If you are checking in for the first time on our blog,
WELCOME!!!!
If you are a return customer,
WELCOME BACK!!!!
You will usually find kindergarten updates on a more or less weekly basis....but every once in a while I will do a family update!
Yay!!
So here goes....
Oh My!
Did the summer fly by for your family, too?
Here is a peek at our fun, fast
(mostly interesting little day trips!)
summer adventures!
(at least the adventures I took pics of...I had a bad habit of leaving my phone behind this year)
Outdoor Bathing was a favorite recreation for Fionn!
Maeve's favorite thing to do is hike Sugar Loaf....
Sorcha and I took a trip to Indianapolis to see my daughter Shae and her sweet, ever growing family!
I love being a Grandma to Wren, Calla, and soon to be born baby #3~the long distance part is a bit of a heart break, though.
I love being a Grandma to Wren, Calla, and soon to be born baby #3~the long distance part is a bit of a heart break, though.
at the Indianapolis Zoo
Sisters...
Shae and her hubby, Chris...
Grandmas get to spoil their Grandbabies...
Selfie downtown Indianpolis style...
I've always wanted to do this with my granddaughter!!!
Oh Happy Day!!!!
2 Grandbabies at a FroYo place....
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Last day fun....
When we returned to Minnesota, we were invited to Stillwater to meet my sister's Hungarian fiance at a surprise party!
He is a talented musician....here is surprising my niece and nephew with the happy birthday song!
a family gathering
my niece and nephew
my sis and 2 of her 3 kiddos...
Maeve had a chance to visit Spain and Italy for 10 days!
Now that's NOT a day trip!
She had a blast!
Did I mention how often we used the outdoor bathtub?
Yep, I love this place!
This is our first year as apiarists (bee keepers)
Here we are looking all professional checking on our bees...
We have NO idea what we are doing!
But we are learning!
I even took a community ed class...
We both did a bit of home renovation this summer...
I put up tin in the kitchen....
We had a couple trips to Penguin Zesto...
Our kitties are growing....
A fun redecorating project...rock cairns!
Meanwhile Maeve was still in Italy and Spain...
This is the night ferry taking the kids across the
Mediterranean Sea!
And she is home again!
The 10 days flew for her but seemed like an eternity for us!
Here's a fun PINTEREST project...solar light chandelier!
Here's a link to my PINTEREST boards if you are interested:
John build a pergola!
Oh for cuteness!
Here are is Wren and Calla in their new boots!
Kitties are still cute, too!
My sis and her fiance, Jozef, came to stay a couple times this summer so we did lots of local sightseeing!
This is Garvin Heights...
We hosted a family reunion, as well!
Some more craft projects...
John put up a slack line for the kids...I spent most of my time on my hind end!
This is one of my favorite activities this summer...
we built a huge blanket fort in the living room!
We kept it up for nearly a week!
John built a pallet swing for me...but Pippin likes it, too!
Hey, look who stopped in to visit...Lee!
He hung out in the blanket fort with his siblings!
It was a kayaking kind of summer...
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Oh, also, a Lakeview Drive in kind of summer!
We found many rainbows this year, as well!
Mmmm....strawberry pie!
Funny story, this hen was MIA
but showed up 21 days later with 12 adorable chicks!
All chicks grow up!
We took a trip to Lake Delton to hang out with Lee...who also LOVES to kayak!
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Okay, here is the BIG trip for John and I...
we went backpacking for 2 day on the North Shore!
My backpack weighted 25 pounds...John's was 50!
We followed the Superior Hiking Trail out of Gooseberry towards Castle Danger....9 hours of hiking in one day!
We saw so much beauty!
Oh, this is 2 hours in as we stopped for a river side lunch....and a foot soak in the cold water!
Here is our walking mileage for one day!
I really did not think I could do it! But I did!
This is how I really felt...
But a surprise soda and candy perked me right back up!
Here's how and where we slept...in Hennessy Hammocks!
They are self enclosed little units! LOVE LOVE LOVE them!
We hiked a little the next day (5 miles) but mostly we dug for agates on the shore of Lake Superior!
When we returned we took a ride up to Nelson for ice cream
(do you see the repeating pattern in my life? Ice Cream!)
Then we went to one of the "secret pizza" farms!
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My sis and Jozef joined us for some wonderful pizza~
The rest of the week we spent as local tourists....
Lark Toys...
Wabasha's Eagle Center...
Finding more rainbows....
and our lovely country road....
We took a tour of Amish Country
ending up at The Amish Ovens for treats!
This one is at the Russell Stover Outlet Store
in Owatanna!
Geez, more ice cream!
and Grand Dad's Bluff in La Crosse!
Jozef is a city boy who quickly took to country life...
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Did you catch the Sweet Stroll in Winona?
What fun...shopping and sweets in most stores...plus extended hours!
I believe it is yearly?
Once a summer we have HAMMOCK day!
Sorcha joined me as we read ALL.DAY.LONG. in the hammock!
These guys are just too cute!
For the first time EVER we celebrated my Norwegian heritage and went to Nordic Fest in Decorah Iowa!
(We usually do IRISH FEST being married to an O'Duggan and all...)
We tried all sorts of interesting food!
I love this one from INSTAGRAM!
You can follow me at marciaoduggan if you wish!
HeeHeeHee...more tub pics!
Sorcha's picked up a new skill: wire bending!
She also sported purple hair for a week or so!
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Fionn turned 12!
My mama had fun just 'hanging' out!
Here's a beautiful sun set taken from, you guessed it, the bathtub!
Maeve and I helped out at and indulged in a Medieval Feast!
We rediscovered Hok Si La beach in Lake City...
LOVE THIS PLACE!
yep, digging for pretty rocks...
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Super Moon over Lake Pepin!
We took my mama out kayaking...she LOVED it!
My Auntie came to stay and showed me how to make
SANDBAKKELS!
We went Kayaking with them as well!
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THIS IS BIG NEWS!
On August 12, I celebrated 1 year of being a cancer survivor!
My surgeon gave me 2 thumbs up for health and suggested this fun Mexican restaurant called Manny's in Onalaska!
Gardening is fun when I don't have the heart to pull out Morning Glories in the Spring...this is what our tomatoes look like in the Summer!
Another Highlight for me?
This little guy read 100 books and came out to celebrate with his 'old' teacher!
21 years at Ren Fest!
Maeve is getting glittered!
Taking cloud pics are also a favorite of mine!
Here's another craft project...mostly cuz I didn't really want to clean the house for company!
Here is the redecorated coffee bar with the new painting...
guess I HAVE to clean now!
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The only kiddo we did not see this summer is Graham,
however we did get to see his new wife, my new daughter-in-law, Melissa! She and her mom, Jean, stayed with us for the weekend and we did our favorite things....
digging for agates...
Hanging at the beach...
eating ice cream....
and eating pizza!
What a perfect end to a great summer!
