Moving Time...

Moving day was set for May 22, so the month of May was filled with all sorts of moving preparation activities.  Already blogged about was the deconstruction of the playground, then come lots of packing, packing, packing... but in the mix we had one last final family bbq gathering in our backyard...

... but earlier in the evening, we did take advantage of having some "extra" lifters around & managed to get a couple loads of heavy furniture moved down to the garage!!

Next to go was the kids' beds...

... but they didn't seem to mind getting to have a little campout in their room! There was lots of "chit-chat" that night...

We'd been busy moving other furniture...

... so there was no kitchen table either!

The big moving day was finally upon us & a big truck to go with it!

The garage was crammed full...

... so we got it shuffled from there to the truck & we were soon ready for our caravan to southeastern MN!

Trucker Mike was ready for the open road... he's thinking he might have missed his calling!

The Hwy 61 drive along the Mississippi River is always a nice one...

... but we were happy to see our turn into the farm.

We got the furniture unloaded into the barn & other stuff into storage... with help from Ed & Nora for all their help in lifting & watching kids!

(stay tuned for lots of building posts as the building process has begun!)

Mother's Day Tea

Mother's Day Weekend, Nora & I went with the kids to Mother's Day Tea.

Grandma puts on a little tea every year at Christmas, which the kids love... so we thought it would be fun to take them to a real tea party.

They loved it... they loved the tea & of course, the "goodies" that are a part of a tea!

What goes up...

4 years ago this month, we constructed a playset in the backyard.  I was very pregnant with Melanie & Brandon was eagerly awaiting both "Butternut" making an appearance & his own playground in our backyard!

Mike had his "little helper" supervising & helping construction!

Brandon was so excited for it to be finally done!

Fast forward 4 years... & we are in the midst of preparing for a move which means the deconstruction of the playset. 

This time Mike had 2 little helpers!  Brandon & Melanie were both quite helpful...

... they even shoveled all the sand out of the sandbox!

The tower came down a lot easier than it went up!

Not being almost 9 months pregnant certainly helped the deconstruction activities... but all in all, it went down rather easily & is now safely stored in the barn on the farm until it is ready to be reconstructed at our new house site in a few months.

We'll miss this...

One of the things we've loved most about our house in Savage has been our yard... our own private park of sorts!

Spring is always one of the best times with the blooming trees & lilac bushes & the rest of the yard "coming to life"!

We've enjoyed countless hours playing in the yard, bonfire parties with friends, bbqs & the kids have loved their backyard picnics...

MORELS...

I never knew some states had a state mushroom until moving to Minnesota... well, Minnesota's is the morel mushroom & for about 1-2 weeks in spring, the devout morel hunter can take to the woods in search of these hidden treasures.  Mike's first big score was a couple weeks ago while he was in Kansas turkey hunting with friends... he came across quite the score or morels!

We aren't sure if he was more excited about the morels or the "bearded hen" turkey he managed to get!

They actually found these ones in our backyard when he got back from Kansas... indicating an early mushroom season in MN for sure!

Normally our morel season here falls more in May, early to mid, but this year we've had an early spring.  The lilacs & apple trees have all blossomed a good 2 weeks early...

& so we set out this past weekend assuming the morels would also be early.  As any morel hunter will lament, it isn't always as easy as finding the right spot... the best spot may yield nothing while some "nothing" spot has a bumper crop... a spot that had a good yield the  year before will have almost nothing... and so it goes.  The biggest tools a morel hunter has are time to burn & a good set of walking legs!  We set out on Saturday... Mike had a little more luck than Mike's dad & I did...

Sunday we strapped on our boots & hit the hills some more... by the end of our afternoon, we had some tired legs but had a pretty good score of mushrooms to show for it! 

I don't even eat them... I've never been a mushroom fan but I'm sure if I did, morels would be at the top of my list.  The kids can (& often do) make a meal of just morels.  Even though I don't eat them, I enjoy looking for them... it is like a big treasure hunt in the woods.  Finding a tree with a big score is always exciting or holding out for one monster morel... now that would be cool!

 

Mike & Brandon doing some looking not to far from home last night after the rain.  They found several good trees & filled the creel!

... And we're not done yet... as long as there are some good mushrooms still lurking in the woods, we'll be out looking for them!