Devil's Lake

While cleaning this morning, I realized that I was fighting a losing battle: the kids were actually making messes faster than I was able to clean them up. So I decided to cut my losses and leave for a day trip to Devil's Lake, a state park about 40 miles north. I left half the breakfast dishes in the sink, a couple loads of unfolded laundry on the couch, and possibly some other messes around the house. We took off!

We only forgot two things: the sunscreen (which cost us about $7) and the camera (which cost us about 8 megapixels). Oh well. Here are some phone pictures of the kids building on a perfectly sunshiny day:

Forestland surrounded the beach area on three sides, and the warm water extended for a hundred feet before becoming deep--just ideal!

This river system became more complex throughout the day, with dams, reservoirs, and cities across the area. 

Sunny Michael told me, "Mom, this is the best place in the world!" 

Adam has officially figured out how to play in the sand instead of eating it--hurray! Even though he missed a nap, he was a darling all day and really had his share of fun.

After scrubbing down and redressing (you've got to love those dank state park showerhouses!), we stopped by the concession stand and bought some reasonably-priced ice cream cones:

We ended up being gone until dinnertime, which was long enough to wear them out: three of the kids fell asleep on the ride home. I took this picture at a stoplight, which was probably even more irresponsible than leaving my housework undone at home.

I tidied up and de-sanded the swim gear tonight after the boys went down. Being in the sunshine all afternoon has made the clean quiet even more satisfying. Good day, good night. 

Fun to be one

Can you believe that Adam is one year old today? Happy, happy birthday, darling boy!

We celebrated with a bike ride and baseball in the morning and a trip to the toy store in the afternoon:

Topped off with some carrot cake, 

I'd say it was a successful commemoration.

Fun facts on Adam:

• He snuggles up and hears a song to go to sleep. I rock him to sleep with "Nearer, My God, to Thee;" Eric sings jingles from 1980's toy commercials. Adam loves both.
• In his first year of life, Adam has traveled to twenty-three states!
• Adam has probably read Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar a few hundred times. He always relaxes on the page about Saturday and then impatiently turns the pages until we get to the butterfly. 
• He shouts "hi" to strangers and puts his right hand straight up in the air to wave.
• He lies on the floor with a toy car and runs it back and forth while saying "brrrmm, brrrmm!"
• A few weeks ago Adam met his great-great-grandpa, Grandpa Roy, who is 102!

How would our family be complete without our little Adam? A friend to everyone, Adam fills our home with joy. Happy birthday, little one.

Fenced

This week we got a fence, and it came with all kinds of bonuses. First of all, the fencers brought in a skid steer with a drill attachment. If you ever want some time to fold your laundry, I highly recommend the skid steer:

The skid steer was more than captivating, however: it also left some wonderfully large clumps of dirt behind

PLUS some kid-sized holes.

Are you beginning to see how exciting this all was? There was also a pile of wood perfect for climbing

and some scrap wood for building.

We're talking HOURS of building

(and painting).

I dug this "garage tunnel" by Michael:

We were also given a pile of extra fence planks for the boys to build with. Jacob made a list of 18 ideas for that project, including "a clubhouse," "a pretzel stand," and "a go-kart." We'll see how it goes. 

The fence served us nicely last night, when the boys dropped and retrieved parachute guys during the entire time that I prepared dinner:

Ah yeah.

In other news, 

• Eric and I had our 8th anniversary on Friday! It's our special tradition to have Eric either be on overnight call or out of town on our anniversary--we observed this ritual for the sixth time in a row. But we celebrated yesterday, when we bought ourselves bikes and then took a fun family ride around Madison. Being married to Eric is my greatest joy.
• I am the new organist for our church! I've been working for a few hours each week to pipe some new life into my repertoire. It's been a delight and a challenge.
• The house is coming together! There are many rooms that have NO BOXES in them. Eric's study is "done." There are also blinds in the windows now, and I think that it turned out nicely: