Summertime

Well, I realized through a Facebook post that our technological state since our move at the end of June may have affected our communication and some lacking updates in our lives.  (No internet, spotty cell service, limited email access....)  Things have been chaotic, so this isn't surprising.

Aden is all signed up for fifth grade at his new school.  This will be the start of Middle School for him, and he has started meeting some kids his age by joining 4 H.  We have not been able to obtain the chickens his wants locally since it is off-season, so he is still deciding whether he wants to start with a different kind of chicken, or wait until spring to start with the chickens he wants.  He has been busy with other things, so this hasn't been the end of the world!

In Mid-July Aden attended a Wolf Camp at the Minnesota Science Center.   He had his camera with him, but didn't take a lot of pictures.  It sounded like he had fun.  He was there for two nights/three days.

The rest of July has mostly been spent unpacking, painting, cleaning, and trying to organize our lives.  We still have the garage to move, and our Glencoe home is for sale.  Hopefully it will move soon.

Dave started working in his new field (machining) in early June.  He likes the work, and only has about a 10-15 minute commute, where he works not far from where Aden's school will be.

I left the newspaper in May and started a different job, also.  Very early on I had the sense that it was not a fit - something that has never happened to me before.  I thought the feeling would go away, but it didn't.  By mid-June it was clear to me that I did not want to be there, and that the job and environment were not what I expected.  I could tell some funny stories, but I won't.

So, this summer has been time for me to help Aden adjust to our new area, unpack, job hunt and get settled. I am not a very relaxed person overall, so it doesn't come very naturally not to spend time fretting about finding a job and our house selling, but I am working on that. In the moments it is better, Aden and I have been doing some fun things.

Not far from the house we can put the kayak in. We did that last week and went all the way across the lake - it is much further by paddle than we expected! We have spent several mornings exploring the woods, and have turned up some interesting finds... We've scaled trees, walked, and hunted for nature's fun things. Here are some photos from our adventures.

We found an abandoned nest with tiny jelly-bean sized eggs.

 

IRONY:  A bird using a shedded snake skin for the cushy nest
in which its young would be protected.

We didn't want to take all the eggs, so Aden brought one in and lovingly
replicated a soft nest so we could see if it might hatch for us indoors.

 All finished!

 We've had several fun captures.

 This beast bit Aden seven times before it was killed. 
None of us have ever seen a wasp this big!!

 We have lots of great trees for climbing!

Silliness...

 Being home means flowers are kept alive, and delightful things like chimes have been hung. 
Aren't they lovely!

Dave sustained a nasty injury on his left forefinger at work on Friday.  It will be fine, and he has his antibiotics to make sure it doesn't get infected.