My brother and mother and I went to watch the final nine holes of the four-day-long Minnesota Majestic, a national disc golf tournament held in Minnesota. It was at Hyland Hills ski area with lots of walking up and down and up and down the slope. My mother, who’s barely in her sixties and entirely capable of walking up and down hills on her own, let Josh push her up the hill for a bit, a funny scene.

It was fun to watch the absolute mastery of the players. Here’s a photo of the second place woman Paige Pierce making a long putt:

Riding bikes to the May Day cafe for a veggie-sausage sandwich for breakfast has become a tradition in our family. And last weekend was the first time I’ve ever done it with just Netta and Bailey. It’s a dumb thing to take note of, but I’m doing it nonetheless.

Jessica and her sister grew going ‘deer hunting’ at dusk with her family at the cottage. Basically just going on a drive looking for deer. It’s about as violent as Parkers get, at least to deer. And I realized as we were hunting this trip that’s it was sorta like watching a TV show. Getting all the restless kids in the car and zoning out for 30 minutes. There’s a certain draw towards that sort of quietude. We even get to strap the kids in their seat belts so they can move! We saw one spotted baby deer and this big beauty.

While at the cottage last week I took the boys for an overnight trip to the Wisconsin Dells to a fancy waterpark. They’ve never been (I grew up going to White Water in Branson, MO, every once in a fun while). We went in part cause the forecast called for rain rain rain at the cottage and there were many indoor waterparks at the place. But the weather ended up being entirely beautiful (it rained at night) and extra fun for us to play in all the outdoor waterparks. It was super overwhelming with too much to look at and do. But it was also super fun. When we returned to the cottage it took 5-7 hours for the “this isn’t as much fun as the water park” comments to fully dissipate.

This beautiful frog, seen here on Art’s hand, was captured by my mother Nan (she joined us for a night at the cottage).

We just returned from our five-day vacation at the cottage in Wisconsin. A great, simple time that sounds more relaxing than it was. But it’s true we all had a lovely time. I hope to post a few more photos/video when I have time in the next few days.


*Updated with Jessica’s point of view: 


I had a very relaxing time at The Lake.  My mom said she never really liked it because it didn’t feel like a vacation – all the same work she did at home but without the conveniences – but I have to admit I rather liked the lack of dishwasher, the absence of toys, the reduction of (indoor) space and the limited activity choices.  The day was so simple.  The rhythm so elastic.  And I LOVED not having my personal home improvement projects staring at me while my kids are all hoping for my attention.  Just eat, play with kids, watch kids play with each other, break up fits between kids, change diapers, cook, clean up, read, sleep (really well, I might add) and repeat.  Easy.

Bailey, lakeside.