Nurse Molly

We're grateful to have discovered Little Man's infection quickly so we could move into surgery and antibiotics quickly. Tonight we were blessed with a home visit from a fabulous nurse who taught us how to care for him for the next month ourselves rather than bringing him for 90 minute appointments at the hospital daily. Little Man has been completely cooperative without complaining a single time during the discomfort and pain. I so admire his willingness to do what it takes and his ability to remain smoothly willing to endure what comes his way. It has been a true pleasure to be by his side so close the past few days.

Michael in his Hammock

John receives snapchat photos of Michael "working" frequently, and most seem to have Michael reading in his hammock. John's text replies to Michael are so John ~ and so not blog friendly! It's been exciting for the kids to keep in touch with different apps while they're 1,000 miles apart, each busy doing their own exciting things.  

Michael's blog is quite detailed and the photos are amazing!  http://michaelindominica.blogspot.com/

Summer Weekends

Jay, John and I have spent many weekends on the farm this summer.  With John working only 30 minutes away, he comes over to help with our projects and enjoy some outdoor recreation. We really appreciate the way he shows up and steps up to help with what we are doing. He and a friend took our kayaks out for their maiden voyage on Sunday. I can't wait to get out there!

To use the kayaks we need someone to drive the paddlers a few miles up the river so they can jump out as they pass the house. We are still figuring out the best way to make that work. Uber is out!

It took John an hour to lazily paddle from the launch spot to our house. That seems just right for a Sunday afternoon that requires gardening, cooking, and house projects. 

THE JADE BEANS AND ROMAINE LETTUCE ARE GREAT THIS YEAR!

JAY PUT UP TRELLIS FOR THE CUCUMBERS TO GET THEM OFF THE EVER WET GROUND -- THANKS, JAY!

JUNGLE CRUISE EXPLORER INDIANA STYLE

MY GARDEN FRIENDS -- SO GLAD I ADDED THESE THIS YEAR!

THE ORGANIC WEED PREVENTER AFTER WEEDING HAS BEEN A HUGE HELP!

MOOSE -- THE DEARLY LOVED TROUBLE MAKER

MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE DUCKHEAD KAYAKS

BUG NETS MAY BE THE VERY BEST INVENTION OF ALL TIME -- OH, AND, AIR CONDITIONING!

She's Still Rocking Camp

After 6 weeks, she's still feeling great working at camp. Having so many friends around 24/7 is a huge perk, as are the days off in the Northern Woods! Making money, making friends, and having a good time -- LIFE IS GOOD for this girl!

Little Man is home!

They should call the battlefield for camp's Capture the Flag 'Wounded Knee' as year after year it takes out campers knees. Little Man came home with an infection in his now very swollen knee that started with a wound incurred during an intense (and mighty fun!) game of Capture the Flag. As expected, he promises me it was worth it.  This year he took 3 camping trips outside of camp and had a blast being in the cabin with the oldest campers.  The stories are still trickling out. I tell ya, he's one lucky guy!

 

 

Jay's headstand -- he really did it!

Jay's yoga is the real deal! I am always impressed with the headstands he can do (except for the one late at night in the Art Institute while wearing cowboy boots!)  This past weekend he did a headstand strongly and gracefully on the floating "magic carpet" at Susan's lake house. We didn't quite snap the picture in time, but you get the idea. 

Great Time with Grace

We spent 10 wonderful hours with Grace Saturday. It felt marvelous to wrap her in my arms! Grace immediately (and rapidly) recounted story after story of camp happenings. She is a well respected and well liked counselor, no surprise, who has taken charge making good things happen for the girls. Grace excitedly received her 32 Week Blanket along with a special poem about her at Red Pine. This is a big deal and a dear keepsake. She continues to teach fishing all morning putting worm after worm on hooks for the young girls. The fact Grace asked for that job still surprises me. It's just part of what I love about Grace's camp experiences. This next session she will direct the play "Pinichio" as well as direct the new camp choir.

We took Grace for lunch and a walk about town before heading to my friend, Susan's, remote lakefront house. There Grace took a 2-1/2 hour nap while we knocked out her laundry and dinner preparations. I even snuggled in to join her for a bit which warmly reminded me of days when she was a little girl. Grace charmed Susan's guests at a late dinner before we drove through the small deer filled roads to return her to camp.

Grace has 4 more weeks up north. Since the first 5 weeks whipped by, I expect these next 4 will as well, especially as we will welcome John, Michael, and Andrew back into the fold during the next couple weeks.

I am so grateful for the uninterrupted time we had with Grace. It was a treasure!

Playful Fourth of July

All four kids are away doing wonderfully fabulous things right now. The really amazing part is that all four are away at the same time for a spell. For the first time in 22 years we slept in our house without a single child home. Weird! I checked my phone frequently out of habit to check in with the kids only to remember I could simply sit back and enjoy Jay's company. It helps knowing they are each really glad to be where they are and it helps that Jay likes to have fun!

We hit a new record over the Fourth of July weekend by spending 4 nights in a row at the farm. We kicked off our vacation by seeing John on campus before spending a very productive day cleaning the porches and outside furniture. It was a two day job, but so worth it as the space is now welcoming and comfortable. The wildflowers are in full bloom and a constant delight. We ended our vacation with Jay's brother and friends spending 2 days at the farm with us. I'm so glad we finally had warm sunny weather! Unfortunately, we also had LOADS of mosquitoes that accompanied them ATVing and shooting a variety of LOUD guns. Oh, and shooting off LOUD errant fireworks, too!

JOHN AND HIS NEW TURTLE FRIEND

UNCLE MIKE & KATIE

Those smiles on Uncle Mike's & Katie's faces (on their recent trip out West) we saw a lot of this weekend! They obviously love their time together. It was warming to see Uncle Mike so happy and we were so glad to meet this special friend.

With our free day off farm, Jay and I enjoyed driving along Lake Michigan's towns from the Dunes to New Buffalo. We didn't find the antique stores we assumed we would pass along the way, but we did see some beautiful and carefully crafted homes on the lakefront. At a festive, fun beach restaurant we were able to eat rooftop overlooking the harbor in a much appreciated sun kissed spot. It was a happy carefree day. Aren't those amazingly precious and rare? I loved it!

VACATION PLAY DAY

 Unfortunately, I couldn't stay at the farm this week as intended as our 2nd car needs a new transmission and is in the shop. While initially I was disappointed, it also gets me off the hook weeding in the mosquito infested garden. My plants will just have to keep growing & carry on!

JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH NETTING!

Much love to you, dear ones. We remember you fondly and wish you happy days this summer.

Little Man Having a Blast

News from the Camper:  "My time at camp has been great so far. I'm in Cabin 1 and the people are hilarious. I got my 2 best (camp) friends in my cabin as well. It's weird how there are only 6 of us in the cabin though. The people are great, even the counselors. I've knocked out a chapter of my summer reading. I'm having a lot of fun and will write soon."

CABIN 1 -- At long last!

VENTURING OUT ON THE MYSTERY HIKE

FUN 4TH!

Don't Ask!

On vacation I do some things that are odd or seemingly unexciting,  so I am not going to ask J what he has been doing in a pop up tent in the dark for the last 40 minutes.

 

 

Shhh -- We're in Valpo!

John tried to take us to his favorite restaurant in Valpo yesterday,  but it was not open for lunch. Today we went back for dinner, and see why John enjoys it so much. What's not to love about dinner & books! I loved the menu tucked inside a vintage children's book, and thought the bill booklet was absolutely darling as an old library checkout envelope. We were quite pleasantly surprised walking through town with the lively full restaurants and an absolutely fantastic juice shop! I loved being able to buy a cup of organic coffee along with a bunch of fresh kale! My kind of shop!

Spontaneous Visit - Presentation Delight

We kicked off our Empty Nest vacation with a spontaneous stop at John's lab. To our surprise and great delight, John was heading in to a presentation addressing his research project. What a thrill it was to see him shine!

Turn up the volume to hear a tiny clip I took in stealth mode so not to embarrass him.

https://youtu.be/R8sFVLsiJB4

Rather than visit another city for our vacation, we chose to (hopefully) enjoy the farm. The aim is to enjoy each other & recreation instead of working from sun up past sundown as we usually do. Since Jay's idea of recreation includes chainsaws and tractors, I may need to find some new towns to explore. So far he has hung lights, trimmed bushes & answered a lot of emails, and we have only been here 4 hours!