Rutabaga Fest and More

We just got back from a glorious weekend at Camp Freedom. We had by far the nicest weather of the whole summer. Up until now, it has rained every weekend we have been there. It's gotten pretty laughable. Every time there is a storm in the area, we look at the weather radar and there is a big purple blob right over Camp Freedom. Luckily, this weekend was a delightful exception. The weather was sunny, warm and dry. The evenings were cool and crisp, with just a hint of fall in the air. We spent a lot of time chainsawing. Ray felled several trees earlier in the summer that we needed to deal with. We chopped and stacked them so they would dry out and be ready for splitting sometime in the future. The whole family pitched in and made light work of a big job. We also met with a concrete contractor who is interested in helping us pour the footings for our foundation. We are anxiously awaiting his bid and hope we can afford his help. The real highlight of the weekend was the Rutabaga Festival. There were many events all throughout the weekend but we just went to the carnival. There were rides and food vendors that rivaled the State Fair. The boys favorite ride was the Gravitron. We had to bring Georgia with us since there is no place to leave her at Camp. She is not the kind of dog that normally gets to attend events like this so we were a bit nervous about how she would behave. She was a star. She behaved like a a perfect lady and made friends everywhere she went. People kept stopping to oooh and ahhh over what a pretty dog she is. She ate a corn dog off the ground and got to have her own bottle of water off a paper plate. We all had fun, but there is no contest about who had the best time.

The Reason I Have So Many Gray Hairs

School's Approaching!

Summer has just flown by and the kids go back to school next week. Where has the time gone?? Thor just got back from 2 weeks at his beloved Camp Warren in northern Minnesota. He spent his time there riding horses, kayaking, swimming, exploring the woods and just generally having a great time. Sleep away camp is an amazing thing and I highly recommend it for kids. It has been one of the most powerful forces in Thor's development over the past few years. He always comes home so self confident and with such a strong sense of himself. I can't think of a better thing right before starting Middle School! Guthrie has also been busy this summer. He recently finished an extensive reading class at St. Thomas University. That's right, he's a Tommie! He worked his tail off both at his class and at his weekly piano lessons. His piano teacher encourages her students to try out any other instrument they are interested in and has a large selection at her house from which to choose. Guthrie has enjoyed messing around with both the trombone and the saxophone. He has talked about wanting to learn guitar, but I'd like him to learn a few more of the basics on piano before switching. He has had a pretty academic summer and is in great shape to rock third grade. I couldn't be prouder of that kid's work ethic. I think I was about 20 before I actually learned how to study. We haven't been up to Camp Freedom for a few weeks but we are heading there this weekend for a last hurrah before school starts. This weekend is the Rutabaga Festival, Cumberland's yearly town celebration. We are excited to see what that is all about and I will certainly blog all about it when we get home. Even though we haven't been up for a few weeks, Ray and I have been steadily working on plans and paperwork. We applied for and received our land use permit. That means we officially have permission to put a building on our land. That was a pretty simple permitting process. The next step is the building permit which should be more complicated. We are also meeting a concrete contractor up there this weekend to get a bid on some of the concrete work involved in putting in the foundation. I'd love to farm out some of that back-breaking job. We'll see if we can afford some help with that or not. It is still our goal to get some footings poured before the snow flies. It is finally starting to cool off up here and the thought of doing some work up there is kind of appealing. In the heat of the summer, I'd rather sip a beer and swing in the hammock, but I find the cooler weather to be invigorating. If we have the foundation done this year, I think it would be pretty realistic to get the frame of the building up next season. I can't wait!

Paulson Family Mini-Reunion

Ray and the kids recently spent the weekend at Camp Freedom with a few extended members of the Paulson clan. Ray's dad, sister, niece and her boyfriend came up from Nebraska to visit camp and see what Ray's been working on lately. The bugs were pretty vicious this late in the season, but everyone managed to have a good time, cooking, playing cards and catching up. Grandpa Ray even tried the zip line! I know it meant a lot to Ray to be able to share this place with his family and I hope they will continue to visit and keep up on our progress.