Another June Weekend

Friday, June 24

Due to all the rain we received this week, the soccer fields were closed, thus canceling Brendan's Friday night soccer practice. On the bright side, we were able to come up the cabin earlier! Yay!!!

Brendan still wanted to do Mad Lib book club at the library. So, the boys and I didn't officially get on the road until just after 4:00 – we got stuck in rush hour + “up north/cabin” traffic. We still didn't do too bad with time, though. The boys and I stopped at Dairy Queen for dinner....so, the extra traffic and dinner stop added about 1 hour 5 minutes onto our drive time. Instead of making the drive in about 3 hours 15 minutes, it took us about 4 hours 20 minutes. Rob had just finished mowing the grass when we arrived.

Saturday, June 25

A little cloudy this morning, but still a beautiful morning. A bit of a wind, as well – the lake was not a quiet stillness today. Played a morning game of cribbage with Brendan – he WHOMPED me. I didn't get skunked, but he still beat me good....luck of the draw/deal/cut. Rob and I put another set of bunk beds together....for now, we're leaving them as separate beds, but we put them together so that they could be easily stacked if/when we want to actually bunk them.

Made a trip into Park Rapids.

Made stops at:

*Charlie's Boat & Marine – looked at a few pontoons. To buy the one we would want new would cost about $22K....and that doesn't include a trailer. At this point, I think we'd like to find a gently used/great condition pontoon that includes a trailer for around $12K. Back to craigslist I go.

*That goofy little store (S&L Outlet) by the Wal-Mart again – picked up another twin mattress. Still need one more mattress, but it's not an absolute necessary need for this weekend.

*Hardware store – broom & dustpan. They have aerial pics of area lakes – found one of our lake. $45 for a 16x20 print. Didn't buy it....I'll have to do some more searching to see what I can find – I'd love to have an aerial picture of our lake framed and hanging up in the cabin.

*Another furniture store.

*Subway – lunchtime. Dude. Nobody told me how good their flatbread is!!! I may never order a “regular” sub sandwich there again!

*Main Street Park Rapids – two candy stores; I peeked into a couple of shops, too.

*Wal-Mart – picked up a few miscellaneous things & groceries.

Called mom as we were leaving Park Rapids (around 1:30) to see if they had left the cities, yet. They were just leaving. Rob and I figured we'd see them about 5:00.

Beautiful afternoon around here – mid 70s and sunhine!!! I LOVED IT!!! Picked weeds out of the rocks along the sidewalk – funny how housework like that is a much more pleasant task here at the cabin!

The boys went swimming in the lake, and they were absolutely hilarious to watch. The first time, Brendan was in the lake, and Keenan just played on the dock. The second time, however, even Keenan was jumping into the lake (with his life jacket on), and then swimming to shallow water so we could pull him up onto the dock, only to do it again!!!

Mom and the girls arrived about 5:30 … they got slightly lost … and made the wrong turn right where I thought they were. I remember when I e-mailed the directions to mom, I debated on whether or not make a definitely clear statement about the turn. I thought my directions were clear, and really, they are....but they didn't go far enough north, and turned on the Cass County Road 33, rather than the Hubbard County Road 33. Their GPS helped them out, though.

And now....the frogs are singing away. I love listening to them. But, it's almost 10:30....time to call it a night, and head to bed. Hoping/planning on having some waverunner fun out on the lake tomorrow.

Sunday, June 26

It doesn't feel like a Sunday. Probably because we're still up at the cabin, and not heading home until tomorrow.

Brendan stayed up quite late last night. Brittany taught him how to play chess. He's definitely enjoyed learning the rules, and is intrigued by the game – he's been playing against himself off and on throughout the day! I like how Britt taught him the rules – she provided a story about each piece and their role in the game. Makes me want to see if there is a storybook out there about chess! AND, Brendan is already thinking about the possibility of joining in on chess club at his school!!! I see a chess game as a Christmas present in Brendan's near future (seeing as how Britt already thought she gave him a chess game for Christmas)!!!

I was already in bed, and basically asleep, when Brendan came in and said, “MAMA! We have to read!!!” I feel bad about us not reading together last night, but it was late – like 11:00 late. Maybe we won't have a reading streak as long as the one between that father & daughter (The Reading Promise), but we'll do as much bedtime reading togethere as possible.

So now....onto today....Weather forecast that we heard on the radio said it was going to be mostly cloudy, but we should still get temps in the mid-70s. I don't think that happened. The thermometer under the deck is currently reading 68.

We headed into Dorset – a town that claims to be the “Restaurant Capital of the World” – to celebrate Rob's birthday (it's tomorrow). We went to Campaneros, a mexican restaurant suggested to us by our (Lino Lakes) neighbors – they have a cabin up in this area, too. It was okay – Mexican food. Maybe it's that Mexican food isn't my favorite food – all those flour/corn tortillas, all that cheese, rice, beans, etc.... Bummed around the town for a little bit – not too many shops to check out, but a couple. I liked the book store, and wouldn't mind going back there again if I ever needed/wanted to buy a book (I try to save a little money by borrowing my books from the library).

Found an 18-hole mini-golf course in Dorset. The boys love mini-golf, and seeing as how they did pretty good bumming around the town, we let them play. Found out the guy that owns/runs the mini-golf course (and the RV park) owns some land (and is trying to sell it) here on our lake (too busy, and doesn't have enough time to enjoy it). He also made a comment about how weedy the bay area gets – so weedy that it's tough to actually boat in it....good for oxygen in the lake, and the fish tend to breed, I guess. I asked him if the weeds would make it difficult to get a Waverunner out to the main part of the lake, to which he said, “What's that?” When I finally came up with the right description (JetSki), he said, “Oh! I hate those things!” Bad experience with someone on a PWC coming within about 50 feet of him/people trying to fish. He also made a comment about being a bit surprised when he saw that the place was sold – that lake lots with a road in-between are the hardest to sell. His comments were a little disheartening, and had me second-guessing our decision to purchase this place. BUT, it's too late to be second-guessing, don't you think???

I love this place; the boys love this place. The opportunities for fun/adventure/exploring are endless. I love that we're far away from the hustle and bustle of city-life.

The boys went swimming again today. They were hilarious!!! It was only 68 degrees outside, but they jumped in! Brendan wore his wetsuit – it's still a little big for him, but it works.

It's a bummer that the weather wasn't as nice today as it was yesterday. But, I hope everyone still had fun. I'm going to have to come up with some rainy day activity buckets – including some artsy-fartsy-crafty stuff.

Monday, June 27

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROB!!!

Had early morning showers and thunderstorms this morning. Mom and the girls left about 9:15-ish. We stayed another couple hours to clean things up and put things away. During that time, it was quite nice out – the sun was shining, and it was warming up a little bit.

Didn't get to use the Waverunner this weekend. Bummer about that....but, maybe next time. Left the Nissan up at the cabin, too. I can drive the van this week; we'll take the van back to Michigan; we'll be home 4 days after coming back from Michigan, and then head back up to the cabin for another weekend. So, really.....not a big deal to leave the Nissan up there – plus it saves us gas mileage and money on traveling with two vehicles. Plus, it was nice to have the whole family in the vehicle on the way home – that's a first since getting the cabin, as we've been taking two vehicles up each time!!!

Oh! Britt & Alex helped Rob move the big couch from the downstairs to the upstairs – the living room is much cozier, even if it only has the couch and a coffee table! And now, I'm re-thinking putting the game table downstairs....instead, I want it upstairs. It seems to make more sense....plus, there's room for it. But, I'm going to hold off on getting the table that I think I want to get. I'll wait until after we get back from Michigan, and if the shop still has it, then maybe it's meant to be for me to get it.

I'd still like to get a bookcase for the boys' room; at least one bedside table for our bedroom; and one chest of drawers for our bedroom. I'm also going to need some closet storage stuff – just the simple stuff that hangs from closet rods.

And now....we're back home. It's sunny, but a bit windy. The boys are playing outside....getting all their wiggles and squirms out!!! We are so lucky – they are absolutely wonderful travelers! Did I mention that Brendan read for at least an hour on our drive up? He read for a bit on the way home, too. And Keenan....that funny boy – he looked at a book for a little bit, and then he looks out the window a lot – as we were leaving the cabin, he said, “Are you certain this is the road we took to the cabin?” Certain? Did that boy say, “certain?” Yes! He did!!! He seems to have a knack for where things are, and how we get to places. Gosh, I love my boys!