Minnesota Cabin Circa 2024

Sarah and Mika Chilling on the Dock at the Cabin

Saturday August 25

We returned from California last Thursday night. By Sunday Lee was starting to feel sick, and on Monday he tested positive for Covid. By Tuesday I was starting to feel like I might be coming down with something, but I tested negative, and still ran 8 miles that morning and felt pretty good. By Wednesday I was sick as well and also tested positive. Covid, after 4 and a half years, it finally got us. Lee felt bad on Monday and Tuesday, by Wednesday he was feeling much better. He mowed the lawn and picked Leo up from Theater Camp on Thursday (with a mask).  Then yesterday (Friday), he felt kind of sick again, had an upset tummy. He probably did too much too soon. I felt terrible on Wednesday and Thursday, but by Friday I felt much much better. I still don’t have much energy and still feel a little achy and congested.

We’re supposed to go to a cabin up north with the Herberg’s today. Sarah has had covid too (got it at a work event probably). Our bubble is truly busted. Only Erik, Suzanne and the boys (as far as we know) have still not had it (Kris had it last year). The question right now is if we go to the cabin today or wait until tomorrow. Lee wants to go by test results, but if we do that, we’re probably not going, since it’s possible to test positive for weeks after an infection. I think we should go by symptoms, and mask in shared inside places until we feel completely symptom free. Although I’m not crazy about wearing a mask I’m ok with that. I can always go into our room or outside if I need a little mask-free break.

The other question is this triathlon I’m supposed to run next Saturday. I’ve felt pretty conflicted about it anyway, and this is a perfect excuse to not do it! But seriously, unless I feel 100 percent, I’m going to skip it. I’ve done the training. I can swim so much better than I could a year ago, but I’m very very slow. I could do the super sprint option, 250 yards instead of 750, but that means I’ll just wonder how I would have done at the full sprint length. I’m better on the bike, but still comparatively slow. If I can average over 12 mph for 12 miles I will be happy with myself, but still probably one of the slowest riders. And running, well, I’ve been neglecting it, concentrating on swimming and biking instead, so who knows? But this is all moot unless I feel a whole lot better.

Well I’m going to start packing this morning and I’m pretty sure we’ll go to the cabin either this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

Way too Much Stuff!

Sunday August 26

We decided to wait until Sunday.

In the morning we finished packing, loaded up the truck and by 9:30 we were ready to go. Sarah texted that some of the bedrooms were very humid and stuffy and could we stop at their house and get their dehumidifier? Yes, and we picked up a couple of fans while we were at it. THEN we were ready to go.

I feel much better today. I’m still symptomatic, with a cough and a slight sour throat, but even that is improving. I’m still easily fatigued, and think I need to continue to take it easy. Lee did a test this morning. He feels fine. The test was still positive, but the sample line is now very faint so he’s well on his way to recovery. I’m not going to bother to take a test until my symptoms are gone.

It was only a 2 hour drive to the cabin but when we stopped to get gas we switched drivers since we both still get tired so easily. We stopped at a Love’s truck stop and there was a Hardees, so against our better judgement we both got burgers. Mine was pretty disgusting, way too salty, with that fake grilled taste that Hardees specializes in. I ate half because I was hungry but ugh.

The cabin is on a pretty lake. It’s kind of a hoot, filled with doodads, stuffed bears, pillows and all kinds of crap. As usual we have a LOT of food, possibly not quite as much as last year but it’s hard to say. There is a tiny sandy beach and a dock and so many water toys! The boys have been playing in the water all day long. They’re going to be tired tonight. I hear there is a half court basketball court downstairs but I haven’t gone to see it yet.

The floor is gritty, and it’s not the cleanest place I've ever been but it’s ok. There’s a stuffed deer head on the wall above me though; that’s kind of creepy.

Creepy Deer Above the Fireplace

Monday August 26

Yesterday afternoon we spent several hours down at the beach watching the boys play in the water. There are so many water toys, and they made good use of them. They played with the turtle tube, the loon tube, the various other tubes. Sarah and Erik took them canoeing. I sat in a chair by the beach and watched. I feel better, just easily fatigued.

Eventually I went up to the house and hung out in the great room, reading, writing, crocheting. Sarah cooked dinner, grilled steak and veggies, hummus and pita bread. We ate out on the deck. Then we played a funny game called Happy Little Accidents, a take off on Bob Ross the TV painting instructor. You draw a doodle on a piece of paper, put the papers in the middle of the table folded  in half. Everyone picks one, then someone chooses a word from a stack of cards and you have to draw the word, incorporating the doodle. Then you describe your drawing and everyone picks the one they like the best. Sounds stupid but it actually was really fun, and the boys could play too.

I was pretty tired and went to bed a little early, even for me. There isn’t air conditioning in our bedroom, but we used one of the fans. The bed has flannel sheets, which might be nice in the winter but not now! We slept on top of the sheets and used the dog sheet as a top sheet. It was still warm. A double bed, two people and 3 dogs in a small bedroom but we survived.

This morning I slept until 6. Took the dogs out, came in and had breakfast. Eventually I took a quick bath/shower. There was a moth tangled in my hair when I washed it! Good grief. Suzanne asked me how it got there. I’d rather not think about it, ok?!

Nice Lake

Tuesday August 27

Yesterday was cloudy, hot and humid. We mostly did indoor things. The boys played in the downstairs gym and discovered a foosball table. Kirby got quite obsessed with foosball. He kept going downstairs to “practice”. 

The adults relaxed. We played another game called Outburst, where you had to try to guess as many items in a category as possible in a short amount of time. The game was from the 80’s so we had to temper our answers to adjust for that.  Some people also played Pictionary but I didn’t.

I actually went for a short walk, 25 minutes. I’ll go for another one today. I still tire easily and have a slight cough, but that’s about it. I stopped wearing a mask yesterday afternoon. I haven’t retested, not yet anyway.

Later in the afternoon Sarah and Erik took the boys out in the paddleboat. At least they’re making use of the water toys! If I felt better I’d try the SUP but I’m not up to it.

Lee needed to go to the store so I went along, just to get out and do something. As the afternoon wore on  the wind picked up and it started to cool off. A short rainstorm blew through. By evening it was pretty nice, but windy. Lee made dumplings for dinner. They were yummy!

After dinner we watched School of Rock. I haven’t watched it in years. It’s a cute movie, but Jack Black really got on my nerves. Just overacting extreme. Talk about chewing up the curtains! I remembered the movie as being a lot better than it was. Leo enjoyed it but it was too grownup for Kirby. Also he was tired.

I slept better last night but that bed is ridiculous. We kept the door open and that helped a lot because it made it much cooler. Heather fell out of bed at 4:30 AM. I was afraid she had to go potty but I threw her back in bed and she was fine until after 6.

I slept until 6:18. Took the dogs outside, gave them a treat. I didn’t feed them breakfast until almost 8. Everything is running late today!

Wednesday August 28

Yesterday was a fun day. In the morning I went for a walk again, this time for 30 minutes. I took Sophie with me so she got two walks. She had a fine time just trotting along, although at first she kept looking behind us, wondering why Harper didn’t come too. We saw 2 deer at a crossroads, leaping about, staying away from us. She was quite excited by their smells.

It was a pretty day, sunny finally, lower humidity, cool but not too bad. The lake was muddy and it was too cold for the boys to swim, so instead they fished. And fished. And fished. They didn’t catch anything, but that didn’t deter them. They tried different lures and practiced their casting, with Lee in close attendance. Leo is actually getting pretty good, and Kirby is doing well for a 4 yo. You had to stay away from him because he didn’t always remember to look behind before his cast!

When they took a break from fishing they wanted to take the canoe out but of course that wasn’t allowed without grownups and no grownups were in the mood. So Lee rigged up the canoe with one of the dog’s long lines, clipping it by one end to the dock. The boys put on their life jackets and grabbed a couple paddles and away they went. It was really funny and they were delighted. They could only go a couple yards in any direction but that didn’t stop them. They played with the canoe for a good hour like that, and then went back to fishing.

The Boys Go on a Tethered Canoe Ride

Sarah and I took out the paddleboat and pedaled around for awhile. It was nice, not too hard, kind of fun. We made a loop around a part of the lake. In one direction the wind was in our faces which made it cooler, but slower. On the way back the sun was in our faces so it felt warmer but the wind was behind us so we actually went quite fast without realizing it. I steered with the rudder and it was sort of like a houseboat, with a delayed reaction. I kept oversteering but we survived.

We went out to dinner last night at a place called Pint and Pike in the nearby town of Anderson. It was very popular but we got a table out on the patio so Otis could come with. Anymore poor Otis gets very nervous when Kris is out of his sight. I retested for Covid and my line is still there but very very faint. I may test again on Friday so I can tell our houseguests if I’m still positive.

The restaurant was decent for a small town in the middle of nowhere. We got a poutine appetizer just because why not? Several people got the walleye sandwich, Erik got a cajun burger, I got the salmon. It was all pretty good. Leo and Kirby were very well behaved, it was just a pleasant evening. At one point Kirby was sitting in Lee’s lap and Lee was massaging his back. He stopped talking and got a very distant look on his face. It was so funny; we were all laughing at him and he certainly didn’t care!

We are all happy to be going home this morning. We want to take showers and baths and sleep in our own beds. The thing is, in spite of the house we all had a really good time. The boys are at the point where they mostly go off and play by themselves. They can join in family games, enjoy a movie, take part in conversations. It’s one of my favorite kid times, ages 4 to 11 or so, before hormones start kicking in and things get complicated.

We might try to plan ahead more for next year, to get a better house, or even stay in a resort. It's hard for this group to plan that for ahead though, so we’ll see!

Palo Alto in August

We leave this afternoon. It’s been a nice visit. Emi has changed so much! When we arrived on Sunday she seemed a little shy and hesitant. Dan thinks it was because he told her that ”grandma and grandpa” were coming and she was expecting Craig and Jeanne! Although Jeanne is Bauchan (Japanese for grandma). We thought maybe it was because she was surprised that we were real big people, and not little things in the phone! Ha.

Anyway, she is crawling easily, which she was still figuring out at the beginning of July. And she is standing! She can stand holding on to all sorts of things, but while we were here she learned to stand holding on to the coffee table and the couch. Those kind of things are harder because you have to reach up and then pull yourself up. She also reached from the coffee table to the couch and stood holding on to each one! And she just turned 8 months.

She makes lots of different sounds. She can make a clicking sound with her tongue and loves if you make that sound back to her. She does lots of pretend talking, something I remember Sarah doing. The closest she gets to actual words is maybe making a dada sound occasionally. And when Rossi barks, if you go “woof woof” she will try to say “woof woof” too.

She loves Rossi. She thinks Rossi is hilarious. Rossi is still not thrilled with Emi, however. She is barely tolerant of her. If Emi gets too close Rossi growls. We have to watch them both; tell Emi to be gentle and to let Rossi have some space if she growls. And telling Rossi to go away if she doesn’t want Emi too close. I’m sure eventually Rossi will decide Emi is part of the family and love her just like she loves Kelsey and Daniel, but for now we have to watch her. Rossi is not at all like my dogs when it comes to babies!

Emi is eating bombas, the weird peanut butter puffs that Leo used to love. She can eat teething crackers, but you have to watch her, and take the cracker away when it gets small, otherwise she’ll try to cram the whole thing in her mouth and choke! She’s eating a fair amount of baby food too, but still gets most of her nutrition from formula and breast milk.

She’s still a very chill little girl, only crying if she’s hungry or tired. She’s easy to put down for a nap, but they’re usually not very long, 20 minutes to an hour tops. She takes 2-3 naps a day and then sleeps well at night, close to 10 hours.

We watched her most days, with a few breaks here and there. She’s easier than she was even a month ago, but you still have to watch her constantly of course. They’ve put up a baby gate between the kitchen and the playroom, mainly so that Rossi can have some peace and quiet.

I went to Rinconada Pool one morning to swim. This time I thought the water was chilly, although it’s supposed to be 80 degrees. The sun was warm, however. I did a ladder workout this time, laps of 25-50-75-100-125-150-125-100-75-50-25, all with 20 seconds of rest between. You were supposed to try to do them all at the same pace but I’m nowhere near being able to judge my pace very well at all. it was fun, though, and not very difficult. I’m to the point now where the swim distance for the triathlon (750 yards) seems very doable. My biggest problem is swimming in a straight line in open water. I drift to one side a LOT, which means I have to sight a lot, which messes up my pace. I’m going to practice OWS a bunch until the tri, and then I may never do it again!

We didn’t go on any big adventures this time, just hung out with Emi, went for walks, took her to go swing. She likes it but not for very long. I think she might have a tendency toward motion sickness, like her dad. We’ll find that out soon enough!

We’ll be back here again at the end of October, for Halloween, and then again at the beginning of December for Emi’s first birthday! I bet she’ll be walking when we come back next time.