Surviving Melrose

I think I've finally recovered from 2 weeks in Melrose. We did the last week of July there, the whole family. The basic schedule went like this: wait for Fred to get out of bed; eat some breakfast and think about what's for lunch; gather lake gear and head to the lake; enjoy the day at the lake; then, head into town in time for the boys to collapse into their beds. That was Saturday thru Thursday. Some days we had guests at the cabin, rarely it was just us. We had great weather and the boys enjoyed everything except the loading on of sunscreen which occurred at least a couple times a day. They did lots of swimming, lots of jumping off the raft, some tubing, some fishing, some canoeing, lots of boating, and Jacob got up on skis. The skiing was exciting, but didn't last long and he didn't want to try it any other day. We got our niece Maddie and nephew Jesse up on skis too and they did the whole loop around, very impressive. We capped off our vacation with a night at the Stearns County Fair and the demolition derby. To quote Gavin his first derby was "super, super cool". We really had such glorious weather while we were in Melrose that we were helpful at all to the remodel of the cabin, which looks great now. We kept waiting for some dreary, rainy weather to get to my mom's to-do list, but when the rain came it was stormy and not safe to stay and work. Oh, well, it was vacation after all.

We were back in Chaska for the weekend so I could visit the doctor and we could attend my cousin's wedding. The boys and I headed back to Melrose on Sunday afternoon to start vacation Bible school (VBS) that evening. Jacob got to go, I got to volunteer and Gavin got to hang out with Grandpa Ron each night. It was an exhausting week of late nights. My parents were a great help, but the boys and I still missed Fred. We ended that week with a birthday celebration for our nephews and one more day at the lake.

The boys and I spent last week doing mostly nothing, except hiding from the humidity and staying indoors. We did go to a waterpark in Edina one day with friends, but that was about as much heat as I could take. Oh, and for a free lunch (with my parents) we went to the Carver County fair on Thursday. I guess I will brave the heat for a gyro, yum!

Last weekend Fred and the boys attempted camping in the backyard. Luckily they weren't able to get a campsite at a local campground. When Fred tried to set-up the tent it was askew and we had to disassemble it and reassemble it before getting it to stand up. We did get in some s'more roasting before a shower swept thru, Gavin mostly enjoyed deconstructed s'mores (marshmallows and chocolate alone). I did get 2 hours in the house by myself before they came inside with Jacob crying because he'd wet the bed - not a common occurence, but it will happen when he doesn't go to the bathroom right before bed. And thus concluded the evening of "camping". We thought maybe they'd nap camp the next day, but that didn't happen either. On Sunday evening we made a trip to Waconia for the Carver county fair. The boys went to the derby and I played bingo, winning twice.

This week we were back into the swing. Jacob had tennis each morning at 9. We also did the park on Monday, beach on Tuesday, Jacob went to a playdate most of the day on Wednesday (reminding me how easy one napping child is), pool and "Touch A Truck" on Thursday. We did take today to relax and recover at home.

We are heading to Melrose this weekend to enjoy "River Fest" and get our new van. For all the van aversion I've had in the past, as I've taken Jacob to preschool the last couple years I've developed van envy. Doors that open themselves and don't bang into other people's cars. Oh the convenience. And the boys are way excited about the DVD players. Auntie Drea will be sad that she no longer gets to ride in the backseat with the dogs, but I think she'll be OK too.

I apparently put my camera on vacation while we were and I took very few pictures. Oops.