Random pics and a walk on the beach

 We have a few random pics of the kids. Marcus has been helping feed the animals, he especially likes the cat. Frank is also fond of Marcus, probably because he can't pick her up yet.

 Sprout is also a good helper. She is mainly in charge of picking up eggs.

 We've been enjoying the mild temperatures and decided to take walk on the beach or the closest thing to it. Lake Lowell is very low, so we braved the brambles and tullies and walked along the shore. This had been postponed due to the government shutdown, but now the refuge is open to the public again.

 The kids had a great time playing in the sand and finding treasures. Lisa and I had a great time trying to find our way out.

The Cabin

 On Tuesday, we closed on a cabin near Donnelly. We bought it from Karen's cousins, Peewee (Harold) and Sharon.

Karen had some schedule conflicts this weekend, so she wasn't able to join the rest of us on our trip to the North. We celebrated on Tuesday night with champagne. I planned to take Friday off so Karen could take a class; I headed to the new cabin on Thursday night while the kids slept. Elena was very excited about the cabin. She spent most of the week packing and talking about it. We left our house around her normal bedtime, but she didn't fall asleep until Horseshoe Bend. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, she was awake. I told her to hang tight while I prepped the kids' beds and she just chilled in the truck while Marcus slept. Once the beds were made up, I carried each of the kids in and settled them back down to sleep. 

The kids were tired and went back to bed fairly easily. Once they were snoozing, I began the main floor child-proofing mission. About 30 minutes later, Elena came down the stairs and wanted to help. She was actually very helpful, but at 12:30 I decided that it was time for both of us to go to sleep. I think she finally gave it up at around 2:00. Marcus was up at 6:15.

On Friday, we cleaned like crazy. I found that sweeping was nearly impossible with two young kids. Elena wanted to help, so she swept stuff into areas I had already cleaned while Marcus crawled or walked through the dirt piles.

We actually made decent progress despite the distractions. Karen's cousins Bruce and Nancy showed up to their neighboring cabin Friday afternoon. They helped me clean out the basement and move some of the larger furniture.

 

On Saturday morning I took the kids to a hot spring. Elena hopped in while I got Marcus ready. I really should have checked the temperature before she got in because is was scalding hot. Moments later I was carrying two naked kids across a steep, frost covered rock face to the upper pool. Fortunately the upper pool temperature was perfect and we enjoyed a nice soak.

Luis, Alex and Katie showed up on Saturday. The kids had a great time and disappeared into the woods several times. They played so hard that Marcus fell asleep during dinner. Sprout lasted through the s'more making before she passed out as well.

While cleaning out the basement, I found this little gem. It's a kid-sized cruiser. Elena should be able to use it in a year or two.





We had a great weekend and look forward to out next trip. We may even take Karen along next time!

 

Here are some more pictures of the cabin.

To a Great Man

 My Grandpa passed away yesterday. Many of you know that he was diagnosed with lymphoma earlier this year and was home and living independently to the end. I thought I would share some of my favorite photos. Above is a picture from his 90th birthday celebration in August.

 This is from our family picture shoot last spring. This was the first time we had a picture of everyone. Always a challenge to get the kids looking at the camera at the same time.

 My mom and Grandpa celebrating his 89th birthday.

 Grandpa always enjoyed having the kids trick or treat him on Halloween. He typically had a scary mask on and liked to scare the kids when he opened the door. The kids loved his antics and the goodies he gave them.

Some of my earliest and best memories are of playing games on the Carrom board in the basement. We would play game after game during afternoons when I was visiting. I didn't fully appreciated it at the time, but it was wonderful how much time he spent with us playing games or letting us "help" in the garden or around the farm.

As I grew older, we saw each other less frequently but he always had time to make me and my children feel special. He especially loved crafts that Elena made for him and would ask her what she was working on. We will all miss him very much.