Summer Vacation, phase 1

Yea, Summer vacation is here! Chuck and I both have the whole week off from work, so we decided to head up to the cabin (near Steamboat Springs, Colo) for a week of fun in the mountains.

We arrived at the cabin Saturday afternoon and got right to work setting up house for the week. I filled the hummingbird feeders, Chuck opened all the windows to let the fresh air in, and lit the torches on the deck to start convincing the mosquitos that they didnt want to hang out right outside the door. Keena was really tired from the drive up the mountain (she didn't settle down and sleep very well, too many exciting things to see out the car window I suppose) so she sacked out for the afternoon... she really knows what a vacation is all about!

As you can see in the photo below, the wildflowers and grasses have grown quite tall in our absence, and it was pretty much a jungle getting from the truck door to the deck stairs.

Sunday morning Chuck decided the front "yard" needed to be mowed in an attempt to keep things under control. I doused him liberally with bug spray and put some gatorade in the fridge to chill for later, and sent him out the door. It took him about 3 hours in total to get the front and sides mowed down, and he didn't even make it to the driveway! Here's an action shot, and then a photo of the yard after all his hard work was done.

Phew! So much for relaxing on this vacation. As we ate lunch, we made a list of all the little maintenance chores we'd like to get done this week... and it wasn't too long before the list got longer and longer. I think it will be worth the effort to spruce up things, and it'll be easier to enjoy the cabin during the winter months.

Uncle Jim and cousin Travis are planning to come up and repaint the siding later this summer, so Chuck and I are going to scrape, sand and prime the exterior this week. Chuck also wants to reinforce the deck a bit. The heavy winter snowfall (It slides off the roof and onto the deck all winter long) has caused some problems with the railing in the last couple years, and if you look carefully in the above pic, you'll see some bowing in the length of the deck.

The weekend wasn't all hard work and no play, there were plenty of naps and relaxing on the couch, and we got to see the beautiful full moon rise over the crest of the mountain Saturday night.

We also took Keena on long walks in the early evening. She is really excited to smell all the new smells up here! It's so green and lush right now, just lovely everywhere you look with the wildflowers, blue sky and bright green aspens. I took the camera with me on our walks, so you can see just what I'm talking about...

Keena rested in her playpen during the day. She is pretty well house-trained at this point, but I don't think Chuck is comfortable with giving her the run of the house quite yet. From the looks of it- she's not lacking in the toy department, that's for sure. She loves the little stuffed hedgehog the most I think, and takes it to bed with her every night. We bought a bigger version of the hedgehog for when she's grown out of the smaller one. I think she's growing so fast, she's gonna need it sooner than I originally thought!

We came back into town today just for the afternoon. Keena has puppy class again tonight, and we didn't want her to miss out. Tonight she learned to "stay"- which I think was worth the drive!! I also wanted to take my friend Jen out for her birthday (Happy B-day Jen!!) so we met up this afternoon and got pedicures and then met Chuck for sushi later on. yum! Tomorrow we'll head back up the hill, this time Pat is joining us for a few days. I can hardly wait to be back in my favorite spot in the cabin...

So take care all, and I'll see you next week. The cabin is calling me...!