Back to the NL

We had a nice time on Monday and Tuesday. Finished up the bridge with my Dad on Monday and then after packing up on Tuesday we spent some time at the Rapid River. The trip back to Europe on Wednesday went about as well as it could have. Delta kindly added four hours to our layover in Detroit, but that seems like a best case scenario these days. Nobody asked about our Covid vaccines or tests and our car started without a problem.

These past few days have been more productive than expected and the jet lag hasn't been too bad this time as we got more sleep than usual on the plane. Sad to see all the tomatoes thought it was fall while we were gone. Sure feels like fall now that we are back! I guess they weren't wrong. Got the house cleaned up and the ponds cleaned out.

Tomorrow we all have our first day of school. I think the transition this year will go much more smoothly as the girls know what to expect and they have one of the same teachers as last year. They won't be able to come home for lunch anymore though, which is really a shame. 

Finished the bridge.

Fun last day at the Rapid River.

Escalators are nonstop entertainment!

Happy Birthday!!!

We have been packing so much into so little time! Getting tired. Would be nice to have some rest before we fly back on Wednesday! This trip has gone by much too quickly. We were able to have a lot of fun at the UP State Fair on Thursday for the girls birthday. It was too hot, but they really enjoyed the animals. I thought the Antique Village was pretty interesting, but the girls were dissapointed that the rides were too expensive. If we wanted to have one ride on the ferris wheel with two adults and two girls it would have been 20 bucks! Crazy. The girls opened some really nice presents and they chose burritos for their birthday dinner. 

The day after Naomi and I finished cleaning up the disgusting ruins on our property. We got the worst of it burned and taken to the landfill - two and a half truckloads full! We couldn't get all of the tiny pieces as the foam and tar paper were disintegrating, but in a couple years it will all be covered. There is a bit more trash to clean up, but the worst part is done. We also took some time to drive through Marquette and decide upon which streets we would like to live on. Who knows what this housing market will do...

My business has been really busy. Lots of problems to deal with especially as China is changing the rules for what kind of online teaching is allowed. Hopefully we will be able to stay under the radar as we can't conform with all of them at this point!

The girls turned 7 on Thursday and we had a lovely day.

We visited the fair for their birthday. 

The day after we got the camper ruins cleaned up. What a job.

We also mapped out the streets where we would like to buy a house.

They are finishing some Coast Guard ships by the library in Escanaba.

More birthday fun.

Turns out goats were more interesting than rides anyway.

Planted some raspberries in the burn site.

Anniversary Trip

We had quite the week (and a half)! Claire had to go back to Europe, so we enjoyed the rest of our time with her and ended with a nice dinner at the Red Lobster in Marquette. This was also to celebrate the girl's good report card. The next day it was just the four of us as my parents drove Claire down to the airport. We played some tennis and relaxed a bit. The next day I went back up to Marquette for a meeting with our accountant, this time on my own. 

On Saturday Naomi and I went up to our land to camp out for a couple nights. The first night our tent got surrounded by some bears, so that made us a bit nervous, but they didn't bother us. We heard them the next night too, and there is no shortage of bear poop around there! We spent our time exploring and cleaning up the garbage that the previous owners left behind. Got a good start, but we will head back on Friday to do some more.

On Monday we stayed at a fancy hotel with a great lake view to celebrate our anniversary. It was a lot of fun. Tuesday morning was a last minute meeting with one of the Deans at NMU. He was really friendly and helpful - seemed interested in helping us to find postions there in a couple years. After that we toured the girls future school and then went for a swim. After that we met some of my dad's friends in town. It has been super busy and prodoctive - anything but restful. Lots of catching up to do this morning with the business and other things. 

Bear poop near our campsite.

The library right across from our hotel.

Fun with Grandpa.

Fun with garbage on our land.

Fun with a last dinner with Auntie Claire!

View from our hotel room.

Found some great Mexican food in Marquette!

Had to wait a day to dump the garbage.

More of that dinner at the Red Lobster.

Future build site.

Burning the burnable garbage.

Taking the rest to the landfill.

Recovery and Routine

We had a great time swimming, kayaking, and eating good food with Aunt Jenny and Uncle Pat - the girls even gave fishing a try. Since then, we have taken some time to rest and recover. It was a really intense trip. 

Claire has been working hard, but we have had some fun with her too. The girls finally got to ride a horse, and they loved it! Abigail also lost a tooth.

I have been busy with some administrative stuff and my Dad and I started replacing an old bridge that has been decaying in the woods. Fun project. Getting plenty of golfing done too! We also had the chance to visit some old friends who live on a river and have a swimming pool. The girls had a blast!

Family picture at the funeral.

Abigail lost another tooth!

Horse riding.

Fun in the Ford River.

The old bridge.

A dream come true!

Building the new bridge.

The Funeral

This post is a bit later than usual as we had a busy weekend at Grandma Harriet's funeral. It was a beautiful service and we had a lot of fun with family. The girls even enjoyed it! The house that we stayed at was right on a lake, and it had a great front porch where we could hang out. We had nearly the whole place reserved and it was a perfect spot to share with family.

The week before that was tons of fun with Auntie Kalia and Evi. The girls had a blast getting to know their cousin. We all had lots of fun going up to Marquette to check out a house and put in an offer (we didn't get it as there were 12 other bids), found some time at the beach, and even went for a walk on our land. 

We spent the last couple days with Aunt Jenny and Uncle Pat. They just had a huge storm come through and it blew down a lot of their trees. The girls had a blast kayaking with us (they rode on the front and jumped in whenever they felt like it), swimming with the raft, and learning to fish with Uncle Pat. We also had some amazing sweet corn! Time for a break though, that is for sure! Back to the golf course.

Future babysitter.

The front porch by the lake.

Tractor rides!

Queen of the playground.

Another hike on our land.

Lake Superior.

Camping with Grandpa!

One of Marquette's beaches.

Sunset Lake - Aunt Jenny and Uncle Pat's house.

Another future babysitter.