ole schnikees: 2020

Monday was May 4th, star wars day. Al was off so we drove to schrocks, the amish place we get plants every year and stopped at jenny's house to see her and the girls. the kids played in their backyard for a bit then we headed home for lunch and nap. afterwards, we went outside and got some more work done in the backyard. Al used his new grill to make us burgers then we went for a hike with matt, Jodi & the kids. we went pretty close to our house but somewhere we hadn't been yet. it was a good 2.5 mile hike and we saw deer and a big owl! (mine and trevor's first time seeing an owl in the wild) we took backroads back and saw lots of deer, even very close to the car. then bath and bed for the kids (they fell right asleep) and Al and I watched the new star wars movie!

Tuesday was cinco de mayo and taco Tuesday! Al took the kids to grandpa peter's house in the morning while I cleaned. then during nap time, I took trevor, chloe and Camdyn on a hike to the fishing ponds. we had fun; made the whole loop and skipped lots of rocks. we were going to do cancun with matt & Jodi & the kids, but Carsyn ended up throwing up so I picked up cancun for all of us and dropped theirs off at their house. the kids enjoyed it! then we watched a bit of a movie before bed.

Wednesday Al went back to work. the kids and I went hiking with Jodi, cam, chloe, Carsyn and graham (daycare kid.) we went to a new local trail we hadn't been to and it was mountain biking trails up and down a large hill. it was super cool! then the kids got to run in the open area and the big kids climbed up the large sledding hill. we picked up school lunch afterwards and ate at home. after nap we played outside.

Thursday the kids and I took the edge in since there was a large screw in our tire. there's an automotive place close to our house so we dropped the car off and walked home. close to lunch time we went for a walk, walked our close little nature trails and then walked to trevor's school to get lunch (they do walk up lunch there for a 10 minute window from a school bus; the middle school does drive up lunch for an hour & a half window.) we saw leah and her kids and daycare kids which included trevor's buddy and classmate, cole. then we walked to pick up the edge before driving it home to eat. Thursday night (and all the way until Tuesday) we had chances for freezing/frost at night so I had to cover my peonies, tulips and potted plants (or brought the smaller ones in.)

Friday was the start to Al's weekend off. in the morning, Al took the kids to grandpa peter's house while I cleaned and packed. Friday night we had a zoom call with shane, Jodi, matt, Jodi, sarah and derek. it was fun!

Saturday morning we packed up bright and early and took off for the north shore. we had planned a long time ago to go to superior shores this weekend with mom and they just opened up on Monday. it's condos not a hotel. matt, Jodi, and the kids followed us up as they came just for the day. we met mom in Duluth. we picked rocks in Duluth for 2 hours and had a picnic lunch there. then we headed to gooseberry falls with everyone. the risen's loved our north shore as much as we do! we had lots of fun. we checked in to mom's friend's condo (which we stay at every year) and were exhausted. mom had made lasagna for supper so we started that but then heard some water dripping and realized there was water running out of the fan and light fixture in the bathroom ceiling. we called down, they had maintenance come up, and we had to switch rooms after just getting all unpacked and tova's bed set up. we were moved to the first floor which was not as nice of a condo but cool to be able to walk right out to the beach. while the lasagna cooked, we went to the beach and it was windy but nice. we found a ton of agates! I think cuz no ones been there in a long time. we ate supper, put kids down for an early bedtime (tova didn't nap), and mom and I went back to the beach for the beautiful sunset. the wind had calmed down and it was gorgeous out there; we had the beach to ourselves.

sunday morning after breakfast we went rock picking again at the beach and climbed some of the bigger rocks. then we hit the road. we stopped at a smoked fish shop for Al, stopped in Duluth to pick up my large heart rock and stopped in superior for lunch and gas and pee. then we got home, unpacked, played and relaxed.