Here's Mason as a PacMan game, and Calvin as an iPod. Mason went out with Paul and two of his friends, to two different areas, then came back here to play the wii.
The afternoon wind was taking leaves by the dozen today, but this beautiful tree behind my house is hanging on to most of them!
Non-stop rain for us in Northern Minnesota. I think our next house project involves installing a basement waterproofing system. The sump pump isn't working. (oh no!)
Paul & Mason are working on a "cubby" to keep all the ski stuff contained. Mason drew up the plans, he and Paul edited them together, and now they're building!
The only photos I took today were for the school blog. The football team made it to the playoffs! Here, the team warms up before their afternoon game. I was thrilled to be outside. I'm pretty sure this was the warmest day we've had in weeks here...a high of 56 degrees! 
We've heard about The Italian Village ever since we moved here, but we just hadn't made the time to visit until today. We stopped by, figuring we'd buy some Italian sausage. When we walked in, we were asked if we wanted "samples". "Sure, why not?" we said. We were told to take a seat, and our server brought out big chunks of bread, plates of marinara sauce, sausage and peppers, along with a little lemon curd mascarpone for our "sample" dessert! We left with full stomachs (we bought meatball sandwiches, too!), some butternut squash ravioli, a homemade pizza, a small pan of lasagna, and of course, some Italian sausage. I'm pretty sure we'll visit a little more regularly in the future.
I know it looks like a zoo, but I had so much fun here! This ski swap reminded me of the Hoigaard's Tent Sale we went to every year as a kid. My dad would always buy my brother and me the used equipment even though we wanted the new stuff. I get it now, dad! 
I spent about 15 minutes at the beach today. It's very cloudy, windy and cold, but there's no rain so that's a nice change!
It's pouring rain, Paul is working late again, and I'd rather not cook. The solution? A trip to Culver's. They even gave the dog a couple of treats. Not a bad night out!
Now that the leaves are starting to fall, I can see a little piece of Lake Superior from my bedroom window (right above the white house).
Mason was out rollerblading today, so I thought I'd try that freeze-motion / blur background technique I was trying to work on months ago, here. 
I spent about 10 minutes this morning trying to capture a leaf as it falls from the tree. I'd love to be able to get it in focus...but have found it's rather difficult to do! This was one of my best shots, because the leaf is vertical. We're wondering why there were very few red leaves in the woods this year. Do the reds fall first, or were there fewer reds because of the cooler summer?
So first, we thought we'd seek out a little fall color in the UP. Past prime. We were too late. So we stopped in Crystal Falls to walk the dog and found the above snake on the sidewalk. Seriously, when I nudged its tail, it shook its tail at me, reared its head...SCARY! It acted like a rattler! The snake was only 12 inches but my heart was pounding. We have yet to identify it.
My boys went to the nearby park to work off nervous energy. Swinging...good stuff. I love this shot of Paul.
Around 4pm, we stopped at the neighbors' place and were invited in for wine and cheese...it went on from there. Good thing we wrapped it up in time for me to blog! We love our cabin neighbors...great fun! Thanks for checking in on the blog!
We travel through Ashland, Wisconsin every time we head to our cabin. It's a beautiful little city, on the shore of Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay. In addition to the lakeside location, the city has spent time beautifying the downtown district with murals. This mural depicts the city's founders, and is one of seven located about town. You can read more about them here. Thanks to susanvg, fellow 365 blogger, for the inspiration!
I planned on taking pictures here at the Rose Garden earlier this summer to feature on the blog, but I never did it. When I saw this boat anchored right in front of the park this afternoon, I decided today was a good time for a photo. The park is beautiful year 'round, but especially in the summer, when you see lots of bridal parties posing in the park. You can find a little more information about the park and its roses here.
The bathroom project is finished. The crazy angled shower door came in late last week, and the marble countertop arrived today! We're just waiting on some special order plumbing piece, so we can't turn the sink on just yet. This is my take on "old meets new". It's a bit more contemporary than we normally go for...but I think it works!
I've had this variety of sedum in my garden for about three years. The small plants have spread out nicely...and I love the deep red color in the fall.
This is not something I would buy. I did my share of "just add water and stir" cakes as a kid. They were never as good as the real deal. But Calvin decided to use his own money for two of these mixes. The first came out of its bedroom hiding place tonight. The verdict? It smells good! But I'm not allowed to have a bite.
We've lived with our new kitchen for more than one month, and we are still so excited about it. The kitchen is so "us", it makes us happy just to walk in the room. One of my internet friends (susanvg) is just starting her remodeling journey (hang in there, Susan!), which reminded me that I never posted a photo of our crazy patchwork floor! It is a little busy...but again, it's us! We also love the lighted cabinets which we've filled with our Ephraim Pottery collection.
It's my dad's birthday today! Happy Birthday, Dad! Hope you have a great one! 
**Edited to add new link on roofing.
It finally stopped raining, and miraculously, the leaves are still on the trees, even after all the wind! I took the boys outside to practice shooting manual portraits in the sun. I think I could have let the sun go down even lower before doing these...they're a bit overexposed...but they're not TOO bad! I could definitely use more practice (and more patient models).
**click photo for a closer look
So, I realized I hadn't posted any updated kitchen photos. Here's one of my newly completed shelving corner. See where my mixer is? That shelf unit came with a fixed shelf...set too low for me to place my mixer there. I've been waiting for the remade shelf to come in for about a month. NOW I have the home for my coffee maker, mixer, ipod dock, and my new Fiesta mixing bowl set in "Marigold". I am loving this new feature of my kitchen. Only a couple of trim pieces to finish up (doors were delayed)! Thanks for looking!
