Schultz Beach

It was another hot day today, so I packed up the kids and met my friend Lori at the beach down the street. Schultz is about 5 minutes from our house and has a big sandy beach and a swim area for the kids. Bryan likes to come here and rent canoes with Max and Sophie.
The kids all had a great time - Sophie made several batches of seaweed soup, Calvin played with Lori's inflatable toys, poured sand on his head and tasted the lake water (yuck!) and Max practised his swimming.

I do not know how to turn the photo of Max yet. I am still trying to figure out the ins and outs of blogging!

Soccer Season

It is soccer season again and Max is playing on The Intruders. He has a really good coach this year who sends out emails before every practise detailing what the boys will be working on that night! Max has two friends from his primary class on his team, Gregory and Matthew. This makes practises nice for me as I have friends to talk to as we watch the boys. Sophie has several little girlfriends that she plays with and Calvin usually finds Johnny (one of my daycare kids) and leads him off to play. My only complaint is the time - 7:30-8:30 twice a week! It is so late - especially when Max was still in school!

What's Blooming in the Back Yard

I thought the clematis deserved their own post. My father helped me put trellis all around the deck two years ago and last year I bought a bunch of clematis and planted them all around the base. Even with my complete lack of gardening skills, all but two came back this year and they are gorgeous! This year I am going to figure out what you are supposed to do with them in the fall - cut them back?

What's Blooming

The garden is going crazy with all of the hot weather we have been having. Several of my perennials have spread and taken over the entire bed they were supposed to accent. I need to do a lot of dividing and moving but I am still not completely comfortable knowing if I am pulling weeds or plants!

Great Food, Friends and Fun!

On Sunday after church we had a big BBQ at the house. We invited Koo and Matt, the missionaries and our friends, the Barringers. For dinner we served hamburgers, hot dogs and bratwurst on the grill along with grilled asparagus and baby red onions. Koo brought corn on the cob and huge, delicious strawberries and we made potato salad and some good crusty bread. For dessert, Ken Barringer made an Amish sweet bread, I had made cookies for Relief Society that morning so we had a platter of those and then I tried a new recipe from Luscious Lemon Desserts, a meringue tart with lemon curd and fresh berries. So yummy! I really would like to figure out how to take great food photos so be prepared to see a lot of food on the blog soon!
After the missionaries left, we broke out our favorite game Setters of Catan with the Seafarers expansion! We get together with the Barringers at least once a month for a night of Settlers and are totally addicted to this game!

We made it!

Sadly, the kids and I had walked about 2/3 of the way around Lake Harriet by the time Bryan, Koo and her friend had run 9.5 miles around three lakes and then another 1/3 around Lake Harriet to meet up with us! The three of them were beat - it was a long run and really hot (Bryan literally slept the rest of the day!). Before leaving, we found a picnic table in the shade and shared homemade lemon muffins and slushies from the snack counter.

Full-body wading at the beach

About half way around Lake Harriet we stopped at a sandy beach for a break. The kids begged to go wading, so I stripped off all of the socks and shoes and issued strict instructions to not go in past their ankles. Mayhem ensued.

The long walk

The kids and I started around Lake Harriet. Max rode his Razor scooter and Sophie rode her princess scooter. Calvin was trying out the new jogging stroller. About 5 minutes into our walk Sophie started complaining about how tired she was and from then on kept asking me to carry her scooter or to ride in the stroller.
Calvin felt the need to personally greet every dog we saw. Max was actually really good and kept riding ahead to wait for us (he did take out a jogger or two, but that is to be expected).
All of the kids were distracted by every butterfly, duck, sailboat or dock. We explored every dock and beach along the way all of which added up to a long walk!

The Lakes

Later on Saturday morning, we met up with Kirstin and a friend of hers from work at Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. Bryan, Koo and her friend were there to run around the three lakes (Harriet, Calhoun and Lake of the Isles) - a total of 9.5 miles. All three of them are training to run in the Twin Cities Marathon in October.

The kids and I opted for a shorter jaunt around just Lake Harriet. The lakes are very close together and are surrounded by beautiful old homes and parks. All of the lakes allow only canoes and sailboats and have lots of small beaches and great places to fish. We have come to concerts at the Lake Harriet band shell and taken visitors to the Rose Gardens and Bird Sanctuary adjacent to Lake Harriet.

It was a gorgeous day and we agreed to meet back at the band shell.

Still at the Market

We were looking for vegis to grill tomorrow with Matt, Koo and some friends from church. We ended up buying onions, baby potatoes, asparagus, baby bock choy and cilantro (for salad).

A trip to the market would not be complete without breakfast. Matt and I tried my favorite - roasted corn on the cob. All three kids opted for cookies with fresh squeezed lemonade and Bryan had a bratwurst.

Farmers Market

My brother Matt met us at our house bright and early (6:30) this morning for a quick trip to the Minneapolis Farmers Market. The market is huge covering several blocks downtown. There are rows and rows of craftsmen selling beautiful crafts and art as well as tons of booths selling knock-off purses and sunglasses!

These photos are from one of my favorite craftsmen - they make these beautiful rugs all on a hand loom. The colors are just incredible! The kids had a great time watching the guy making a rug as we walked by.

There are also tons of flower sellers at the market. It is the best place i town to buy plants, herbs and flowers. The selection is amazing and the prices are great!