Gunflint '22

 Kasper and Rob enjoyed the last week of summer at home. 

 

 Kasper had his open house where he got his picture taken, got his schedule, we walked his classes and met his teachers. It's going to be a whole new ballgame for the young man but he's feeling up for the challenge.

 

We finally got our yard seeded! They were waiting until it wasn't so hot out so the seed would actually take. It feels nice to have that checked off the list. Especially since it was a nail biter every time it rained and more of our hill ran down into the wetland. We did a mix of low mow natural grass and traditional grass so hopefully it'll all fit in with the surroundings well.

   

Marlo got her hair cut.

   

On Friday we headed up for our annual Boundary Waters/Gunflint Trail weekend!

One of the highlights of the weekend were the Northern Lights! I've only seen them once in my life and some of us in the group had never seen them. And get this, we got to see them TWICE! Two nights in a row. It was awesome. The first night we all stayed up until midnight waiting for them. There was a green glow for awhile which just popped into lights. I love the Big Dipper in some of these.

 

We went on a family hike yesterday during our free day. Kasper taught us how to pop sap bubbles in trees.

 

Last night the Northern Lights were more subdued but they danced and moved and shot columns of light.

into the sky.

 

I mean, how amazing!!! We woke up and headed out this morning. We stopped in Grand Marais for the World's Best Doughnuts and the World's Nicest Ferrari Owner who took Kasper on a ride from the back pump to the front one.

   

We got home and got into back to school mode! Backpacks are packed, clothes are laid out, kids are washed. Tomorrow's a big day! Hope everyone had a great weekend and a great summer.  Ours was unforgettable!

Last drop

We have been enjoying the last days of summer around here. School supplies have been purchased. Kasper has had one orientation at the middle school. School will start before we know it!

We started chores and allowance (again). We got out of the habit a couple years ago but the kids were asking for money so we've started back up. They get half of their allowance just for living in the house and the other half for cleaning 1 bathroom and vacuuming one floor each. This was the first full week and they're doing great. It takes a couple weeks to make a habit so my expectations are still pretty low. We have learned that Marlo loves doing the dishes. 

One of my cousins moved about a mile from us! They had use of a family cabin this week so some of my family had a lake night Friday. Kasper is so good with littler kids, he and my cousin's son had fun. 

Fall is coming!

   

Kasper in his natural habitat.

   

We celebrated my niece and sister's birthday yesterday! We got home at the exact moment a crazy storm hit and Rob had to strip down to undies quick to get the hot tubs cover on and rescue patio chairs that were blowing away. 

Whew! This week is going to be a busy one then the week after we start school! Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Chill

We had a busy week of camp, work, dentist, blah, blah, blah. 

We did get out this weekend to do some furniture shopping for our bedroom which has been majorly lacking in that department. We were getting tired of using 2 full moving boxes as our nightstands. It was at lunch after that shopping trip that we took the only photos of the week. The kids holding hands while mindlessly watching TV at Shake Shake. 

We are in the end-of-summer, back-to-school mindset lately, and it always seems to come so fast. Sigh. Hope everyone had a great weekend! 

LLL 2022

We caught the wetland looking extra cool Monday morning. 

Kasper and Rob got the hot tub set up this week.

 

On Thursday we headed up to Lost Lake Lodge! Within an hour of being there, Kasper and Marlo were horsing around and Kasper landed hard on his elbow on a rocking chair leg. Mind you, this was the same day Marlo got the staples removed from her scalp after a horsing around incident last week. When it wasn't feeling better through dinner, Rob took him to the emergency room for x-rays. Thankfully the elbow wasn't broken but he did have a nice bone bruise that'll take some time to heal up.

   

Horsing around has been expensive around here lately.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best for us this year! It was cloudy, rainy and chilly. We hung out in the cabin a bit more, went to Crazy Days in Nisswa. The kids finally got to the lake yesterday afternoon. 

We got home this afternoon and had a visit from my Grandma! We got to show her the house and have dinner -- so fun!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Midsummer

 A couple weekends ago I went up North with my oldest girlfriends! Well, they're not old but we've been friends a long time. You get it. 

One of us lives in Singapore and one of us lives on the Gunflint Trail so it's hard to get us all together. We made it happen this year and it was so good. 

We lost my Grandma Keller this summer. She died about a month ago. We celebrated her life on what would have been her 99th birthday a week and a half ago. It was nice to see so much family but we were missing Grandma. Some of the cousins went out for drinks while we were all in town because Grandma loved to have a good time and have all her family together. 

Otherwise we're settling in! Marlo had her first sleepover ever which was a success. They took out every art supply and toy Marlo has but that's a sleepover for you. 

We did have a bit of excitement first thing Monday morning when while they should've been walking out the door to go to camp, the kids were horsing around and Marlo ended up hitting her head on the corner of the wall and needing a few staples. 

 

 

We had a flurry of activity at this house this week as well! We had some things fixed, we got our dishwasher, we got a new kitchen table. 

We finally rode our bikes into the next town for coffee and pastries this morning! We've been wanting to do that for the last year! It rained as we were eating but it was so fun to explore our new area.

 

Crazy that it's August now and it feels like we're gearing up for back to school! Summer flew by! Hope everyone had a great weekend.