Mothers Day Lake Maria hike

This photo is just a few matching shirts away from Awkardfamilyphotos.com, but there is something about it I love. Maybe it's the look on Joe's face. Maybe it's my hair in Truman's hand or my half-face. Somehow that combo really reflects our life right now.


It didn't happen on Mother's Day, but we headed to Lake Maria State Park in celebration of motherhood. It gave us the chance to try out our new hiking pack (Joe gave it a good review) and gave me chance to photograph the forest while risking life and limb to a bunch of starving ground mosquitoes.


The reason I'm a mother:

Mille Lacs: driving on the edge of the middle of the sea

Yesterday Truman and I took a field trip to lake Mille Lacs, a huge lake just under an hour away (yes, we live that far north =). The lake is so huge, you can't see the other shore if you look directly across the water, making it look eerily like the ocean. But even with wind blowing it was calm, so I kept getting this odd sense that I was driving on the edge of the middle of the sea.

My first good look at the lake:




I thought it was weird to see someone taking panels out of this sign at the casino:




It took me a while to find a good picnic spot, so ultimately we ate in the car parked near a giant golden fish.
















The fish:













The lake:





(don't worry I was holding tightly to him)




Then we headed to Mille Lacs Kathio State Park where we saw a deer:




and took a short hike:






















This porcupine bid us farewell: