VBS

I am totally amazed by the 2 year old. Her energy. Her love of learning. The way she tries to imitate everything we say. Just last week she picked up the phrase "Oh, crap" from her dad and then said it over and over the rest of the afternoon. Woops. She is just a sponge these days.

A while back, an older lady was telling me about her granddaughter who has a young child as well. She said something to the affect of "My granddaughter is always telling me about how funny and smart her son is. I just don't have the heart to tell her that all kids do those things."And I suppose she is right. I suppose she could have been hinting that she'd heard enough about how amazing my own kid is. And she is right that most kids on planet earth go through roughly the same developmental phases as any other.

But really, my girl is pretty great. I have been to the community Vacation Bible School in Grundy Center with Raya each night this week. She talks about "B-B-Ess" (VBS) throughout the day and spontaneously breaks into dancing whenever the topic comes up.  It is the place to be in town this week. Fun music, great volunteers, tons of energy and excitement. And Raya is eating it up. The girl absolutely loves to dance. I guess my point is that I don't really care that all kids do this stuff. I'm pretty sure my kid is the cutest one. Here is some footage to prove it!

Family Vacation?

Jesse and I have always loved vacation. We have a saying that we use while on our various adventures whenever we're staying up too late or eating way too much ice cream or spending a little more than we should on something... "we can do this. we're on vacation."

And so we approached this year's vacation with the excitement and sense of adventure that we have in the past. Except for one thing. We had a 2-year-old with us. Our itinerary was intense. We planned to try camping for the first time ever, go to the most remote, least visited national park in the country, visit friends, attend a dedication of my baby nephew, and stay in a hotel with an indoor water park.

Did I mention we had a 2-year-old with us. And not just any 2-year-old. This girl is finicky about her routines, does not sleep well away from home and can scream so loud in the car that your ears ring for days afterward.

But we tried it. And we (mostly) succeeded. We camped in the back of the van instead of trying to sleep in the tent, and we came home early, trading a hotel stay for 2 nights in our own beds so we could all get some sleep before we had to go back to work.

A friend of mine warned me about this a while ago. She said - we don't call them "vacations" when the kids are with us. We call them "trips." Yes. I think that pretty much sums it up. This was a trip. Not the relaxing, adventurous vacations Jesse and I have had in the past. We don't regret our aggressive travel schedule, but we were definitely ready to be home when we returned!

A stop in Duluth on our way up the North Shore

The boat ride to Isle Royale National Park. The girl was a trooper!

We passed a group of men hiking at the park who looked at Raya and said "Good for you for bringing her here!" I guess they must not see many toddlers on the island...

Raya getting a biology lesson from the Park Ranger

Time with the Schmidt family in Hovland, MN

Raya and Sparrow. Amy and I are hoping they become best friends just like their mamas!

Family pic at the beach.

Taking it all in...

I often fear that if I don't take a picture of something, I will not remember it. I was never like this until I had a child. During Raya's first year of life, I tried to take at least one picture of her every day. When she was a week old, we drove to Jesse's parent's house for the day and accidentally I left our camera there. I think I cried most of the way home after I realized I had left it, but we were too far away to turn back. I couldn't believe I had already screwed up the picture-a-day thing after only one week. I snapped poor-quality pictures on my cell phone, terrified that I would lose a memory forever before the camera arrived in the mail. Amazingly, I think I only missed two days in her entire first year. Three if you count the picture of her bedroom door. I took it as she was screaming her way through a cry-it-out session in her crib one night. I am still plagued by this fear that I will not be able to remember all of the momentous occasions and everyday events in our family's story.

Lately, Raya has been very interested in watching videos of "Baby Yaya" on the computer. It wasn't very long ago, so I know I was a tired Mama in those pictures and videos. I know I lost my patience and felt irritated and wished Raya would just sleep through the night or learn how to walk or be able to make it from our house into town without a constant, ear-piercing scream. But that's not the stuff I remember when I look back at videos from last year - or even last month. Instead I realize that she does sleep through the night these days. She can walk and run and jump. She doesn't do the screaming thing much anymore. So I guess I'll keep snapping those pictures and look forward to the story they will tell when we look back at them later on.

Luckily, we had a camera on hand this Sunday - a day when the weather and the company were just about perfect and I wanted to make sure it got filed away in our family memory bank. My parents came for church and lunch. It wasn't all that extraordinary, but it was a blessing to just be with family and enjoy one another. Here are some pics...

Daddy & Raya on Father's Day

Grandpa & Raya on Father's Day

Henkle family - all looking at the camera and smiling! Whew!