Visitors!

We had lots of fun hosting Caryn and Paul this week! Naomi made a special dinner for their arrival on Sunday. She had to work on Monday, but my parents were able to come up with a load of firewood and we drove to Big Bay to check out a historic hotel. It was renovated by Henry Ford and he hung out with his buddies there like Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone and Edward Kingsford. He also built a power plant big enough to provide electricity for the entire Western UP using wood chips. Lots of other cool stuff he did up here. 

On Tuesday we spent time in Marquette and had a really nice lunch at Iron Bay. There was a cruise ship parked at the dock. It was also a hot day, so we went to the beach where the water was warm, and the wind was blowing the flies away, so Amélie had a blast in the waves. On Wednesday we went over to Pictured Rocks. Abigail loved it. The road was closed to Miner's Falls, and the parking lot was closed to Munising Falls, but we did get to see Scott Falls. It was sad to say goodbye! 

Worked on organizing the garage further and put together a cutting board. Also worked on the garden. Yesterday Amélie did a three hour hike up Hogback Mountain with the neighbors! Impressive. Naomi and I took Abigail to the art fair. She talked with Kalil who makes jewelry and is also one of our teachers and Naomi's kickboxing instructor about becoming her intern. Soon we will need to bring Abigail to Kalil's workshop. 

The half of Miner's Castle that still remains.

Bees are happy and healthy.

That's a lot of heat for 25 bucks!

The historic hotel in Big Bay.

Thomas Rock Overlook in Big Bay.

Lunch at Iron Bay.

Windy day at the beach.

Amélie's happy place.

Scott Falls.

Hiking up Hogback.

Cleanup

For some reason I have been holding onto a mild cold for the past week. Annoying. Managed to get a lot of things cleaned up though! Finished the small project for my new client out on Middle Island Point. Also got the shed roof wrapped up. The garage is getting organized and worked on cleaning up the basement and workshop. Trying to do the shed and the garden before Caryn and Paul get here today! 

The girls had a lot of fun at camp on Thursday. They also enjoyed some down time around the house. We planted some raspberries from Rick. Also tried for a dip in the lake but the flies were too bad. Naomi is busy at work with orientation. Her teaching skills are really shining! The other advisors have little idea how to instruct the groups of incoming freshmen. 

It has been fun to watch two baby deer and their mother hang out in our front yard. Also made it up to visit one of Naomi's friends. She is an older lady who lives on her own with a herd of sheep. She sells wool at the market and lives in a self-built underground home. Reminds one of the Shire but with taller trees. Such a cool spot! 

One project done.

Chilly water!

Abigail made new earrings by burning a hole in wood with a magnifying glass. 

Two projects done. 

Big City Adventures

Monday and Tuesday the girls were still with my parents. Wednesday they went to the first day of summer camp at NMU and that went well. I managed to catch up on some things in the house and plug away at a few projects. Tuesday night was their first piano lesson and they love their teacher. Both are more motivated to practice right now.

So happy we live in Marquette! Definitely not a big city person any more. It was great to spend some time with friends and family though. We stayed in Milwaukee with my cousin and ate dinner at a nice Greek restaurant to celebrate the girls impressive job this school year on Thursday night. 

On Friday we drove to the edge of Chicago and took the 'L' (metro) into the city. Avoided traffic and saved a lot of money. Much better than the train from Milwaukee which only runs four times per day and would have cost $160 bucks. Public transport is a joke around here. We enjoyed the river walk and made it to our passport appointment early. It cost two hours and 1000 bucks but we should have our new Dutch passports soon. Now onto the American ones. Luckily those can be done in Marquette. On the way back we tried to spend time in Millennium Park but it was under construction. 

On Saturday we found a great bagel place for lunch and got a dozen to bring home for a friend. We ate by the marina. It was a beautiful day! Then we got to check out the domes at the botanical gardens. Cool spot. After a rest we ate dinner with friends and then had a fire with s'mores in the backyard. Sunday was a long drive home but we got to stop at my aunt and uncle's for lunch and had dinner with my parents. Great way to break up the drive. Sure am glad to be home!

Dinner at the Greek restaurant.

First look at a skyscraper. 

Fog moving in off Lake Michigan.

The Riverwalk was great.

Lunch by the lake.

Mitchell Domes

Must be Milwaukee.

The domes are so tall!

Stinky Corpse Flowers.

Time for s'mores! 

Last Week of School

(Forgot to hit the publish button again. This was written on June 9th.)

School has officially ended for the year. The girls, Amélie especially, is disappointed. She told me that she wished she still went to school in the Netherlands so that she wouldn't feel so sad about it ending. They both had such a wonderful year. Their amazing teacher will be teaching them again next year, so that helps to make it not quite so sad. We also have lots of fun things to do and people to see this summer, so that helps too!

I got my friend's sawmill all set up at the neighbor's house and cut up some logs. It worked really well! Now I just need to find a place to dry the boards and get the sawmill back down to my friend. I owe him a picnic table now. I will make one for our campsite too. 

We got some passport pictures taken yesterday but aren't sure if they will be accepted. The guy used a cell phone and cut them out by hand, so we don't have a lot of confidence in the result. Also handed the girls over to Grammie and Grampie and Whitefish Falls, more or less a halfway point. The mosquitoes were bad though. We sure are lucky not to have that problem where we live! 

Stopped by the lake on the way home. The water was chilly, but people were still out for a swim. Impressive. Had dinner at a restaurant we hadn't tried yet. Very average. Can understand why we haven't heard anything about it. More for tourists I guess. It was packed. 

Abigail had a sick day on Monday.

Thinking about a new wood stove.

Table saw stopped working. Bad news!

The sawmill did its job though. This log maxed it out.

Mostly 2 inch boards for picnic tables.

Whitefish Falls with lots of mosquitoes.

Notice the swimmers?

Not many mosquitoes at all where we live.

Camping Out

We had a lot of fun camping out on our land for Memorial Day. The bugs seemed bad when we first got there, but once we got the fire going, they didn't bother us much. Naomi sealed up the little openings in the camper with foam, so we slept without a problem. Our friends came out to join us for a campfire dinner, and that was fun! We somehow avoided the rain. Very lucky as it was close by. Mom and Dad came up for a walk in the morning. 

The girls had a few special events at school as the year is winding down. No more clubs. Just one week to go. Yesterday Naomi stayed home, but we went to a friend's birthday party in Rapid River. My parents came too. So many mosquitoes! Managed to get the sawmill loaded onto the trailer. Now it needs to be set up. 

The teaching business is not going very well. We keep losing students. Normal at the end of the school year. I just hope we can get some new ones over the summer and at the beginning of the next school year! I did find a new client for the woodworking business, though. He went to Michigan and is a really nice guy. They have a family cabin at the tip of the peninsula right next to Presque Isle in Marquette. Amazing spot. Managed to finish up half of the lower shed roof. Hopefully I can get the other half done this week as there should be some freshly milled timber to be stowed under there. 

Fun by the fire.

Their new sleeping bags arrived after the big campout.

Working on the roof.

Birthday party at the Rapid River.