camping

We seem to have misplaced our camera somewhere, so there are no pictures to go with this post.  Just wanted to give a quick update on all our camping adventures.

Memorial Day weekend we met Karl's family at a state park in MN.  It was rather hot, especially down by the river.  We had fun with campfires, many picnics, blowing bubbles, hikes and learning about peregrine falcons.  We also went to Lark Toys on the day we left, which was an event as well.  Elise rode the carousel twice (or was it three times), we played mini-golf, and came home with Rush Hour plus an extra deck (Albin finished all the puzzles in a day).  We listened to a Scott Adams book on the way up, and Elise found a great top hat in a flea market--for two dollars.  It was a great vacation.

This weekend was the Relaxed Homeschooling Retreat that I organized with all the local homeschool groups we joined.  I think about eight families initially planned to go, but the weather was rather iffy, so only four families showed up Friday night.  Friday was great--the weather was cool, we had fires, good conversation, and wine.  This morning was lovely, too.  Karl, Albin, and I went on a walk in the prairie (Elise was too busy playing with all her friends to join us), then Karl and Albin went on a local cave tour.  Around 4:00 p.m., the rain started.  The family with the new baby packed up, but the rest of us stuck it out through supper.  Thank goodness one of them had tarps to string up, so we could cook in (relative) dryness.  After finding out that it was going to rain in gusts all night, the rest of us packed it in, too.  Now we are home, dry, and ready for bed!   (We'll definitely plan another expedition like this--it was fun.)