Aquarium Visit

Well, after temps reached 75, they plummeted down to freezing. So, we went to the aquarium. Here are some pictures from the visit.


Dad plays with the lock display.


The boys playing with locks and boats.


Maren and Brendan with their friend the caribou.


And their friend the moose.
By the way, Bret almost hit a moose
on the way home from Josh's tonight.
Luckily, both escaped unscathed.


Connor being a stickler for the rules,
only petted the stingrays with 2 fingers.
And scolded Bret for not following the rules.


Maren practically dives right in.


Dad showing the kids the stingrays.


They are not fighting for once.


They do love each other!

Sadie playing with the kids

Isn't it April?

Well, the snow is finally starting to melt. Ok, actually almost gone, but still lingering in the woods and of course, in our current yard. It should only be about 4 weeks before we can start the foundation. The excavator is now stumping the yard (removing tree stumps) and making the home site level so we can see it better. Next, we'll stake out the house and get it in the right place. Then we'll be ready to dig. In the mean time, I'm finalizing the kitchen plans, picking out kitchen cabinet finishes and door designs, countertops, fireplace, garage and entry doors, and stone (for the exterior and fireplace). I still have much to do, but am working with an interior designer which greatly helps. We narrow stuff down and then Bret can chime in with his opinion.

With the assumption that we'll start the foundation around 5/15, we've been told it'll take 6 months to build. So, hopefully, we'll be in before March! I'm trying to be devils advocate, so I'm not disappointed. Honestly, I'd love to be in by Christmas, but...

Stay tuned for more updates and pictures!

The pictures below start facing southwest and pan to the northeast. The front door will be somewhere in the middle, with the great room to the right and the garage to the left. It'll be so much easier to visualize once we have some sort of structure up!


Looking southwest from the driveway circle (towards the river)




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Isn't it March?

Well, we're adjusting to life/weather in Duluth. Apparently, snow doesn't start melting until April. I've spent the last month working on our kitchen design and exterior finishes. We're getting much closer, and still have so much to do. Here's our new home site on March 8, 2009.