2 Week Vacation

Gabe's work has a new policy that employees have to take 7 days off in a row each year, so we decided to take advantage and Gabe took 2 full weeks off. Gabe couldn't remember the last time he had that much time off.

We began our vacation with a stop in Melrude for the Annual parade & Spaghetti Feed that Ginia-mom & Papa Stan help to put on. The parade was perfect for the kids. It went about 100 yards in front of the Melrude Town Hall. A couple fire trucks, a lot of 4 wheelers, and some antique cars. There was a ton of candy, and someone was even handing out popsicles for the kids.  Afterward, they had a bunch of games for the kids. It was perfect.

We convinced Campbell to join the pie eating contest. She was the only girl and the youngest by several years. It was hilarious how the boys shoved their faces into the chocolate & whip cream pie, while Campbell took had a much more dainty approach - she dipped her finger in and took little licks. Needless to say, she didn't win. 

The beginning of the vacation coincided with Uncle Troy, Aunt Lora & Cousin Alex coming to visit from Singapore. Campbell could barely contain her excitement to see her cousin again. I believe it had been over a year and a half since we had seen them because they hadn't met Blake yet.

Blake meeting his godfather, Uncle Troy

It's not too often all the cousins are together. They had a fun walk through the woods with Grammy at the cabin.

Blake hanging out with his Godmother, Aunt Lora. 

Cousin Alex and her Uncle Gabe

Awesome Chinese PJ's from Troy, Lora & Alex. Blake looks hilarious in them. Campbell also got a purse that she carried around with her the full 2 weeks.

Cousins packed in the back row. We all piled into 2 cars and headed out to the Vince Shutte Bear Sanctuary.

Half of our group got the last spots on a bus to go see the bears. So we waited...and then it started to storm.

It was lightening, so they closed the park. We didn't get to see any bears. It was close to an hour drive one way to get out there - ARG! But, we had great company and plenty of catching up to do!

Campbell fell asleep on my shoulder while we were waiting. I don't think she's done that for YEARS, she was so wore out from all the playing with her cousins. It was so sweet.

Campfire back at our cabin.

We took out a pontoon and putted around the lake for a few days while Troy, Lora & Alex were in town.

We stopped in for a visit at the Baker's cabin. Gabe's dad & Mr. Baker have been friends since they were kids. Then as adults, all of their kids would see each other each summer at the lake when the Baker's would come up for a month. They have the greatest old cabin. They have a bunch of chipmunks that they feed, so that provided a ton of entertainment for Campbell and a little Baker grandson (who was about Campbell's age) while the adults visited. Cousin Alex caught a bunch of fish with a net and hot dogs as bait with a Baker granddaughter.

Alex is a great driver!

Campbell really looks up to her older cousin Alex.

We were very sad to say goodbye, but we had a great visit and got to spend a lot of time with Troy, Lora & Alex. We can't wait to see them again!

Once they left, Gabe went full gear into working on the cabin. My parents & grandparents came the next weekend to help out. 

Blake got a mustache drawn on him. Poor guy - look at those innocent eyes, has has no idea why everyone is laughing at him. At the end of the 2 week vacation was Gabe's annual Mustachio Bashio fishing trip with the guys. I think Gabe took the 2 weeks off work just so he could try to grow a respectable mustache.

Papa Stan gave Gabe a bunch of wood that he had sitting around. Gabe took it to get milled during the vacation. Here Deb & Papa Stan are working on sorting out the different types of wood. Mostly birch, but some ash, oak & pine as well. It sure is beautiful wood and fun to know that Papa Stan cut some of those trees down himself.

Ginia-mom keeping Blake entertained in the corral.

Jim came up to help Gabe for a few days. They did a lot of hard work digging footings for the deck & screen porch. They also worked on venting. That glue that you use to put together the pipes is nasty stuff. I can't believe Jim keeps coming back to help....Gabe wouldn't have been able to get it all done without his help & we really appreciate it.

One gorgeous summer day the Tez's boated over & we went to the sand beach for a picnic. It was a great break from the pressure of trying to get stuff done on the cabin.

Papa John came over to help pour the cement footings. It went surprisingly fast - they got it done in an afternoon - a hot afternoon. What a difference it makes having a cement mixer, electricity & running water. And even better, this time the barge brought over a pallet of cement bags and dropped them right where we needed them with a bobcat. For the cabin footings, a lot of the mixing was done by hand - that's not easy! And once the cement mixer got hauled over, they had to hook up a generator for the power and haul water from the lake by hand. With a lot of help from friends and family, Gabe had over 200 sixty pound bags of cement delivered to the main land dock, loaded them into boats, crossed the water without sinking, and hauled them out of the boats up the hill to the footings.

Some great sunsets.

Blake crawled onto Campbell to give her a hug.

Blake's first attempt at escape from the corral. It was pretty interesting watching the progression of him trying different ways to make his great escape.

Another try.

Success! I'm outta here!

 It was a really nice vacation. It was a good balance of having fun as well as getting a lot done on the cabin. I really felt like we had been gone a long time. The following reinforced that feeling: When we got back into town our garage door opener in the garage was full of spider webs. And, the roar of an airplane flying overhead kind of surprised me. That noise is common in the City, but not in the North Woods!