Thursday June 21st 2012
We arrived up north at last and have no plans to go home until the end of July (if we even go home then!). Today's trip up was pretty good. Zephyr, who we found out on our last trip gets car sick, did very well with some medicine from our local vet. I cannot say that the boat ride over was as easy. This was my first time driving the boat with the dogs and kids and no other adult onboard to help out. All seemed to be going well until we got closer to the cabin. Apparently the boat was not fast enough for Zeph and he decided to jump off the front of the boat. Alexis started yelling at me and all hell broke loose from there. Luckily he went to the side of the boat and not under it! But we were a bit far out and I was worried he wasn't going to make it all the way in - on top of this we were now coming closer to the dock and we need to land so we don't crash into either the dock or the sailboat. I cannot say that I was calm in this situation, but I took off my shoes and jacket and was ready to jump in a rescue our crazy (ok, stupid) dog from drowning. Luckily Cole is skilled at landing the boat and helped drive us in. I jumped off onto the dock and was able to pull Zeph out. My heart was racing a mile a minute - but thank the Lord, we were all safe.
The kids ran straight to their "log cabin" that they are building from split wood. They got busy right away expanding it and making it even more fabulous than it already was!
We picked up Grandma and Grandpa later, and the rest of the evening was pretty uneventful.
Friday June 22nd 2012
What a BEAUTIFUL day! After getting some small jobs done around the cabin/bunkhouse, we spend most of the day down by the lake enjoying the sunshine and the lake. Cole and Alexis played in the water, on the dock and hung out on the pontoon. Cole worked on his kayaking skills and Alexis made lots of "food" with water, mud and whatever else she could concoct. We even got the jet ski out and went for some rides around the lake. The favorite place to visit is right by the eagle's nest to see the baby eagles. It was when I was getting the jet ski off that I noticed a blister on my left wrist. Had no idea how it got there but figured I must have burned myself on something and didn't notice. Later in the day we noticed that Cole's arms were getting blisters all over them. They were full of scratches, scraps and blisters. We were super puzzled what these were from. Poison Ivy, no...poison oak, no....whatever could it be to blister up so bad yet have no itchiness. Grandma asked if it was wild parsnip, she had heard something about it from someone and thought it was as good of a guess as any. Off to the internet, and sure enough - wild parsnip. Cole was helping me weed the garden on Wednesday before we left and said he'd get all these big weeds for me. They were too big to pull out so he broke them off - getting the juice all over his arms. Not knowing this was a crazy bad plant we didn't think anything of it. Also turns out that it takes 2 days to "affect" the area and is also activated by the sun. Poor Cole got the raw end of the that deal. His arms looks terrible. We put baking soda on them, and then cut some socks to have finger and thumb holes in them. Put them on his arms under his shirt and sent him to bed hoping they would look better in the morning.
Saturday June 23rd 2012
Luckily it was an icky day, dreary and rainy. I know this isn't something you typically want at the cabin, but at the same time it was a welcome change to keep the kids (mostly Cole) out of the sun with his raging wild parsnip burns on his arms. They were still very puffy and blistery, and look/act just like a chemical burn. For a kid with eczema this is not a good thing. But he was very good about putting on lotion and antibiotic cream when they broke open. It was also an exception for TV day - lots of Phinneas and Ferb as it was the Out of this World P and F Marathon. Joy oh joy. It was also time to get some more jobs done around the cabin. Grandma, Grandpa and mom all got to work taking out the closet in Aunt Christi & Uncle Andy's room so that we could get their new(er) bed in there. Everything came off the shelves and a large pile was put together for good will. Closet came out, walls, floor, shelving all washed up and then it was time press change and rearrange and put the new bed in. The room looks great and hopefully they will love it. After dinner Grandpa and mom also finished up building the deck for Aunt Heather and Uncle Allen's bed in the bunkhouse. It's a bit higher, but perfect for the "trundle" full size bed that still needed to be built for the boys (aka Nolan and Ethan). The weather had cleared up and Cole and Alexis came outside while we were building and played frisbee. Zephyr also wanted to play, but his version involves him stealing the frisbee and running around the island while the kids chase him. I think he is happiest when he is being chased or chasing the kids!
Sunday June 24th 2012
Seems like Sunday flew by. Lost of playing up by the cabin and still trying to keep Cole out of the sun with his wild parsnip burns. They are starting to look a little better.
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| Cole's arm with the blisters starting to get better |
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| Some of the wild parsnip burns. |
Monday June 25th 2012
Grandma and Grandpa were gone most of the day. After breakfast we took them over to the main land and they headed into town to do some errands. We spent the morning down on the dock playing around in the water. Then had a quick lunch of noodles and parmesan. Some cartoons after lunch while we chilled in the heat of the day. Mom cleaned the kitchen and bathroom. We spent more time down by the lake, and soon it was time to pick up Grandma and Grandpa.
Both Cole and Alexis were tuckered out. When mom went to check on Cole, she couldn't figure out what was hanging from the top bunk - after leaning down it was just Pascal and Polk-a-dot monkey!
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| Zephyr, Pascal & Polk-a-dot Monkey and Cole all snuggled in |
Today's big project for Cole and Alexis was to rebuild the Fairy House. Each year we build and update our Fairy House, but this spring the tree the house was next to was cut down - and so the old fairy house was buried under a pile of wood. So we set out to build a totally new house in a new location. Cole and Alexis gathered lots of sticks, leaves and rocks and we got to work. We had to break for lunch, but got right back to it. After lots of constructing, we were finished. It turned out pretty good, and I think any fairy who might be stopping by would love to stay at our new home. It even have a table and chairs inside for them to have a snack at.
Cole was back out kayaking. He's gotten quite good at it and loves to just paddle around the dock area.
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| Alexis making some muddy mess on the dock - Zephyr seems to think these concoctions are good to drink? |
Wednesday June 27th 2012
Early in the morning Grandpa and mom took Ghettie to the vet. She needed some serious work done on her mouth. We dropped her off at 7:40 in the morning at the vet clinic in Iron River. She was not too happy to be left there, but it went ok. After dropping her off, we headed over to Pistol Pete's to pick up Uncle Andy's jet ski. Not sure if he's going to be able to do much riding on it, but I'm sure Aunt Christi will be happy to have it here. We weren't back for long and we had to take Grandma and Grandpa over to the main land so they could go to the family lunch in Poplar and then to Bill and Janice's birthday party at the Lundburg farm. Cole and Alexis were both a bit grouchy and uncooperative. Which was really too bad because they lost their opportunity to go to DQ in Lake Nebagamon on the way home from the vet. We left at 4:30 to go and pick up Ghetie at the vet. She had her teeth cleaned, 2 fell out and 9 more were pulled. No wonder she was not her normal spunky self. After paying the crazy bill, the vet tech asked Cole what he had gotten into. When we said wild parsnip she said she was from Rochester MN and was personally VERY familiar with wild parsnip. Sounds like her experience was much worse than Cole's. We drove back to the cabin for dinner with Grandma and Grandpa - STROMBOLI!! Cole was thrilled, finally something he really loves to eat. I think he ate 3 pieces! Alexis had to go to bed early since she was a bit too sassy with mom, and Cole got to stay up and watch America's Got Talent. It was on until 10 pm and he stayed up through the whole thing. He was so fidgety with his arms being all ithcy and the heat and humidity up so high. He could not get comfortable, so we figured it was best to let him really get tuckered out so he's fall right into bed - which he did.
Thursday June 28th
Another beautiful day! Glad we are up north because I hear it is HOT back home! It was in the low 80's here today and sunny. Last night was hot, so the cooler morning was a welcome. Pancakes for breakfast, of course. Grandpa even made extras for Ghettie as a treat since her mouth is probably still pretty sore. The kids headed out to play after breakfast, and it wasn't long and all three of us were trying to play bad mitten, or as Alexis calls it "bad monkey." Neither of them were able to hit very good so the game didn't last that long. Laundry got done, picking up got done. Lots to do with everyone coming this weekend for a long 4th of July. Almost everyone is staying for the entire week! The kids helped sweep and carry items where to their new homes. We did have a picnic lunch on the pontoon today. The kids thought that was pretty cool, and Cole said we should do that more often. After lunch it was time to hang out up above and in the house for a few hours until the sun wasn't so strong. The kids got to watch Johnny Test (one of their new favorite shows on TV) and mom helped Grandpa move some stuff around and rearrange the bunkhouse. With all the "houses" ready for all the family to come and stay it was time to head down to the lake and cool off. Cole and Grandma were out in the weather swimming around when Alexis said she wanted to swim. She's been a bit of a scardy cat about going in the water lately. So mom just picked her up by the back of her life jacket and put her in the water. After a bit of a fuss, where mom did join her in the lake, she started to swim around and realized that "hey this is a lot of fun!" Her and Cole were splashing around and playing with the noodles.
This however did not make Zephyr happy. He was barking and jumping around on the dock at them. As soon as they put one of the noodles on the deck, he grabbed it in his mouth and ran down the dock, up the stairs and all the way over to the hammock with it. We were all laughing so hard as his "great escape." He did come back down and was barking again, this time mom tossed him in the water for all the barking. That seemed to do the trick for awhile. Mom got the jet ski off the jet dock and Cole and mom went around the lake. First stop was to see the two baby eagles. They aren't so little, and they sure are loud! We toured the whole lake and headed back in. Cole wanted to take Grandpa out and Alexis joined them on the jet ski for another look at the eagles.
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| Grandpa with Cole and Alexis out for a jetski ride to see the eagles |
Friday June 29th 2012
Well we have 3 new visitors at the cabin, Uncle Mark, Aunt Brooke and Baby cousin Carson snuck in late last night while the kids were sleeping! The kids were excited to see their cousin in the morning. I can't say that the dogs felt the same about Casey, but by mid morning they were all "getting along." Pancakes for breakfast of course. After breakfast Cole and Alexis played some games in the house, and then went outside to hang out with Uncle Mark. Then they both wanted to go swimming and splash around in the water. Lunch time arrive, a bit of TV while Caron had his nap (Johnny Test was on again!) and more swimming and playing in the lake.
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| Alexis and Cole with Ghettie - who is much recovered |
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| Alexis and her big blue eyes |
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| Cole's deep green brown eyes |
The day flew by and right before dinner - MORE COUSINS!! Aunt Heather, Nolan and Ethan showed up just in time for spaghetti dinner. Then Grandpa took the kids fishing while dinner got cleaned up. And just like that, the whole day was over and it was time for bed.
Saturday July 30th 2012
When the kids woke up this morning - DADDY was there! YEA! He drove up Friday night with Uncle Andy. Uncle Craig and Natasha also arrive late late on Friday night. Breakfast was busy, with almost everyone joining us at the table. Pancakes, of course. It was outside after breakfast to play ball, and run around the yard. The lake was also calling - now that Alexis realized the water is fun, she can't get enough and had to show daddy how she can swim all over.
It was a fun day that again flew by. At dinner was had heard Casey woof, but no one really thought anything of it. Well right after the kids were in bed, Mark and Casey were walking along the house and a porcupine went running in front of them. We have never seen a porcupine on the island before, but though we may have had one visit a few years back. It ran straight to the trees and climbed its way up.
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| Our very own porcupine up one of the trees |
So there you have it - our summary of what we have been up to so far at the cabin. Stay tuned - I'm sure there will be many more exciting and fun stories as the summer goes on.
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