all that's past is prologue...

We've been trying to get every bit of fun into Beatrix's summer break that we can. Which has been really nothing short of disastrous for the actual work we are trying to fit in, but oh well... Yesterday, she and I went to Fort Snelling in the morning, which was a great time. We saw the morning "parade" (hint: not exactly Mardi Gras), explored the various shops and quarters, learned about Dred Scott, played some kids' games, and had a great time. Did you know that soldiers in the fort in the 1820s ate bear stew and drank whiskey? Beatrix believes "They should have drunk less whiskey and more water. Water is better for you." Today we spent about 6 hours at the Fair with Grandpa Kenny, and then after some naps went back for a few more hours tonight. I would call it a roaring success — we saw everything from the animals and endless trips to the Miracle of Birth Center to the Midway at night ("That lady just ate fire! For real!") to the kids...

Beatrix has her summer vacation from school this week, so we've been trying to do some special things. We went up to the cabin over the weekend, and today we explored Caponi Art Park for the first time, which was fantastic. I am most amused, however, by the projects she comes up with. Today while on a work phone call, I narrowly rescued her from microwaving a tupperware container full of wax paper and broken crayons — she wanted to do "an experiment, like in school." Instead, I talked her into dividing them by color and making crayon blocks. I had been warned that they would not work well, but they actually worked great, and she used them afterwards to draw some "very famous art." She's thrilled with them, and I'm pretty happy as well.

I spent the last day of being 44 in very pleasant pursuits. This morning, we had birthday breakfast with my dad at The Lowry . I had wanted to go since they opened last year, and was not disappointed. The food was good, but it was the attention to detail that made it such a nice experience — the menu for Beatrix at her place with crayons tucked into it and a bowl of goldfish crackers, the stool in the bathroom so she could reach the sink, the fact that the owner walked around to check in on everyone. Well, really the best part was the company! After having read a blog post from earlier this month, my dad got Beatrix a bug collection kit, so we had to go home and look for bugs. I'm fully expecting the beetles we caught in the roses to be free-roaming around the house by morning, because the door to the cage is not so secure. Plus I have to leave the light on because apparently beetles are afraid of the dark. Tonight we went to see Mu Daiko at the Fringe, a great show that we a...

My birthday is coming up Sunday. And normally I love birthdays, but this one is weighing heavily on me. I'm turning 45 (there I go, spreading personal information all over the internets), and that seems like a hard milestone of an age. When I turned 40 somehow it was not so bad — I was still kind of numb over losing my mom, but I was pregnant, and it was an exciting time. This seems just...harder. I am thinking a lot about projects in various houses, and making places. I'm thinking a lot about legacy, and what I leave behind. I am thinking a lot about philanthropy, and what I want to be doing and giving back. And I don't quite know how to measure those.

It’s been a summer where we have treated the house on Summit like a summer cabin — there for the weekend, spending the rest of the week at the Ashland house. The goal was to get to know the Summit house a little better in our terms, to make it lived in and sense how we feel about it. Though we’ve not yet come to any conclusions, we have been getting more comfortable with it. It’s also been a lot of work to keep up and do projects at the two houses though, plus rehab the new one. Today we had meant to go out and do some things — Paws on Grand, the Dollar House, art fairs — but ended up instead spending the day doing yard work with the fantastic help of Baillie, the teenage daughter of old friends. Baillie is a phenomenal worker, and remarkably can get things done while Beatrix prattles at her a mile a minute and shows her things, including the grasshopper she collected which is now sitting in a jar by her bed. At the end of the day we had cleaned out the two incredibly overgrown f...