milo's first family vacation

so technically, milo's been on a few trips with us visiting relatives/friends/etc for various holidays and road trips that have happened over the past 11 months... (uffda! can you believe it's been over 11 months already? i'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole parenthood thing, let alone that we've been at it for almost a year now.)

anyhow, we finally took our first trip as a family unit of just us three to northern minnesota - it's our last night here in lutsen, just off lake superior.

highlights from the trip include:

• milo's first taste of pizza at the famous sven and ole's pizza place in grand marais (he loved it, of course. how could he not, being my son? pizza is one of the main food groups in the zoe book of cooking.)

• we've given our son the native name of "wampum big mess" (i googled "wampum" to see what it really means, and i'm deciding to ignore the fact that it's the white shells used in beading... sometimes it just helps to ease the frustration of milo dropping food on the floor for the umpteenth time by sighing out "oh wampum, please eat your food instead of playing with it.")

• not realizing that the window shades we put up for milo were partially closed on the outside of the car door (whoops), we tried to figure out the rattling sounds coming from the back seat. as milo was more or less asleep, we knew he wasn't throwing anything, so we starting coming up with our own stories of bigfoot throwing rocks at our car. ben mentioned how he would be scared if bigfoot was running as fast as our car going 55 mph, and that no wonder no one had ever seen him. we decided a tank would be too slow, and with bigfoot coming after us, it was time to get a hummer.

• milo seems to enjoy the hiking backpack, and our mini hiking trips - as long as they don't interfere too greatly with napping or eating. even then, we've been able to push the limits a little bit, and while he's certainly a little fussier, ben's reassurance that long-term he'll be just fine seems to be accurate. if in 10 years, however, we're still asking wampum big mess to stop throwing his food on the floor or rubbing it in his hair, i may look back to this time for a scapegoat. fair warning. ;)

overall, i'd say it's been a good trip - good to get out of town, away from the every day rigamarole, away from the hustle and bustle of busy cars and busy people and busy life, to just slow down, see the trees, discover mushrooms growing on logs, yellow ferns, the way my calves feel way too tight from hiking in shoes that are probably a little too small, to invent stories about bigfoot and retell childhood stories of why there are signs for "fallen rock."

it's been good to just focus on our time together and how to enjoy this time as a family.