July 2008

Wow! July was a busy month. We started with a great vacation in northern Minnesota to one of our favorite places of all time...Bearskin Lodge on East Bearskin Lake. We had a great time on our trip even though it was bittersweet, knowing how much Mom (and my Grandpa, too) always loved a week at Bearskin. We went with my dad and my brother Brian and his wife Courtney. The kids did a great job of keeping things from getting too quiet around the cabin :o) We did lots of reading, sitting by the lake, boat rides, and fishing. The kids also enjoyed playing at the beach and kayaking in the small lagoon there. We didn't see a bear until we were on our way home, just south of Superior, Wisconsin, but it was exciting anyway (Grandpa DID see a bear on the gravel road between our cabin and the lodge...I guess Millie was right to be paranoid about running into one!) It was great to be away from the distractions of home, work, TV, and phone (Zane, though, commented one day about how they must not have "much electricity" at these cabins because there weren't any TVs!). It's just so peaceful there...being out on the lake reminds me of Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God."














Sunrise over the lake

Click here for more pictures from our trip

We took a day to drive up to northern Indiana to pick blueberries (yum!) and have had many delicious blueberry dishes since then. When I talked to my aunts about picking blueberries with kids, they laughed about their own kids referring to it as some sort of torture. I'm sure Quinn and Zane would agree. They were so excited about it before we went, but they turned into some of the whiniest kids I've ever seen while we were there. The kids also did a week of Vacation Bible School and loved it. It is cool to hear them all singing the songs they learned (and doing the sign language, too). Even today in the van, 2 weeks later, Zane was talking about the Bible stories they learned. I think one of the favorite highlights for Clara was walking on water and for Quinn it was watching Mentos explode in Diet Coke (don't ask me how that applies to a Bible story).

Quinn, Clara, Matt and I went to Chicago for a day to explore Hyde Park and Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House. We were first inspired to go see it after we read an awesome book by Blue Balliet entitled The Wright 3. If you're looking for a book for your 8-12 year old, this one is great. It's the 2nd in a series about 3 friends who live in Hyde Park and go to the middle school on the campus of the University of Chicago. We had a great afternoon visiting the used book store mentioned in the book, eating at the bakery, walking around the campus and touring the house. Here are our pictures from Chicago.

We are continuing work on our basement and have made a little bit of progress in the last week...finally! We are spending lots of time at the neighborhood pool and are gearing up (some more reluctantly than others) for the start of school in 2 weeks. I can't believe that school starts August 12! What happened to starting after Labor Day? Matt continues to stay busy working at BOTH of his jobs. He is working hard at his new company and is devoting one whole day (plus various early mornings and late evenings) to it. He has been able to play golf a few times recently and is hoping to play lots more before cold weather moves in. He finally has the guitar he has been wanting for several years--making quite a nice birthday gift for him! He is hoping to start lessons this fall. We are in for a huge change as I start a new job! I will be the choral accompanist and assistant for Music Theory at Lawrence North High School. So if you don't see another update to this blog for a while, you know why. :o) The nice part is that I'm in the same district as the kids so our calendars will be the same. The high school is right outside our neighborhood (close enough to walk if I want), so I couldn't ask for a better set-up. I wasn't really looking for a full-time job, but this sounds so suited to me that I just have to give it a try.

We hope you all enjoy your last days (or weeks if you're reading from Minnesota!) of summer...
Here are some final odds and ends pictures from July.

Matt, Janette, Quinn, Clara, Zane and Millie