Cabin Fun

We spent a wonderful memorial weekend up at the cabin in Finland, MN. The weather was great and the kids were good. Thursday when we got in, about 8:30, we seen a bull moose, Limpy, come in. Captain warned us he was coming by acting all brave and barking. Surprisingly it did not scare Limpy away and we were able to watch him at the salt lick for an hour. Unfortunatly my camera was in the bunk house, but it was so close to dark that the pics would not have turned out well anyway. The next day Jordan got her first shooting lesson with Grandpa Dave, on the new Red Rider BB gun. Someday she will be a dead eye hunter like her parents! There was a lot of work to be done. An ice storm came through the area this winter so there were lots of bent and broken trees. Joe Dad Riley and I cleared one trail of fallen poplar tops and fallen pines. Joe and Dad, with Dennis help later, got down some of the branches from the bent birch by the cabin. So what happens when you can't get a ladder and chainsaw up high enough. Let me tell you.

Step 1: Shoot the offending branched with whatever firearm you have available. Be very careful that the bullets don't come back down and hit you on the head.

Step 2: Toss up a rope with a giant bolt on the end, hoping that you can get it around a branch.

Step 3: Pull really hard, example in video below.

Step 4: When all else fails attach the 4-wheeler and hope to hell that it doesn't kill you, ask Joe.

Step 5: Shoot more branches for pulling at a later date.

We also did some wheeling and a lot of hiking looking for sheds. We were not lucky enough to find any. We all ate good and had a good time. Can't wait for August to come when I get to spend a whole week up there.






Here is a short clip of the tree branch coming down, and Dad going down with it.

Finding nemo...er Swimmy Dragon?

Last night Jordan went to feed her fish and started yelling to me that Swimmy was gone. I went to look and sure enough the tank was empty, no Swimmy! I looked on the floor and around the tank and did not see her there either. Joe came in as I was explaining to her that sometime fish don't live long and she can always buy a new fish. We moved her book shelf and I seen Swimmy laying there, covered in lint and cat hair, because who vaccumes behind those things anyway! So she looked pretty dried and stiff, Joe reached down to pick it up and she started to wiggle! He put her in the tank, hair and lint and all and she was swimming around slowly, still covered in stuff. I cleaned the tank, changed the water and proceeded to give Swimmy her first bath. Now never in a million years did I ever think a fish would need a bath, but there is a first time for everything I guess!

All that kept going through my head was that scene from Nemo where Nemo got out and was flopping on the dentist tray hoping to get back to the ocean. I have no idea how long she was out of the water, but she was still swimming this morning, lets hope she is still alive tonight.

Pray for Swimmy Dragon!

Mother's Day Gardening

We had a good mother's day at our house. Jordan gave me a potted flower and a picture she drew of me. She also gave me a recordable card with a really cute message on it. I had to take it away from her so she wouldn't wear down the batteries.

We did some shopping at Menards the day before and got a bird bath and some solar lights for the front of the house. Jordan also got to pick out her flowers to plant under her swing set. So we planted it all on Sunday. She was excited to use her new tools, a bag with a small rake and shovel. She planted marigolds, impatients and pansies. Hopefully her little garden will do as well as it did last year.

New Addition

Yesterday we got a new addition to our family, a beta fish. Jordan has wanted a fish for a long time so we finally gave in a let her get one. She had to buy the fish, tank, food and tank decorations with her own money. It all came to $14.50, she had plenty of allowance to spare. We got her all set up on Jordan's bookshelf. She named the fish Swimmy Dragon, what a name. I hope this fish lives a long life.