Just a BlinkProof Time Flies

Tips from a weekend road trip Up North with a one and three year old :

• Bring ear plugs in the car. Molly, seriously, why all the crying?
• Expect that a 5 hour road trip will take 7 hours with stops.
• Sing She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain. It can go a long way when people get bored.
• Do not put any sippy cups of milk in the van over night in the summer. Stinky! Opps. That’s my fault.
• Family trips are not vacations they are trips. Adjust attitude as such and voila! Mama’s happy.
• Over pack even when everybody else is rolling their eyes at the maxed out mini-van.
• Bring a portable DVD player even though your gut is saying but it’s time to unplug. Sick, I know.
• Let the kids stay up late for that extra S’more.
• Pay attention to the little things like the sounds of loons, smell of campfire smoke and the taste of fresh picked raspberries.
• Teach the kids to slow down and enjoy the moment. No more “What now?” Just be.

Stove in the A-frame cabin.

We are home sweet home with a pile of laundry that is still swimming with the aromas of Up North: Bug spray, sun screen, pine sap and camp fire smoke. We spent the weekend in an A-frame style cabin along the Canadian border. Our friends Andrew and Heather came up and stayed at a near by cabin.

Here are the highlights of our trip:

• Ryan went fishing for the first time. He caught four small mouth bass and one 14″ northern. Not bad for a 3 year old. By far his favorite part of the experience was the leeches in a cup!
• Molly loved to eat the fresh blueberries and raspberries that we picked each day.
• The kids each got to ride on a four wheeler.
• I got to take a photo walk one morning. Still water, calling loons, and no kids. Lovely.
• Peter was able to brush up his skills with a shot gun. He and Andrew did some serious clay shooting. Peter has a bruise on his shoulder to prove it.

The dock at sunrise.

Papa Phil helps Ryan pick fresh peas from the veggie garden.

Well it’s no Christmas card but we are all together! Top: Carly, Peter (Ryan), Phil, Tim and Lisa. Bottom: John, Kris, Molly and Jess.

The Anderson Family. Deegan, Sarah, Eric, Terry, Molly, Jeff, Mary Jo, Amanda.

This clothes pin bag is so charming with yellow, denim and rickrack. It was Great-Aunt Dorothy’s, (Grandma Margaret Thompson-Jensen’s sister),  from way back when and it is still in use by her grand-daughters.

Third cousins Deegan, Molly and Ryan swam in the mini-pool by the shade.

Surprisingly strong Molly made her way to the corn. She loves corn on the cob! The only time she was fussy all day was when her corn was all done.