enough to make several trips to Nissedalen this summer. Today is the second Saturday in a row that the kids have spent the majority of the day in their swimsuits being pulled behind a boat. They are at such a great age for having fun in the water and playing independently. (I spent most of the day watching them from the shore – in the shade.)
No photos of the day, just memories I’m keeping in my head. I hope the kids are able to do the same <3
Today is a hard day. I’m missing my baby something fierce and the tears are falling hard.
Jake and the other Shecklets are at Nissedalen for the day. (Cousins Day 2020, but with reduced attendance this year. Thanks COVID.) I just didn’t have it in me to fake a smile and pretend I was ok today. One of the things my therapist is challenging me to do is look for ways that I am advocating for myself. I guess the argument could be made that this is one of them – I can grieve how I need to grieve and allow my family to spend the day as they planned. It does make me sad to not be with them – I love watching the kids in the water.
I decided to make a stop at the cemetery and spend some time reading with my littlest Shecklet. My MIL made the sweet suggestion that I bring a favorite kids book and read it by Astrid’s grave. I brought two favorites – one that makes me cry and one that makes me laugh.
Sitting next to my baby’s gravesite, I’m finding a little joy amidst my tears today.
We stayed an extra day so we could see one of Jake’s cousins who we haven’t seen since last fall. It was great to see her and meet the friends she is spending time with this week at Nissedalen.
After lunch, we took Jake’s grandma to visit Jake’s uncle, another cousin and her kids. We went on a pontoon ride, the kids swam and tubed, and we sat on the dock and chatted. It was another amazing day. I don’t think we could have asked for better weather than we have had this week.
Grandma Lois treated all of us to pizza before we loaded up our truck to head home. We are returning with sun-kissed cheeks and a week of fun memories 💕
We had amazing weather all week. More tubing and skiing today. Shecklet #2 and our friend skied together, which was fun to watch!
After our friends headed for home – to recover from the week at the lake – we took the kids for dinner (A&W) and stopped at one of the local go-kart places. I predicted that Shecklet #2 would race the fastest and try to lap his siblings, Shecklet #3 would try to keep up with Shecklet #2, and Shecklet #1 would drive at his own pace, not affected by either #2 or #3. My prediction was correct. Shecklet #4 wasn’t interested in racing, so she gave the climbing wall a try.
Storm after storm rolled through over the night. The sun came out and we enjoyed yet another fantastic day. Kids rode their bikes into town for candy and donuts, the moms did a little shopping (we now have matching sweatshirts :)) and Jake and I had a chance to go visit one of his uncle’s cabins on a different lake. We brought back DQ for everyone and had one last round of s’mores by the fire. (As if we needed MORE sugar. ha!)
Stormy morning meant cool temps for a little while. The midday hours did not disappoint. We had hot and humid temps, so the crew hit the water again for tubing. No skiing today – the waves would have made it a challenge.
More storms rolled in shortly after dinner. Lots of rain, thunder, and lightning. Thankfully, no damage at Nissedalen.
Lake hair, don’t care. Having so much fun with this lady and her family!
Another gorgeous day filled with skiing, tubing, fishing, kayaking, floating in the water, grilling for dinner and relaxing by the lake. (And a quick trip to town to visit the Chocolate Ox.)
The moon was beautiful tonight.
