Gulp!

I just spent the morning at Fleet Farm (I spend a surprising amount of time there these days) buying 200 feet of galvanized steel airline cable. We bought a zip line and ordered all the parts except the cable. The pieces came this week and it looks very exciting, moderately dangerous and like a whole lot of fun. We are going out for the holiday weekend with a bunch of friends and hopefully Ray can get some help installing this thing. We cleared a path already. Luckily, some of the guys coming up have extensive experience with climbing equipment and ropes so they should be able to give Ray plenty of pointers. Hopefully, by early next week I can post some great pictures of kids whizzing through the forest!

Men's Retreat

Ray and a friend went out to Camp Freedom this weekend for a lumberjack fantasy camp. I stayed home with the boys, got pizza, watched movies and slept in my soft bed. I think it was a win/win. There are definitely times that the idea of Camp Freedom is just as great, if not better than the reality of Camp Freedom. Ray really needed a place where he could stretch his legs and have fun doing these hyper-masculine chores. I really needed a place where I could plan and scheme up big new projects. Camp Freedom is good for Ray's body, while it's good for my imagination. So far, Camp Freedom makes us both quite happy, but in very different ways. I anticipate having some ladies-only retreats in the future, but it will probably wait until there is a cabin there. By then, hopefully, all my friends' babies will be old enough to let them leave for a night! It did sound like they had fun out there. There was a little rain on Saturday afternoon, so they spent time playing cards and drinking in Fort Awesome. They ate burgers in town and slept in Hammock Grove. Ray worked on the wood pile and put a few more walkway panels out. He made this video of his progress. He's embarrassed because in the video, he says it's March 23rd. It's not.

Bacon - Camp Freedom Style

Mother's Day Re-Do

This was the weekend I was hoping for last week. Highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's, loads of glorious sunshine. We got my new hammock set up and I spent tons of time snuggling with the kids. I worked on improving my campfire cooking skills with great results and Ray worked on improving his chainsaw skills with similarly positive results. He cleared some small trees from the treeline at the edge of the wetland which greatly improved our lake view. It's starting to feel like a place on the water rather than just a place in the woods. That is very encouraging. Sleeping in Fort Awesome was a treat. The cots are working out to be quite cozy. We brought out a dog bed for Georgia and had the ridiculous expectation that she would sleep on the floor. She finally figured out what was going on and joined Guthrie in his cot. I have a feeling that might cause some problems in the future, but for now, he was thrilled with the arrangement.

Grrrrr...

The trip is off. It snowed last night in Wisconsin and there is a hard freeze forecasted for tonight. I can handle winter weather during the winter, but it's a little tough to stomach in May. I'm in a bad mood.

Ah, Minnesota!

I have big plans to spend Mother's Day laying in a hammock, drinking a beer while my loving family toasts hot dogs for me over the camp fire. Mother Nature, apparently, has other plans. The weather forecast for tomorrow is 45 degrees (for the high!) with rain and snow showers on and off all day. Bummer! We are still hoping to salvage the weekend by heading out on Saturday, rather than Friday night. The weekend forecast is a little brighter, dry with highs in the 50's and 60's. We've had such a warm and dry spring so far , I sort of forgot how quickly things can turn grim. Keep your fingers crossed for us and Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!