Mother's Day, 1st Canoe Trip in WI

On Mothers' Day we went on our first canoe trip in Wisconsin. I packed up a picnic lunch, got the gear out of storage crates, and picked what I hoped would be a quiet lake. Just shy of an hour's drive west of our home is Blackhawk Lake, a "no wake" body of water. It proved to be very peaceful indeed. The water was so amazing clear we could see the bottom, at least until it became too deep!

View Larger Map

The really incredible thing was just how many fish we saw! I don't think I've ever seen so many panfish, bass and pike! From little babies to a couple of trophy sized fish! It made me want two things; one, to start fishing again after all these years, and two, to get a quality polarized filter! I didn't even try to take photos of the fish as I had the wrong sort of lenses on me, and no polarizer...

We ended the trip with a nice picnic in the shade. There was a decent little playground, a small beach and a handful of children for Freja to play with. One of her favorite things to do was collect snail shells along the beach. We let her get in the water as it was so warm. A perfect day really. I do believe we'll be going back!

Catching Up: New Home!

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. After closing on our new home March 30th, life's become very hectic. All the packing up from the apartment, unloading PODS full of stuff, renovations, etc., have left little time for online activity. I didn't even have my workstation set up until this past weekend, May 12th! I'll try to quickly sum up everything...

To begin, the 30th was a GREAT day, at least for Teri & I. After waiting for 6 months we were finally the owners! For months all we've done is imagine living in the house. On that day it became a reality. We didn't move in right away, instead taking two weeks to begin redoing things while the place was empty.

While we were ecstatic; Freja, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled. She'd just become used to the apartment and didn't truly get excited about our having to move again.

I think this photo of her sums it up.

To be fair, when you're told this is going to be your room, when you really wanted to have the attic, it can be a downer.

As you can see, our first order of business was removing ALL the wallpaper in the house. Every room had it! We hired a contractor to come in and take it out, leaving the walls primed and ready. It was the most frustrating, unprofessional job I've ever dealt with. BUT it was done! We then were able to start actually painting rooms.

Waiting for the work on the walls also meant waiting to unpack everything. Our garage was packed to the rafters by piles of "stuff." We also kept one of the storage PODS for a while, waiting for room to open so we could unload. I think carrying crates, boxes, and furniture around has been the most tiring part of this.

Within a short span Teri repainted Freja's room. We unpacked a LOT of Freja's toys, furniture and such. It was like Christmas all over again! This made her very happy indeed!

While it's not completed, lots of details to still do such as curtains, shelves, artwork, etc., we think the room's very different now. Most importantly, Freja loves it!

Her kitchen fits in her closet too!

She's her goofy self again!

I have to run, as there is a lot for me to do today. I'll write more later.