Tonight I was sitting on at a plastic picnic table, watching the E-man while my wife ordered some ice cream. As I was sitting there in the warm summer sun, my son’s wavy blond hair smelling like the beach because of the sunscreen, I realized that this is the best life has to offer. Sometimes we have a hard time making ends meet, our student loans are ridiculous, and we’re tired of renting an apartment instead of having a house, but compared to the treasure that we have those problems seem trivial.  Every so often I realize that moments like yesterday are fleeting, and time passes so quickly.  The E-man is walking like he’s been doing it forever, and his personality is developing with each and every day.   I wanted to stay in that moment forever, but at least I was able to lock it away in my memory.

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday we took a road trip to explore some areas we haven’t been to in quite a while, including the secluded 10,000 acre Winona State Forest which is former farmland reclaimed in the 1930s and 1940s. It’s truly beautiful and has tons of trails. On Sunday, the E-man’s cousin had her 1st birthday party. The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time. She’s such a cute baby! Today the E-man’s aunt and grandmother drove down to spend the day with him. We BBQ’d and set up the baby pool, then went out for the aforementioned ice cream! It was a great day. I hope everyone else had a great weekend too!