Up North

Hello! I've just been fiddling around with my blog. I had a lovely background picked out the other day until I saw that it said "Happy New Year" on the side of it. So I threw that out and here I am with this very summery background. Can you tell I don't want summer to end? I love summer! Sure, it gets warm here in New Jersey - okay, really, really HOT, but I still love the summer. Summer means all sorts of great things: swimming, eating outside (at night), watching Juliet play in her pool, gardening, going down to the shore house, flipflops, and VACATION. Mike and I had a great vacation "Up North". When I was a kid I thought "Up North" was an actual place. If you are Canadian, of course you know what "Up North" means! It means renting some dinky cottage on a gorgeous lake somewhere out in the sticks! "Up North" means boat rides, canoeing, swimming, eating outside on picnic tables, looking at too many stars to count, campfires, going too late to bed, marshmallows, canoe races - the "new" tradition, eating too much, jumping off of the "jumpers", and chatting with family. Of course it's fun! It's interesting how going "Up North" has changed for Mike and I over the years. I remember the first year I went up there with Mike when we were a dating couple (and with the rest of the family, mind you!). Back then it was all about moonlit canoe rides, romantic strolls down the road, and stargazing at night - (I think Mike's priorities were a little different. Let's just say volleyball and more volleyball was what he had in mind). Two years ago when we went Juliet was just two months old and it was all about taking care of her. This past year, I was the mom parked out on the beach watching Juliet and her cousins with a whole bunch of other moms. Oh, and let's not forget the coffe kletzing. Sigh. I came back from vacation and with fear and trembling stepped onto the scale to see that I had gained TWO pounds from eating all of those dutch treats. Oh, well. It was a vacation to remember with SIX glorious days of sun, (mosquito-free!!!!!), and lots of catching up with the folks. Can't wait for "Up North" in two years!