Laura’s Owl Themed 9th Birthday

After years of planning Laura’s birthday parties, this year I put the party planning in her court. She did a great job and it was cute how she took pieces from her previous parties to weave together her own plan. Laura invented  an Owl and the Hunter tag game which required the party goers to be chased by Eric (a party staple at our house), a talon drop which was inspired from her Rapunzel birthday party, canvas shoe decorating, and a scavenger hunt. She requested Eric have two costumes changes this year as a hunter with a mustache and a mouse. As always, Eric obliged. 

I think it’s the 4-H in me that craves a good home spun party and now Laura seems to crave it too. Next year we might need to break out the dice game!

Glasses

Sam has glasses!

Lake Ada

Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion.-Brene Brown

My bestie, Rachel invited the kids and me on a last hurrah of summer trip to their family’s lake house in Northern Minnesota. Of course, I said yes!
Rachel and I go way back to meeting while we were in Alpha Gamma Delta's 1999 pledge class. We had almost all of our education college classes together, crossed the boarder for an unforgettable 2002 Mexico Spring Break trip, were in each other's weddings, taught four years of 4th grade together, and used the same day care provider for the past eight years. We have had plenty to laugh and cry (sometimes hard and ugly) about for the past 19 years.
I don’t want to be too much like Dionne Warwick from the Psychic Friends Network, but the time at the lake really felt spiritual. From the bottle of wine jumping off the shelf that was from our favorite winery we visited in California two years ago to the two soaring eagles that seemed to be watching over us, it was one of those trips where you just felt like the universe was on our side.

Speaking of Dionne, I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Keep smiling

 

keep shining

Knowing you can always count on me

for sure

That's what friends are for

For good times 

and bad times

I'll be on your side forever more

     

That's what friends are for

Iceland

We really weren’t planning on taking any big vacations this summer, but then came along a great deal on flights to Iceland and you know how much I hate to pass up a deal..Eric booked four tickets and I made a beeline to the post office to expedite passports. The Schulzes were going to Iceland!

Iceland was beautiful and the pictures we took really don't do it justice as nature's beauty is a 10 there. The kids were great sports about hiking and sight seeing, but they'd tell you their favorite part of the trip was a zip line at Iceland's elementary school park which was a five minute walk from our airbnb. We went there multiple times.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Flight delayed in New Jersey. 

Made it to Iceland. Eric rigged up a way for the kids to watch movies on the ipad for traveling across the country. #lifesaver

Iceland has so many waterfalls!

Another waterfall

And another waterfall

Sam just saw a whale

A four mile hike to a thermal river. My favorite part of the trip. 

The water felt like a hot tub! Because of the cold air temperatures, I wasn't freaked out that a snakes or other creatures would come out of nowhere because they don’t live here.

Laura really wanted a chocolate croissant. 

So many crumbs. 

How we set up for family pictures. 

My neighbors and I are into doing handstands this summer. 

Black Sand Beach

Eric is touching a glacier!

I love nature!

Laura is jumping on the zipline while Sam makes friends with an Icelandic boy. 

11:30pm

At the local pool. The pool temperature was 100 degrees. I love geothermal heating!

Sam walked out of the airplane bathroom with wet paper towels because he wasn't sure where to throw them away. Eric took pictures and reviewed the setup with Sam on the plane. 

Sam's making more crumbs. 

On the flight back to the US, the pilot let the kids check out the cockpit. 

So many controls!