Hiking

 

 

One of our favorite things about our new neighborhood is it's proximity to a lot of hiking trails and parks.  Despite being a relatively quick commute to downtown Minneapolis (and being able to see the skyline in the distance down the hill) our area is also very secluded and wooded.  This weekend we were blessed with the most beautiful fall weather.  We took advantage and headed out for morning hikes both days.  On Saturday we traveled about a mile from our house to Murphy Hanrehan Park and went hiking with both kids in carriers.  There were lots of hills and narrow rocky paths so it wasn't very conducive to Jace walking around on his own, thankfully he still enjoys riding in our hiking backpack.  At the end of our hike the trail opened up to fields and Jace was able to get out and run around ahead of us.  He is definitely an outdoorsy kid, and loves exploring nature right along with us. 

 

One thing I am starting to realize as time goes by is the type of parent I am, and how I want my kids to be raised.  I think that these **little** moments in time doing things simply and disconnecting from the rest of the world are so important, and so important for kids to experience as well.  Jace is so calm when he's tagging along participating in something as simple as a hike in the woods.  He asks questions, and examines things much closer than our 30-year old selves do, which causes us to examine them more closely as well.  He learns from us, and we learn from him. Sometimes I get too caught up in doing "kid-friendly" activities, that I forget that kids are learning the most and making the best memories just being able to experience new things with their parents and have healthy, active past times.   

 

 

The next morning we went a couple of miles further and tried Cleary Lake Regional Park.  It was much more manicured and had paved walking paths around the lake, perfect for jogging strollers, bikes and roller blades.  We loved that although it was very peaceful and secluded, we still saw plenty of people out exercising and enjoying the great outdoors.  After living in South Carolina, we're just not used to seeing that.  No wonder Minnesota is one of the healthiest states despite all the cheese curds!  ;)

 

Fall is my favorite time of the year, and I'm so glad that this weekend marked the beginning of the best season in Minnesota.  I can't wait to see all of the leaves start changing over the next few weeks and spend a lot more time hiking and exploring all our new area has to offer.

Life Since Moving to Minnesota

We've been living in Minnesota for nearly two months already.  The time has FLOWN, and in a lot of ways it still feels like we're still in the process of "moving".  The first few weeks we lived here we were so burnt out on the whole moving process (what can I say, it's our 4th move in less than 4 years) that we just wanted to get some normalcy back to our life.  We didn't focus much on unpacking and setting up our house, and instead escaped to the lake for a relaxing vacation with family. 

After life being pretty non-stop crazy for several months, and knowing it would be that way again while Tate adjusts to his new job and we adjust to our life in Minnesota, a trip to the lake was so relaxing and LIFE CHANGING.

We went back to our new house refreshed and ready to tackle the unpacking.  The house we bought was built in 2008 and the previous owner was a Pediatrician who ended up being relocated right away and renting out the house for the last 5 years while waiting for the housing market to recuperate a bit.  So although our house is 5 years old it feels like no one has ever lived here and had quite a bit of deferred maintenance.  All of the walls were stark white and never painted (with the exception of Jace's bedroom and bathroom which were painted tan) and several of the windows had never had blinds installed.  There were no hooks or shelves in the garage and many of the closets didn't have enough shelves either.  It felt a lot like we had purchased a new build and needed to put a lot of time and money in right away just on the necessities.  Our house is a 3100 square foot 1-story with a finished walk out basement.

**The picture above is actually an old  rental listing picture from 3 years ago, before landscaping was added, I need to actually take a picture myself at some point. ha!**

We still have a long to-do list with stuff that wasn't finished by the owner before she moved out.  The deck hasn't been stained, the tile floors in one of the bathrooms were never sealed, the wet bar in the basement hasn't been stained and no hardware has been installed, the fireplace mantel also needs to be stained, the sprinkler system was not serviced during it's first 5 years and needs repair, the landscaping was completely neglected... etc etc.  So although there's plenty of decorative things we would like to do to the house, there is a lot of must-do things that need to come first.   It's a LONG list.  I'm trying to remember to enjoy the process, instead of getting overwhelmed by how much there is to do.  I love doing house projects and really love that we can make this house our own, but I don't function well in a house that doesn't at least feel somewhat "homey"... so hopefully we get to a point soon where the house is somewhat settled in, so that we can just leisurely work on the rest.

I have thought about blogging about house projects as we do them, because I enjoy documenting things and it keeps me motivated to keep going, but I'm not sure if I will.  And if I do I may make a separate page to discuss house stuff since it seems silly to post all about material items on a blog that was supposed to be something I wrote for our kids to read later in life.  We'll see!

The kids have changed so much since we moved to Minnesota.  I knew Jace's behavior would improve some as he approached 4 years old, and had more positive adult influences in his life on a regular basis (grandparents, aunts, etc in MN) but I guess I didn't imagine it would be so much, so quickly.  I'm definitely not complaining!  He's turned into such a sweet boy.  He is still very spirited... but in an enjoyable way now.  Thank goodness, because the 6 months or so before we left South Carolina were really rough on us as parents, constantly questioning if we were doing something wrong with him.  I had quite honestly quit leaving the house with him because it was too risky and humiliating to take him out in public.  I'm sure some of his behavioral improvement is also because Tate travels much less now, and I do believe little boys need their dads involvement a lot during these years.

Lane... wow where do I even begin?  When we left South Carolina he was still very much my little baby.  He was in no rush to crawl and just enjoyed being held and was very relaxed.  He's turning into a toddler before my eyes, and it's very bittersweet to see.  I am loving the stage he's in, where we're getting to see some of his spunky personality and watching him discover the world, but it's harder with the second child knowing that the baby phase will soon be a thing of the past.  The verdict is still out on whether we will have another child at some point, so knowing this may be our last "baby" is a little sad.  I love the baby phase, and feel like I'm a good "baby mom" (sometimes I question whether or not I'm a good "toddler mom" or "preschooler mom"!) so it will be hard for me when his first birthday arrives in November and we put that first year behind us. 

Don't get me wrong, I do love the fact that he's becoming a fun little person and actually playing and interacting with us!  I love watching Lane and Jace play together and laugh as if they have all sorts of inside jokes already.  This phase is so much fun.  It's also a lot of work though constantly keeping him out of harms way, so it's a good thing Jace has let up some.  ;)

Jace started preschool one day per week.  I was torn on whether or not to start him this year, or wait until next.  So when I found the one day program near by I figured it was a happy medium and probably about all he can really handle just yet, classroom wise.  He seems to like it so far and **hopefully** he is going to behave pretty well in class because he knows he can't go anymore if he doesn't listen to his teacher.  After the first day we were driving home and I was asking him all about his day and he told me, "My teacher said "Screaming is for emergencies only Jace"".  He maintains that he wasn't screaming and that she was just telling him that randomly... RIGHT. ;)

Life has been pretty great since moving back to Minnesota.  We have missed our friends in Charleston, but I think that's just part of moving away and moving home.  If you've ever lived in multiple places chances are you'll always miss certain things and people in those areas.  I really think it will help once I make some friends in our new area.  I've been a shut-in mostly since moving, just because I've been focused on getting settled and taking it easy... I haven't really re-connected with any mom-friends I used to hang out with here yet.  I'm getting to the point now where I think I'm ready to branch out again. 

Since we're living about an hour south of where we used to live in the Twin Cities, we don't know many people close by (except Tate's parents, they live 5 minutes away!).  We've met a lot of our neighbors and they all seem great.  It's a huge change from our last neighborhood where no one talked to each other and no one ever hung out outside.  Almost every house in our neighborhood has young kids and people are always outside in the evenings.  The neighborhood even has a tradition where there is a community "pink flamingo" and if you put it in your front yard that means to come on over for happy hour and bring the family along. 

We have a park right up the road that we walk to a lot to let Jace get some energy out.  Target and several restaurants and stores are also just up the road, a quick walk away... which of course I love!  There's also a large lake for boating about a mile away and there are two swimming beaches on that lake.  A mile in the opposite direction is a big county park with hiking trails around a different lake.   It's nice to see that although we had to make a super quick decision when it came to house hunting (4 days!) we definitely made the right decision and we absolutely love our neighborhood, and our area.  We love our house too, and plan to live here for many years.  It will be a lot of fun to see how this house evolves over the years... as the to-do list shrinks.  When we put an offer on this house we got into a bidding war with an all-cash investor who saw the same potential in the house that we did... and we feel very lucky to have this home to raise our kids in.  It's the perfect lay-out for our family and we are absolutely obsessed with it, white walls, and unfinished finishes and all!