Sep 6, 2016

Let The Games Begin

9/06/2016 — cori
Today we start the next phase of the year with excitement even as we mourn summer's passing. Gone is the leisurely pace summer brings and in it's place is the constant go, go, go of school activities and schedules. Not that it's all bad, it just takes me a while to ramp up. It also makes me so thankful for the time I got to spend with my kids over the summer and makes me miss them a wee bit more than normal. But this mommy will be fine once the first week is over and our new routine is in place. It's all good.


Chloe's first day of 7th grade. First day of a new school. First day of changing classes and teachers.


First day of High School for this young stud. He couldn't be more excited or ready!

"May the odds be ever in your favor!"

The First of The Last

9/06/2016 — cori
And the countdown begins....Spoiler alert - I will be doing this most of the school year...guaranteed! 


My sweet, intense, firstborn who couldn't wait to start school back in 2004 and learn more and more and more and ask as many questions as his mind could think up has morphed overnight (seemingly) into this:


A high school senior. Top of his class. He hasn't changed one bit. He still has an intense love of learning. He still asks a million questions, only difference is, I don't have the answers anymore. And he is still as sweet as ever. 

My eyes are tearing up just writing those few short sentences. So I better make this one short. 

I love who he is. I love what he loves and how he still loves to share his passions, questions, discoveries and excitement with me. I love how his brain works. This is going to be an amazing year. He is taking 3 college courses (2 from the University of Minnesota and 1 from St. Cloud State University) plus German 3 and economics. He is also getting the chance to TA for his favorite teacher this year as well. And he is the Senior Captain of his Mock Trial Team.

I have a feeling this year is going to go by very, very fast. 

The Blob

9/06/2016 — cori

This past weekend we were invited to a friend's lake house on Big Watab Lake. This is what Minnesotans do (and I'm sure anyone anywhere who owns a lake house does, but since there are 10,000 lakes here...it happens alot around these parts). Having a lake house is as common as having a second car it seems. Spending the day at the lake was a first for us. We attempted to go camping last August at a lake. That was a major fail. However, we did end up with good sunset pix. We were optimistic for a second attempt - afterall, we wouldn't be camping and the forecast called for 79 degrees and sunny. This was going to be good. We could just feel it. Plus, friend had a Blob. How could this go wrong?


Introducing The Blob. This sturdy three story structure is held down by lots of cement in buckets under the water, as is the blob. This little device was the envy of the whole lake. Unfortunately, I will never know how fun it was since I choose not to submit myself to torture-like devices. But Chuck, Bennett and Gavin were gung-ho for it. They should have thought twice when 1) friend never put on his swim trunks or offered to go on the blob with them  and 2) the cloudy, overcast skies hardly let any sunshine pass through thus not warming the water for our much anticipated day on the lake.


Ever ready for fun, Bennett was the first one on the blob. That's him on the right...you can barely see his head poking up from the blob. And then there's Chuck...he's the one jumping off the second story of the structure. He has to land precisely on a red square on the blob. This will then catapult Bennett out into the lake. 


And that's exactly what it did. Bennett later mentioned feeling like he got whipped on the back. It was red and purple the rest of the day.


Here's Gavin's catapult. We were told you're supposed to tuck in like a ball. But he said he had no idea he'd been launched until he was in the air, and by then it was too late. He got all the air knocked out of him and also sported a nice shade of purple on his back all afternoon. He couldn't really breathe or talk very well after his time on the blob. The guys only did it twice. Shocking, when we presumed before arriving that we would all spend the whole afternoon playing in the water and on the blob.


Chloe chose a smarter option...she paddle boarded. And as long as she stayed in the little alcove by the shoreline, the wind wasn't a problem.


She also enjoyed going down this rickety-looking slide into the freezing cold abyss.





Bennett also thought he'd try his hand a paddle-boarding.


On our way home we stopped at the beautiful Munsinger Gardens in St. Cloud.


I was so impressed that 1) it was free and 2) they were able to get all the flowers to bloom at the same time! It truly was breath-taking. My paltry pictures don't do it justice. It was all awash with color.


Thank you for your kind wishes Doris Kelly, my heart was definitely peaceful!


Why don't my plants grow this way?


And last, but not least, a flower as big as Bennett's head. Impressive.

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