Land Where The Sky Reflects The Water

Hooray!  Another day at the cabin and more kayaking is to come!

If you haven't figured it out from the fact that it's been awhile since my last post, 

I've been under the weather.  I caught a cold virus, and viruses usually throw my whole immune system into a tizzy, causing all my symptoms to be worse for longer than I'd like.

Sometimes sorting through photos and trying to communicate seem like more than I can manage.

Hopefully today I can get this next fun post finished and posted because it is FULL of happy memories.

The first full day we were at my parents' cabin, we had our faux birthdays.

This year we decided that it would be more fun to celebrate all our birthdays while we were together rather than shipping gifts across the country and not getting to share the fun.

The night before, I needed to assemble the Marble Run I bought for Esme.

It's not very fun to get a box full of parts.

I wanted to show her how it works when it's all put together.

Here's a video of how it works!

My Mom bought huge plastic gift bags, and I put the tower in a box and put one of the bags on top so it was hidden and could still be carefully "unwrapped". 

Greg carefully carried it into our room and stashed it in the closet overnight.

We slowly got up the next morning and had breakfast.

Look at those little hair bobbles and that cute squishy face!!!!!  

When we were all ready, Esme & Cora handed out bead necklaces 

and then distributed the gifts (with lots of dancing!)

And then we opened gifts!

Our main present for Cora was a doll that zips open to show all the organs.

Oops!  Marble Run fell over!

Don't worry; Auntie Christie knows just what to do!

"Never fear.  I can fix it!"

My "little" brother, Mark, will turn 40 in November

(and his wife, Jillian, will turn 40 in September!),

so they had to wear the "Forty Year Old Fossil" hat 

that my parents wore when they turned 40 . . . and then I wore it in 2014!

I happily opened Star Trek Risk (yippee!)

Thanks, Mark & Jillian + Cora and Esme!

My parents brought me back a beautiful little mirror from Russia!

Cora & Esme like to help open everyone's gifts, which is very helpful!

My parents bought me a lovely delicate chain for my pendant,

which I have been wearing almost every day.

Here you can see the pendant with the chain.

My brother and his family got me this beautiful hefty little mug

with special scenes from the Twin Cities (St. Paul & Minneapolis) on it.

I grew up in Oakdale, an eastern suburb of St. Paul and I went to college at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, which is where I met Greg!

Lots and lots of happy life occurrences happened in Minnesota, and it's still a very special place because so many of our favorite people live there.

I've been drinking hot almond milk out of it while I haven't been feeling well and it makes me happy.

My thoughtful Mom, who's a wonderful hostess and entertainer,

even found a Happy Birthday banner to celebrate!

Cora & Esme helped pick it out.  

After all that fun and excitement, I needed some quiet time with the water.

I went out on the end of the dock to enjoy the beauty.

Earlier in the summer, Mark had accidentally run through the screen door,

and he wanted to install a super cool magnetic screen door as a replacement.

I was impressed with how it turned out when they got the new one installed.

Esme played with a water noodle while all this was happening.

She was very intent on doing something . . . 

but we don't know what!

Later that evening, it was time for kayaking again - hooray!

The water was still, and the sky was cloudy, which is the prettiest scenario.

"Minnesota" comes from the Dakota word for "land where the water reflects the sky".

I love kayaking on the still water as the sun goes down.

Can you see the pelicans behind me?

I feel refreshed now, just having LOOKED at these peaceful images!

I hope they had a similar effect on you.

xo