Sledding!

Clubhouse

Well, we didn't accomplish everything we set out to do over the summer, but one of the things we did finish was a treehouse/fort/clubhouse for the kids. (We haven't quite settled on what to call it.) The kids have been begging for a treehouse for years. We don't really have a tree suitable for one, but after salvaging our deck last year, I came up with the plan to re-use some of the lumber for this...clubhouse stilt thingy.

We spent most of the summer working on it a bit at a time, with a big push in the last week and a half. Most of the wood is re-used; the 4x4 timbers were originally support posts from the old deck, and the floor is an old barn door that had been left in the upper level of our garage. Bear did much of the construction work, after I showed him what to do. The idea was for him to master a few basic carpentry skills and to become comfortable with the tools. (Mouse was invited to participate but she didn't want to, and I wasn't up to making her...although I plan to have her doing home improvement projects around the house, too, eventually. Mouse did do most of the final coat of paint.)

Here's how it turned out:

Our Lake Shetek visit!

What do you do when winter just won't quit? Two options...

It's April 1 and there's still snow on the ground...in fact, we have snow banks several feet high everywhere..and we're still recording wind chill. I wish that were an April Fool's joke, but it's not.

What do you do with a bunch of cabin-fevery kids under such circumstances? Well, you can either take them sledding and snowboarding...again...(see Exhibit A):


...or you can take them bowling (Exhibit B):


As you can see, bowling, while much more expensive than sledding, is vastly more popular. Especially among the three-year-olds! (The Music Man was at home with his PCA, having a bit of a rough day...we'll catch him next time.)

Root River bike ridin'

From our Palm Sunday trip to Lanesboro and the Root River trail:

The kids enjoyed doing some exploration off the trail.

Once one had a picture taken on the log, EVERYONE had to have a picture on
the log. We drew the line at Alleluia Boy going out there...

Our turn-around point, about an hour up the trail from Lanesboro.

This should have been predictable, right?

We thought this sign was funny.

After our long, really enjoyable bike ride, we went out for pizza at a local joint that shall remain nameless because its pizza was not worth the money we paid for it, by a long shot.

This was a great afternoon, though...biking through the countryside with nothing but meadowlarks, spring peepers, red-winged blackbirds, and the wind and sunshine all around.

The winter (and spring?) that wasn't

Well, everyone around here has high compliments for whoever is in charge of the weather around here -- they're calling it the winter that wasn't, which suits most of us just fine, although it did have some downsides for our family...like we bought all the kids fancy new (used-new) skates that they could only use a handful of times because the ice wasn't deemed "safe" by Parks and Recreation until the third week of January...and then it was deemed done for the season by the last Wednesday in February. Whoever heard of such a short skating season? And we had very little snow, which meant very little shoveling...but also only one trip to the sledding hill. What is this, Iowa???

Now we're experiencing an unprecedented spring, with record highs (daytime highs and nighttime high minimum temps) for the past few weeks. On Friday, I noticed that our strawberry plants were up and already the size of dinner plates. Today I noticed that the apple trees, lilacs, and other bushes and trees are beginning to leaf out. We actually hit 81 this afternoon.

And it's March 18. Generally, this time of year, we're dealing with late-winter snowstorms, or at least lots of mud and puddles, and frozen garden beds.

Last Wednesday, the kids got out their swimsuits and slip-n-slide.

So I planted sugar snap peas and lettuce on Friday, because there is no sign of this unusually warm weather letting up...they're forecasting temps to moderate, but stay about 10 degrees above normal. We're not forecast to come anywhere near a freezing temp in the next ten days.

Tomorrow I think I will plant beets. In the meantime, here are some of the photographic highlights from our winter that wasn't.

January 1 - Skating at the municipal ice rink because the ice on Lake Winona
wasn't deemed safe enough. Jaybird has improved in her confidence, moving up
to single-blade skates.

Playing in the driveway on January 10. Note the lack of snow. Or coats.

January 20. At last, real snow! At least three inches! Whoa, break out the snow
plow! Or at least the little shoveler! Alleluia Boy is always happy to help.

Then again...eleven days later, and we've survived our worst cold of the season.
Back to no coats....

February 2. A sort of cold day while visiting the Twin Cities, so we thought
we'd visit the Centenniel Lakes skating canal (this is a manmade pond/canal
behind some upscale stores, with piped-in music and fancy landscaping).
Nope, no luck. CLOSED, due to thin ice. In the Twin Cities. On Feb. 2.
And in Edina, of all places! (Inside Twin Cities joke there.)

February 23. Need I say more?

The sandbox is always most fun first thing in the spring.

Jaybird and her friend set up the very first lemonade stand of the season, probably in the entire city.
March 6. And they got quite a few takers, too!

First dinner on the back deck, March 11.

Little boy likes climbing all over the play equipment now...

...and trying out his big sister's scooter.

Mouse doing public art on the sidewalk in front of our house.

Our first "away" picnic, Wednesday, March 14.

Alleluia Boy frequently walks around with his hands in his pockets...strolling along, looking
around like he owns the place.

And later the same day...swimsuits and a makeshift water slide, all before
St. Patrick's Day.