Fall

We've been taking a lot of walks lately & enjoying the fall colors and perfect temperatures.

 

Cabin

Nana & Papa watched Blake again this weekend while Gabe, Campbell and I trekked to the cabin. We really appreciate all the babysitting they've done lately...thank you, thank you, thank you! I know Mr. Blake is a handful!

On the way up to the cabin, Campbell & I stopped in to see the J's new cabin on S Lake.

Can it really be the in the mid 70's and be the middle of October!?! The weather at the lake this weekend was gorgeous. Gabe actually jumped into the lake to clean up. It was nice out, but that must have been cold!

The leaves were so pretty last weekend and now they are gone. It looks, and even sounds, so different with the trees bare. 

The state insurance inspector drove all the way from Minneapolis to look at the cabin for about 10 minutes and take 3 pictures. It doesn't really seem to be the best use of funds/time, you'd think there would be a local inspector? We have to get insurance through the state because insurance companies won't insure island places anymore. At least we have some coverage on the place, but it's not great insurance, which is a bit worrisome. 


 

Gabe and Garet hauled over the fireplace and two 100 pound propane tanks. After a lot of coordinating getting all the necessary supplies from the fireplace store and the gas company, figuring, reconfiguring, and me making the trek into town to get more parts, they got it installed. The fireplace guy came on Monday to make sure it was installed correctly & voila! We have a working fireplace.

Campbell cozies right up to Donny.

I cleaned up the construction garbage around the yard. Gabe pulled Old Blue out of the water packed full of garbage, which he'll bring to the landfill during hunting season. (The garbage that is, not Old Blue! Old Blue doesn't look pretty but she's hauled many huge loads of materials.) We also hauled out the scaffolding and the cement mixer - it sure is nice to be done with that stuff and see it go!

Donny up on the roof working on the shakes. The siding and gutters should be done next week.

We're getting to the end of the season & Gabe is rushing to get the place ready for winter. So, it's awesome the fireplace is in now. Next weekend his dad is going to help get the subpanel wired so we can get the duel fuel electricity rate. Gabe also worked this weekend on continuing to put up the sheeting under the cabin that covers the floor insulation. He's just about done with the sheeting and then needs to caulk to get it all sealed up.

I started getting ready to leave the cabin for winter by packing up food (why did we haul over so much food!?!?), the kid's clothes, portable crib & high chair that we've been keeping up there. 

Progress is made every weekend, but for some reason it seemed like a lot got done this weekend. Maybe it was that the fireplace project was started and completed in just one weekend that was so satisfying.

It's Racing Day, It's Racing Day

Campbell had her first offical race today. She was very proud of her racing number and t-shirt. I'm not a good judge of distance, but the race was about 50 feet long and I barely could snap a couple of pictures before it was over. Papa and Campbell had fun at the kiddie carnival while Crystal, her sister and I walked with our babies in the 2 mile. It was fun to chat and it was a great day to be outside and enjoy the weather - quite the opposite of last year's ice/snow/freezing wind!

Waiting for the start.

Looking a little nervous at the starting line.

And they're off!

Go 44! Go!

After the grueling race she needed some quick energy. Good thing they handed out juicy Jolly Ranchers for a prizes!

This song kept going thru my head at the race. Especially this part: "Racing day, it's racing day! It's not sausage casing day...." Hey now, those Backyardigans have catchy songs! And if your kid is into the Backyardigans, you totally know this song and it's going to be stuck in your head too!

Racing Day

From Backyardigan's Race Around the World.

Austin: Racing day, it's racing day,
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not nervous pacing day.
Today's the day we race.

I'm ready to race a long, long race.
This race goes almost every place.
It's fast, it's long,
It's vast, it's far,
It starts out right here where we are.

But when the finish line's unfurled,
We will have raced around the world.
When we finish this long, long race
I hope, I hope I'll take first place.

Racing day, it's racing day,
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not sausage casing day,
Today's the day we race.
Today's the day we race.
Today's the day we race.

All: Racing day, it's racing day,
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not picture-tracing day,
Today's the day we race!

Tyrone: We'll run somewhere that's not right here,
And while we do the crowd will cheer.
Uniqua: Through the forest over the snows,
Across the ocean and then who knows?

Pablo: Whoever is the first around,
will get to make that victory sound,
Austin: Dunt-da-daa! is what they'll say
at the end of racing day.

All: Racing day, it's racing day,
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not puppy chasing day,
Today's the day we race!

All: Racing day, it's racing day,
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not doily lacing day,
Today's the day we race!

Uniqua: A long, long, long, long way we've come,
Tyrone: To get back where we started from.
Pablo: We raced real hard but now it's time,
Austin: To break that tape and cross that line.

All: Racing day, it's racing day,
Racing day, it's racing day!
It's not self-effacing day,
Today's the day we race.
Today's the day we race.
Today's the day we race.

MOPS

I joined a mom's group (it's called MOPS - Mothers of Preschoolers) that meets every other Thursday while Campbell is in preschool. They have daycare for Blake. Blake doesn't like being dropped off - he screams and cries like he's being tortured - but the ladies say he does fine after I'm gone. The first day they were laughing because he kept "making eyes" at the girl next to him on the buggy ride.

This group is huge (maybe over 100 moms in my session?) & ultra organized. We are assigned a table that has a discussion leader and a mentor mom who is an older mom with grown children. There is a schedule for bringing treats and volunteering in the nursery and there is a speaker every week. I've really enjoyed my first 2 meetings & I wish it hadn't taken me so long to find out about it!

Last week the speaker was a certified life coach who talked about Intentional Parenting versus just being a Survival Parent. Her advice was to start with the end in mind. In other words, what values do you want your children to have when they leave the house for college? Also, she talked about how you need to know your values and do your values line up with how you spend your time and money? Look at your calendar and check book and if it doesn't reflect your values either those things that you think are important to you really aren't or you need to re-prioritize. It was a great speech and I felt so inspired and refreshed afterward.

Tonight I was telling Gabe about the speech and were were talking about our values. Here's what we came up with.

• Liv's
• optimistic
• emotionally intelligent
• hard working
• compassionate
• grounded
• purpose driven
• sense of humor
• generous
• grateful

• Gabe's 
• independent
• family centered
• not materialistic
• respectful

Now, are we living those values out and how do we go about teaching and instilling those values in our children?!? Yikes!!

MILESTONE

No, not something the kids did. We FINALLY used up our napkins from our wedding. They have been used at many a party we've hosted over the years and the last ones were used up at the cabin.

Another Weekend at the Cabin

We have a screen porch! I'm really excited about this - I see us spending A LOT of time in there.

 Jim was up again this weekend to help Gabe. We joke, but it's true, Jim should have a key. This weekend the project was putting insulation up under the cabin to get the cabin floor insulated. Then they had to cover it up with plywood sheeting. They worked very hard and got all the insulation up and 3/4 of the sheeting done. It was not a fun project to put it mildly, not only working with the gross insulation, but putting it up overhead and having to bend over and roll around on the ground working under the cabin. Thank you Jim! Gabe couldn't have done it without you!

Jim suited up to start insulating

Amber, Izzy, Campbell & I came up on Saturday and Izzy seemed to enjoy her first cabin experience.

Campbell had fun playing with "the baby"

On Sunday, Nana, Papa, Blake Ginia-mom, Papa Stan came up for lunch to celebrate Ginia-mom's birthday. Aunt Gail & Uncle Lars happened to be up at the lake too, so they drove over in their boat. It was great to see everyone. Unfortunately, there is no room in the cabin anymore because huge stacks of paneling fill up the whole living room/dining room area and there are just narrow paths to get around. (That is why we're not bringing Blake up to the cabin anymore, it's just too dangerous for him and there is no where for him to be right now. Luckily, Nana & Papa have been willing to watch him for us! THANK YOU!!!)

Good thing it was a nice day so we got to enjoy the newly built screen porch. 

Happy Birthday Ginia-Mom! We love you!

Dog Bite

I still can't believe this happened, but Gabe got bit by a dog this weekend. Gabe was walking to the dock at Timbuktu and walked by (not even very close to) a dog on a long rope and it lunged out and bit his upper thigh. The dog didn't growl or anything, just attacked Gabe out of nowhere. The dog's owner was using the port-a-potty and walked out just after the dog bit Gabe. The owner wasn't apologetic and asked Gabe if he had dogs or if he had cookies in his pocket to cause the dog to bit him. WHAT THE ?!?!?

The guy said the dog was up to date on his shots. But Gabe got onto antibiotics just in case. 

We heard later that the dog has bit 4 other people including kids - can that be true?!?! I can't believe nothing has been done about this - I don't even want to think of what could have happened if it was Blake or Campbell the dog attacked. The sheffiff was called and the dog is going to be in quarantine for 10 days and the owners at Timbuktu are going to tell the guy his dog can't be around there anymore.

UPDATE: The Department of Health & Human Services verified the dog was up to date on his shots. The next weekend, the dog was at Timbuktu on SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. This guy doesn't get it. Then on Monday, the guy called Gabe's cell phone and said that the sheriff gave his number out. Really? Isn't that some invasion of privacy or something? What is going on!?!?!?! WEIRD!!!!!!!!!