Here are a couple pictures from our yuppy outing. We stopped at our favorite breakfast spot for scones and coffee, then spent Sat. morning at the park. Ahhh... so nice!

Claire LOVES the tomatoes fresh from the garden!!

Here are some photos from our camping trip earlier this month. It had its special challenges, but we had a good time!

Dew on the cobwebs on our hike out of camp

Checking out downtown in Lake City

Claire was a good hiker. Lamby was too. Lamby went from white sheep to black sheep over the weekend.

The camera flash was a little too bright for Claire first thing in the morning.

Claire's first fire toasted marshmallow. She loved them (surprise, surprise)!

Hiking break!

We took a family camping trip this month! It was lots of fun. We stayed at Frontenac State Park on Lake Pepin. We stayed at a cart-in site, so we left the car in the lot and hiked about 1/4 mile to our site. Claire had a great time!

I (Megan) am always so impressed with friends who actually write thoughtful things on their blogs! As most can tell, I am rarely the one to get our pictures up on the blog. So, I thought maybe I should write a little something for a change!

What a summer it has been for the three of us. So many new things for Claire, and new for us to see them through her eyes. I never read my horoscope, but Aaron read it to me the other day. It also happens to be Claire's horoscope (yay Scorpio??).

Anyway, it was about the sacred and the ordinary, and how sometimes they are one in the same; it just depends on the view you take. It was very cool because seeing things through Claire's eyes reminds me of the amazing beauty and wonder in the most ordinary things. Bare feet in the green grass, white fluffy clouds in a bright blue sky, an ant crawling on the sidewalk, a bumble bee on a flower, a smile from a stranger, a hug around the neck from my favorite toddler, a bubble reflecting the light, a duck flying overhead, a face covered with sticky ice cream, leaves rustling in the breeze.

How did I get so lucky? To have this amazing family, this amazing little girl, and to be reminded of what an incredible world we live in?

The funny part of the "ordinary vs. sacred" horoscope is that we went to the State Fair that day. We saw many amazing things- butter sculptures, seed art, award winning cookies, green beans and all assortment of foods on a stick. Were they ordinary? Were they sacred? Hmmm... or were they just strange and interesting?

Claire and Daddy rode the Giant Slide

This picture notwithstanding, she LOVED it!

Merry go round

She was much happier having mommy hold her than actually riding the horse.

And of course she loves ice cream!

Here she speaks with the sheep.

Claire saw all kinds of animals at the fair

She would say SHHHHHHH when we went into the loud barns sometimes...