A Beautiful Season

We have had such a beautiful fall up here in the Rapids!  I can't believe all the glorious colors - way more variation than in the twin cities area.  But the peak colors came and went very quickly.  It seems like one day they were abundant and beautiful and the next day the wind and rain tore it all down.  I did manage to capture some trees in our yard, though.



The view from our deck.



A side view of our house.

 Well, we are finally settling in.  The girls started school the day after Labor Day.  They both like their new teachers and have started making some new friends.  This has helped their moods tremendously (and mine as well)!  They seem to be settling in, learning the new routines, and enjoying their days much more.  Cooper also started preshool at Grace Bible Church.  He has a small class of 6 kids and a great teacher, Miss Heather.  He's having fun but complains about going to school once in a while because he'd rather play at home all day.  But he's learning lots of letter/letter sounds and is really progressing in writing.

Here are some pictures of the first day of school - these outfits were laid out in their rooms for at least 2 weeks before school started.



We live 2 blocks from school so the girls are able to walk/bike every morning.




Clare and Cate in front of Forest Lake Elementary.




Cate couldn't wear the hat in school so she gave it to Cooper to take home.

 Of course, starting school does have it's drawbacks.  The girls both have colds and a couple of weeks ago they both came home with lice!!  Arrggg!  That was very stressful for me.  Thankfully, I think we caught it fairly early in the process and we seem to have eliminated it.  I never want to have to deal with that again!

We also have all the kids involved in various activities which keeps our week fairly busy.  All 3 are taking gymnastics at our local gym.  That takes all of Tuesday night.  Cate has piano lessons on Wednesdays after school, and then all 3 go to AWANA on Wednesday evenings.  Scott and I take advantage of that hour and a half each week to go look at lots which the kids hate doing.  Then on Thursday after school Cate has dance.  With everything going on, it seems like our weeks just fly by.

We were able to go camping in mid-September at Pattison State Park in Wisconsin, near Duluth/Superior with our friends Brad and Jodi and Jodi's daughter, Grace.  We had a great time with them and took in the Duluth Air Show on that Saturday which was a ton of fun.

It was a crisp, cool night, just perfect for a campfire.

Thank goodness for camper heaters!  We all slept well and had a yummy pancake breakfast in the morning before breaking down camp.  They day warmed up nicely and we headed out to take a hike, enjoy the fall foliage, and have some outdoor fun.

At the bottom of the trail was this river.  We spent a lot of time just figuring out the best way to get across...and then back again.  We also scored some very nice sedementary rocks for the kids to take to school to show their teachers and classmates.

The following weekend I was looking for a place to go apple picking.  We have enjoyed that fall tradition ever since Cate was really little so I was disappointed and surprised to find that they just don't have much of that kind of activity up here.  I was able to find one farm that had pick-your-own apples but they were only open on Saturday mornings and I just happened to hit the last weekend that they were open.  So we went out, picked a TON of honeycrisp apples and 10 minutes later we were done!  Short and sweet I guess.  But the weather was beautiful. 

After apple picking, we drove around to view some newly constructed homes that were on the Showcase Homes Tour - similar to the parade of homes in the twin cities.  It was a good chance to meet some builders in the area and get a feel for how they do things here in the northland.

A few days after that, I put those apples to good use in a delish apple pie!  It was gone very soon afterwards. 

It's been nice being around on the weekends a little bit more.  We've been able to get some things done around the house, relax, and visit a few local churches.  Still haven't found "the one" but I'm sure we'll get it figured out fairly soon.  One night last weekend, after the kids took a bath, we decided to have a fire on our back patio and have a pizza picnic.  We looked up in the sky and saw the northern lights flowing all around us!  My camera isn't good enough to capture something like that (or I'm not a good enough photographer more like).  But trust me, it was specatcular!  A perfect night.

We are continuing our search for a lot.  We realize we're being very picky - 2 or more acres, wooded, no traffic or manufacturing noises, close to town, good resale area, southern facing walkout, easy to put in driveway, electric, well, septic.  But we're in a position to be choosy and we might as well take our time...even though I am chomping at the bit to get this whole building thing started!  We have found some promising lots that we might put offers in on, but we think we'll keep shopping for a bit.

This Friday I head down to Chicago with my girlfriends for our almost-annual trip.  I am very much looking forward to it.  I still haven't made any friends up here.  It's been okay so far, but I can tell I'm needing some girl time real bad.  So this comes at the perfect time.

We are missing all of our friends and family.  Scott's parents are heading back to Iowa this Wednesday.  It's been great having them so close.  We went up to our lake property this weekend to take out our dock and they joined us to help.  We won't see them again until Thanksgiving.  So please, comment on the blog, e-mail us, facebook us, snail mail or just give us a call (we have skype!).  We would love to hear from you!!

Take care!
The Schwakes

Winding Down/Gearing Up

The summer is winding down.  We kept up a pretty hectic pace all summer long.  We had only 3 weekends here at home, and two of those we had guests here.  We've done some camping, some visiting with family and exploring the area.

The last week of July the kids attended VBS at a church here in the area.  They had a ball and we've been jammin' to the CD in the car ever since.  That weekend we ventured down to Baker Park near Maple Plain to camp with my MOPs gals.  We had a great time with everyone, especially the Shiefelbeins who gave us camper-envy.  We will be sure to camp with them again...our families clicked really well.

Ethan and Cooper having lunch.

 

Bike riding was the thing to do this weekend.



The next weekend was a rare weekend home and we hosted my brother Jon and his daughter Michelle.  It was also Grand Rapid's Tall Timber Days.  We had a lot of fun seeing all the events and were able to take in a parade.
 

Clare, Michelle, Cate, Jon, Cooper, Missy

The following weekend we went camping at Savannah Portage State Park which is close to Big Sandy Lake.  We did a lot of bike riding, some hiking and a bit of fishing.  We were able to take a boat ride on Big Sandy (beautiful lake) and climbed to the top of a fire tower that looked out over the surrounding trees and lakes.  What a view!  Even Cooper was brave enough to get to the top!  The park we stayed at was fairly primitive and remote (they had no hot water for the showers on Sunday!).  But on our way home we cruised through an Army Corps of Eng. campsite located right on Big Sandy and decided we'd try that one next year.  It was a bit more family friendly, with a park and lake access. 

 


Cooper, Scott, and Clare at the campfire

 

Scotty making pancakes




Clare, Cooper & Catie in front of Shumway Lake

  

Loading up the truck.



Our camping family.

Playing at the park.

 

Catie and Clare going WAY back.



Fire Tower

Catie and Clare on the way up.

 

The view



 The week after that, my friend Sharla came up with her family and her mom to visit her aunt and uncle who live on Northstar Lake in Marcell, which is just a half hour north of here.  We were able to swing up for a couple of hours and visit with them.  Later that day, we headed down to the twin cities to stay with Uncle Dustin.  The cousins had a great time together and we spent a lot of time on the beautiful new patio that Debbie and Dustin worked hard on.  We also managed to spend a ton of money at the Albertville Outlet Mall.  But we got a lot of school clothes shopping done and I got some cute new sweaters for this winter.  It was a great weekend and we are thankful for Dustin and Debbie's excellent hospitality!



The cousins:  Cooper, McKenna, Cate, Clare, Kalie

Scott's work, MN Power, hosted a family picnic last week.  It was a beautiful evening and I was able to meet a number of Scott's co-workers and their spouses.  They had an inflateable jumper for the kids and some games too.  It was a fun night.

Which brings us to this past weekend, which we were able to spend at home.  It's been so long since we had a lazy Saturday morning at home!  The kids all hung out on the couch with Dad watching TV and we made regular Saturday morning breakfast of pancakes and bacon. 

Saturday morning at home.

And on Sunday our sweet Clarebear turned 7!!  Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Kenny came up from Webb Lake and took Clare to lunch and shopping for the afternoon.  When they came home, Clare got a special call from her best friend, Emma, calling to wish her a happy b-day.  They were on the phone for 30 minutes (when she's a teenager I'm going to have to get the unlimited minutes package for sure!).  It made Clare's day!  After the phone call we celebrated with a taco dinner, cake and ice cream, and of course, presents!  Clare said it was the best day ever.  Happy Birthday sweetie!



The birthday table

 

Ready for tacos!




Clare is 7!!

 

Only one boyfriend.




Grandma and Cooper snuggling on the couch.

 

Who doesn't love Barbie stuff?!



Silly!

 

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Clare got a whisk, spatula, flipper, and a timer for one of her b-day presents.  The kids promptly put them to good use the next morning making pancakes - from scratch!  Just like mom.  They were yummy!

Which brings us to now.  While summer is winding down, school season is gearing up.  I have the kids all signed up for their activities which include gymnastics, dance, piano, and AWANA.  I'm still hoping to find something else for Cooper to be involved in like football or something.  We went to Cooper's preschool orientation last night and we have the girls' school open houses on Thursday where we drop off their school supplies and meet their teachers.

We have also been traveling around the area looking at potential lots to build our house on.  The kids HATE this process, telling us over and over how boring it is.  We're meeting our realtor at a site tomorrow that looks over a beautiful little lake.  I think I'll find a sitter for that one.

This weekend we'll be heading down to the State fair.  We'll enjoy the day there with the kids (I'm praying for them to be wrong about the forecasted high temps!), then we'll meet up with my folks and hand off the kids who will go home with them to spend the night.  Scotty and I will then head back to the fair to a concert at the Grandstand featuring two of our favorite bands, the Jayhawks and Semisonic.  We'll spend the rest of the weekend with my parents, ending in a pool party on Labor Day at my brother Scott's house.  We'll head back home and school starts the next day!

For those who want to pray for us, here are some requests:

• That the kids all like their new teachers and settle easily into school and activities.
• That the kids will all meet some great new friends!
• That we find the perfect lot for our house.
• That we find a new church home.

We're missing you all and hope you all have had a great summer!  Please keep in touch by commenting here or e-mailing or even a note in the mail (the kids especially love getting these...actually I love it, too!).