camping.

we here in johnson-land love camping.  all kinds of camping!  several weeks ago we enjoyed the convenience of sharing a camper-trailer with nanna & poppa.  last weekend we tried out tent-camping (car-camping) with kj for the first time.  next week we will be 'camping' in cabins at a fishing resort in canada.  good thing this girl is up for all kinds of new adventures!  guess she doesn't have too much of a choice, really. ;)

we had our inaugural tent-camping trip to itasca state park, home to the mississippi river's headwaters, gorgeous lakes & forests, and beautifully-developed trails & campgrounds.  thanks to our hosts, the morrow family, for grabbing a campsite for us, showing us around your beautiful home-away-from-home (camp), sharing hobo dinners over the birchwood fire, and exploring the headwaters with us!

kj loved being able to roam around inside the tent, swim in lake itasca, and play play play until she fell over asleep in between mom & dad (i have to admit, we counted it as treasure when she woke up for a 5am play hour because she was so excited to be in such proximity to us).

anatomy.

...of a mouth.  that's what kj is learning these days!

it shouldn't be too surprising, i suppose, that while she is obsessed with grabbing & touching my lips, teeth, tongue, that she herself would be acquiring the use of her very own yapper.

as i type, she is maneuvering rice krispies into her mouth, doing a semblance of chewing motions, and using her tongue to make them disappear down the tube.  as she clears her "plate", she calls out with the first consonants she has been practicing since last week: dadadadada.  and only an hour ago, i felt the little prick of her first toofer poking through her front gum.  that can only help in the eating department, right?!  (yikes!)

yes, it's true.  that girl's got a mouth on her!

wave.

i never did ask nj last week whether he got to do the wave in the new twins stadium when his buddy sam treated him to a game.  but whether or not he participated in that age-old tradition, at just about the same time, another member of the johnson family had found it anew.

kj has got the wave down now! and it's too cute.

last week during a lunch date, a little guy (~2yo?) waved a shy hello at kj.  to my delight, the not-so-shy kj waved back!  i asked his mother, "when do babies start waving?"  she replied, "she just did!"

hellO!  am i a silly new mother, or what?  yeah, she did!  and of course she hasn't stopped since (once she gets a new trick, it hangs around awhile;).

be sure to say hello to our little girl next time we see you.  maybe you'll get the wave!

variety.

we love the variety that duluth has to offer our family. 
within the past week, we have...
.attended a mozart opera
.played at the beach (twice! one rocky & one sandy)
.walked & jogged along the lakewalk by the great lake superior
.joined the crowds for a movie in the park
.sampled local brew & savored to-die-for wild rice burgers
.watched the usaf thunderbirds strut their stuff
.potluck'd with nine other babies/families, collecting up a few more favorite recipes
.hiked & jogged through the nearby parks, with views of woodlands & the lake
.scooped up treasures from garage sales (aka, recycled other families' goodies)
.biked to work/campus
.enjoyed physical treats of yoga & volleyball
.spied twin bear cubs in our own backyard
and that's only one week of this summertime!  praise the Lord for our new home.  it's a good place for us.

found.

you never know what you're going to find when you go hiking around duluth.  for example, yesterday i was enjoying the nearby neighborhood park's shady woods with some yoga-momma&babe-friends and found my husband's tshirt hanging in a tree alongside the trail. 

yes, duluth is a small town.  even when it comes to lost & found goods. =P 

(in fact, nj had left the shirt in that very spot intending to stop by & pick it up towards the end of his run, ended up forgetting about such a silly thing as a little old shirt, then i just happened upon it the next day -- how's that for teamwork?) ;)

strawberry.

strawberry-rhubarb pie
strawberry pie w/graham cracker crust
strawberries & cream
strawberry parfait
strawberry love. in our house. this weekend. mmmmm!
can you tell that kj & rj went strawberry-picking for the first time this past week?

firsts.

kj added so many firsts to her life over these last few weeks!

-first trip to california
-first plane ride
-first meeting of many wagners & wagner-friends!
-first gobbling of oatmeal & bananas
-first day at the beach (aka, first time eating sand)
-first time testing the waters of the pacific ocean
-first time testing the waters of lake superior (not sure which was colder!)
-first camping trip
-first car accident (we're ok! and so is the car (now), but the deer was not quite so fortunate)
-first attempts & successes in laying-to-sitting, crawling, and pulling self to standing (WOW, kj!)
-first attendance to a work function with daddy
-first strawberry-picking excursion (with many more to come!)

she is so very proud of herself. ;)  ok, so mommy & daddy might be a touch proud of her as well...

baskets.

one of kj's favorite games of late is to empty baskets. laundry baskets, toy baskets, any baskets she might happen upon.  and she's quite adept at it by now!

4th.

we enjoyed the 4th in grand marais with nanna, poppa, uncle o & auntie c.  what a grand time!  we are so thankful for the freedom we have in this country & in Christ.  definitely want to celebrate that!
highlights of the weekend: sven & ole's "vild vun" pizza, world's best donuts each morning, trying out kj's new pack, kayaking & swimming in cold Lake Superior, red-white-and-blue candies galore, and a double-date to the fireworks show while nanna & poppa babysat the sleeping babe.  sweet times!
(not-so-high-light: colliding with a deer on the way home... poor deer! but generous neighbors!)

helper.

kj likes to be daddy's little helper in just about any project he undertakes... i think daddy especially likes having a new little helper underfoot.

thanks, nanna & poppa for kj's new crib!

little helper got all tuckered out!

P'03+.

what a wonderful time of reunion & rejuvenation we had with college friends in california!  so many thanks to the bengtson family for making us comfortable, feeding us SO well, and showing us a good time during our annual P'03+ reunion!  maupins, thanks for making the big trek out to join us!  kj is still missing her chuck. ;)  levons, we'll catch you next year for sure!  boy, do we ever thank the Lord for you, friends.  kj sends kisses to each one of you.  (ps, thanks for all the pics, michelle!!)