invigorating lunch, goodbye Ms Abby

Yesterday I went to lunch with three friends. It was so great to catch up. In the evening, Osten and I went to Glen Park to say goodbye to his Kindergarten teacher Ms. Abby. The entire time I’ve taught at RFPME, Abby has been by my side. She will be missed evidenced by the large turnout for her farewell party. 

Here are many students...

and here are the parents

and here are my lunch dates: Karen, Lynn, Maggie & me

day 1 of training

I put a lofty goal on my calendar. Literally, put it on our google calendar. I want to run a marathon on October 24, 2021. It will be my bucket list goal of finishing a full marathon before my 50th birthday. 

Today was my very first day of running on my calendar. I ran a very slow 3 miles at 5:47am. It took 40:18 to finish with a pace of 13:25. I was definitely watching the mileage because it seemed to be taking forever! I ran a challenging route, so we will see what it looks like tomorrow when I run a flatter course. 

As I was finishing up my cool down, I saw my friends Nate and Mike out for a walk together. It was fun to make the declaration to them of my intention. Puts a little more accountability into the mix. 

the view and swimming with Jayden

 

Before the rainfall of today we got a chance to spend time with Osten’s buddy Jayden. After dinner, O went for a walk to the top of RFand then Katie and I went for a bike ride it was a fun day! 

the Pierson gathering 2021

What a lovely day for a Pierson reunion! The weather was picture perfect until the skies dumped rain and the wind blew down a big branch. 2 Pierson children attended with the 3rd attending her great grand daughter’s baptism. 

Present: Ruby, Sandy, Rod, Shari, Ron, Ashley, her husband and Henrik, Barb, Jodi and Dave, Kayo, Christina, Erika, Andy, Sheila, Seth, Ryan, Nels, Nicole, Sonja, Nels, Mardoche and Aiden, Vivian, Kent, Eden, Kurt, Kyle, Kim, Kyle, Ryan, Cory, Joan, Evan, Trenton, Karen, Brad, Katie and Osten, Marilyn, Missy, Aliah, Jennifer, Greg, Nicolas and Sydney. 

Lots of fun photos and conversations. 

happy 28th anniversary a day late

Not because I wasn't thinking of them all day, but because they deserved a post all their own. Happy 28th wedding anniversary Kyle and Kim. What a joyful time you've had and what a beautiful family you have raised...

The Blomgren's--Ryan, Liana, Kyle, Kyle and Adam this past weekend in Duluth at Grandma's Marathon. 

Ryan and Adam did the half marathon while Liana, Kyle Jr and Kyle Sr ran the full. We waved at them as we drove past on our way to Grand Marais. 

Results:

Full marathon:

Kyle Sr. aged 57: 4:29:51

Kyle Jr. aged  26 4:06:23

Liana aged 22 4:12:21

1/2 marathon

Adam aged 26 1:40:07

Ryan aged 20 2:08:12

and here is a sweet post from Kyle to his bride yesterday:

Why are these two smiling??? Maybe it’s the lucky pennies at their feet, or maybe because roughly 25 years later, they would meet, fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after!!! Thanks for 28 incredible years, Sweet Kim!!! (Most days we’re still smiling!)

June 25

Last day at Seagull--up at 5am to pack up. Quick breakfast and coffee and then a fond farewell to a wonderful campsite and memories of vacation. We paddled in the most calm water we had all trip and made it back to the landing at 8:29am. We packed up the vehicles and set off for first destinaiton a gas station with running water to wash hands and convenience foods like...Osten Mike and Ikes, Brad Chili Cheese Fritos, Anders a Twix and Karen Cheddar Chex Mix. Destination #2 Betty's Pies for Key Lime, Banana Cream and Butterfinger pies. Destination #3 Anchor Bar for yummy burgers and fries. Destination #4 Earth Rider Brewery to eat pie and have a beer in the beer garden. Destination #5 HOME! 

We said farewell to the Weaver-Olsons after destination #3. We arrived at home at 6:05pm (Osten guessed 6:06 so was closest in his estimate) and started unpacking, laundry, catching up with Katie (we missed her so much) and cleaning the funk of a week of camping from our bodies. 

Breakfast--oatmeal Lunch--Anchor Bar Dinner--Steve's Pizza

   

What a wonderful trip where I got a new lifejacket (we were short a lifejacket so I got an older one from Seagull Outfitters for $10) and a lot of amazing memories. 

Some takeaways:

Food: more snacks like dried fruit, protein rich nuts, banana chips, trail mix (cranberry was great). Some desserts for meals (cast iron cakes...), more pancake mix, tortilla pizza on night one.

Comfort/safety: tarp for bottom of tent, tarp for an outdoor shelter for rainy days, raingear double checked, lifejacket for everyone

Clothes: Don't need as much as I packed. Stick to two pairs of pants one of them convertible, one pair of shorts, dry shoes, wet shoes, 2 tank tops, 1 short sleeved shirt, 1 long sleeved shirt, 1 sweatshirt, 1 stocking cap, sunglasses, sun hat, rain jacket, windbreaker

June 24

Today was relaxation day! We did paddle over to our last years' campsite, another campsite that we enjoyed hiking and to a small sandy beach. We hiked to a lovely overlook of the lake, Brad, Nate, Natalie and Micah took a very chilly swim in the lake (Osten and I stayed on shore, Anders stayed at camp to rest from a restless night of sleep). Then Nate and Micah did a practice canoe tip to practice what it would be like if they flipped a canoe. 

Back to camp for lunch and just a lot of hanging out and enjoying the last full day of camp. Anders and I went out to the middle of lake to get drinking water--pumping through a filtration system which I did and found it to be very challenging to fill our 6 1/2 gallon water bottle (we went through one whole bottle per day. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we were all starting to seek shade as the sun was so intense. 

After dinner, Brad and I went on a little paddle date and it was absolutely gorgeous as the lake was like glass. 

The sunset was gorgeous and we all had a hard time going to bed because it was just so fun to stay up and talk, but we did it anyway. 

Breakfast--oatmeal Lunch--noodles Dinner-Ramen Bomb

June 23

It was time for a little hairstyle for Anders and his long beautiful hair...we spent the morning planning a paddle over to Grandpa Lake and I realized Anders would benefit from hair not falling into his face. We all departed and battled some good whitecaps both to and from our destination. We met a group of paddlers who were ploughing through and doing some big carries on their portage (impressive). Grandpa Lake was cool but we all decided it was probably the last time we would hike a portage this trip as the lakes really do look a lot alike. 

Back to camp for lunch (we were VERY close to starving) then naps, reading, playing games and relaxing. Natalie, Nate, Osten and I decided to get cleaned up in the lake (brr) as the weather turned really quite beautiful. Then it was dinner time. We were hoping again to see a beautiful sunset, but the cloudbank got in the way. 

Breakfast--oatmeal Lunch--Broccoli Cheese Soup Dinner--Ramen Bomb

June 22

Another chilly, but this time, dry morning. We arose and planned a paddle to Rog Lake, this time with the whole crew. We had breakfast and then departed on our journey. We had to account for some stronger winds but made it over in good time. Nate and Natalie wanted to see what it was like to portage canoes so they portaged the 20 rods. That was enough for them :). After our portage we had a lunch of peanut butter and jelly roll ups. Then Brad, Nate, Natalie and Micah went on a little paddle around Rog Lake. Anders, Osten and I just hung out and talked. It was enjoyable!

Portage back to Sea Gull and back to camp where we spent time playing games, relaxing, napping and having conversation for the remainder of the day. Then dinner and an early bedtime. 

Breakfast--oatmeal Lunch--pbj rollups Dinner--Indian Food with rice

June 21---the solstice!

The rain fell throughout the evening on Sunday, so Monday morning, the Olson's had water in their tents. The Weaver-Olson's had great rainflies on their tents and also had tarps under their tents so were water tight. Good to know. 

Up and at em...planned a paddle to a portage to Paulsen Lake for Nate, Natalie and Karen and fishing for Brad, Micah and Osten. Anders spent the day sleeping off his readjustment to day activities from his overnight job and also his J & J vaccination. We hung around camp, ate lunch and then went on our journey. The waves were challenging but we found our way to the portage around 3 mile island to Paulsen Lake. We parted ways with the three of us doing a challenging hike to Paulsen Lake and Brad leaving with the boys for fishing. 

We completed the hike in about 2 hours and then started our paddle back to camp using a different route. We did get pretty lost and ended up almost getting back to the start of our journey at the Paulsen Lake hike. We were saved by two men camping at a site who set us straight as to our location. What a wonderful sight when we saw Osten jumping up and down on shore of our camp and we were safe and sound. I logged 28, 349 steps on this day which was twice the amount of any other day! It was a LONG day but unforgettable. 

Breakfast--pancakes Lunch--Tuna Wraps Dinner-- Mac & Cheese