Father's Day Interview, 2016 edition

Following is Daria's Father's Day interview for 2016. I wanted them all in one spot, hence the temporary resurrection of this blog. As Keira and Brianna are like, all grown up and stuff, I thought it would be weird to interview them. So this is just D-Dubs.

What is something that Daddy always says to you?
D: Goodnight! Don't spit!

What makes Daddy happy?
D: Not whining!

What makes Daddy laugh?
D: Poop!

How does Daddy make you laugh?
D: Pee!

What did Daddy like to do when he was a kid?
D: He liked to play with me of course.

How old is Daddy?
D: I don't know. Old.

How tall is Daddy?
D: Seven feet!

What does Daddy do when you're not around?
D:I really can't focus on this. I can't even do the words. It's so many hard questions.

If Daddy became famous, what would be be famous for?
D: Motorcycle stuff!

What is Daddy really good at?
D: Xcomm

What is Daddy NOT really good at?
D: Making Tastydillas. Ooh. I actually want a tastydilla!

What does Daddy do for his job?
D: I don't know. Something with packages. And bossing people.

What is Daddy's favorite food?
D: Mint ice cream!

What makes you proud of your Daddy?
D: The violin he got me.

What makes you happy he's your Daddy?
D: He plays the guitar.

If Daddy were an animal, what kind of animal would he be?
D: A cow. Because I love cows. Or a horse.

What do you and Daddy do together?
D:  Jump on your bed.

How are you and Dad the same?
D: Well, I put my hair on his head, and then he has hair. And we have the same eyes.

How are you and Dad different?
D: Magic! Cyanide! Painting! Booty!

How do you know Daddy loves you?
D: Waterfights.

Where's Daddy's favorite place to go?
D: To restaurants. To mountains.

What does Daddy like about Momma?
D: He likes her mouth.

A little backpacking trip

When we told the kids mid-June that we had a week of vacation coming up with no plans for a few days, the kid's first question was, "Can we go camping?" 

Ummm... YES. 

Let's go camping. 

Garrett did the John Muir trail last Autumn with my brother and brother's in law, so the girls have talked about backpacking all winter long, and been quite desperate to have a try at it. Meanwhile Garrett has been building our backpacking gear collection steadily for a few years.

We decided to backpack into a campsite at a local park that has backpacking specific campsites, hoping this would be the best of all our favorite things... and it pretty much was. It was an added bonus that we did it during the work week, so for the first night we were the only ones there. 

Unfortunately I lost half my pictures from this trip when I was transferring them from my phone, and I deleted them from my phone before I realized it. Of course. For the most part, I'm okay with it. There was just one pic of Keira and Daria that I am super bummed to have lost.  

The flooded St. Croix River.

 Starting out. We had Keira carry Daria so that I could carry our gear with Garrett. I think she might have gotten the poo end of the stick out of all of us with regards to weight carried to body weight ratio, but she carried her like a champ. It was particularly precious to hear their little conversations.  Also the fact that Daria matched her breathing to Keira's the whole way was pretty much awesome. When Keira was out of breath, so was Daria. Which both amused and offended Keira. Haha! So funny. Both Keira and Brie did awesome with the packs and weights they had though, so it will be really fun to add more backpacking trips in to our adventure excursions as we can.

The view from our tent.

Since my pack was only thirty-one pounds, and it was a short hike, I brought my hexie quilt top to hand stitch. I'm so glad I did! It was fun to have. I'm probably the only person in the history of ever who's brought something like that along on a backpacking trip, but I can live with that.

Waiting for breakfast.

The child who has NEVER willingly slept in our arms took two naps snuggled up with her parents. 

Sister snuggles.

My morning wake up call.
"Mom! Mom! Up! Up!"

We had an amazing time. I can't even describe how badly it was needed for us. It was SO SO good to just get out and camp. And, it was fun to appreciate the deciduous forest... which is something that is so weird to us. The mosquitoes we could all do without, of course, and my super paranoid tick checks 30 times a day, but it was worth it.

Packing up.

She objected to the breaking down of the tents.

These two set up their own tent, and broke it down again. They did awesome!

Leaving camp.

 Our adventures included a very healthy, large, bold raccoon that would not take a hint and leave us alone. We think it probably gets voluntarily fed a lot, or just marches into camp after people go to bed and takes what he wants. Thankfully Garrett had packed all our food in the bear canister simply to keep in organized and so it wouldn't get smooshed.  For the record, bear canisters are also raccoon proof. Daria thought it was adorable and kept trying to go to it. "Dog?! Dog?! Hi Dog! Dog so tyoot!" (cute)

It was technically Daria's first camping trip, although she's gotten the opportunity to sleep in a tent a few times. She had so much fun, and we are all looking forward to introducing her to more and more camping as time goes by.

Spring, lovely Spring

Last winter was a doozy. "The Long Winter" we are calling it. And spring has been slow. The past few days are the first ones where there's really been noticeable flowers.

We love winter. We love snow--but that got seriously tested this winter--and the bottom line is that when it's in the negative degrees and windy, no matter how well you dress you just don't go outside for any longer than you have to.

So for the first time in my memory, I was looking forward to spring. And in the morning when I open my backdoor to the world outside, I still feel a little thrill. 

And I wonder how long I'm going to feel that little thrill, honestly. Seems like it should wear off at some point. 

But regardless, we are loving spring, and being outside. We've wrapped up almost all of school for the year, and started in on some new stuff for the summer. These books are ones that I'm planning on us going through until next spring, as they go month by month. So far the kids love them. 

In celebration we are spending as much time as possible outside. We've taken to calling our backyard our nature preserve. It's fun to watch all year long, but especially fun in the spring when you can watch the green overtake the brown, every day, and the birds return and build and fight and play. It is a wondrous blessing of this home.

The canadian geese are both fun and annoying... For a few weeks there they were fighting constantly. Geese can run on water, in case you're wondering. It's noisy and wild.

She's always gotta climb the trees.

Nature Journaling.

Exploring. Constantly Exploring. Outside? Outside?

Daria's obsessed with birds. She instructs them constantly, and is continually irritated at the fact that they don't listen to her. She finally found one that would hold still for her.

She loves to throw "wocks!"

Keira and Brianna can't run at the gym, so as soon as the weather got good enough we started running outdoors. Proud of them both, as they have worked really hard to build up mileage.

Our natural-born runner. Right before this she told me that every time she got tired, she just ran faster. Must be nice! I'm pretty sure she can outrun us all. 

Daria: Are you alright? Oh, baby! Are you alright? Keira is doing awesome too. She has really committed herself to building distance and keeping up with dad. It's been so fun to watch her blossom as a runner.

Last week we joined the community garage sale. We haven't had a garage sale in 7 years, and with moving so much the last few years I haven't had time to really keep stuff well cleaned out. So, it was time, and it was a lot of work, but even so it ended up being really good and a lot of fun. My garage sale was pretty small compared to all the others I could see, but we still did pretty well.

 I am SO SO glad that we've gotten to experience Midwest Thunderstorms. I may retract this statement about mid-July when I haven't slept for three weeks due to constant thunder all night long, but wow. They are amazing.

 And the last few days have been warm and lovely. School outside, and playing outside, and doors and windows open.

A few more leaves on the trees... Geography, en plein air.

Daria learned how to put her pants on by herself the past few days. So she's been wearing multiple pairs at once, just putting them on as she can find them. 

Hope your spring is treating you well!