Tired of Lilli? Take a Look at her Big Sister!

I couldn't believe it when I walked into the furniture store last week. I think I need it for my craftroom!

Lilli is Here

I celebrated my birthday while we were in Boston last month, and on that day, I went into the 1154 Lill Studio store. There, I created this custom bag (well, truth be told, Mason & even Paul helped me quite a bit). It's called "The Lilli", and she arrived today. I've already decided the store needs to put little metal feet on the bottom of their bags because I'm afraid this bag won't stay this color for long!

Musky Hunter

Mason caught his first musky today!

32" and around 10 pounds, near Hayward, WI.

Tall Ships in Duluth

Nine tall ships were in Duluth this past weekend. As you can imagine, thousands of people visited the city to see the vessels, but we were not among them. We waited until today. All the ships were still there...without the huge crowds! (actually, one of the ships was out with passengers when we visited, so we didn't get to see the Bounty)

These are a few of my favorite shots, the one above is a family portrait. If you look close, Calvin, Paul and I are in Mason's sunglasses!
I took a few shots of the gulls, hoping I could get one focused shot of the bird in flight. I like how this one turned out.
This is the Roseway. There was a nice story in the paper yesterday about this ship and a 90 year old grandma from Wabasha. Click here if you'd like to read it.
And this is the Niagara. Enjoy!

On this Day, 2009

I was looking through my photo files and found this shot from our cabin last year. Thought I'd share.

The Subway

Photo: The subway train arrives at Haymarket in Boston

When we lived in New York City from 1997-98, I never rode the subway. For the most part, it was because Calvin was in a stroller and it wasn't easy to navigate the stairs down to the subway with a stroller. But there was another reason. I was chicken. I'd seen all the movies about bad guys in the subways...and if I didn't HAVE to ride the subway, why do it?

Photo: Mason waiting for the subway in Boston

This past spring, while in New York, I rode the subway for the first time. And I lived to tell about it. So this trip, when Paul wanted to get subway passes on our first day I was OK with it.

Besides, it was REALLY hot in Boston, and I hate sweating. At any time. Riding the subway was a bit more comfortable then walking, it cost just $15 for a week of unlimited rides, and the boys love taking the subway. Done deal.

Photo: New England Aquarium ad in the subway tunnel

There was one ad campaign that kept us entertained while waiting for the trains. It's apparently a new campaign for the aquarium. Each ad highlights one of the 80 penguins at the facility. I didn't really get it at first. But once you see a few of the ads, it hits you just how clever they are. So clever that I googled it last night to find more about it. This link will take you to a few of the ads so you can see them for yourself. They kind of make me wish I had gone into advertising.

Back from Boston

For the few of you who still log on to Kosmatka365, I thought I would share a few pictures from this past week. We just returned from a trip to Boston. Calvin participated in a week-long music camp at Berklee College of Music, and we decided to make a family vacation out of it. The above photo was taken at about 7:45am yesterday, his last day of camp (the bump on his head is actually his guitar case he's carrying on his back...weird perspective on the photo, I know). Yes, camp started at 8am every day, and yes, the alarm for mom did go off at 6:30am every day. Some vacation!
While Calvin went to camp during the day, the rest of us enjoyed our time exploring Boston. One of the highlights was this boat trip out to the Harbor Islands. I never realized how many islands are off the coast, but sure enough, take a look at a map and there they are!
We visited George's Island for a couple of hours. The smell of the salty air was incredible, and the water was so blue I felt like I was in the Bahamas! Above is one of my favorite shots of Mason, soaking up the sun on the dock while we waited for the boat to bring us back to the mainland.
Here is a shot of Calvin, on stage during the final performance Friday. Cal had a fabulous time, and met lots of people from all over the world. Other campers were from Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, and even New Jersey! (ha ha)

I'll post a few more photos from the trip later in the week (tomorrow?). In the meantime, thanks to all my friends and family who remembered my birthday this past week! Yes, I did have some cake, thank you!

Happy 4th of July!