Mini-Update

Just a little mini-post :) Dave and I enjoyed some time away last week. We stayed at Cove Point Lodge in Beaver Bay, MN. It was about 4 miles past Split Rock Lighthouse. My sister stayed with Carson and we got some much needed R&R. We drove up on Tuesday morning, got into Duluth and decided to try the aquarium. I must say I was terribly disappointed. It was so expensive to get in and it was basically some tanks with some trout and stuff. Nothing worth writing home about or worth the $15.00 a piece admission!!

Once we got up to the hotel, we ate a late lunch and walked out on the hotel's mini-trail out to the rocky point that you can see from the hotel. It was an easy little hike and funny enough out on the rocks was the only place my cell phone got reception! In the hotel I had no service! :)

On Wednesday we drove up to Cascade Falls, Temperance River and Grand Marais. We did a bit of hiking at Cascade Falls but it was so beautiful there. The weather was wonderful too. I wore long pants and tank tops and was comfortable! We were lucky with 70's and only about 20 minutes of rain on Wednesday afternoon after we got back to the hotel!On Thursday we had a little more relaxing day. We hung around the hotel in the morning, went canoeing, and just relaxed and then drove down to Split Rock Lighthouse and Gooseberry Falls. I was surprised at how low the river and falls were at Gooseberry. I was also surprised at the amount of people swimming there! The water was so cold! My very good friend Nikki and her family happened to be up in Duluth on Thursday/Friday and we met them at Gooseberry so that was fun.

Friday was our day to leave. We got on the road fairly early and then stopped in Duluth to tour the Glensheen Mansion. I can't believe how big that place was! I'm so glad that places like that are restored and available to tour. Even if it was quite spendy. The history in an estate like that is priceless! I was impressed with the knowledge of our guide and the length of the tour. It was an hour and a half! I was curious to see if they would bring up the murders at all, as I've been told they're allowed to speak about them now but our guide did not. I was tempted to ask but there were 2 children in our group of 10 and if Carson was old enough to be touring I wouldn't want it brought up. No need to have that be the thing they remember most about the tour or give them any sort of nightmares. The place can be creepy!

We got home in the early afternoon and were exhausted for the next few days. I'm glad we had 2 days at home to recover before Dave had to go back to work.

In other news, I'm now almost 22 weeks pregnant. Dave and I have just started our first birthing class. We're taking classes on The Bradley Method. So we'll have class once a week for 12 weeks running into November. I'm just now getting to the point of feeling movement every day and even from the outside. I feel like I look huge but if I compare pictures to when I was pregnant with Carson I look almost exactly the same if not a bit smaller now so I guess I'm right on track!

We had our 20 week ultrasound a few weeks ago, I was almost tempted to find out the sex of the baby but held strong! All in all, everything looks good and healthy. All measurements were spot on and baby had all healthy vital organs. So we're happy with that!

Carson is really picking up his vocabulary. Every day he puts together a longer sentence or says something that catches me by surprise. My favorite thing he says right now is "I guess so". If you ask him if he wants to do something like eat dinner he'll say: "Um, I guess so" and he says it all so casually it's so funny.

Right before we left for Duluth, my good friend Cassie took some family pictures for us! Being laid off hasn't afforded me the luxury of family photos and I really wanted some updated ones and something good for the Christmas card. She's extremely talented but lives out of state so we were lucky to snag her while she was here. She's only given me a 'teaser' photo so far but I'm in love with it! I can't wait to see how the rest turned out.

OK well that's my update for now. I'll leave you with a photo from our last night in Duluth, there was a full moon over the lake. Couldn't have asked for a better time!!

No More Naps?

Carson has been rebelling against naps. What has once been my reprieve during the day, time to get a few things done is being taken away from me. At first the naps went from 2 hours to an hour and a half and down to a little over an hour and now they're being resisted all together. At least most days they are. There is an occasional day that he still naps but that seems the exception rather than the norm now. In fact, check out these pictures from today. I went into his room during "nap time" to see what all the commotion was to find this mess. I guess that's the downfall of a big-boy bed. He hasn't ever gotten up before recently and now he's taking full advantage of the fact that he can!

The days are seeming to move slow and I'm counting down the days until the pools open up and we can get out of the house and go swimming or to the Y and use the splash pad. Carson asks to go swimming often and I don't love swimming at the Y because the water is so shallow that I get soooo cold sitting in the shallow end with Carson. It will nice to be able to be outside in the sun while in the shallow water. I imagine that will help keep me warm.

Carson and I walked in the March of Dimes walk on the 9th. My high school best friend had 2 preemies so it's a cause that I feel strongly about. It was a cool day but no rain and it was perfect for walking. I walked with a good friend of mine and her 2 year old. I was surprised at how many people there were.

Carson also had his first experience jumping in a 'bounce-house' he had a birthday party to go to. It was really too bad that it was a cold/rainy day. They didn't get nearly the use out of the bounce house that they could have. We had to practically drag him kicking and screaming out of there but it was so cold and it was raining so it was wet inside there. He absolutely loved it though. It makes me wish he had a summer birthday so we could have a reason to rent one. Well, in Hawaii he'll have a 'summer' birthday so I'm sure we can work that out! :)

Dave mentioned that won't have details on our actual move date until sometime in October. I know that sounds far away now but the summer is going to fly by. I'm already looking forward to the State Fair. It's nice to be home this summer and I can go with Carson during the week instead of having to go on the weekend. It's always packed but so much more so on the weekends. My girlfriend Kate already has requested her State Fair days off work so we'll take the kids and eat as much food as possible since that is always the goal of the State Fair!Well I'll leave you with a few of the bounce-house pictures and I'll be back to update you all again soon!