Happy Thanksgiving!

 I can't believe it'll be December this week. 2021 really flew by. 

Marlo's tooth really fought the good fight. 

 

But after it got so wiggly it bopped around as she talked, Rob pulled it out. 

 

Our Thanksgiving prep looked a little different this year but at least we have the vaccines and tests this year that make getting together possible.

 

We got up to St. Cloud Wednesday night so we could get an escape room in before T-giving. We ended up setting the room record! Sameera is us! 

 

We had such a nice Thanksgiving! Good food, hanging out with cousins, being somewhere other than our apartment. 

 

 

We even got another escape room in at 8 p on Thanksgiving because we wanted to set another record. Which we totally did. 

Kasper got to play a drum set at a friend of Rob's and mine. He's feeling pretty good about picking percussion as his band instrument - he loves it!

 

Kasper and I did the wishbone after it dried and it split exactly in half. I didn't even know that was possible! 

Nothing much happened at the lot this week. The crew that was supposed to start the framing was stuck at another job so it sounds like they took the opportunity to finish up all the backfill. We also got more materials delivered so hopefully they'll be able to start this week. We did hit another small snag this week where Xcel energy is running behind on hooking us up to the power grid. There needs to be power in a couple weeks so we're crossing our fingers that it doesn't hold things up too much. 

We set up a little fake tree tonight so it feels festive. It's about as much decorating as we'll do here which is a bummer because I LOVE a house decorated for Christmas. Oh well. 

 

Hope everyone had a great weekend and Thanksgiving! See you in December!

Snaggletooth II

Not many obvious changes at the lot this week, however with the sewer line now hooked up to the main line and brought into the house, the earth moving and subsurface infrastructure work is now complete save for the well installation. The framing and floor trusses are ready and waiting for framing to start tomorrow! 

We had a meeting with our site manager and a landscaper about the numerous retaining walls we'll need. Fun stuff. 

 

We had lunch out at the house yesterday because it was so beautiful and sunny and the kids hadn't been there in awhile.

 

No fear of heights in these guys.

 

Poor Marlo is having the same tooth loss problem Kappy had. That front tooth sticks out of her mouth and bothers her. Fingers crossed it comes out before becoming fused into her gums. 

So big into Harry Potter right now.

 

Hope everyone had a great weekend and has a Happy Thanksgiving! 

First snow!

We saw our first snow this weekend here in MN! And it's still on our deck! 

At the lot we found the sewer hookup! Last week we learned the hookup wasn't where we thought but thankfully they found it. It required cutting down quite a few little trees but thankfully all mature trees were spared. It's a little bit of a bummer but I'd rather have access to city sewer I guess. 

The yellow pipe is sewer and the orange pipe is gas! He had to dig 12 feet down to find that sewer line.

 

 Kappy worked on a big LEGO car this week. Marlo was pretty jazzed about it.

 

Mid-week status. Framing moved into place - sounds like they'll start framing a week from tomorrow. We got a ton more dirt to finish up the backfilling and grading. Now we have a gentler slope from the driveway to the wetland. 

It's almost hard to imagine what the lot looked like before we started. The house sits up quite a bit higher than the level of the wetland, but is also hunkered back into the slope so it won't tower over it.

They had to drill a hole through the foundation because of the new sewer layout. We will also have to change where the well will be drilled.

The kids got their first covid vaccine this week and Rob got his booster! What a relief it will be to be a fully vaccinated family! Cases are going up in MN so we were anxious for the kid vaccines to be approved. 

 

We got out for some disc golfing yesterday during the snow and it was surprisingly cold and wet. I think we have to remember how winter feels. Rob was able to turn the gas fireplace on in the apartment so we were able to snuggle up in front of a fire and watch the Great British Baking Show while we warmed up.

Today we ran errands and cleaned the apartment before watching the Vikings actually win a game. We're ready for another week! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Foundational Week!

We have been having one of the most beautiful falls! The color has lasted FOREVER on the trees and the weather has been pretty nice. It was almost 70 yesterday! 

I have to apologize for all the pics being of the house progress. Besides work, school and homework, it's what we do - wander around the site. 

This week they took the foundation forms off, waterproofed and insulated. 

Then backfilled! It was fun to see a piece of equipment parked in the garage. 

When we stopped by yesterday he was backfilling and tamping. And our framing and subfloor material was delivered! 

We did hear of a surprise discovery that our sewer tie-in is on the other side of the driveway than we thought! It sounds like we'll lose quite a few small trees there but we're just thankful they figured it out before they started digging.  There are definitely some quirks to building on a site that has sat empty since being plotted in the 90's on a road originally built for horse-and-buggy travel in a two-mile town of 4,000.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!