Oh yeah..

And...
Emmet screams, screams!, "airpane! airpane!" anytime he sees an airplane, or hears what he thinks is an airplane. And he doesn't stop until you say, "Yes, Emmet I see the airplane."
Likewise, a slide or swing or anything resembling play equipment, "Paygroun! Paygroun!"

The net enclosure is up around the trampoline. So jumping can commence. Already games have been invented with spray bottles and assorted balls. Emmet loves to be on the tramp', but not if anyone else is jumping. Then it's very swiftly, "Top it! Top it!"

Took a family canoe trip down the Rum River this morning. Sans dog, of course. It was delightful. Nice breeze, not to hot, virtually bug less, the boys were angels. They played with cat tails, and watched for dragon flies, and herons, and ducks and geese. They paddled a little bit. They ate fruit leather. It was only about an hour paddle, but still quite nice.

We picked corn for lunch. We found one ear that had gotten really too old- starting to wrinkle, and totally blue. After the boys went up for a nap I tried parching it. I pulled the kernels off the cob and tossed them in a cast iron skillet with a little olive oil and salt. Then a slowly pan roasted them until they were brown and drained them on a paper towel. They are quite good; some crunchy, some a little chewy, but all sweet and salty and yummy.

Bullets of Toilet Learning

So, what has the youngest member of our family been up to lately?

• Last weekend he used the toilet for the first time ever! Liquid and solid! Hooray!
• Monday he peed in the potty while Silas was watching Curious George and he was running around naked, between diapers. Unfortunately, before I realized he had done it he managed to stuff his new dry diaper and the clothes I had brought down for him into the potty as well.
  
• The next day he pooped about 6 times, each time about a teaspoon, each time hopping of the potty shouting "hoe-ay!" clapping his hands, and "look dat!", each time making me dump it in the toilet before his next deposit, each time standing on the seat of the potty and squatting.
  
• The past three days he's had his "morning poop" in the potty.

Early August Photos

The lack of posting here caused Linda (my mother-in-law) to join Facebook. Little did she know I don't post updates on there either!! Bwah-ha-ha!!
So here's a few pictures and commentary on the last week.Adorable Emmet looking cute in the twilight at National Night Out/Night to Unite, last Tuesday. The kids rode bikes and scooters, blew bubbles, and ran around in the (blocked off) street.

The fire department stopped by to play dress up.And to look for new recruits.Emmet had to practice his skills with the hose before they'd let him wear the gear.
Orrin was too busy taking pictures of the ducks to realize that they were eating all the Swiss chard!
We had some bad luck with the bee hive. I think they swarmed and were left without a queen. We replaced the queen and she is laying now, but I don't know if we'll get much honey this year or how they will fare over the winter. But at least they seem to be on the mend and seem more purposeful as they gather pollen from the giant sunflowers lining the fence.

In other back yard news, we set up the free trampoline we picked up from a church rummage sale a couple weeks ago. It was missing one spring, the spring cover pad, and the safety net. I was able to find replacements online today. I am hopeful that I can keep all the bones in our bodies unbroken until that shipment arrives!

As corny as Minnesota in August

A rather sad patch of sweet corn. It's definitely not Kansas.

So we bought a dozen ears from the farmers market and picked one from our own patch. Here they are shucked on the counter.

Orrin challenged the boys to try to select which ear came from our garden. Here they are pondering it over.

Oh come on Silas, give us a little credit.

That's right! The purpley bruised looking one! Wait! It's supposed to look that way. It's called Triple Play since it's tri colored. I thought it would be a good cool weather short season variety to try. It seems to have done alright. There are more ears out there we'll have to pick soon, since i think we let this one go a bit long- it was a little on the starchy side.

Mississippi River Challenge

The last weekend in July we paddled a 40 mile stretch of the Mississippi River to raise funds for an organization called The Friends of the Mississippi. Orrin's cousin was nice enough to watch the two boys for us- my first overnight away from Emmet.
The paddling was less strenuous than I was expecting, though the current was slower. So, that meant constant, if easy, paddling.
The event was really well organized, with lots of volunteers, and safety captains. They even hauled our camping gear for us and provided snacks or meals about every five miles. It was a nice and easy introduction into longer distance canoeing for me. Though I'm still not sure I would want two kids and a dog in a boat with me for that amount of time or distance, it definitely increased my confidence in my canoeing ability.
It was also very interesting and special to see the river from that vantage point. Although we live within walking distance of the river I've only ever driven across it, or seen it from the park. It really is an amazing natural resource and was truly beautiful along some stretches.
A few of our photos from the journey:

Going through the lock at Upper St. Anthony falls. You drop about 50 feet! You can see the lighter colored part of the wall at the top? That's where we started.

We camped Saturday night at Fort Snelling.

Sunday morning paddling past Harriet Island (I think).

A rocky overhang in one of the quieter areas of the river. We only passed one moving barge, though lots lined the river in places. We saw lots of herons, egrets and other water birds and one bald eagle.