Bahstun!

I spent the last week in Bahstun and the surrounding area with the family for our brother Steven's wedding. It was Hot, up to 100 degrees on Friday, but we made the most of our stay.

My mom, dad, Gramma R., Carl and I flew out on Wednesday (up until a few days before, I thought we were leaving Thursday. I was scrambling to get ready!) and flew back on Monday...minus Carl, he went back to Switzerland from Boston.



We did quite a bit of historical tourism. This flag is hanging on a tavern that played a part in the first skirmish of the Revolutionary war.

My Aunt and Uncle Kay and Rick came for the wedding-it was fun to visit them as we saw some sights.

Ralph and I. We dipped our feet in Walden Pond. Just let me say-the packed beach on this hot day made me very glad that we have our own cabin to enjoy.

The Battle of Bunker Hill monument. Useful (less?) piece of information: It is actually on Breeds Hill. The battle name is a case of mistaken hill identity.

Don't say I never taught you anything.

The monument has 294 steps. It was 100 degrees.

I was sweating when I reached the top.

And we even made it to the wedding!

It was in doubt at one point on the drive...it was just a good thing we left to get there 2.5 hours early. We arrived with 1.5 hours to spare.

Driving and navigating in Boston is not for the faint of heart.

Trust me.
and Marian the Librarian. (aka our GPS. The voice sounds oh-so-librarianish. And the way she says "Recalculating. Recalculating. It's so librarianish. Hence the name Marian.)

The happy bride and groom. Steve and Jess held their wedding at a neat old camp lodge type building that was once owned by the girl/boyscouts. It was a beautful location. Of course, I took very few pictures the whole day.

Suffice to say, they ended up married;)

The U.S.S. Constitution or "Old Ironsides." The oldest commissioned warship still afloat in the world.

The famous Old North Church from which Paul Revere told other dissidents to hang the lanterns "one if by land, two if by sea..."
Am I taking you back to US history class?

Good. That's my goal.

Katrina, Mom and Gramma at the Boston Public Gardens.
This day was absolutely gorgeous.

And the picture for my kids-Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McClosky is one of their favorite books. It takes place in the Public gardens and now there are statues of the ducks there.

That wraps up my quick tour of the trip. It was a lot of fun, seeing all my siblings and enjoying the sights.

Right now though, I'm just procrastinating on packing for our next adventure-a family vacation to the Camp on Big Traverse in the UP tomorrow.

Should be fun!

A list

• So far this morning:
• Slept in. Till 9. I deserved it after yesterday at work. But does it count as sleeping in when you don't get home till 2:30?
• Coffee. Mmm.
• Boys were up. Daughter hasn't rolled out of bed yet...
• Howie.
• Pulled the computer off the table.
• Oops. So far it seems to work just fine.
• Promptly went to the kitchen and took the vent off the floor and started digging in the ducting.
• Busy boy.
• Oliver.
• Just asked for mittens so his hands wouldn't get cold while riding his bike.
• June. Really?
• Laundry washing.
• Chased the rooster out of the porch.
• Someone left the door open.
• It's a hoot.

Monday. Gray.

After enjoying the perfect summer day at the cabin with fun company and visiting yesterday, today is quite a downer.

More. Gray skies. More. Rain.

Blue jeans. Sweaters.

Elsa woke with vim in her veins.

She didn't want french toast. She wanted cereal. Over again. Repeat.

Hmm. Maybe she's got something there.

I don't want to do laundry. I don't want to clean this house. I want to weed my garden. I want to see sunshine.

Think that'll chase away the ugly, gray skies?

Not counting on it. Judging by Elsa's success. She still hasn't eaten a thing.

Meh.

Summer!

We celebrated our first weekend off together by spending it at the Cabin. We love that place, and spend many, many hours there each summer.

It is the essence of summer-sauna/swimming, relaxation, family and food. Always lots of food.

And fishing. Elsa even got brave and went. Oliver will tell you "I caught a perch! But last year I caught a BIG -spreading arms wide for emphasis- HUGE, bass."

We've had a total of about three hot days so far. The kids cooled off on this one in the garden sprinkler.

The sun beams through the water were nifty. So far, the garden looks pretty good, I've even kept up on the weeding.

And Howie has a new trick, he stood up so he could splash in this bucket. One of his first time pulling up. Tomorrow he's ten months old, that makes him our latest walker...

A new chapter

Last night was Eric's last evening of work at the local grocery store. Today starts a new chapter: Red Eye Sawmill will be going full steam ahead, full time.

Now, if only the loggers will agree and keep him neck deep in logs.



It's exciting, although, truthfully, it hasn't sunk in yet. Eric's dreamed of this day for quite some time-working on, developing and growing this business full time- it's what he wants to be doing. For me (all of us, really), it'll be quite a change. Hubby home-or somewhere in the vicinity- every night? Weird. And weekends? We'll get to do stuff together sometimes? Wow.
(We've been working opposite weekends since I started my job a year and a half ago. meaning we haven't had a single weekend off together for that long.) Last night I was truthful with myself and admitted that I don't know what it'll be like to not have those few hours to myself between bedtime and home from work time.

Who am I kidding? He has more than enough work to keep him out of my hair.

Every morning one of the first things the kids ask is "Mom, do you have to work today? Does Dad?" The response the give depends on their mood- "Aww, shucks, I wanted you to stay home" or "Yay! We get to go to ____" We haven't really told them Eric's done working out-it'll be entertaining when they finally catch on-"Dad, don't you ever have to go to work again?"

Cheers. Here's to a successful new chapter in the sawmill business.

Glad. (I had a different title, but this seems to be the theme)

Howie
I pulled out this fleece today...

Yesterday evening there were some pretty nasty straight-line winds in PR. There's talk that there might have been a tornado. Pretty scary, but to make it worse, Eric drove right through it on his way home-he said he almost got blown off the road.

I told him he can now cross "drive through a tornado" off his bucket list.

I'm just glad he's still around to have a bucket list.

In other, less deadly, completely unrelated, humorous news...

I almost washed a kitten this evening.

It managed to sneak into the house and was blissfully sleeping in the mountainous pile of laundry. I imagine it was quite a rude awakening to be unceremoniously gathered up along with dirty pants, dumped in the washer and have water start pouring down on you...the look of kitten perplexedness was priceless.

I'm glad she found her way out before the lid was closed, however.

and had flashbacks...here's Oliver.

My boys, I think they look like brothers.

That, too, makes me glad.

A lost tooth and Happy Mother's Day!

I had one of those "I totally forgot about those" type of moments the other day when Oliver showed me his loose tooth. Immediately after that, I had a "Woah, he's getting older" type moment. The past week we've been updated daily with the status of the tooth.

Yesterday, while at his cousin's, the tooth came out. He lost it in the grass and never even mentioned it to the girls over there. When I picked them up, he was slightly concerned when I asked where it was-but, no fear, Oliver dictated a note to me, and the tooth fairy came anyhow...




And of course, she took the opportunity to use a little of her oomph to hype up the tooth brushing-no candy eating line.

When he heard her admonitions this morning, he said a sincere "Ok, I'll do that."

I like that tooth fairy.

I got a chance to go garage saleing in Fargo yesterday, sans kids.

That, was the perfect Happy Mother's Day present.

And, if you are a mother-Happy Mother's Day to you!