We were getting in the car to run an errand. The Banana:  Are we going to mail something? Me:  Uhm, not today. The Banana:  Oh.  I thought you were maybe going to mail a letter to Old Grandma. Mr. SP:  Uhm, you can’t mail a letter to Old Grandma.  She’s…

This year we went group camping with neighbors and friends not in our neighborhood at Copper Falls State Park in Wisconsin.  I hadn’t been to this state park since we lived in Wisconsin and I was very, very pregnant with Mr. SP.  I really enjoyed it then, and I was…

I’ve been camping with my family ALL WEEK.  It’s been glorious, and I have so much to share, so many pictures to edit and post, and so many stories to tell. For now, though, I’ll leave you with just this one picture of a small boy who really, really loves…

The day after we arrived home from our trip to North Dakota last month, a pair of robins began building a sturdy and strong nest in the most advantageous of all places:  the vine growing outside my bedroom window.  We were all so excited, and did our very best to…

They built a few really, really tall towers last week.  What goes up must come down.

It’s one of those times when a picture (or two) is really worth a thousand words, at least. I looked over and this is what I saw, completely unprompted.  In fact, I’m pretty sure they didn’t even discuss it.  

We had a glorious time for quite some time.  The kidlets wanted to go to a sandy beach, but the evening was dwindling already, so I didn’t want to drive all the way to the quiet end of the point like I normally do when we go to the sandy…

I love wildflowers.  Lupines are probably my very favorite wildflower, although there is a heavy field of competition.  In Northern Minnesota lupines are blooming near the end of June and through the beginning of July.  They are in random roadside places and in meadows, and I wait for them each…

Mr. Trouble on Feet has been waiting and waiting and waiting all year for his birthday to occur again.  He patiently celebrated all of his siblings’ birthdays and his parents’ birthdays and the birthdays of friends.  All through fall, winter, summer and spring he inquired about when it would actually…

Our outdoor chalkboards continue to be some of my favorite things about summer.  I love walking toward my deck in the backyard and seeing scenes like this one, and I love how the rain washes them away and we start something new together.  I love how everyone participates in their…