Tag Archives: yellow cabin

Andrew, Griffin, Maggie, Oliver, Photo, Sarah

Memorial Day at the Cabin

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We enjoyed a few days with away from the end-of-school rush at the cabin over Memorial Day weekend. Our friends Jess, Murray, and Olive joined us. (Sadly, Kevin couldn’t make it this year.)

The trip included a number of notable events:

  • Oliver’s first trip to the cabin, including relatively long drives, unfamiliar sleeping arrangements, and a wacky schedule. He was quite flexible, though he did complain that we were letting him freeze during the first night (temps dropped steeply after dark). We nailed it on the second night.
  • Oliver’s first kayak trip.
  • Maggie’s first time paddling the canoe and sitting on a proper bench.
  • Griffin and Murray’s first time being largely independent in the kayaks. This was not exactly our intent, but they got them in the water before the rest of us were ready and before we knew it they were across the lake, exploring the island. (Definitely wearing life jackets!)
  • Griffin caught a frog.
  • Relatively close encounter with a pileated woodpecker on a birch by the cabin. The photos, at the end of the set below, are blurry phone pics, but this sucker was huge.
  • Two new eggs in the loon nest. We weren’t sure if they would use the same nest site for a second year running. Last year one egg did not hatch. We’ll be checking back on the nest at our next visit.
  • Thunderstorms and hail kept us inside on Sunday afternoon, which allowed for a smashing D&D game. (Griffin’s elf wizard was nearly killed by an evil skeleton, but Maggie gave him one of her healing potions.)
Oliver enjoying the view from the porch.
Oliver’s first time out in a kayak.
Maggie’s first time paddling (occasionally) the canoe.
Griffin and Murray zipped all over the lake.
Two fresh loon eggs in the same nest that we found last summer.
Oliver working on some teething issues (and boosting his immune system).
Bedtime reading with Jess.
Pileated woodpecker is on the trunk of the tree above the cluster of green leaves. (This was the maximum zoom with my phone… alas I didn’t have time to get the telephoto on my camera.)
Profile of the pileated woodpecker on the large branch to the left.
Andrew, Griffin, Maggie, Photo, Sarah

Yellow Cabin – Summer 2016

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Another lovely summer weekend at the cabin. The water was warm so we spent much of our time on or in the water. Many highlights of this trip escaped digital capture, including seeing young otters playing by the shore, a few sightings of a belted kingfisher, and a bizarre close encounter with a meditating cormorant (who remained standing on a sunken log unperturbed by Griffin approaching nearly within arm’s reach). Plus Daddy capsizing and emerging from the lake covered in muck. And a humongous man-eating water tarantula (that’s its scientific name) on the dock.

But we did manage to get a few shots. Click below for larger versions.

Griffin, Maggie, Photo

Cousins!

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Raven and Max, and their parents, came for a glorious visit during the last week of July. Many adventures were had, some of which are documented below. Click on any photo for a larger version (and a slide-show interface, if you’d like to flip through all of them).

Sequence
Minnehaha creek
The Science Museum
Black Sheep Pizza
Canal Park on Lake Superior
The dock at the Yellow Cabin
Griffin, Maggie

Yellow Cabin

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Perfect weather for time out on the water. We couldn’t believe how warm the water was already—the kids loved it.

Some of Griffin’s favorite things at the cabin this weekend:

  • Finding agates
  • Swimming
  • When I was in the front of the canoe doing the driving.
  • Having butterscotch candy from the candy jar
  • Kayaking with Mama and seeing lots of turtles. We found a log with ten turtles on it. We called it turtleland.
  • Seeing pictures of the flying squirrels
  • Going to the dock and balancing on the edge
  • Snuggling with Mama and Daddy in the loft when we woke up

Some of Maggie’s favorite things at the cabin this weekend:

  • Finding special rocks
  • Finding some shells with Mommy while you guys going somewhere [Griffin and I dropped Sarah and Maggie off to do some beach-combing while we continued canoeing around the lake.]
  • Having jellybeans
  • Going up in the high high bunk bed
  • Seeing baby squirrels [in addition to the baby flying squirrels, which the kids didn’t get to see, we uncovered a red squirrel nest in the pump box for the well]
  • Reading books with Mama and Daddy and Griffin
Photo

Flying Squirrel Nest

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Sarah was startled by a bat in the outhouse tonight. Or she thought it was a bat. Then she discovered a nest in the corner with four baby northern flying squirrels! This is cool, of course, but we’re also sad that we have disturbed the nest. Our best guess, based on Internet research, is that they are around 20 days old — thick fur, but eyes not open yet. We’re hoping they can survive this disruption.

The nest — they made good use of a roll of toilet paper.
You can’t quite see the patagium (“wing” membrane), but it was clearly visible as they moved.
Cozy! (You can see its patagium in this picture, a folded bit of flesh under its belly.)

Update: We were relieved to find that mama squirrel took her kiddos to a safer nest overnight. The outhouse is no place to raise a family.