Take me back to the paradise city....

I'm still riding on two weekends of seeing 4 of my favoritest people in the world.  We talked, laughed, worked, talked again, laughed until we peed our pants, shared, talked some more, cried and laughed.  We were reminded of our faults growing up, how we have learned and reveled in our continuing love for each other in spite of what the world has done with us.  

I am still awed at the character and personality of each of my friends, how different and spectacular each of them are and how in God's name they are friends with me.  I believe it is all one sided, but then again... most of the best friendships/relationships should seem that way.

We are 7 strong...

Even when they are unique...
uniqueness finds a common ground....IMAGINATION!!

Girls talking and enjoying their company.

...and the littlest one said, "I want to fly!!!"

Yep....Friends Forever...
even after months of little communication and 12 hours time difference.

The thinker of the great idea of canoeing on the upper St. Croix....another wonderful friend
who lives 2 days away, but still... yep.... Friends Forever

We were standing on a huge sand bar in the middle of the river created by this little island.
We had a wonderful idea of taking a break from the laborious job of floating to sun ourselves.  However, the clouds you see in the background chased us off.  We got caught down river... but not as bad as if we would have stayed.

This fresh stream was coming from way back behind the woods, but we couldn't explore as it was
posted private property.  The miniature falls sounded pretty though.

Dalles Motel...where a lady from "The View" visits and cannot get enough.
Where you can get lost in the 70s in the Dalles Lounge next door.
Where you can forget about time if only for 24 hours.
And don't forget about Erik's canoe and kayak rental...cheaper than most, friendly to the pretty ladies and famous for Bill Murray using their services.

Pardon me.. Excuse me...Coming through...

I've literally had to convince myself that being a stay at home mom is a job.  

Wow... that sounds horrible.  

But here's the reason...  I have been part of the household income since my first job transplanting on Schneider's Farm at age 13.   

Now with 3 kids, my husband and I believe growing a child with two parents as the primary caregiver is the best.  

But that means my job is 24/7.  I'm not going into the whole rant of how a mother's job is wonderful, that she takes on many roles... blah, blah, blah.  I realize that.. it's a wonderful blessing to called to be a Mom.  I love it.  But when you have grown up living a contributing lifestyle otherwise the roof would crash down, it's hard to break that thought pattern.  I felt obliging.  So... the only thing I could do was throw myself in the deep end.  I was all in.  I didn't realize at the beginning I could call in sick if only for an hour or declare my own spa vacations for a night or with a list of directions, take the day off!!  

Now that the kids are older, I am able to get away longer.. for A WHOLE WEEKEND!!  We've all survived my trip to Florida and Georgia to see a best friend and an uncle. 

However, that doesn't compare to an accomplishment.  I've been taking  bits of time out of my day to keep myself somewhat healthy by weight lifting and doing something along the lines of cardio.   When my church came up with a squishy version of the mudder, wounded warrior, etc., and after completing the Michael Murphy I knew I could do it.  

Part of this whole accomplishment thing is a 4 part series...
1. JUMPING at the chance to do something purely selfish for myself.
2. USING EXPENSES when I do not contribute to the family income.
3. PASSING on my job to someone else.
4. ENCOURAGING another Mom to walk down the same dark path with me.

But my wonderful husband looked at all this, gave me the roll eyes, giving me the look of, "You are delusional, you need this, do NOT even bring this up again."

So I did it...

The more children you have.. the stronger you are.....

Forced bravado

I'm smiling because I have a good pace... 10 step from the starting line.
 It all went downhill after that first demon of a hill.

"Monkey bars like Kya... Monkey bars like Kya......"

ACCOMPLISHED!!!

effervescence

One big blow entered into the bubble's orb and it squeezed through the ridgid serrated hole and out into the  world. It floated awhile on that first breath feeling it's freedom and joy.

It felt its weightlessness, bounced a few times and spun wildly, it's iridescent colours dancing freely with it.  A secondary breath came from behind startling it making it spin backwards.  Another bubble bobbled into it stopping the spin but caused it to careen sideways. It floated silently, its colours dulled slightly.  A breeze gently guided it back into the pack, their colours flitting playfully with each other, bumping and jostling finding warm currents and rising.

A bubble jostling, bouncing off the other's around it found a cold air current and took it recklessly plummeting, diving into the ground.

The air around the bubble grew still and some of the other bubbles became slightly rigid adhering to a series of warm and cold currents, bumping each other into their paths giving each other frostline fractures on their surface.

The bubble bounced off these bubbles as they slowed and glided slightly up towards a gang of various size bubbles.

The larger bubbles were bouncing against each other jockeying into position as a smaller bubble floated in between them.  The small bubble, unable to move away, was caught halfway soldering the massive bubbles together. The smaller bubbles caught cold drafts and drifted away while the growing bubbles twist and turned until all the surrounding slower bubbles were caught up into the mass.

The glob moved around swallowing everything in it's path unaware of it's decline into the cement below.



The remaining bubbles lifted themselves onto the path of sunlight where the warm breezes were made giving them a boost into the sky.

The bubble climbed higher with the sunlit fed bubbles, their delicate lustrous skins caressed by the same air as from where they were made, being lifted toward the heavens.

Fishing hooks and bikini lines

We have camping down to a science.  Well, other than organizing our meals to the day in individual packs, we got it.  Basically setting up in 1.5 hours, sleeping through the chorus of crows, fishing in the morning from 6:30 (if you can't sleep past the crows) until 8 and then 5 until 7:30 at night, sunbathing/swimming/applying sunscreen/hydrating, and then drinking/letting loose-r at night just enough to not ruin the next day.

A instructor was invited to the campsite to teach about paddleboarding.
I was going to buy a kayak,
I 'm not sure about that anymore... kinda liking the paddleboard better....Kya LOVED IT!

"Blue skies, nothing but blue skies, do I see...."

I love my sister... after 2 weeks on the road all the way to CA and back... one week later, she decides to jump in her car with the kids and head our way to stay overnight... just to be with me... I mean us. 

Beach umbrellas rock... water toys are pretty much useless when there
are fish to watch, feed and scare away.

Listening intently to a Cooper story

A Generation span

First day we got there... waiting patiently to swim...

....and fish

My Mom came with my sister and was able to kayak for the first time.

Watching the fish swim underneath

Marissa got a fever the morning and she was afraid she couldn't go... Jen couldn't do that to her.  We were all happy she could come... 

1st picture with the cousins .....

....last picture.

The adults took turns teaching cannon balls and diving.

I think that was the can opener

(In a child's, "I'm a man" voice...)  "Look Mom, my BIG muscles."

After seeing a 50 inch muskie swim past you and  almost catching a 30 inch  bass...
It's  okay to us adults.
To a child... every fish is a LUNKER!

"Kya! Did you see how BIG that thing is!  Kya did ya?"

Not liking the initial killing... knife through the head part.  By the way.. that's Ethan's morning
face, not being able to wake up slowly...not that he's feelin' a little sick from what's going on behind him... or is he?

Daddy Loon... the kids love catching fish and using them like grenades.  Once the fish hit the water, it stuns them a little.  The loons caught onto that and the kids were able to feed them about 8 until the campsite owner  came by while cleaning and did her usual buzz kill.  She was right... but by that time, she was just plain getting on our last nerves.

Loons usually hatch 2 eggs... the other egg was eaten by a muskrat... so the old-timers say.

Learning to fish...

Youngest and Oldest

Water, water everywhere...

I loooooove living next to water, visiting water and I love living in a lake town.  Wherever I go, needs to have some sort of natural water.  I tried living in South Bend, IN and HATED IT!!  The people were as dry as the area. 


I grew up next to a river which was my relaxing area, sanctuary, library... etc.  Now that I have grown up, the river has gotten bigger.  


I live next to the St. Croix River.  It's the largest part of the St. Croix River which is technically called St. Croix Lake.  It starts at Stillwater and ends at Prescott. 

Downtown Stillwater and the last year of the lift bridge - 4th of July 2012 at dusk.

We visited the Boom Site 
north of Stillwater and walked along 
the western shore of the St. Croix.  

 Cliffs of sandstone loom over our heads and in some areas, in miniature caves under the sandstone, are springs that flow into the St. Croix. They are wondrously cold.  


Before I could stop them, my children had taken a drink out of the spring and 24 hours later found out the water is okay for drinking.  But we're not going to do that anymore.  If I have my water tester along, we would know for sure... but it's not like that is a source of water for us.









During these intense heat days we walk or bike 4 blocks to the Lakeside Beach.  With the rains that fell on Duluth, we saw the river rise
2 days later and then watched it slowly fall within 10 days.  


The kiddos love it when the water is high because they are able to use a cement foundation a rental property is built on for a launching pad.

I couldn't quite get them all together

They couldn't get into the water fast enough

my reflexes were off... wayyyyy off.

Doesn't it make you want to jump right in with them??

Last time we were there, the river was at it's "summer height" and temperature.  The kids commented on how small the lake looked.  The distance to the buoys was cut in half.   However, since the water receded, we now can have access to the tiny springs in the beach. 

 Incidentally, with all the ice cold spring flowing into the river, the fluctuating temp of the river is between 77 and 84...  Hmmmm.... It feels wonderful, but how do the fish feel about it?  ...and what were those things floating on the water???  

USGS Current Conditions for St. Croix River

We found the sources of water and dug lakes and watched them fill up.  The boys then found the water spilled over so they dug another lake and connected it to the next one... until it turned into....

The lakes were constantly being changed into various different shapes and sizes.  Walls needed to be made, then destroyed.  Castle fortresses were made in the middle of the lakes and then collapsed because of the rising waters.  

I asked a life long St. Croix Beach resident what they loved most about the river.  I was expecting her to name any one of the sites along the river that she went to, or a camping area.  She answered with, "the smell of the river.. it's very distinct and no other river has this type of smell."  

I agreed with her wholeheartedly.  

The St. Croix does have a distinct smell.  I smelled it for the first time last year when the wind blew toward the west, which is very rare.  I loved  the smell but didn't know where it came from.  Later on in the week, we went swimming and I found the source.  I cannot describe it, but like she said, I've never smelled another river like this.