Fall happenings at the cabin...

Our son Brice and the grandkids were here over the weekend to help get the

 dock and boat lift out of the lake. It was a fun few days of both work and play.

The cabin will some day belong to our children so they need to "learn the ropes", ha ha

Brice always carries the kids into the lake with his chest waders on.

It's a bit nippy out there, so he keeps them high and dry.

Games....

Scarlett has the remote to the wench, she's in charge of pushing the button that 

activates the wench to pull the boat-lift up on shore. 

Lew is finally old enough to navigate his own Kayak.

His Dad is close by to make sure he stays safe.

We love spending time with our littles at the cabin

I saw a neat idea on "Pinterest" a few weeks ago and tucked it into my memory banks...

We did "Nature bracelets" for our walk in the woods

You take a piece of double sided tape and wrap it like a bracelet on the kids wrists

 then have them fill it with things they find along the way.

Lew just wanted to take apart a pinecone and put the individual piece on the bracelet,

he is ALL BOY!!!

Then there's the GIRL bracelet.

The hike was fun, the colors beautiful and the company perfect.

He got his toes wet....crazy kid 

The kids have since gone home and Rick and I are left to pick away at the "closing" duties here at the cabin. There is a sense of peace with no hurry this year

It's called Retirement 

and we love it!

Closing crew to the rescue

Heaven is under our feet as well as above our heads  ~Henry David Thoreau

The White family trust tree farm, right off Chippewa Loop, in our backyard. 

The area is a Pine and mixed hardwood forest, the forest includes a meadow and lots of wildlife. 

So fun for our family to hike here all season, but fall is spectacular. 

I took this photo 3 days ago, such a beautiful sight.

It is unfortunately that time of year where we need to start taking things out of the lake, 

preferably before it gets too cold. This year it worked best for the 1st weekend of October. 

Our Brice and his lovely family are the ususal "closing crew".

 So we coordinated our schedules, and we made the best of the time we had.

Gavin is a usual closer but this year had decided to have knee surgery instead. 

My sweet daughter and grandkids kept an eye on him to make sure all was well while we were away.

We miss you uncle Gavin!

1st the boat needs to be out of the lift.

Special "Grandpa-time" for Lewin

Pullin' put the lift.

Next the dock (board sections already removed)

Love my big strappin' men!

After everything was out of the water and put in its place the rest was all fun....

Teaching Scarlett how to crochet...she got the hang of it right away.

PS...she really wants to be from "The olden days" (Note the outfit and head scarf)

Tree swinging

Celebrating Jennifer's birthday.

Sunday morning snuggles in Grandpa and Grandmas bed

Lego building on the deck....why not!

Hiking in the protected White family tree farm, 

so blessed to have this beautiful space to roam, explore and enjoy

Games...always games at the cabin.

Rick and I will stay another week to finish all the closing details, 

we will have plenty of time to relax and enjoy our last visit for the season. 

Perhaps another blog post is coming about that.

Cabin opening and things...

Memorial weekend visit to the cabin

We were thrilled to have our "opening crew" here last weekend to help get the boat lift in!

 It's a 3 man/woman job so that's usually the last thing we have to do!

Gavin and Brice have got this, while dad holds tight to the rope to help ease this 

giant hunk of metal into position.

Fine tuning

and finally....the boats in!

Lewin has always fished on his tummy, he cracks me up.

It's always fun having the littles here, so much activity, laughter and giggles

Some coloring in the morning

and swinging by mid-morning

This is a tradition for Scarlett and daddy, 

he carries her out into the lake with his hip-waders on and she giggles. 

Teach them young how to start a camp fire

and eat lots of s'mores

He still snuggles up to his mama on boat rides. <3

Bubbles with some Rochester Friends whose grandparents own a cabin across the bay from ours.

This one is having a hard time leaving.....

After the kids left, Rick and I stayed for another 3 days.

We mixed fun with projects

This is our 1st summer with Rick Brother Brad and wife Julie. 

They purchased a cabin about 1 mile down the lake from us.

We happened to be out on the lake at the same time, so we stopped for a visit.

relaxing

A lunch date planned on the lake, we are being picked up by Brad & Julie

Fun to have family on the lake with us.

We have a lot of history on this lake and where our cabin sits. Who would have thought that someday we would own cabin's here and be neighbors? It's just so great.

Too cold to swim, but it's ok to swing my feet in the lake 

We head back to Rochester today, we've decided it's too nice to hurry out of here, so we will finish some things up and then head out later this afternoon. 

We miss our Rochester people...

Finishing up home-schooling for the year. 

Did I mention my daughter is amazing, 

Homeschooling was not something she planned to do but she does it so well,

all the while running a household and working as a nurse part time.

These kids are so lucky!

Cabin closing crew 2021

It's always hard to choose a weekend to "close" the cabin. 

Weather and schedules are what usually dictates the timing.

October always wins out, this year the 2nd weekends worked for all.

Typically one or both of our boys come to help their dad.

This year it was just Brice and family as Gavin attended a wedding.

The big stuff to move in is the boat lift & dock 

 

Brice scooped up little Lew and ran into the lake with him

Always time to play with his kids....it's not all work  :)

The rest of the crew ready to push the button the pulls the boat lift up to the yard

Brice help to steer the lift while wife Jenny's got the button in hand.

Next the dock, first the wood sections come off...

then the frame is rolled up out of the lake to the side yard

We celebrated Rick, Brice and Jen's birthday while at the cabin.

Rick and Brice share a birthday.

Working on a puzzle

Relaxing after a long day

This one decided to take a swim in the cool lake, she lasted about 5 minutes.

Daddy and his boy

Making macaroni and cheese with Grandma

Tickle time

It's always hard to close up for the season! 

We are thankful for another beautiful year full of memories with family and friends. 

We cant wait for next year, but for now sleep well little cabin on the lake.