Lodge of Four Seasons

We had a great time this weekend. This is the lodge where we stayed. The only complaint we have is that the time went by too quickly.

San Diego

I was out in San Diego this week. I didn't know about the fires until after we landed. The air was smokey and filled with ash. The highways were flooded with people evacuating their homes. I took a shot of the sun from the plant in Carlsbad (which is north of San Diego and just south of Camp Pendelton) around 3:00 in the afternoon. Camp Pendelton was on fire Wednesday and closed I-5 north of our hotel. I never felt I was ever in any danger but the smoke and ash definitely kept it on my mind. Glad to be home.

Birds in the Yard Again

I had more birds show up in my yard again today right after yesterday's visitors. Only 1 of these birds stayed today unlike the 2 that stayed yesterday.

Inlaw 1's favorite "Cub"

"Go Cubs ! !" Says Olivia

Birds in the Yard

I had a couple of birds show up in my yard today also.

Birds in the Yard

I had a couple of birds show up in my yard also.

Coopers Hawk

The Coopers Hawk seems to land in the backyard when the weather is cold and rainy. I have a couple more posted in the Mills Mailbox.

Grandma's Rose

Just one of Grandma Darby's roses from a couple weeks ago. They still look great.

9 months old

As if time hasn't flown by fast enough since she was born...but today she is a whoppin' 3/4 of a year old. That's 270 days....she's getting up there! Just thought I'd share a few pics with you to see what she has been up to lately. She is crawlin like crazy, has 3 teeth, and is pulling herself up on everything and getting into everything. She is one great kid, though...let me tell ya!!!

I dunno if she could get any cuter!!!

Grandma Kay and me took her to the park to go swinging!!

She laughed her little head off!!

Rub a dub dub!! She's bathes in Grandma's sink now!!

Olivia's first time in the grass

She LOVES to "try" to eat the leaves

Hope you all enjoyed your summer and are heading into fall enjoying the changing of the leaves and the dark that comes too soon!! Look forward to seeing you all soon!!

XOXOXOXOX

Fall at the Cabin

Here are a few pictures from our trip last weekend. The leaves were turning colors and the sky was perfectly blue. To top it off, I spent Wednesday morning fishing with Leo. Great weekend.



We've seen this deer before. She was bedded down along Schoeman Rd.




This is the shore by the dam on X.

Good Times at the Cabin

Grandma and Grandpa visited the cabin this week. It was great. Grandma was the first to the pier and caught the first fish. She was back in the kitchen while Grandpa checked out his favorite chair. Everyone hopes you enjoyed yourself and will be make plans to return soon and often.
The leaves were turning while they visited.
The water level is very low. We weren't able to take the pontoon boat out because we couldn't get it off the lift. The trees were turning colors this week and the bay was quite picturesque.
Grandma caught the first fish but both were smiling ear to ear. I didn't know that Grandma always caught the first fish but that was what I heard. You go grandma.
Rose and Wayne Kiss, Grandpa and Grandma, and Jan.
Grandma, Leo and Grandpa. Leo insisted that they have their caps on backwards so everyone could see their faces in the pics.
It seems that Grandma is always in the kitchen. That's good for us because she is a wonderful cook.

Nothing like a favorite chair to return to after a long day at the cabin.The fishing wasn't too bad either. Leo brought over some frozen crappies and we added to it with fresh perch off the pier. Leo took me fishing for crappies so Jan and I had a few to bring home.

We left on Wednesday and G/ G stayed until Saturday. We'll update you on there trip when they return.

Finches

King and Queen have yellow finches flying into the feeder all day. There were 3 of them on the feeder while we were there for Grandma's birthday party. We have one male finch that feeds occasionally at our feeder. Hope we can draw more.

I want to point out that I've added the Fouts Family blog link to the Darby blog. They have some very cute photos of...well, just guess.

Also, I've added Zenfolio as a link. If you're interested in pictures of the cabin then this is where you'll find them. The Shutterfly link is still active but I won't be posting new ones there.

If there are other blogs out there that anyone would like to add let me know.

Grandma's Birthday

Happy Birthday Grandma.

Grandpa's Birthday

Last week we celebrated Grandpa's birthday. Good thing he has a sense of humor.


























Grandma and Olivia.


























I know, I know, I'm cute.


























Wait, I wasn't ready.



















Blow out your candles Grandpa.


















...and he blew and he blew...




















...until he realized that the candles weren't going out.
Funny, really funny!

Vacation at the cabin

Here are few pictures from our week at the lake.


















We were shopping at Baker's when this gentleman drove up in his truck. I thought you might enjoy it. Notice he needs a cane and parked as close to the front door as possible.


















I split the wood Jesse cut up earlier this year with Wayne. He brought over his wood splitter and it took about 2 hours. I think we have enough wood for a couple of years, at least.


















Musky fishing and the 4th of July.


















Leo says hi. He sent a disk back with us for King and Queen to review.

























Our last night we watched the sunset from the boat.


















We didn't see any bucks but we did see a few does. At least one had twins in tow.


















Piliated woodpecker hammering a powerline pole.


















Amen


















Us


















The fireworks were great again this year.


















I took this on Monday morning. It looked like the eagle was waiting for us.


















Reflection of the bay towards Lodel's.


















The cabin still looks good.


















The Osprey are back in the bay and this one flew over the boat.

Looking Forward

Looking forward to seeing you all at King and Queen's in August! I can't wait for everyone to FINALLY meet Olivia! Hopefully we'll get to meet Tucker the infamous monster dog, too!!

I sent a big email to everyone with some new pics of Olivia, hope ya'll got it, along with the blog site I started for our little family of 3. Just in case you didn't get wind of it, the address is:

http://foutsfam.blogspot.com

See you all soon!!!
XOXOX
Mel

SOOOOOO BIG!!!

Okay, I know, I haven't been keeping up with much all that well, so here goes!

Olivia will be 6 months old soon, is rolling around like crazy on the floor from one end to the other, so by the time of the reunion she may even be crawling....watch out Grandma! It's hard enough to leave the room for 5 minutes when she's in her bouncer because all she does is wiggle over and practically fall out of the darn thing. Growing? DEFINATELY! She goes to the Dr. on the 9th of July for her 3rd round of Shots (6 months) and then we'll be good to go until she's a year old. Been healthy and happy all this time and I can't wait, for those of you that haven't had the chance to get over, to meet her.

I dunno who's heard what, but I am back to work, now. I, along side Brett, am also working for CVS, just at a different store (I'm at Crystal Lake, he's at Barrington). I am the "Photo Lab Supervisor" but the title is something in itself. It has all been enjoyable thus far and I hope to continue there for as long as I can, or until something better lands in my lap. Jack had an interview with Sears today, and he'll find out tomorrow if he got the job (as a technician). So hopefully that pans out, then he'll be on a normal schedule, unlike the one he has now at Bull Valley.

Well that's the update on us!! Here's a couple pics of Olivia...

Euchre anyone?

Before I forget, congratulations to Inlaw2 and Outlaw2 on their retirement. Enjoy it!

Last Tuesday, we went to King and Queens for dinner. Afterwards we played cards, King and Outlaw 4 vs Queen and Inlaw4. King and I were killed in the first game but came back to even the score in the second. In the rubber match King and I were way behind but made a tremendous comeback. We tied the score at 27. We split the next hand at 3 each making the score 30 all. (Is the suspense killing you or what) I bid first but didn't have a thing in my hand. I bid 3 just to push the stakes up. Queen passed...King passed...and we waited for Inlaw4 to bid. FOUR she says. Holy cow, she took all 6 and the boys went down in defeat.

We went to Mirror Lake State Park yesterday. Our guide pointed out plants both good and bad. The main thing about the hike is we didn't follow any trails. I enjoyed the trip but I don't think Inlaw4 had that much fun. Here are a couple pictures from the hike.


































It's hard to tell from this picture but this is one of several steep ravines we passed. It's probably a 65 to 70 degree angle leading to Dell Creek. A couple of us climbed down one and that's the next picture.


































This hike was a little more challenging than I anticipated. Still, we enjoyed the trip.