Family Photo Shoot

So we decided to do an outside family photo shoot this year.  My main reason was that I love the fall colors and trees in Thief River turn into such beautiful colors – usually.  I was thinking of last year when we had a beautiful fall but didn’t take too many pictures then and Kason was a baby so it was harder.  But of course, once we set up the date with the photographer, it was pretty obvious that there won’t be pretty colors or nice warm weather.  The trees almost skipped changing to beautiful colors because it got too cold too fast.  The day of the shoot was very cloudy and freezing cold and we kept thinking are we really going to do this to our kids?  But we didn’t want to cancel the shoot because we couldn’t reschedule it so we went ahead with it.  I really didn’t want to take pictures with us wearing big puffy jackets and hats though so we pretty much froze even with 3 or 4 layers of clothes.  Kason was very hard to keep in one spot or to even stay in the shot with us or other kids, which I kind of suspected.  And after a little while of being in the park Anika too got really cold and was not smiling at anything.  Kade had a blast and wanted to run and play even after we were all done but Ehren and I were glad to get into a warm car and get home to warm up.  So I left the photo shoot thinking man, if we get one good picture it will be great.  But Chelsie did a great job and considering the weather and how little Kason and Ani are, we couldn’t get more or better pictures.  We have a lot of good memory pictures that will look great printed so I’m very excited.  I just get tired of the same old pictures so these are very precious.  Chelsie is Ehren’s cousin’s daughter and at only 20 years old she’s starting out her photography career.  I’m sure she can be a great photographer one day, but it does take a lot of experience especially with kids and people and seeing if the poses are good before taking pictures.  Anyway, here are some previews of what she took.  We have a lot more pictures saved and I can’t wait to play around with them.

this is more the real colors and I didn’t enhance it much

Kason is getting so big

with our little girl

Our North Shore getaway

So this last weekend finally came when we took our kids to the North Shore, MN.  I always loved going there in the fall and couldn’t believe the last time we went there was when I was pregnant with Kade – our first child.  I think we’re going to try a lot harder to go there every fall we can from now on.  We had a very special time with our family.   It is never easy with little ones who need naps and can’t walk fast, but we made the best of it.  I was wishing a little bit that we could have gone on more trails and also felt a little bad for Kade who was so eager to try every trail he spotted but we couldn’t with Anika.  We borrowed a backpack kid carrier from our friends for Kason and that was a lifesaver.  He was so good in it and just watched everything around him.  When we were finally hiking I realized it would have been perfect to have 2 of them and have Ani on my back.  First, they weigh about the same with Kason so it wouldn’t feel any different and it would help us cover more trails.  But at the same time, we had fun just being outside and had such a wonderful weather that we couldn’t have asked for more.  I found a great deal for a hotel in Two Harbors so we stayed there overnight on Saturday.  That was an adventure of its own since our kids have never stayed in a hotel before (just Kade) and Kade and Anika were pretty wild in the hotel room.  They loved the swimming pool and the hot tub and it was fun to do that as a family.  On Sunday we went to one more trail and a few lookout places and that was great too.  The kids were just a little tired of taking pictures after that so we didn’t get too many good smiles out of them.   Overall, all the kids were pretty worn out by the end of the weekend but they had fun.  A huge bummer happened at the end when we were finishing off at the Gooseberry Falls, just going through some rocks and water to get a better view.  I had our camera in my pocket but it was too big to zip it and as I bended down to lift Anika, the camera fell right between 2 rocks, in the water.  The pictures were fine, but there is water built up inside the lens and Ehren doesn’t think our camera allows taking apart the lens to clean it.  He’s going to try to take it all apart, but we’re probably hosed there which is a huge bummer.  It is not a high end camera, but not cheap either.  So our 2nd digital camera we owned since we got married ended up in the water as well.  Ehren was responsible for the first one and now it was my turn.  I guess we’re even.

Our drive home wasn’t without drama either as the belt and something else almost broke in the middle of nowhere.  The belt started ripping in pieces but in order to get home we had to drive 15 miles to Grand Rapids and to the auto parts place that was closing in half hour.  So we drove slowly and prayed the whole way and with God’s amazing protection we got there safe.   And not only that but there was a guy who helped Ehren replace both things, one of which Ehren didn’t even know was bad.  We were so thankful after that because we could have been stuck with 3 kids so many times on our trip and before and it would not be easy to get home or get help in the middle of the weekend.  So it was a perfect ending to our little trip.

our drive there

holding hands and giggling

starting the first hike

Kason even fell asleep once in the carrier, it was great.

us girls

swimming at the hotel

getting a shot with the Split Rock Lighthouse (on the right)

the last picture before I dropped the came in the water. :(

A long weekend trip

Our last little trip for the summer was this last weekend when we went to see Brent and Ingrid in Omaha.  I almost thought I shouldn’t post anything because it’s pathetic how few pictures we took but we had such a good time there.  Well, maybe minus the drive there and back, which took 9 hours both times because of road construction.  When we were leaving Kade said he wanted to stay there because it’s so much more fun than at home.  There is just so much more to do in a bigger city.  We went to a cool dinosaur park with all the kids and it was great to just be outside on the nature trails.  We were smart to go early because as we were leaving the parking lot was full of cars.  In the afternoon Brent took Kade and Sage to the zoo which they loved but it was good we didn’t all go because on a Labor day weekend it got pretty crowded.  Ehren and I both did some shopping and I am really happy about the deals I found on clothes for the kids.  And for Ehren, of course, because he now needs a whole new wardrobe.   On Saturday evening we went out with Brent and Ingrid to a really great restaurant called Espana.  It had some really unique Spanish food and it all tasted delicious.  It’s always fun to try a new place with them.  Their babysitter watched all 5 kids for us and put them all to bed so it was an extra special treat.  On Sunday we played outside with the kids a lot and they had so much fun playing baseball and running around.  I just couldn’t get over how nice it was to sit outside, day and evening without one single mosquito around.  It was so nice to have a barbecue dinner on the deck too, which was really delicious.  We always get spoiled with food when we see Brent and Ingrid.  Brent is a great cook and Ingrid too makes fun new dishes all the time.  We also played some badminton and I forgot how much I liked playing it.  The weather was perfect for it too with hardly any wind to blow the “shuttlecocks” away. (It took me a while to find that word online and I’m still not sure if that’s right)

The drive both ways was pretty slow because of the construction on the road but the kids did great for being in the van for 9 hours.  They watched some dvds, but not as much as I thought they would.  I was really hoping Kason and Ani would sleep some since it was their usual nap time, but all of our kids must have inherited Ehren’s ways in the car.   That is – inability to sleep.  Kason was sooo tired both ways but when he would finally fall asleep, he was up in 10 minutes.  I just don’t understand it because me and my brothers always slept in the car on long trips, almost the whole time.  That’s all I remember, how we slept all over each other (no car seats back then, of course).  But, I was really glad that neither of them were crabby for being so tired.  They really did great for such a long trip.  I was telling Ehren that it is like driving to the sea side in Croatia from Slovakia which always seemed like a huge trip.

So here is a glympse of what we did.  I am bumming I didn’t even get any cute pictures of all the cousins playing together.  But like I told Ingrid, it seems like when we’re really enjoying ourselves that’s when we take the least amount of pictures because we forget all about it.

Kason loves his books – especially the “Brown Bear”

watching the portable dvd player, it was a blessing

sooo tired, but we won’t sleep!

real size dinosaurs park

Ani with binoculars in the tree house

somehow the Barnstubles are never in our pictures, but we went together :)

cousins’ visit

I was going to post this earlier but I was too busy and then I forgot and then was too busy again.   Sage and Clare (Brent and Ingrid’s little girls) were spending a few days with us a month ago while Brent and Ingrid went on a fishing trip.  Mark and Audrey had the girls over night so I was their “daycare” place.  It was very nice to have those days with them because it is hard to get to know them on our short trips or else when the whole family is together and it’s just chaotic with all the kids.  I loved our little Clare because she just wanted to cuddle with me and play, read books together.  She’s also such a peanut and you can carry her around like a 4 month old.  But as little as she is, she is that much smarter and can say so much for just being one and we were amazed at how advanced she is with everything.  Sage had fun with Kade and is almost as tall as him even though she’s 2 years younger.  Kade really enjoyed having someone closer to his age at our house too.  It was pretty busy those days with the extra children, but at least it gave me a feel of what the real daycares are like.  The last morning before Brent and Ingrid came back was probably the most chaotic for me because I had 9 kids under 5 until lunch and after that day I was pretty wiped out.  It just made me realize I’m probably not cut out to be a real full-time daycare person and made me appreciate my part-time kids because it is a lot nicer having that break from the kids.  I had to laugh at myself because as soon as I had 2-3 kids under control, the other 3 were making mischief and they would not all sit at the same time for story time or anything because 4 of them were 1 and younger.  I just kept thinking how do those women do this every day and stay sane and are able to give the kids the attention and time they really need.  Then when we were in the middle of our lunch I realized that I probably should have done it in 2 sessions because I ended up sitting on the floor with Kason while feeding him because we ran out of chairs.   I also forgot to take more pictures of the cousins in the midst of the running around so I didn’t get the best poses.   Overall, it was a fun time for the cousins to get to know each other a little better and at least the older ones are really starting to know their cousins.  Maybe once they’re all out of diapers and in school we can do cousin exchange weeks in the summer, I’m sure they’d have a blast.

an attempt of the cousin portrait

and another one before I had to comfort Clare :)

Clare and Kason.

ready, set, go!

Emily and Ani missed the start, but soon followed the other 2

running laps

and running some more

tired from all that running

having fun with dirt

after the bath one evening

Sage was “reading” Ani’s photoalbum to Clare, which was totally empty but Sage had a lot to say about the “pictures” and Clare was paying close attention to all of it. Ani was wondering what they could be looking at.

Family Reunion

Another annual Johnson (Ehren’s mom’s side) family reunion this past weekend.  It was great to see everyone, especially Brent and Ingrid who came for a day.  We haven’t seen Brent since he came home from Afghanistan and it was so nice to see their family all together again.  We left a little earlier today because I was getting too tired out from chasing after the kids, especially our Kason who runs away from us constantly.  He’s also starting to run away faster if he sees we’re trying to catch him and giggles while he’s running.  Me yelling his name doesn’t mean much to him, he doesn’t even turn around to look back at me.  So I’m really hoping he’ll grow out of it and not get worse as he hits the terrible twos.  Anyway, we had a lot of good food all weekend and tried to visit/relax as much as we could, if that’s possible with all those little ones around.  Kade was so upset about us having to leave earlier today that Ehren’s parents kept him with them an extra night and that made his day.  He was at a hard age this year because he didn’t want to play with the little kids any more, but the other kids were a few years older than him and even if he really wanted to play with some boys it was too hard for him to keep up.  Maybe next year we’ll bring a friend for him so he has a buddy there.  But despite all that, he was still happy as a clam to just fish with his new fishing rod off the dock.

kids getting ready to eat

Kade trying to play with the boys

Ani loved petting all the little dogs

Clare and Kason

Levi and Savannah

time to wrestle with papa

finally it was time for the harness for Kason and he wasn’t too happy about it

Ehren and Danita – his cousin and a close friend growing up