Marquette

We recently returned from a little trip to Upper Michigan. This was originally designed to be a trip to see a bunch of waterfalls that we couldn’t get around to seeing on our last trip there almost exactly a year ago. Serena wanted to see some lighthouses, so we saw a couple of those, too. It turned out that I started getting much more interested in lighthouses myself. I used to be indifferent, but thinking about the isolation and hard work, not to mention the enormous responsibility, involved has me seeing the whole concept in a new way. Now I find them fascinating and would like to make more attempts to visit and learn about them.

To visit the Au Sable Point Lighthouse, there is a trail that is 3 miles round trip near the town of Grand Marais on the shore of Lake Superior. Three miles isn’t a problem, but we weren’t sure how easy it would be with a little one. It turned out to be not so bad. And instead of following the trail, we decided to walk along the shore until we eventually reached it. The shore walk was a highlight of the trip. We were all well alone, felt like we were in the middle of nowhere (even though that is largely false), and it was both peaceful and beautiful. It felt like the shore was ours.

We also took a boat cruise to view the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which granted us spectacular views of the shore. The waves hitting the cliff bases cause iron, calcium, and copper to leach out, painting the rocks in red, white, and teal, while various slimy things would grow in places, adding green in as well.

Odessa had a pretty good time I think. She loved the hotel pool, of course and basically never stopped talking about it. She also loved all the melon, dried fruit, and crackers we let her eat on the long car rides.

 

Mille Lacs

The first weekend in August we drove up to northern Minnesota for my (Sturm-side) cousin’s wedding and a mini (Underdahl-side) family reunion. Both Odessa and Emily had lots of fun dancing at the wedding. Odessa especially enjoyed the colorful lights and meeting her newest second cousin. Scott and I lost about 5 years from our lives when Odessa was run over on the dance floor, causing her to fall and hit her head. She was OK after a little bit of comforting. It took substantially more for us, particularly Scott, to be OK. We had some nice conversations with family, including one about the fine sport of bear hunting, and got to see relatives who made the trip from Florida, Colorado, Georgia, and Missouri.

Uncle Jerry, Aunt Pam, and Colin were all able to fly back to celebrate my grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary. Jerry had rented a lakeside condo for the weekend about an hour away from where the wedding had been. During the drive, Emily and Odessa were snacking in the backseat. We had delicious food, including a red velvet birthday cake to celebrate Emily’s 23rd birthday. We played Catch Phrase and Rummy when it was rainy outside and went on a walleye charter-fishing trip. Colin caught a 24-inch walleye that was too big to keep for this lake. Scott and Pam caught two perch and Dad caught a walleye that we were able to keep and eat for breakfast the next morning.

The rest of our August has been busy, too. We went to the State Fair and I took a trip last weekend to the Twin Cities for a great shopping weekend with my best friend from high school. After I returned to Madison, Aunt Bonnie even came to visit as she was in town for a few days while home visiting her family! We don’t get to see her very often, but Odessa warmed up right away and kept smiling at her. By the end of the visit, when we would ask where Bonnie was, Odessa would walk right over to her and stick a finger in her eye (her universal symbol of identification).

We bought a hose and a connector for the sink and run the hose out the kitchen window to allow Dessy to play in the water. Although she was hesitant with the sprinkler, she enjoyed chasing after Scott and me with the hose and getting us wet. We plan on setting up an inflatable pool for her to splash around in when the weather gets less rainy. Below are some pictures of things I have written about in this update.

 

Overcoming Fears

We’ve been very busy lately, trying to cram as much stuff in to the remaining summer days as we can. I believe Serena intends to write an update next week covering some of that stuff, and she’ll probably post some pictures.

Yesterday, Odessa discovered how to climb out of her crib. I believe she has been capable of doing it for a long time, but she seemed to be too afraid to really go through with it. How exactly can it be adaptive for a child to lose his or her rational fears (such as heights), yet violently retain irrational fears (like puppets)?