our favorite four-year-old

A little over a week ago, our Elianna turned 4. She’s excited to be so. We celebrated accordingly.

We love her dearly and so, without further ado, here are the top 10 things of Elianna’s year 3, written to her, from her momma.

1) You have a zest for life by way of rising early and staying up late! You wake up hungry for breakfast and hungry for life to start. Speaking of breakfast, you often eat two: breakfast and second breakfast. You’re our little hobbit, minus the large hairy feet.

2) You’ve taken a special love for dancing this year. You dance around the house. You dance around the yard. You dance into the car. You have tutus galore.

3) You make life a musical production. Sometimes you’ll start the day off by singing everything instead of talking. So you’ll ask for your breakfast with great lyrical phrasing. I like living in a musical. The best is when you use your little vibrato. Very sweet.

4) You are making sure you’re in on school this year. You have a workbook that you’ve been delving into along with some other activities. It’s enjoyable watching you learn.

5) You are working on being brave. This summer you have advanced in swimming feats like going off the diving board and down the slide. Sometimes your Nana gives you “bravery gum” if you conquer something particularly difficult.

6) You’ve grown into the big sister role very much this past year. You really love your little sister and have taken on the responsibility of being an older sibling very well. Of course you’ll always be a younger sibling too. And you seem to have that down pat.

7) You’re quite possibly the most affectionate child ever. Hugs, kisses, and cuddles, oh my! I hope you always give hugs to me as freely as you do now.

8) You like people. You like having friendships and you like being out and about. You can be shy or embarrassed but it doesn’t last long. You can’t wait for Sunday school to start back up in the fall.

9) You love to be read to. Often I’m reading books out loud that are a bit too old for you in terms of typical 3 year-old fare–books for Eliza that you and Seth end up listening in on. You do well with them, but you truly love when we sit down and read a book of your choice. One with lots of great pictures.

10) You have a distinct personality, Elianna, and I greatly enjoy how God has made you. I love how you’re willing to laugh at everyone’s jokes. I love how you fit in our family.  Your heart seems soft towards the Lord and compassionate towards others and I am praying that would increase as you grow.

May Jesus be the true Treasure of your life. May you overflow with joy in Him and find all God’s promises to be yes in Christ Jesus. He died for you, He loves you so. And I love a million, baby girl.

my love affair with the North Shore

I have a love affair with Minnesota’s North Shore.

My love for it is still in the new, passionate stage. I know there are many who have a tried and true relationship with the North Shore. Theirs is the kind of love that knows every nook and cranny, every beautiful spot and tourist attraction. They know the secret places.

I’m not there yet. My love is young and passionate. It’s still in the discovery stage.

I’ve been to the North Shore a total of 7 times. Twice were day trips.

The first time I went Tom and I had been married just 4 months. He worked hard to talk me into tent camping up at a place I’d never heard of called the North Shore. Lutsen, to be specific. Ok, I thought. Are there showers? Yes? Alright, I’ll go.

It was October and the forecast looked chilly. It snowed. I was unimpressed and cold. Too cold to even look around and notice my surroundings. The showers were in an unheated 32 degree bathroom. When can we go home?

The next time we talked about going up North I had some input. One non-negotiable piece of input to be exact: No camping. And Tom, being the good sport he is, (and secretly happy that I hadn’t sworn it off altogether after the snowy-camping-night-of-freezing-torture experience) said, “No problem!”

That being the case, I have no idea how we ended up tent camping again on our next trip after the brrrrr, when-can-I-go-home trip. I must have been having a really really good day to go for that. Not to mention that this time we were camping with three kids ages 4, 2, and 1. Nevertheless, we had the best time.

And I suppose the rest is history. We’ve gone back each year since (not camping). We usually spend almost a week in Lutsen (not camping) and the kids beg to stay there forever. That idea sounds pretty good to me too (not camping).

There is something so captivating about Lake Superior. It’s not like any other lake. Nor is it like the ocean. It’s the best of both, but somehow completely unique. I just stare and stare and stare at it.

When we drive around I’m always trying to catch a glimpse of it: a new view, a different look. They’re all beautiful.

The hikes are like something out of Middle Earth, not Lothlorien, no, they aren’t that dramatic. But more of a combination of The Shire and Rivendell, only they go by the names of Cascade and Temperance.

To describe the North Shore in a word is: magic.  The food tastes better there (especially The World’s Best Doughnuts). The sky is brighter. The water is more like water ought to be. It’s like stepping out of the wadrobe and into Narnia. Only the wadrobe is the big fog-horn city of Duluth. And it leads you to a different MN world.

Which is why I have a love affair with the North Shore. It’s like stepping into the best story. A story I want to revisit as often as I can. I want to keep dipping my toes in.

And hopefully in 10 or 20 years my love affair will be more of that tried and true kind of love. The kind that knows every nook and cranny. But I’m not hurried to get there. I just want to enjoy discovering and uncovering the places that will be my secret spots.

Have you been to the North Shore? What’s your favorite place?

PS. A post about my love affair with the North Shore would be incomplete if I didn’t mention the Alpine Slide, which is two and a half minutes of sheer high speed enjoyment.

Ah, North Shore, when will I see you again?