The Veldmans: "Up North"

Friday morning we left for Ava's first weekend "up north". For those of you who don't live in Minnesota "up north" means anywhere from 20 miles north of the twin cities to Canada...wherever your cabin on the lake is. For us, "up north" is in Jenkins which is about a half hour north of Brainard. Daddy left early on Friday morning to go up with Grandpa. Ava, Grandma, and I left around 8:30 (after Ava ate breakfast and got ready for the day). Ava was such a good girl and slept almost the entire 2 1/2 hours up there.

It was kind of a crazy weekend at the cabin (ok, it's a lake home) since it was move in weekend. The cabin isn't quite finished, as there are no mirrors or lights in the bathrooms and little things like that. But it is definitely livable. The kitchen is beautiful and the view from the whole place is amazing as it looks over the entire lake. Our bedrooms are huge and Ava has her own little place for a crib in our bedroom. It is definitely different going up there with a little one. As usual, our schedule centers around what Ava wants to do and when she would like to do it. She did allow us to sneak in her first boat ride. I was worried that she would scream the entire time she had her life jacket on, but she did very good with it. I think she enjoyed her time on the boat, with the sound of the engine and the up and down motion of the water. She just got fussy at the very end (it was dinner time). As much fun as the cabin is, Ava was ready to come home and sleep in her own bed. She was just so overtired by Sunday afternoon. She came home and crashed hard last night (as did Mommy).

Ava got to come into Mommy & Daddy's bed Saturday morning to play with Daddy. She brought Sophie (the giraffe) in to play. Ava loved her morning chat with Daddy.