spring

A collection of 203 posts

family

home again home again

This was a first... we woke up to a cruise ship anchored right outside our bus. This year Viking Cruises started a Lake Superior cruise that goes from Canada through Duluth to Michigan and ends in Wisconsin. Today we had to head home again, but this time in the bus.

family

o say can you see...

This year Emma joined her school choir. Last week they did a performance for parents. The last week of school they are performing for the whole school. Today they sang the national anthem at the MN Twins game. We had to be at the stadium really early. We've never been

family

fog

We woke up Saturday morning to so much fog we couldn't even see the top of the bridge. Luckily it only rained early in the morning, so we were able to get some shopping done in the cute little shops in Canal Park. After shopping we toured the William A.

family

duluth

Our annual trip to Duluth for Memorial Day weekend was looking a little iffy - our bus was a mess, none of the outdoor things had been loaded after our trip to Georgia, we have to go back home for a day (more on that later!), one of the barn

kids

painted ladies

I lost count on how many years we've been getting Painted Lady butterflies. The girls aren't as interested in the caterpillar stage as they used to be. Now they just look forward to releasing the butterflies. They've been checking these chrysalis every day to see if the butterflies hatched. We

kids

throwback thursday (may 26, 2021)

family

firsts this week

While some activities ended this week we also had a couple firsts. On Friday the girls had 80s day at school. On Friday night we had the first s'mores of 2022. Later this week will finally be our first camping trip of the summer! It has taken many, many hours

family

end of a season and session

This week the girls had a couple spring activities ending. Thursday was their final gymnastics class of the session. We always take a break for the summer, but they will be doing summer came at the beginning of August. On Saturday both girls had their final track meet of the

kids

throwback thursday (may 19, 2021)

kids

track meet...finally!

Finally the weather cooperated for Olivia's track meet! It was a beautiful 70 degrees and sunny.

family

kindergarten music program

Olivia has been practicing the songs for her program for weeks. She's been so excited (and a little nervous) to sing in front of a huge crowd. She did amazing. Pretty sure she knew every word and loved every minute of it.

family

formula 1

If you haven't watched the Drive to Survive on Nextflix... you should. We stumbled upon the series when we were stuck at home during the pandemic and looking for shows to watch. Now we're Formula 1 fans and watch the races every other weekend. So... when Braden got invited through

family

3rd grade music program

The last time Emma had a music program was in 2020. The day before her 1st grade program they sent an email telling parents they wouldn't be allowed into the school because there was this thing going around called the coronavirus. The next week they went to distance learning. Last

kids

throwback thursday (may 12, 2021)

kids

throwback thursday (april 28, 2021)

family

bees

Braden's bees from last year didn't survive the winter. He's really enjoyed this hobby, and we've enjoyed having the honey.... so he got two new hives. He enlisted the help of his trusty assistant and photographer (Emma) to get them all set up this weekend.

kids

track is back

One of my favorite sports seasons... track. The girls have had a couple practices the last couple weeks and today was their first meet. Olivia was so excited. Her meet was the first of the day. They warmed up. The announcer said 5 minutes until the first race. Less than

family

home again!

It was a very long day of driving, but Braden and Emma made it home on Easter Sunday. First thing Monday morning the fun began. I had to take every single thing out of the bus and bleach every single drawer and cabinet. I knew it was bad, but mice

family

tennessee to illinois

I hear it was a chilly night in Illinois. That didn't stop Emma from spending some time (in shorts and flip flops) at the playground. Braden really wanted pizza after a long day on the road. He should know better. We've had pretty bad luck with pizza while roadtripping. Add

family

georgia to tennessee

After a very early and long travel morning Braden and Emma were on the move in the bus. They had a few hiccups... one of them being that mice apparently moved into our bus in the last 6 months. I'm not entirely surprised, but I didn't think it would be

kids

pre-easter festivities

This morning Olivia and I went to the movie theater in town. They had photos with the Easter bunny, crafts, an Easter egg hunt and an Easter movie. Clearly she was very excited about all the eggs she collected.

family

superhero day

Today at school is Superhero Day. Our cute little Super Girl. Emma was going to dress as her teacher ❤️, but ended up skipping school today. Our bus has been in Georgia since October getting a bunch of work done and it is FINALLY ready! Braden and Emma flew down really,

kids

throwback thursday (april 14, 2021)

kids

hello parker

In an attempt to help Emma get through the sadness of Birdie getting adopted we got a new foster right away. This is Parker. He recently survived a house fire by hiding under clothes in the closet. His family had to move into a hotel and weren't able to keep

kids

bye bye birdie

Oh Birdie. Who knew this foster cat would be the hardest to say goodbye to? When I agreed to take him I had no idea what I was getting into. They told me he was a "typical, playful, attention seeking kitten". Turns out he was playful, but that was about