First Day

My sweet boys on their first day of school. Back to the routine - four bus stops! I'm beside myself with the knowledge that my baby is in first grade. I will be on my own from 8:45 until 3:30 every day. What will I do?

Goodbye, Summertime!

Where did the summer go? What a great one it was. We ended it with a fun day at the Museum Center. (First we dropped poor Goober off at PAWS for his "man surgery." I wasn't too worried, because I knew he was in the best possible hands.) We spent most of our museum-time in the Natural History Museum. I was surprised at how much the kids enjoyed it. There was some great exhibits and lots of volunteers giving all sorts of presentations. The bats were my favorite. We did squeeze in an Omnimax Movie (Legends of Flight) and a quick trip to the ball area of the Children's Museum.We rushed back to PAWS to get Goober, then dropped him off to rest at home in his crate. Our next stop was LECC, where we met Jeremy's first grade teacher, Mrs. Bebout. I think he'll have a great first grade year. Then, we drove (with Tim) to LES to meet Zachary's teachers. The 2 teacher thing will be different, but he'll probably do fine. They both seem great. Z wanted to stop in to see Mrs. Kenny and Mrs. Kieffer. They are both so sweet (not to mention that they are fabulous teachers), and it made me a bit nostalgic. Mrs. Kieffer seemed genuinely bummed out that she didn't get Jeremy in her class. I can't believe we won't ever have her as a teacher again.

Home Again

Today was a perfect day to settle back in to being at home. Bags unpacked: check. Laundry nearly done: check. Groceries purchased: check. A little relaxation: check. Now, sadly, real life will begin tomorrow.

Day Twenty Two: So Long

We pulled out of the cabin driveway at 6:30 AM and arrived home at 12:20 AM (both local times). We would have made better time had I not insisted on going to the cheese store in Caston, Wisconsin. This involved back roads for 2+ hours of the trip. Sorry, Tim! Otherwise, it was an uneventful drive home. We listened to the first Harry Potter book, and even Zachary enjoyed it. We still have one disc to go, and want to finish it soon!

Day Twenty One: Packing

Today was mostly spent packing, but we did manage to squeeze in a little fun. We swam for a long time in the afternoon, then we took the canoe with boys + Goober to "Picnic Island." The boys and dog got out, while Tim and I stayed in the canoe. Goober brought his tennis ball along, then dropped it in the lake. We had lots of fun tossing it up the hill for him and watching him chase it down.
For dinner, we drove to Ely and ate at the Grand Ely Lodge. I don't think I've ever been there for dinner. I was surprised at how tasty it was. There was a nice view of a beautiful sunset over Shagawa to boot. As we were leaving, we noticed the rainbow over town. It was another night of gorgeous skies, and made me even sadder to have to go home.

Day Twenty: Recovery

Thursday was supposed to be rainy, but again the rain held almost completely off, and we had a nice day at the cabin. Mom and I had thought about going to town, but decided against it. The boys swam with Tim in the morning. I was nursing a headache, so I finished my book and relaxed in our room while they swam. The kids just played outside for much of the day. After a late lunch, we took the boat to "Case Island" in Lake 2. We went back to the springholes to look around and fished a bit on our way back. Back at the cabin, I swam while Tim played card games with Jeremy, and Zachary goofed around outside. It wasn't sunny, but it was still a nice afternoon to enjoy the lake. We had a late dinner of spaghetti, then Tim and I went out fishing. We didn't catch anything, but no matter. What an amazing evening. The sky was clearing a bit and was bright orange. Of course, I didn't bring my camera, but maybe that allowed me to enjoy it even more in real life. We saw a couple of bats flying low around us again tonight.

When we got home, we played a fun game of penny in the pot with the kids. When I asked Zachary about his favorite part of the vacation, he said, "Emily and sour octopi." What a kid!

Day Nineteen: The Echo Trail

We left the cabin with dogs and boys at 10:30 AM bound for adventure. After a stop in Ely for some water and a new collar for Goober, se set off on the Echo Trail, which is less a trail and more a 40-something mile gravel road through the middle of nowhere. Really, pretty much through nothing, as it goes through a small area bounded on both sides by the BWCAW. There are lakes from time to time, and occasionally even a driveway or National Forest Campground. I remember hearing how my grandparents loved to pick blueberries "up Echo Trail." I have no idea where on Echo Trail they did this. Tim and I drove that way the second time we went into the Boundary Waters (at S. Hegman Lake). I had never driven the whole thing.

Our first stop was at Bass Lake. There is a 5+ mile trail around the lake, but we decided to start small with a hike to Dry Falls (named for Dry Lake, the source of the falls). It was just around 1.5 miles round trip, but it was a pretty rugged hike for the dogs and boys. The falls were lovely - Zachary and I swam in the small area at the top of the falls. Jeremy seemed to love the hike (he says he is "addicted to excercise" now), and he narrated the entire hike back to the car. The dogs were completely worn out by it.

We went across the road to see the boat access for Little Long Lake, then continued up Echo Trail. We had considered camping at Lake Jeanette this year, but never had a weather report that made us think we'd be able to do it without getting rained on. So, we visited the campground on our way by. Primitive is the best way to describe it. There are only 12 sites (though there was a pit toilet WITH WALLS!) , and the campground host stays at another campground several miles up the road. It does look like a beautiful lake, with lots of rocky islands. Maybe next year we'll give it a try.

Not too many miles later was Echo Lake. This is the other National Forest Campground. It's a bit bigger than Jeanette with a playground and small beach. It seemed like a great little place until we got out at the beach, and we were completely accosted by mosquitos. It was so bad that we went running back to the car where were quickly closed the door and must have killed about 30 mosquitos over the next 5 minutes. The boys turned this into a game, calling me green leader and Tim red leader. We were supposed to spot and anihilate "targets." At any rate, we're pretty sure we don't want to stay at Echo Lake any time soon.

At the end of Echo Trail, we turned north and visited Vermillion Falls near Crane Lake. I wasn't prepared for the quantity or power of the water rushing over the falls. Just beautiful and humbling.

Finally, we drove back home through Orr (where the boys and I had been just over a week before to see the bears). Zachary complained a bit, but I think both boys enjoyed the hike. Mom had chicken wings and pierogies waiting for us at home. We had dinner, played a game of penny in the pot, and put the boys to bed. We rounded out the night with our second game of Pinochle, which I lost.

Day Eighteen: Hot, Hot, Hot!

Today the temperature reached nearly 90 degrees here. That may not sound like much, but for northern Minnesota it's HOT. I did some much needed cleaning this morning (our room stayed pretty cool with the big fan running), then I went to the lake to cool off while the boys watched Spongebob and Tim went fishing in the canoe with Josey. Eventually, the kids came out to swim, and Tim came back, and we had another afternoon in the lake. It was great, though it's an odd sensation to be cold (lake water) and hot (air) at the same time. Tim and I even had a chance to play Blokus in the screenhouse. I came in around 3PM and read for a bit before falling asleep for a nice afternoon nap. My first real nap of the vacation. As napping is one of my favorite things, lasting into the third week of vacation with no nap is a feat!

Dinner was burgers on the grill, tater tots (boys' choice), and brussel sprouts. Yummy. We went out fishing again after dinner. This time we took Goober AND Josey. Goober nearly jumped into the lake after the sunfish when we threw them back. He also came close to eating a worm. The boys had an awesome time again. When we got back, we played a round of penny in the pot and sent boys to bed.

Day Seventeen: Timber!

This morning, we had some guys take down a huge (>70ft) Norway Pine that died a couple of years ago. They're the same family that took down 20+ trees 15 years ago when we were building the addition to the cabin. Now, the boys that helped their dad clean up the brush back then are grown and are the ones who climb the tree and saw of huge limbs on the way up. They then take the tree down in 15-20 foot sections on the way back down. Mom told Zachary he had to watch, because she was paying $300 for the show (a steal, if you ask me!). Jeremy yelled, "Timber" each time a branch came crashing down. I think both boys enjoyed it. When the guy got to the top, Zachary said, "Well, I KNOW I don't want to do that when I grow up!" After they left, we spent the morning cleaning up the yard. Jeremy was a HUGE help and kept talking about how much exercise he was getting. Zachary helped a little, but we kept having to drag him back outside. Tim sawed any usable limbs up into firewood. We all helped stack. Finally, after lunch, I let the boys quick working and took them down to the lake to swim. It was a really warm day! We moved rocks to the shoreline - now there Zachary was a huge help. We pretty much swam and stayed outside all afternoon.

Dinner was tacos - the boys loved it. After dinner, I was exhausted, but we took the boys out fishing anyhow. After a dismal half hour or so, we finally gave in and just let them fish for sunfish. It is WAY more fun than real fishing, because though we get nothing to eat, the kids actually catch fish. They LOVE it. We stayed out from 7PM until dark. They LAUGHED and named each fish and had a great time. It was such a long day, I went to bed as soon as the kids did!

Day Sixteen: Laundry

We managed to accumulate three huge loads of laundry, so after church this morning, Tim, the boys, and I went to the Speed Wash. It went pretty smoothly and quickly - almost makes me want to go to a laundromat at home. After we started the wash, we were able to run across the street for yummy coffees. It took us only 1 1/2 hours to do what it would take all day to do at home.

Lunch was at Sir G's. We had tried to eat there a few years ago, went in, waited 15 minutes for any kind of service, and walked out. This time was a much different experience. Delicious salads and pizza and decent service. After a bit of shopping and a trip to Skube's for leeches and a new Jitterbug and Lazy Ike, we headed back home. What a pretty afternoon on the lake. It wasn't completely sunny, but it was very warm with just a slight breeze. I was so tired (I think dogs kept me awake last night), I laid on the dock for a little while. Tim worked on putting new line on some rods, and then the boys and I swam. I was only a little undone when Mom spotted the HUGE turtle swimming about 30 yards away from us. I managed to believe it was a log until I was actually out of the water, and only then did I see the head AND tail and start to wig out a little. We saw it head downshore - Tim, J, and I got in the canoe to see it up close, but we never did really get a good look. I even got back in the water and swam more after it left. The boys worked hard gathering rocks for the shoreline.


We finally headed in to make a light dinner. Z, J, and I had peanut butter and jelly (Z and I w/ bananas), and Tim had bratts. We had popcorn while watching the Bengal's pre-season game. I never imagined I'd see a Bengal's game at the cabin! Tim and J went fishing, but didn't catch anything.

Day Fifteen: No Luck Fisherpeople

We enjoyed another great day. I spent time swimming, reading, fishing, and canoeing. Tim and I and the dogs started the day with a nice walk towards Lake 4. We didn't get all the way to the area where you can see Lake 4, because Tim was worried that Josey was getting tired! It being Saturday, we made the boys blueberry pancakes. Much of my morning was spent reading in the sun on the boathouse. Zachary asked for a picnic lunch in the screenhouse. After he ate lunch, he taught me how to play chess! Tim and I also got a chance to take the canoe to Armstrong lake before dinner. We had wanted the boys to go along, but they have decided that exploring in the canoe is no fun. (When asked what would make it better, Z replied, "A motor.") It was clouding up just as we were launching. We weathered 10-15 minutes of light rain in the middle of the lake, then enjoyed a nice paddle. We brought fishing gear, and I caught a very small smallmouth bass. It was so small and barely hooked that I even took it off the hook and released it myself. In all my years coming here, it was my first time on Armstrong. We didn't make it all the way down the lake, but I plan to be back again sometime.

When we got back, we swam for a bit, then enjoyed a dinner of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and salads. After dinner, ALL of the Cases (except Josey) went fishing. It might go down in history as the worst fishing trip of all time. Goober was acting totally crazy. My reel complete stopped letting out line, Jeremy's got all tangled up, and we ran out of leeches. We realized why Goober was wild when Jeremy shouted, "Goober pooped right by my seat!" UGH! We were nearly swamped by obnoxious boaters pulling people on a tube. We were almost home when the rotten dog vomitted all over the boat. I think there was an entire crawdad in the vomit. That was enough to do me in! I don't think I'll take Goober fishing again soon.