haircut.

kj's first haircut! miss adelaide took about 6in off, replaced her natural baby layers with the cutest little girl bob, and taught us a new song meanwhile! k-k-k-katie, beautiful katie, you're the only g-g-g-girl that i adore! when the m-m-m-moon shines over the c-c-cowshed, i'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door...

spontaneous.

oh how i have enjoyed the summer living recently! i am trying to embrace spontaneity (not my natural bent) & flexibility, rather than the structured schedule we keep during the school year. this week was the perfect opportunity to jump into some spontaneous fun! since we were all packed up & away from home already, why not take an extra trip? to the Cities! with aunties, uncles, & adorable cousin sj. plus nanna & poppa of course. ;) the little boys inspired each other to roll over (first time for both of them, happened exactly two days apart -- right on schedule with their two-day-apart births! ;)) with kj as the only witness to both occasions! we devoured a trip to the mn childrens' museum with nanna & auntie c. we lounged on the patio of uncle m & aunt r with bbq and perfect weather. we even snuck in a trip to a favorite fro-yo shop. with summer times like that, we can only say, 'more please!' and thank you, to all those who share these blessed moments with us.

family.

somehow we were fortunate enough to gather the whole johnson family in pine river this weekend, despite nanna & poppa being right in the middle of installing new hardwood floors. ;) i don't think they minded the invasion. of course we had to pick raspberries, do a little fishing, visit with cousins, eat outside, make caramel rolls, go for a walk, try running again (rj!), snuggle with the babies, and get all caught up on each others' news. a special treat was watching the two little boys side by side. they have so many similar infant characteristics & yet have very distinct personalities (already obvious at just three months old)! too too fun.

grabbing.

lj is starting to grab & play with his toys, hurray! and gives lots of smiles these days, mostly to one special sister in particular.

grandma.

though it's been a year since we've visited grandma's house, kj seemed as familiar as ever with this place, and of course, its people. we did lots of laundry after toughing out the stomach bug (sorry to pass it on, grandma!), played with some favorite toys, learned a new game, swam in the warm ymca pool, and went running on the hills. lj's first time to corning! and to stony point. so wonderful to introduce him to great-grandma, ap, dp, and sw! he felt very loved!

great-grandma.

rj's grandma moved to painted post shortly before we arrived this week. how nice to be able to visit with her everyday while we are here!

p'02+.

our time with my '02 roommates was short, but ever so sweet! i come away feeling well-loved and wishing for more time with each of them... many thanks to the b family for opening your hearts & home (& camera!) to us yet again.

reunions.

it was rj's 10th year college reunion this year, which coincided nicely with our annual p'03+ reunion weekend, which then necessitated a crazy trip to see everyone and everything. clearly. one eight-hour drive to chicago, one hotel stay with the best lobby fountain ever, one water resources conference downtown, one chicago-style pizza, one swim in the pool with friends, one limo ride, one airplane ride, one wrong turn before the nj turnpike, and one (or maybe a few) naps later, we found ourselves near princeton, nj with lots of friends and lots of fun times.

highlights included scribblish, homemade pasta, playtime for the kiddies (six little ones under 3yo with the 7th to make her appearance very soon!), brunch with roommates & families at the b's home, the p-rade with ridiculous amounts of orange & black, splashing in the woody woo fountain, church with friends, bbq at the b's, and the easy nature in which you can share life with friends of old.

lowlights included em's first puke of her life and the subsequent sharing of said stomach bug with 10 others of the 14 friends that stayed together for the weekend. also included the unfortunate coincidence of those hours falling during our 5hr drive to corning. boy was that a mess when we arrived at my folks' house at midnight!

thanks so much, jl, ml, & tl for being brave enough to host us all in your home! and thanks, cm, lm & em for taking care of us in your home city & making sure we got to the east coast intact! you are great traveling partners. ;) thank you, tb, mb, wb, & db for sharing your time & photos with us! wonderful memories.