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!