summer time

and the living is easy. At least right now it is. We're in a good rhythm. We've had our little Duluth vacation, and a day at the Walker, playing outside, listening to live music while enjoying our picnic.

And for the rest of this month, I'm taking a break from work, spending full days with Lilly, while Leighton gets to either work on his thesis or help out a friend with some cabinet/furniture work. While I've been with Lilly at the pool, or played in the park, etc.

I've given up the struggle with naps; some days she naps, other days not. Yesterday she did not, but then went to bed in a minute, around 8, and slept till 8 this morning. Nice. Since the nap and bedtime thing have gotten to be so frustrating for me, we decided around her birthday to make a change. First we decided I'd be with her all mornings and then Leighton would take care of the afternoon with naps. Mostly she wouldn't nap then that second part of June. But now with me, she sometimes naps. She clearly still needs it. But it's ok when she doesn't. She's still very sweet to be with.

Another thing we've tried is, as of Friday, both Leighton and I have go in to bed with her at night together and then I leave after she's nursed, and he's there with her till she sleeps. So far so good.

So, we're trying some new things, being a little more relaxed with things, not so much following the clock as much as how Lilly seems, and how we're doing. And it's working really well. At least for now.

gardening

We've enjoyed so much tending to our garden this summer. It's amazing how rewarding the work is, including weeding and watering. And we're learning lessons. Like I planted so many things too close together, especially the radishes and green onion, not giving them enough space to grow. And I had no idea a couple envelopes of lettuce would produce THAT MUCH. We do eat salad with all of our meals, but it's too much even for us. Also next time, I'm going to spread out the seeding of the salad seeds more. And I'm going to be more patient with the perennial flower seeds ...

Nonetheless, much to be proud about. Compare these pics, taken just a few weeks apart:

EARLY GARDENING STAGE:

MATURING GARDENING STAGE:

The best part about it is how fun it is to garden as a family. Leighton clears land, cuts down branches, mows, and waters; Lilly walks around with her bucket and spade, points to the growing plants saying "blomst," and picks twigs and rocks; and I plan the garden beds, purchase the seeds and seedlings, sow seeds, plant seedlings, weed, tend to the garden, and harvest. We've already savored bountiful amounts of salad, arugula, cilantro, basil, parsley and chives. Yesterday and today our first HUGE cucumber (with Greek salad and tzatziki yesterday; Norwegian cucumber salad today as a compliment to salmon). The hot peppers, bell peppers, and tomatoes are coming. Today all three of a poppy, cosmo and zinnia came into bloom. The purple and yellow UW pansies (from seeds dated 2008) are in bloom. As are marigolds (as you can see). And more. Hostas, day lilies, lambs ear, campanulas, iris and more plants in the two flower beds behind the garage, most received as transplants from friends. The hostas in the front of the house facing east are not included in these pictures; they're just there tending to themselves. As soon as the lily is in bloom though, we'll include a snapshot of it too where it stands among the hostas and ferns.

summer vacation in Duluth

We're home from our little vacation up north and while it was a short three-night visit, we were able to fill it with lots of good stuff. The weather was fair, mostly sunny with short and T-shirt temps, though a little cool at times. It was so nice to see wide open water again. Lilly loved playing at the beach, especially the rocky one in Canal Park where she even got into the water quite a bit.

The vistas of the long stretchy sand beach out on Park Point, the world's longest freshwater sandbar, were amazing, but the water was a little dirty there.

Lilly was fascinated by the Aerial Lift Bridge which goes up and down allowing ships to enter the harbor all day long. Every time she saw it, Lilly would say "opp og ned, opp og ned."

One day we took a ferry cruise, learning more about the lake, city and harbor.

And another day we took the scenic route up along the north shore to Two Harbors, providing more amazing lake views. 

While we had brought a cooler full of food, we ended up splurging with our meals, dining out except for breakfast. The day of our coastal drive, we stopped at the much raved about New Scenic Cafe (on the North Shore Drive) for dinner on our way back to Duluth.

Upon arrival in Duluth, we enjoyed margaritas at Mexico Lindo adjacent to the historic Fitger's complex. The restaurant has an amazing deck high up in the air over the boardwalk that stretches along the lake. While we were a little nervous there with Lilly chasing around, it was spectacular.

Then we had dinner at the Fitger's Brewhouse (with yummy beer) before we went down to the stretchy boardwalk where Lilly loved spending time, throwing rocks, exploring, climbing around.

Before heading back to our motel room we stopped at the Portland Malt Shoppe for dessert (Lilly like her papa has a sweet tooth for chocolate shake, ice cream, gelato, cake, all of which she's had within the last couple of weeks ...).

We celebrated our anniversary on June 30th with lunch at Va Bene (a neighbor of the Malt Shoppe)--we had such a good time there!--on its deck overlooking the lake, and dinner at Hacienda Del Sol which has a tree-house feeling deck in the back but we opted for the second floor inside which also has a view of the lake.

The last day, before heading back home, we visited the Great Lakes Aquarium and had lunch at Sir Benedict's Tavern, across the road from Va Bene.