June '09

At the Cabin

Bath time in the sink!
Beach baby
Apparently pine cones aren't allowed in the yard
Have a seat and relax!

Baby birds in the porch
Couch potatoes!

At Home

Painting!

Jumping!

Don't get wet!

Cabin: May progress

We've been pretty busy! Here's what we got done on our last two trips to the cabin!

Ahhh...the path to the beloved outhouse! We cleared the overgrown brush & raked. There was also a tree that had fallen down. You can kind of see it in the first picture. We got that cleared out and we also had to re-dig the outhouse hole. Fun! It hadn't been used in so long it was all dirt...except for some feminine pads which were still whole. I'm not even going to start with that right now...diva cup!...ok i'm done for now.

Front yard: We trimmed all of the brush down to the fence line so you can actually see the field. Also got rid of a few stumps and such, raked, cleaned out the fire pit, and re-stacked a messy pile of firewood.

And we finished the paneling on the front wall upstairs. Very nice. Hopefully it won't take too long to match the old stuff. I also made some new curtains but they are tucked up so you can't really see them. They turned out ok, I guess they're pretty good for 1.50/yard fabric from the walmart! They are tiny green/tan check.

And we managed to have some fun and relax a little too!!!

(make sure you watch the video below...that is a genuine treasure troll she is dancing with!)

We also brought our bikes up and rode into town on the last day we were there. We went and played at the park that I used to play in as a child. They have new stuff there but kept the old stuff too so everything I played on is still there! Then we went and had ice cream and malts at Sun & Fun. Can't wait for it to get warmer so we can go swimming!

Cabin Fever

On a recent trip to my cousins in northern MN, I suggested to Dan that maybe we could start staying in my family's cabin again on a regular basis. I spent the first 5 years of my life in the area and then my dad got a different job in the metro area and we moved. But both my mom and dad's whole family still lived up north so they built a cabin and we went every weekend year round until they separated. Since then it hasn't been used regularly and I'm pretty sure it hasn't been stayed in at all for at least the last year or two. Soooo it needs some work!!! Also, it has electricity but no running water which I absolutely love! So exciting! We got started last week on Dan's days off and we took lots of before pictures and after pics of what we got done. So here are a ton of pictures. I made them small so they wouldn't take up a ton of room but you can click to enlarge!

The steps were in pretty rough shape. The old ones pretty much came down with one hit of the hammer. They lasted pretty long considering they were made with untreated lumber that my uncle cut himself. The new one is quite an improvement!

The first picture here shows the loft, which is the back half, and is the bedroom. The second is the view from the loft. As you can see there is no railing on the stairs or the loft. This was never a problem because I was 6 or 7 years old when the cabin was built. It is however a problem now because Mackenzie is only 1.5. You can also see the boards and junk that is being stored across the beams. With this stuff here the view from the living room area was never really open.

Ta da! A railing and a clear view, well mostly. We stacked the boards and stuff on one side temporarily.

And take a look at little miss helpful. She wanted to be a part of everything! She even learned how to cover her ears when the saw was going (don't worry, we didn't cut with her that close!) And look at those two sleeping in! I was up early both days because when you wake up and have to go outside to go to the bathroom you are pretty much awake by the time you get back inside!

Did I mention there was quite a bit of cleaning to do? There were dead ladybug/asian beetles all over everything! Ewwwww! And the curtains used to be plaid like that blanket on the couch and they are now white.

Mostly cleaned up right before we left. There is still a lot to do but everything reachable and visible is pretty much clean. Much improved I think!

Goodbye cabin! See you in a few weeks!