Camping

We have been able to do two camping trips this summer. First we went to Bear Island near Ely. We paddled in and got an amazing site with a huge sand beach. Not only that, we got the added bonus of tons of ripe wild blueberries right at the site. Frannie will eat four or five store blueberries at a time but out there we picked berries for an hour and just kept filling her cup....she must have eaten over a cup of berries! She also loved the hammock and all that sand. She even spent time naked in the water (with life jacket) and played around. 

Then recently we were able to portage into Wood Lake in the Boundary Waters. We went with Ben and Alan and had a great time! Frannie really does a good job in the canoe. She also is now a pro at peeing in the woods-may even prefer it. We had a great site with a trail up to some rocks and a great view. There was fresh fish (courtesy of Booboo and Al) for dinner and s'mores. Again her favorite was swinging in the hammock. I'm so glad she enjoys camping. She loves her own sleeping bag and being in the tent. She kept saying "I a big kid". 

Outdoor Fun

There will be several posts coming in rapid succession....I had to move all the pics on my phone to the computer cause I was out of storage so I didn't have them to put with the posts. But all is fixed now so let's start with......

Beaches and Playgrounds

We have been to either a beach or a playground almost every day this summer. She loves climbing and doing the slides and especially loves the playgrounds with sand - cause that's like a two for one deal. Lately she has been bringing her "kitty" to play at the playgrounds with her. She likes when other kids are there only if they are a little older than her and there aren't too many. If there are babies or lots of kids, most times she'll opt out. The playground by our house has a big soccer/t-ball field next to it, and we spend lots of time in there playing in any dirt or kicking/throwing balls. She likes to push the stroller there and the other bonus is since July, we've either been able to pick Juneberies or raspberries along the way.

Swimming "lessons" paid off! She has loved going in the water and even tried out her little arm floaties. We have lots of beaches we've tried out and sand is the favorite, but throwing rocks is great fun too. She has even gotten her face and hair wet and it wasn't traumatic. She used to like having her swimming suit on but lately would much rather be naked.

Swimming

I'm going for mother of the year....I took Frannie to "swimming lessons" M-Th for two weeks for 40 minutes each day. So for 40 minutes, Frannie and I (ok, Brian did it once or twice too) walked around in water that was "warmer than Lake Superior" (that was a quote from the instructor) and practiced kicking legs and blowing bubbles and reaching out arms. And should I mention, I'm NOT a fan of swimming.

For all you parents that take kids to multiple practices and have packed schedules, I either commend you or think you're nuts. I was tired of swimming lessons after day 3. And even though I know she was cold she still wanted to keep going. I'd ask if she wanted to get out and with chattering teeth she'd say "Nnnnnoooooo". The good news is the ultimate purpose paid off. I wanted her to be more comfortable with the water and she really is. We've been wading in rivers and walking in lakes and she constantly asks to go to the beach.

In addition to swimming, we've been very busy playing outside in her pool, sprinkler, at playgrounds, the zoo, and her favorite-running. The girl is fast. She loves running. She will ask if we can go down the road just so she can run. That must be from her dad. 

Potty training is going great. Today was the first day that she was dry all day. Nighttime is a different story, but huge success today. She's loving her big girl bed and her new "blue room". We painted it a sky blue and I'm having fun decorating. 

One of the coolest new things she talks about is feelings. She'll say "I'm mad!" Or she'll ask if I'm happy or mad. We also were able to watch/listen to her talk with another kid at the playground the other day and I felt like I'd have to answer for her when the boy (who was a bit older) was asking her questions and telling her things- but she just carried on a conversation with him like, well, a kid. Love it!

Easter (a little late)

As I was looking through posts and pictures, I realized I didn't post about Easter! I certainly can't miss that. It was the first "real" Easter for us- as in we dyed eggs, watched Easter cartoons on TV, and had an egg hunt outside. SO much fun. Frannie loved dying the eggs and did a darn good job for a two year old. She didn't catch on to the hunt at first but she got the hang of it after awhile. So much that the Easter bunny had to hide the eggs that she found - like Round Two. And of course best of all, she LOVED the Easter candy. Well, who doesn't. I had to hide my Cabury eggs so I didn't have to share. :)

Summer!

Yahoo! Another school year complete-now on to having fun. I'm so excited about this summer because 1-Frannie is just so much more into things and independent (to a point) that we are going to have lots to do and 2-she will be going to school 2-3 days a week so I will have some me time. I already have a mental list of all the things I need to get done.

Since the last post, we've been pretty busy with trips to Hayward, a visit to Grandma Joy's, and a camping trip to the Porcupine  Mts. The camping trip was awesome. Even the three hour drive went smoothly. We backpacked in a mile or so to a little camping cabin that Frannie called "The Tiny House"-which indeed it was very small, but fine for the amount of time we were in it. We were close to the lake so we walked there before dinner and again right away in the morning. Lots of spring flowers blooming and the best was NO BUGS. Heavenly.

We just returned from a visit with Ben and Alan in Hayward. Frannie loves them but acts shy and kinda coy around them. So funny to see her being loud and busy and then switch to on my lap and silent. But she always wanted to be in sight of them and watched Booboo in the kitchen while I picked up fish fry. 

She is basically potty trained at school but home is hit or miss. She is constantly singing and is developing her bossy side by the day. Today was "Momma sit down. Right Now!" Makes me think I may be a bit bossy myself..... She also has this occasional stutter right now. She'll get caught up on the "I, I, I....."as she's trying to come up with the correct words to make her sentence. I love her more every day.

Mother's Day

Cutest story from Mother's Day.....

A little background, Frannie had been bringing me stuff from school all that week so I knew they were talking lots about Mother's Day. This included a bag with a painted wooden bird in it which when I took it out of her backpack she says "Mine!" And I say "Ummm no that bag clearly says MOM on it"...but she opens it anyway and when she sees the bird, her eyes open wide and she says "My bird!" And I say "Ahhhh I think you made that for me for Mother's Day"....and she takes it and says "No. My bird," and off she went.

So the day arrives and after a yummy breakfast and great coffee, she says "Pee coming!" and we run into the bathroom. As she's sitting on the potty she looks at me and with no prompting or anything says, "Happy Mother's Day Momma". I died right there. So. Frickin.Cute.