Happy Fall!

Here's hoping the weather gets back to what it was last week rather than staying like it is today! Winter can wait!

Wonderful - But Busy - Weekends

Since returning from our trip up north, our family has had a series of super busy weekends, many including traveling long distances. We are so lucky that Jackson is an excellent traveler and a good car sleeper! He loves to keep himself entertained by playing with toys, talking to himself, or simply looking out the window until he falls asleep.

Ready to go for a ride in Daddy's truck

Jackson and I spent the weekend of Sept. 20th hanging out with Auntie Brea and Uncle Andrew at their new place in Hudson. They recently moved into a town home there and are really enjoying it. The ladies of my mom's side of the family joined us for a day of eating and shopping - one of my favorite ways to spend a day :) - and then Grandma Paula spent the night so she could have more time with her grandson. We had fun watching him trying to crawl and chasing Andrew's remote-control car. That's right, folks: I said Andrew's remote-control car. He claims that it was a long-ago gift from his dad, but by the way he was workin' that thing, I'm guessing he's played with it more than he'd like to admit. ;0 Jackson was completely mesmerized; you could almost see the little wheels in his brain moving.

I get so close and then it zooms away again! Dang it!

Grandma and Jackson like to play Pat-a-Cake

We stayed home the following weekend, just enjoying being together and catching up on things around the house. It seemed like forever since we'd had a chance to do that! Time during the week just has a way of getting away from you... Then came the first of two college friend weddings: Maria and Andrew, married in her hometown of Ironwood, MI. Curt had been there before but this gave me a chance to cross another state off my list. We were able to re-connect with Chee Lee, another college friend we hadn't seen in two years, and others whom we had last seen in August at our camping weekend. We stayed at Cody's in Superior the first night and then stayed in MI after the wedding, stopping to eat breakfast and again to feed Jackson on our way home. He slept during the long stretches and was able to be out of the car for those breaks, so it was no problem. Our friends had fun seeing him at the wedding and they were all super helpful, which gave us a wonderful opportunity to relax and have some grown-up fun for a change!

Chillin' in our room at the lodge

Last weekend was a trip to the cabin as well as wedding #2: Jim and Aimee, in Duluth. We went to the cabin Friday night for the pre-opener hunting weekend, so we did lots of running! We had a really fun weekend and most of Curt's siblings were there, in addition to his parents. (No deer for the boys, in case you were wondering. Fine by me!) Auntie Sheila, Uncle John, and cousin Madelyn came down from Duluth on Saturday morning. The babies had fun playing together and watching Sadie run around outside. It's always so great to see Sheila and her family; we don't see them as often as we'd like since we live so far apart, but we have a lot in common and it's neat to get the kids together and to watch Maddie to see what our son will be up to in the coming months. And she's pregnant with baby number 2, so we are thrilled for them and happy to see our family growing!
We drove to the wedding reception Saturday afternoon and met up with some of the same friends we'd seen at Maria's wedding, as well as more friends from college who we'd last seen in August (and the previous August before that). We had another fun adult night while Grandpa, Sheila, and John watched Jackson for us back at the cabin. I guess his night wasn't as much fun as ours, but he was happy again by Sunday when Mom and Dad were back with him. :)

Yesterday Andrew and Brea came up to hang out and spend the night. I wish we could see them more often, too. I always have such an awesome time with my sister no matter what we're doing. We talk about everything and laugh our butts off at the stupidest things! And Andrew's not so bad either. Especially after he took apart, dusted, and cleaned up my hard drive all day yesterday! It's working much better and I'm excited. THANK YOU, ANDREW!!! :)

Cuddling with Auntie Brea. She's lucky - he rarely does this anymore!



Another reason I love Andrew so much - he's great with our son :)

We have had lots of fun this past month, but we've been so busy that I'm really looking forward to the coming weekend at home! We'll see if it works out that way...

It's Here!

The day I have been anticipating all summer has arrived! I've been waiting with bated breath, hardly able to contain my excitement, and am finally able to celebrate! We are done with the much-anticipated wood burning stove installation! And since this project was his idea and has been his baby, as much as I may want to, I'm not going to be selfish and spoil myself and run out in the cold at all hours of the night to shove wood into a steel box. I will let Curt have that pleasure all to himself.


The beautiful fall trees and the wisp of smoke in the above photo are tricking you into believing that the wood stove itself is beautiful. Don't be fooled. It's quite the eye sore and is placed in an awkward spot. The lean-to on the old garage was already there, so we decided to park it there rather than next to the house. I'm glad we did! Did you notice how I used the term "we" as if I actually had anything to do with any of this? Haha. All sarcasm aside, the only contribution I made was financial; Curt has been working his ass off, getting the yard ready and filling the lean-to with wood to burn. And now he continues to do all the work, cutting & stacking wood and loading & running the stove. You go, boy!

One More Hour

A popular theme here on the Wojo blog is the idea that time flies by at an incredibly fast rate/there simply isn't enough time in the day. In honor of this theme I decided to come back after logging out an hour ago, frustrated that there wouldn't be enough time to upload pictures and do a nice post about the weekend, and write a brief wish list about what I would do if only I could have 60 more minutes to spend doing whatever my little heart desired.

1. I would begin the journal that I wish I had started while I was pregnant.
2. I would catch up on my reading: a stack of parenting magazines and a romance novel.
3. I would go for an extra-long walk with Sadie. (Pushing Jackson in the stroller makes it a little slower and less powerful)
4. I would hook up and begin tinkering around on the keyboard my sister-in-law loaned me this spring.
5. I would attempt to catch up on a TV show or two I've missed this season, suffering through the blips on our "high speed internet."
6. I would call and complain about said "high speed internet."
6. I would add a new post to this blog a lot more often.

Of course I'd never get all this done in just one more hour; that's why it's called a wish list. What's yours?

Oh, Canada *UPDATED VERSION*

Well, almost Canada. Earlier this month, Curt and I spent five days at Voyageurs National Park on Namakan Lake, which is about five minutes by boat from Canada. We were there with my parents, my brother Ben and his girlfriend Allie, and my parents' friends, Chuck and Meline. We left our trucks and drove the boats to McManus Island West, which took about two hours since navigator Chuck wasn't quite sure where he was going. To his credit, though, it had been 20 years since he'd been there and the lake is gigantic with many, many islands. And of course the one we stayed on had to be all the way at the west end. Hence the name.

Curt waiting to park the boat

Walking down the trail towards the dock

Once we arrived we had the daunting task of unloading the boats and setting up camp. The island was perfect for us, with two docks, two tent pads, a picnic table, a port-o-potty type toilet with no walls, and a beautiful cliff overlook. Curt and I claimed a spot down the hill from the toilet (no, surprisingly not a stinky spot!). We were away from the main area which made me a little uneasy at night (bears!), but the privacy was nice.

Sadie camped in her kennel next to our tent and did a great job. A few times there was some mighty growling on her part, but we never did have a bear near our tent or on the island, from what we could tell. Some were disappointed about that, but I was so thankful! One of the nights she growled, there was an animal huffing at her. It was like it took six big exhalations in a row, and it was pretty creepy. Not wanting Sadie to become some wild beast's meal, I was pretty alarmed at first, but when Curt reminded me that a bear would've been hella noisier and anything smaller wasn't much of a threat - to her or us - I calmed down and was able to sleep.

When it wasn't raining, our days were spent fishing/boating, reading, walking around the island, playing with Sadie, eating, playing games, and bathing in the frickin' freezing lake. In the evenings we had some awesome dinners (including a fish fry thanks in large part to me! Read on) and amazing fires. If I remember correctly, we had rain most of two days and two nights, including our last night there and the next morning on our way back - with just some drizzle while we were packing and cleaning up, luckily. Mom and Dad had brought a shelter and the boys used a tarp to extend it over our table/cooking/food storage area so we had a place to sit and be dry.

Dad and Chuck finagling a tarp to extend our shelter area

Sadie had an absolute blast up there. She was endlessly energetic every day and crashed hard each night by the fire. She loved to run around the island, jump and play in the water, fetch sticks, and chase chipmunks and birds, not to mention get spoiled with food scraps and lots of petting and cuddling. I kept saying she'd be depressed to be back at home without all that lovin' and excitement, but she's still having puppy fun here, too.

It got pretty windy up on top of our hill!

A view from the lake of our cliff-side site

Chuck caught the first fish!

I caught the biggest walleye ever! Not really, but it was pretty huge
(especially for such an infrequent fisherwoman), and I brought it in all
by myself and got to brag about it the whole time! It was really fun
and definitely a highlight of the trip.

A beautiful sunset viewed fireside

Campfires never fail to mesmerize me

As for me surviving away from my baby, I missed him terribly, but the hardest part was leaving him behind at Grandma and Grandpa Wojo's. We spent Tuesday night there and had to leave at 2:30 Wednesday morning, so I cried pretty hard putting him to bed that night. And on the drive to my parents' house. And then to Chuck and Mel's. And on and off on the way up. Once we got to breakfast at 6 a.m., I was doing okay. Once we were finally there, off the boat, and on the island, I was really relieved to be starting the vacation and to have fun things to do to stay busy.You can imagine how upset I was Thursday morning to wake up to rain. I thought I'd be miserable in the tent all day, just thinking about Jackson and wishing I was home. But thanks to the shelter and tarp we were still able tohang out, socializing, reading, playing games, and - my favorite - eating. I cried a little a few times up there, and once a lot when I went off exploring the island on my own, but it helped having Sadie there to distract me. And my own mommy's shoulder to cry on. :)

We got home late Sunday afternoon. I was so overjoyed to be with my baby again! It could just be my wishful thinking, but he seemed pretty excited to see me, too. Oh yeah, and his daddy, I guess. Hehe! Brea and Andrew had picked Jackson up at Wojos and watched him here so we could come straight home. When we got home he kept looking back and forth between Bre and I, trying to figure out which was really his mama. It was pretty funny.

A hot shower was also wonderful, after which we unpacked and cuddled Jackson all night! All in all, we had a wonderful time and we'd definitely go back. Maybe next time it'll be on one of those houseboats with a water slide and a hot tub on top like we kept seeing drive by. When it's warmer. In August. Oh, and with Jackson. :)

Far and away the best thing about coming home :)

FINALLY!

After three and a half years, Andrew has finally popped the question to Brea! (That's not really so long; I have to be sarcastic because I have enjoyed giving Andrew a hard time lately about whether he was ever going to propose.) Unfortunately she said no. NOT!!! They are both very excited to be the other's fiancé(e). His family and ours met them for a surprise celebratory dinner afterwards and neither of them could stop beaming. It was pretty sweet. :) I will tell the story to the best of my recollection from their own storytelling.

He proposed to her on Labor Day at the Japanese Gardens at Como Park Conservatory. Andrew took her there under the guise of re-establishing their long-forgotten tradition of "date night." Back in the days of young, new love they used to take turns choosing places to go/things to do without telling the other what was in store. Andrew casually mentioned it a few nights before and said he had an idea after she agreed that it'd be fun to try that again. She evenutally guessed where they'd be going (the zoo). She had been giving him crap about rings recently, saying that they had enough money to buy a blender since he hadn't yet bought her a ring (he hates spending money, but he'd just purchased one the day before she said that!), and even putting pebbles on her ring finger and admiring their sparkles one evening at the beach. What a smarty pants, eh?!

Anyway, after they toured the zoo they approached the garden, where Brea saw a card and a bouquet of long-stemmed roses lying on a little incline. She sarcastically said, "Oh, flowers and a card for me? How sweet!" to which Andrew replied, "Maybe..." and she was all like, "Whoa!" So they made their way over to the flowers and he got down on one knee, said some beautiful things about her and told her of his desire to be with her forever, then asked her to marry him. She was shaking all over and had started sobbing (loudly) as soon as they approached the flowers and he took a knee. He also cried as she said yes as they shared a special moment.

I am so, so thrilled for you, Brea, my best friend, because you deserve all the happiness in the world. I am also very proud of you, Andrew, for keeping such a HUGE secret for over a week (a big accomplishment for anyone, but especially you!) and, mostly, for giving my sister all your love and making her the happiest girl around. I love that you were cool enough to do the honorable thing and ask my parents for her hand. I know they are both very proud as well.

CONGRATULATIONS, ANDREW AND BREA!!! I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH!!

The sobbing and shaking begin...

Oh boy, here it comes...

Popping the question!

She said YES!!!

Then Bre discovered their good friend Justin hinding out in the bushes.

The bride- and groom-to-be. Look at that relief all over his face! PHEW!!!

*Pictures of the gorgeous ring he picked out will be forthcoming. Sorry. I blame my dad.*

Transition Time

I am officially back to full-time work as of Monday. BOO!!! I'm sad that I'm not at home anymore and I miss Jackson a lot. It was relatively easy to go back after maternity leave when I knew I only had 7 weeks of class and then part-time summer hours; it's much harder to return in the fall for a full school year. It was such a blessing to be home more this summer watching Jackson grow and spending time with family and friends. Now that I'll be away from him more I am hoping I don't miss out on anything big like this new trick he learned over the weekend with Mommy and Aunties Brea and Alli (sorry the video is so shaky!).