summer is here for real

school is out. the weather is hot and muggy. we have a mini vacation under our belts. and henry's off at camp this week, destined to come home hot and sweaty and tired and cranky and elated every day for the next five days.

ahh ... summer.

school ended very well for henry. he's currently reading at a 4th/5th grade level (the lemony snicket series is on his nightstand and he's flying through them), and last night killed time before his shower by "working on his summer homework and reviewing what he did in first grade." his idea, his words. what a geek.

last week marc went fishing in the boundary waters with the roush men (both by blood and marriage) and took out his camera only once. sigh. oh well. he almost drowned twice and blew up once, and caught lots and lots of fish, so all in all it was a pretty typical fishing trip with my dad and his brother.

the trip to the north shore with my mom, sister, and the kids was great. the day we arrived was crazy foggy and windy and cold. poor mom was shivering, but i thought it was perfect ... then again, i'm a sucker for cold, drizzly, windy days. the next day was gorgeous but really, really windy. we drove to grand marais for the morning and while on the beach, poor harp about blew away! luckily she was laughing the whole time. wednesday we hit lutsen mountain and watched the horses prep for a trail ride, hiked around the cascade river waterfall, and pulled over on the way home so mom and bec could see split rock lighthouse (will have to tour that on the next trip with them).

it was a perfect three days. beachcombing with the kiddos by day, yahtzee and gin & tonic by night. pretty great.

and now summer is in full tilt. henry's camp week will be great for him, we'll start hitting the pool daily, and with any luck the bathroom remodels will start soon.

as long as we can keep the temps under 90 most days, i'll be just fine with three months of this!