Outdoor burner: for cooking down produce, and of course, for brewing beer!

 Summer's going strong for us here.  Phoebe and I are spending a lot of our time in the backyard playing in her small pool or working in the garden.  Speaking of, our garden is awesome.  While 80% of the US is sadly in a drought, I guess we are in the 20% where the conditions are absolutely perfect for farming (or micro-urban farming in our case).  We have more squash than we'll know what to do with, I pulled a dozen cucumbers out yesterday, I'm ready to strip my 3rd batch of basil for pesto, and our peppers are doing great.  We've had a very warm to hot July, but not unbearable.  And about once a week or more, we get about 1-2" of rain.  Couldn't ask for better!

Alisa's feeling pretty good.  She doesn't complain to me much, which I take as a good sign.  She's pretty much just entering the 3rd trimester and her midwives think things are going well!  She's working many hours with her new position, but seems to be going well.

I've been running a lot again, but not nearly as much as I was training for the marathon.  I'm doing about 3-5 miles 3 days a week.  My physical therapist totally rebuilt me (literally: she changed my lower body alignment completely) and also given me running lessons as part of my therapy.  As a result, I'm running faster, stronger, longer, and (still) barefoot.  I'm registered to run the 10 mile race that is a little brother to the Twin Cities Marathon.

Climbing with Grandma at Lake Nokomis beach.
Glad I kept all my gear--I may be setting top ropes
for Phoebe before I know it!

Ever since we told Phoebe about Alisa's pregnancy,
there has been lots of care for Baby Maria.  Diaper changes,
feedings, naps, etc

Our small farm.  A true goldmine.

We found some old-school climbing bars at
Minnehaha Park.  Surprised these are still around.

Phoebe, Tona, and Siobhan enjoying a very hot day.

 I'm finally putting a wrap on the upstairs remodel.  All the trim work is done, but the doors need some adjustments, paint, and the jewelry needs stripping.  I've spent a lot of nights lately in the hot garage hovering over trays of zip strip.  Good thing I'm not pregnant.

Thresholds, baseboard, door trim . . . none of this stuff was there. Feeling pretty good to have this finally coming to a close.

 We had a great time last week at Wilderness Wind near Ely, MN.  WW is a Mennonite operated retreat center with cabins anyone can rent (as we did).  They also outfit and guide BWCA trips.  We had a relaxing week and I only sent a few emails from my phone.  We had access to canoes, kayaks, and a rowboat.  Phoebe had a lot of interest in the kayaks, but mostly on the grass.   Over the week, she warmed up more and more to the idea of swimming and boating.  I'm looking at swimming lessons as we speak :)

Alisa shared with Phoebe that "there's a baby in her belly."  Since, there have been a lot of questions, but we haven't been overwhelmed yet.  She's quite excited about the idea of being a big sister, but clearly doesn't really get it yet.  Most of her talk is about also having a uterus and that someday she can have a baby too--"like when I'm 4!"

Kawishiwi Falls: normally a trickle but the water's up with all the St Louis County flooding going on.

Hot Chocolate for breakfast

I was determined to build a moat that held water evenly.  Phoebe didn't care all that much.

Lots of reading for us and for Phoebe.

We've had a busy couple of weeks.  I finished up my school year with my new life as a stay-at-home-dad officially beginning in July when Alisa goes to work full-time.  I usually struggle with my transition into summer and I've learned that the best therapy is manual labor.  This week I finished trimming out the window in the guest bedroom (soon to be baby's room) and yesterday I poured a sidewalk from our garage to our parking pad on the side of our yard.  My first experience doing concrete work and I had to deal with two thunderstorms rolling through while finishing it up.  I had a makeshift tarp-tent over it while I poured two more mixes--not fun with lightening cracking overhead!   But it looks great today! (see bottom pics).

But I need to get back into teaching mode soon here as I will be teaching a 3 day course in Wichita in July.  I'll be working with a group of 40 6th through 12 grade math teachers.  Also, my colleague and friend Ryan and I are creating some online resources for students.  So my summer will be filled with math and teaching.

We've been doing tons of gardening and with the amazing heat combined with tons of rain, our garden is getting pretty full.  No tomatoes this year as we had some blight last summer.  But lots of peppers, squash, and greens.  Alisa put in a patch of rasberry bushes and I have some hops growing to use in some of my homebrew.  

We're looking forward to seeing some of you this summer!  Phoebe and I are hanging out most of the summer, especially after mid-July.

Listening to Foo Fighters

Post Chariot ride to the pool on Memorial Day--Hot!

A ballerina-doctor?

Learning to pedal on the trike (we're also
working on learning to glide on her
pedal-less bike).

Sorry it's been so long . . .

We've been busy . . . and I'm sure all of you have been too.  Seriously though, it's been a pretty crazy spring.  It seems like every time I thought I was catch my breath, some other task came along and pushes me back under.  But the things we have been doing have been great.  

Here's the whirlwind update:  Alisa is sort-of taking a new job.  It's her same job but with a different employer and she'll be more or less full time starting in July.  Alisa's pregnant and due in November.  I'm not going to teach next year (was granted a paternity leave for a year, with the opportunity to renew) so I can keep this place looking normal and start sleeping more than 5 hours a night and stay home with a newborn and a 4 year old who hopefully will be less bossy.

I've been teaching full time and also trying some consulting  for potential part-time work while being a stay-at-home-dad. These enriching experience have been great.  But these great opportunities are why I've had an insane spring. 

I'm looking forward to getting back in the garage to do some trim work for our baby's room upstairs.  We have our garden tilled thanks to Alisa's parents who are here.  Which brings me to to my latest obsession.  The rabbit who is snacking on our garden seedlings.  My nemesis.  At one point tonight I was walking around in the rain, totally soaked, running lines through my head from Star Wars I have you now young Skywalker.  Catching and relocating a rabbit reminds me a lot of trying to catch Luke in carbonite.  Wish me luck.   

 Phoebe's new bike.  Took off the pedals so she can "scoot" and balance first.

 We do a lot of "working in the garden" around here.  Phoebe enjoys filling her watering can from the rain barrel, which collects so much we don't know how to use it fast enough.  Waste away little girl!

 Chinook Hops.  I'm growing my own vine and so is Mark so we can reduce the cost of our home brewed beer and have fresher hops.  It's already 4 feet up the post I put in.  

 May Day Parade and festival.  Last Sunday Phoebe and I had a good day with the Ratigan-Green fam.  Good time!  Having people hand out "Vote No" and Keith Ellison stickers at this rally though is a bit like asking someone what they think of the 2nd Amendment at an NRA rally.  I still got some stickers.

 Abram and Samuel arrived to spend some time with their Minnesota grandparents.  Their Maine grandparents (Alisa's mom and dad) brought em out and are spending some time with Phoebe.   

 Today we went out to Excelsior and checked out the historic streetcar line they run.  

The cousins really had a good time.

Barefoot

Yup.  I made the switch.  I'm trendy now folks.  Trendy.  My physical therapist helping me heal from my post marathon injury talked me into this.  I feel great.  I'm running a lot again and being barefoot is amazing.  Do I endorse this?  Yes.  Do I recommend you do this?  Maybe.  Only if you have someone helping you who knows something about this.  I have a PT who is a serious runner helping me.  She's fixing me mechanically, giving me running lessons, and helping me understand how strengthen my core so I don't get hurt.  I do not recommend going to REI and just jumping in cold without some education and advice.  Read Born to Run by Chris McDougall.  Great book.

Christmas

I've been meaning to post for ages, but I kept thinking: I'll post for her birthday . . . I'll wait til Christmas . . . I'll wait til . . . well, I'm finially here.

We had a great Christmas here on our own. Very quiet, restful, and great to have some time together since we've had a very busy fall and Alisa worked on Thanksgiving. We missed family, but not travelling is a definite bonus. Skype is handy too--Phoebe got to see Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mat, Ava and Jack on Christmas day.

We were at our favorite lodge up near Ely, MN the last few days (see bottom-most pics). Phoebe got to do some snowshoeing (her "trackers") since they have a fair bit of snow up there. We have brown grass and 40 degrees here.

I watched our friend's daughter Esther for a couple hours last week--lots of dress up, twirling, and marker fights. Phoebe and Alisa baked like crazy these last few weeks. Snow angels were short lived since our snow lasted all of a couple days.

Christmas brought 3 main themes for Phoebe: Cooking, Dress Up, and Tea Time.

I made the oven from scrap wood I had around, then went to IKEA and bought accessories only to spend as much money as if I'd just bought a Playschool oven set. But that's not the point right?! I'm proud of my work and she loves baking muffins for Madeline.

Oma sent a doll with a nice set of clothes she made. Very adorable. Grandma sent a tea set that has resulted in excellent hydration around here. We've had to really work at "pretend" tea so she isn't peeing every 5 minutes (that's nearly accurate! :).

Happy New Year!!!

Andy