Monthly Archives: August 2023

The summer is almost over and I feel both sad because I love the summer and we’ve had so much fun, but also happy because these kids need to get back to the routine of school! It’s not over yet though…

The boys were busy this week with lots of summer fun. Shyanna took them to the skatepark and to the library. Grandma Debbie took them to the Eagle’s Nest indoor play place. They got new kiwi co kits and played with Sam and Abby a lot.

On Wednesday, we finally had Gussie’s 6th birthday party! Our calendar was so full and so were all of our friends’ calendars, so we were a few weeks past his actual birthday. Augustus has been very patiently waiting for this day to come! We had a Pokemon themed party. I had planned the activities like I was making a camp program. So when the weather said it was going to be 95 degrees and humid, I was very crabby. One might think that 20 years of running summer programming outside, in the heat, or being flexible because of weather would have prepared me, but no, I was just really crabby that morning.

By the time the party started, I put on my new “poke-MOM” shirt and had a good attitude and everything was awesome. We started with a game of “keepy-uppy” with a custom-made pokeball beachball (which I colored with sharpie). The whole group had to keep in it the air for 10 hits. I made all of the games team events so that it was fun, rather than competitive. By completing the challenge, they earned colored headbands. Then we went inside (to cool down) for the next game, which was like hopscotch- you had to touch your feet and hand in different placements. When they all completed that, they got light up, spinning bracelets.

Once they completed their first 2 challenges, they were officially on the pokemon trainer team. The next challenge was to go outside and collect 40 hidden pokeballs. Gussie loves an easter egg hunt, so this was a little like that. After collecting the pokeballs, we evenly distributed them to each kid and they had to stand in a line and throw the pokeballs at the “pokemon” which were paper balls I had glued pictures of pokemon to.

In Pokemon Go, you throw balls at the pokemon and then collect them in your Pokedex, so once they collected the balls, they brought them to the pokedex station. If they ran out of balls, just like in the video game, they could go to a pokestop, spin around 3 times and get more pokeballs.

Once all pokemon had been captured, the team earned the pinata, which was the ultimate prize.

Did you know that a pokeball pinata is $50?! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that. My reaction was to immediately plan to make my own. When my financially conservative, financial advisor husband said, “are you sure your time isn’t maybe worth $50?” and then my crafty nanny said, “oh, yeah, that’s a big project” I took both of those as personal challenges! I would make a pinata!

I had all of the supplies on hand and actually, it wasn’t difficult at all. Guess who is buying herself a $50 gift as a reward for making a pinata?! The pinata was strong enough that each kid got 2 hits in the air, 2 hits once it hit the ground, and while they dented and cracked it, it didn’t fully explode. In the end, I stood on the deck above them and sprinkled candy and toys evenly around them so it wasn’t a mob scene. Pinata success!

We came inside to cool down, sing and have ice cream cake, and the kids spent some time trading pokemon cards and playing in the playroom.

I wasn’t originally planning to have a pool party (our pool is not a 9 kid pool), but it was HOT and HUMID and so I’d texted the moms that morning to have them bring suits. The kids swam and cooled down and it was super fun.

My original plan was to get fresh pizzas at Costco and add pepperoni and olives to make pokeball pizzas. But with the temperature as high as it was, I decided that morning that I couldn’t turn the oven on. I ordered pizzas from Dominoes and then at the last minute, I called and asked if they could turn one small pizza into a pokeball. The manager was SO nice and agreed they could do that and so Gussie got his own special pizza and he was thrilled! We had all of the parents over for pizza and the kids played and went back to the pool until nearly 7pm and then we handed out treat bags and sent everyone on their way. It was a super fun party and Augustus was happy and I was thrilled he could have a special day!

On Friday night, I headed to Maple Grove for a slumber party with Danny and Heather. I’ve been training all summer and Saturday was finally the day of the triathlon. If you had told me in my teens, twenties, or 30s that I would someday participate in a triathlon- SWIM, BIKE, RUN- I would have laughed you out of the room. But on Saturday, I competed in my first triathlon, alongside my brother and sister-in-law and all of their ridiculously impressive muscles.

At 41, I am calmer and more self confident than ever before. I didn’t feel intimidated or insecure compared to Danny and Heather or any other competitor. I felt genuinely proud of myself for showing up and doing it! I wasn’t the fastest or best and I was very ok with that. I was the fastest and best version of myself and I was really happy I did it.

After the race, I came home to flowers and lots of love. I ate, showered and napped. Then we met up with our neighbors for pickleball and out to dinner afterwards. It was a very busy Saturday!

Sunday was a slow morning. I felt pretty good, despite the crazy day before. The boys played with Sam and Abby. Then around lunch time, we headed to the State Fair. We ate a lot of good things, went down the giant yellow slide, and walked until the boys claimed they were going to die. Success.

When we got home, Gussie’s tooth (which has been VERY loose for days) finally fell out! A tooth fairy visit to end to a busy weekend! Yay!

The week ahead is our LAST week of the summer. Here we go!

Like the entire summer before it, we’ve been busy for these last 2 weeks. I’ve been so busy I have not had a moment to update our blog. I know my faithful readers (hi mom) are waiting anxiously… Buckle up, because I have so many photos, I don’t know what to do with myself.

We’ve had a lot of planned activity, but we’ve also spent a lot of time having no schedule and letting the boys be creative, play outside, go to the park, and just run around. I LOVE programming but I could also talk for hours about the importance of free-play and letting kids be unstructured. I actually think we’ve done a pretty great job this summer of balancing both.

The boys took golf lessons with Sam and Harvey for a few days last week. These were a little more casual than the ones in the beginning of the summer, but they enjoyed themselves a lot.

Last week, Gussie turned 6! I cannot believe my baby is 6!! He spent the day at Grandma’s house and then we all went out to dinner. His party isn’t until next week, so that’s tough for a 6 year old to understand. We all tried to make the day as special as we could. He is being very patient waiting for the party! Nanny Shyanna helped him (by that I mean she did the whole project) make a paper chain countdown.

Xander is obsessed with having abs and being “strong like Uncle Danny”. My trainer suggested I bring him in for a special mother/son session so last Saturday, we spent some time lifting weighs, and then afterwards, went out to sushi for lunch. After that, we went shopping for dress clothes for our upcoming theater outing. He was adamant that he wanted a vest. We managed to find a whole outfit (including shoes). He was thrilled with the whole day and so was I. He is such a funny, cool kid and I love hanging out with him.

For grandma Debbie’s birthday, Xander and I took her to the Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see Jersey Boys. Xander was so excited. About a week before, he asked Grandma to see what she was wearing. He had a very specific vision of what he wanted to wear and luckily we were able to put together the outfit he had imagined. He was very excited to stay up late and do something special. He loved the play and we’ve been listening to Frankie Valli on repeat ever since.

On Monday of last week, I drove 4 hours to spend the night in Ely. One of the stories I wrote for the upcoming alumni magazine (#projectofthesummer) is about a group of women who went on a Camp Widjiwagan 30 day trip in 1973 and this summer, are going on their 50th reunion trip. When you go on a big trip, your names get put on a paddle and hung on the wall. My boss had the idea to have the paddle recreated to give to each of the ladies. When I called camp to find out where the paddles come from, they told me they make them. In true Natalie fashion, I decided I should just make them (it literally never crossed my mind to have them made). I figured it would be an easy project- I found 20 inch wood paddles online, painted them green and then planned to use my cricut to add the lettering (a cricut is a machine that cuts out patterns on paper or vinyl). Easy. No. The lettering was so small that the vinyl was peeling before I could transfer it. I ended up using a needle to hand-place several of the letters. But eventually I got it done… and then, in the most out of character move of all time, I didn’t take a decent photo of them! I made 5 paddles. I randomly snapped one picture, but that was it! In the end, the ladies were thrilled and it was worth the work. The trip was a whirlwind 24 hours, but really great. This part of my job is so fun and exciting.

I got home on Tuesday morning and then Tuesday afternoon, the boys and I met up with the Nelson family to swim at the Lake Elmo Swim Pond. The kids play so nicely together and I love hanging out with my bestie. Why don’t we get together more often?! Somehow the summer has flown by, but at least we squeezed in one fun day with them!

On Thursday, the boys spent the night with Grandma Debbie and Nate and I went to a celebration for our friend Orville who is leaving the YMCA. Orville has run the Youth in Government program (where Nate and I met) for 32 years. He is an amazing person, my professional role model and someone I consider a dear friend. I am so sad he is leaving, but I was happy to celebrate him. Did I take a photo with the man of honor?! NO! I got home and realized it and was very crabby with myself. Other than that, it was a fun night with good food, friends and lots of laughs.

On Friday, Danny, the boys and I competed in the YMCA Splash and Dash. Teams of kid+adult did a 100 yard swim, followed by a 1 mile run (including obstacles). Xander was VERY excited to have Uncle Danny as a partner and was pretty sure they were going to win the whole thing. The event was fantastic- super well run and very fun. The boys were both excellent swimmers and cruised through the swim quickly! Then you run to the transition area and put on your shoes. Nate and Heather were our photographers and were very skilled at following us!

The very first part of the run was going down a hill on a slip and slide. Did I gently slide down on my butt like a reasonable 41 year old? Absolutely not. Face first, 1 million miles and hour down the hill, realizing at the bottom that I was not going to stop, and then ROLLING through the grass and mud at the end.

There were a series of fun obstacles and then at the end, you run through a foamy, bubble mess. The boys loved it. I loved it. It was a blast. Gussie wanted to do it again once we finished. Afterwards, we all celebrated with pizza and beer/root beer at a nearby brewery.

The Splash and Dash was just the first fitness fun for the weekend. On Saturday morning, Danny, Heather and I did a practice session for our triathlon next week. We swam the 500 yards, biked 5 miles, and then ran (not quite the full 3 miles but enough to practice). It was really good to practice transitioning between events and I learned a lot! I am very excited to compete next weekend.

While we swam, biked, ran, the boys played on the beach, paddle boarded and hunted for pokemon. When we were finished, Xander gave paddleboard rides to everyone.

On Sunday, we attended the first annual neighborhood corn boil event. Steph and Blake hosted and it was FANTASTIC! Steph’s parents own a farm and so they had ALL THE CORN. We ate brats and hot dogs and all the side dishes and SO.MUCH.CORN. Xander said it was the best corn he had ever had. I thought he was being a little enthusiastic until I ate some and it was the best corn I had ever had! It was sweet and the perfect texture. Steph’s mom said something about the particular variety of corn it was- I’m not sure but it was literally the best corn of all time. I didn’t have to cook dinner and the kids ate really well- amazing! We ate and hung out and the kids ran through the neighborhood and the weather cooperated and was GORGEOUS. Blake and Steph’s backyard looks like you’re at a patio of a fancy restaurant. It was the ideal neighborhood night.

The week ahead is pretty low key- we have a 6 year old birthday party and a triathlon, but otherwise, just your average week. We’ve only got 2 weeks of summer left, so we are savoring every moment!

About 2 weeks ago, Xander decided he was super passionate about rock climbing (we’ve been a few times and he does enjoy it), so at the last minute, we signed him up for climbing camp for this week. He came home from camp on Monday and wanted us to buy all the gear. And when he found out there is a membership, that allows you to climb anytime, he said, “yeah, and you’ll have to buy me a car so I can drive myself there.” We decided to see how the second day went before we purchased anything.

On Monday, Nanny Shyanna and Augustus played nonstop and then went to the park. But by the afternoon, he was sneezy and miserable. Tuesday he spent the day eating unlimited freezie pops and watching screens.

By the end of the day, Gussie was feeling much better, so we let him out of the house for National Night Out. We blocked off the street and set up tables of food. The kids rode their bikes and the adults chatted. The weather was beautiful and it was a super fun night. The police stopped by to hand out candy and then a fire truck and ambulance came too. It was a very fun night.

By Wednesday night, Xander had caught Gussie’s cold, so on Thursday, he spent the day eating freezie pops and relaxing. He was enjoying climbing camp, but I think the last few weeks had finally caught up to him and, besides just being sneezy, he was exhausted. He needed a day to rest. On Friday, he was back to camp and it was a special day where he got to zipline and have a pizza party. We picked him up after lunch and we were off to the first annual Camp Juliet.

Camp Juliet! We planned this event last year, but due to a covid outbreak, we had to cancel. We’ve all been wildly excited for this for a whole year!

Kelly and Silas spend almost every weekend of the summer at their family cabin on Middle Eau Claire Lake near Hayward, Wisconsin. They invited the whole neighborhood to join them, so obviously, we started calling the weekend Camp Juliet.

22 of us (including one month old Alma) spent the weekend at the lake.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and the kids immediately ran off to jump, climb and play. The cabin has 2 bedrooms and so we all decided to stay in tents and make it a true camp-out. We set up our tent and 3 air mattresses as soon as we arrived. We have a GIANT tent and comfortably fit a queen and 2 twin mattresses (with plenty of room to spare). Once the tents were set up, we all piled onto the pontoon and speedboat for a trip to the nearby sandbar. It was the first of many tube rides for the kids.

For dinner we grilled hot dogs and brats and ate several different pasta and potato salads, watermelon. Kelly cooked corn on the cob in the fire. It was a literal picnic feast! The kids drank kiddie cocktails and we ate s’mores and sat around the campfire while the kids swam and played until it got dark.

We put the kids to bed at 9 the first night. Xander was concerned about bears, but I assured him that I had researched the area and also that our tent was one of the super fancy special bear-proof tents… am I proud of lying? No. But I had to do what I had to do to get them to go to bed.

I didn’t see a bug the entire weekend- not even once it got dark, not in the tent, not at all. It was perfect.

Saturday was an early wake up with coffee and breakfast and excitement for the day ahead. The cabin was about 20 feet from the lake (which was super sandy) and so the kids were in and out of the water nonstop. Kelly, Sean and I started the day with a swim. Silas and Michelle started the day with a 7 mile run. Once we were ready for the day, we all tie dyed Camp Juliet tee shirts. As soon as we started planning this weekend and calling it Camp Juliet last year, I knew we needed mandatory fun tie dye to make it a real camp experience.

After tie dye and lunch, we got back on the boats to go to the sand bar. We swam and played a game called beersbee, which is a game where you have to knock down a bottle using a frisbee. It is played in the water and it was so fun. There was more tubing. Then it was back to the cabin for some people, and some of us went to a nearby dam, where you could lean backwards into the waterfall and go behind it. It was super magical and the boys loved it. To get to the dam, you have to go under a bridge, which was just slightly taller than the boat, so we all had to duck down. It was a true adventure.

The kids caught about 50 fish off both the boat and the dock. We ate snacks and had drinks, and laughed and played and soaked in the sun. For dinner on Saturday, we got pizzas from a local bar, followed by more s’mores. We had regular chocolate and graham crackers, and also 3 kinds of girl scout cookies, reese’s peanut butter cups, white chocolate, peanut butter, giant marshmallows. Everyone tried a different combination. I love the experimenting, but I’m a traditional s’mores gal all the way. Apparently thin mints in place of graham crackers, and a s’more with a peanut butter chocolate girl scout cookie in place of the hershey bar were both huge wins.

Saturday night was another late bedtime for kids and then hours around the campfire for the adults. We never ran out of things to talk about and my cheeks hurt from laughing. We started playing a new game where we created brackets using random categories- St. Paul restaurants, desserts, appetizers, pie, etc. We would choose 16 of whatever category it was and then match them up and debate them. For instance-

Desserts-

Tres leche vs Strawberry Shortcake

Cheesecake vs Crème Brulee

Tiramisu vs. Brownie Sundae

Chocolate Mousse vs Carrot Cake

Ice Cream vs Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pineapple Upside Down Cake vs Peach Cobbler

Tart vs Flourless Cake

Fruit Pizza vs. Pie

Sean would tell us the match ups and we would fiercely debate whether we thought tres leche or strawberry shortcake was the superior dessert and whichever one won the round, it would go on to compete until we crowned the best dessert (tres leche won the dessert bracket). It was fun and funny and sometimes got heated (the St. Paul restaurants bracket was filled with big opinions, some emotion, and only a little yelling). We had a lot of ideas for new brackets, so there’s more debate for us in the future.

The weekend was pure magic. Truly, it was relaxing and fun and filled with laughter. There was so much good food (which is my love language). All of the adults were handing out snacks and helping kids with life jackets and passing around the baby, and taking care of each other. It was idillic and felt so safe. It was like being in a big family where everyone is responsible for each other. Everyone was ready at any moment to step up and help each other, take care of each other’s kids, and make camp the best place for everybody. Even being on the edge of a lake, I didn’t worry about my kids for even a moment. There were many sets of hands and eyes, making sure every need was met.

I talk about this neighborhood all the time- how special it is to have not just bought a house we like, but to have found a community of people. And they are just the best people. We are so lucky to be part of this group. I loved every moment of the weekend and I am counting down until next year.

Sunday morning was more fishing and swimming and running around for the kids. We took the morning slow and relaxed in between taking down tents and packing up. We headed home after lunch and even though we were all going to the same place, we were all sad to say goodbye. It was such an amazing weekend.

Did you know that not everyone documents every moment of their life and isn’t constantly taking photos? I always feel a little nerdy that I am always taking pictures (we’d been at camp for approximately 10 minutes when I demanded everyone pose for a group photo… in my defense, Silas’s parents were visiting and thus, we had someone to take our photo!). But when I got home and looked at them, I was disappointed there wasn’t more! I am typing this as a reminder to myself to just lean into the obnoxious photo taking urge next time!

We got home around 3. The boys were exhausted! Nate and I unpacked, started laundry, grocery shopped and had early dinner, showers and had 2 sleeping boys by 6:45. We’ve got a pretty normal week ahead.