Kroschel Family in Northern Minnesota

Well hey there! I am SO sorry, I’ve been completely MIA on here. It’s been hard to keep my focus throughout this photography journey I began only five or six months ago. I was so focused on my website and then on doing photo shoots to practice my art, and then I was working summer camp and then went on vacation and now I’m already back at work full time! And all the while I was writing blog posts and then would forget to share them! *Insert face palm emoji* My perpetual need to keep things consistent and only post on Wednesdays was keeping me from posting immediately, which I now realize was a mistake. (Cause then I would just never post.)

So with that said, I am throwing my old blog post every two weeks idea out the window! Because we all know that clearly wasn’t working for me. You can expect my future posts to be scattered until I develop a better routine. There will be a handful old write-ups with work I was doing over the summer. I did a handful of photo sessions with people in my community that was amazing! I did this so I could practice my art, feel more confident, and acquire a handful of new images to edit with.

I also did a little bit of traveling at the end of the summer. Since I work at a school, I have the luxury of having a true summer break, albeit not getting paid for it because I’m hourly. 🙂  So I typically work some form of summer camp to subsidize the weeks I’m not getting paid. The summer of COVID was no different. I was extremely grateful to be asked to co-lead a cohort of children for four weeks in July. We played games. We made art. We dressed up wildly on Fridays. We did all sorts of silly things and it was fantastic. And absolutely exhausting.

So immediately after camp, of course, I hopped in my car with my boyfriend, brother, and Georgia my tortoise, and proceeded to drive the 1,991 miles back to my childhood home in Afton, MN. Because vacation was needed after four weeks of nothing but play, play, play in the sun all day, day, day.

And it was soooooo worth it.

Minnesota was incredible, you guys! And it was so needed and so appreciated. We spent a few days at home with the chickens, goats, sheep, and dogs before heading up to the lake for five days with the entire family. My parents have had this cabin on a lake in Northern Minnesota (I purposely never name the lake because I want it to remain a hidden gem!) for over thirty years now. Part of the reason I love being there so much is because it’s completely off the grid. There’s no road access – you have to pack your belongings into the boat and boat across to get there. There’s no electricity – just propane and recently added solar panels for lights and other things. There’s no cell phone service unless you go to the very end of the dock or boat into the middle of the lake and hold your phone up to the sky and wait patiently for the bars to appear…

It’s SO WONDERFUL! You just completely unplug from everything. The only connection to the outside world is the staticky radio that sits on top of the refrigerator, playing old tunes from my parent’s college years.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the cabin. But instead of telling you, I’ll show you. Please enjoy some of my favorite photos from our home away from home and my favorite place on Earth. <3

Skyler

That’s Dad above and naughty Ranger fetching a stick. 🙂

Can’t beat sunsets at the lake.

My sister found a catfish on the shore! On the right is the interior of our wood burning, repurposed Redwood hot tub.

Sunsets of varying colors. Burris at the end of the dock in the center photo.

A tired Skyler on the right. Messy hair, don’t care. Reading my book and drinking coffee with Baileys. A perfect morning at the cabin.

I went water skiing behind the wave rider for the first time! We got the wave rider a few years ago. Before that, we were always pulled behind the fishing boat. I fell like 4 times and bruised a rib. It hurt for weeks after!

That’s my brother on the bottom right, showing off. 🙂

Weather.

Pontoon life.

Sooooo much swim time.

A few cabin scenes.

Nap time is a necessity at the cabin. Miss Georgia gets to run free allllll dayy looonggg.

Porch time.

Curiosities.

My sweet nephew.

Can you spot the tortoise butt in the left picture?

Lake life = fishing life.

More sunsets, this time from the middle of the lake.

Always the best food at the cabin!

Look who found a mushroom!

Grilling time. Let’s play fetch while we wait.

Gotta stir up the hot tub every so often to get the hot water mixed in with the cold sitting on the bottom.

Dishes. Perspective.

Always fetch to be played. Especially when you have four naughty dogs running around.

I love this place.