We a few weeks into Phoebe's pre-school year and my non-school year.  I'm feeling quite ok about not working at this point.  I think what occasionally creeps into my thoughts is how easy it will be to let go of work and stay plenty busy around here without going back to work.  My days are very easy going and being around all day does not provide me with any sort of mental stimulation.  But for now, that's totally cool with me.

 Today, Phoebe and I sadly pulled up the first of 4 rows of green bush beans.  It's sad to see them go.  It's been a great summer gardening here.  As we sadly start to pull the garden, the benefits roll in.  Last night, I brewed a Chinook IPA.  I'm growing Chinook Hops and the first year's yield is very slim.  So I plan to throw these in fresh once the yeast has done it's work.  This will give a very large aromatic boost typically not found in many beers since fresh hops are quite precious.

Chinook Hops: a few dozen cones--not enough to brew a whole batch, but enough to fresh hop with.

Picking Basil for supper last week

Last weekend I made salsa and canned 20 pints.  I still get quite nervous about canning, but the more I read, the more confident that I am about canning tomato products.  But there's always those warnings out there that make me a bit jumpy.  Beer just tastes bad if it goes south.  Canned foods can kill you.  Ponder that irony for a while.

We've been freezing quarts and quarts of applesauce (we bought a second fridge for the purpose of gardening--very nice to have another in the basement), lots of swiss chard, beans, and we got a great crop of sweet peppers.  In a future blog, I'll get some photos of the squash yield.  Should be impressive.

Phoebe loves pre-school so far.  Lots of new songs get sung around the house.  When I ask if she learned it at school, she just looks away and ignores me.  Now I know what those parents always meant when they said to me "I don't know what's going on here at school--he just comes home and locks himself in his room."  I'm getting the pre-school version of that behavior.

Carrot crop pulled.  We gather about this many sweet
and hot peppers every couple of days.  Things are slowing
a bit with the cooler nights, lower sun,
and shorter (but still hot!) days

Our squash and pumpkin patch.
Can't see em, but there's quite a few hiding in there.

Phoebe's new activity: Triking in the Grass

Today is Phoebe's first day of pre-school.  Just a few hours and I'm already a bit lost by all this.  I went from being on summer vacation with Phoebe to watching all the neighborhood kids walk to school today while I slouched back in my shorts, t-shirt, and unbathed body.  Today would have been my first day back to work.  I'm not too bothered, but I have been having many intense dreams about losing Phoebe in public.  But more than anything, I feel like a total slacker with Phoebe going to pre-school and Alisa going to work while I sit on the internet.  I'll enjoy this time because downtime will evaporate quickly once kid #2 comes around.

Phoebe and I did some travelling up to Minot last week and spent a full wee hanging out and enjoying the time.  Quiet for the most part.  I helped Loren out a few evenings and that weekend.  It was good to hang out and chat with him.   His rebuild is coming along nicely and he and Joe hope to move in around Halloween.  Thanks for the great visit in Minot everyone!

Our garden is out of control.  Lots and lots of squash and red peppers.  That's a good problem to have.  

Cooking down apples for sauce on the outdoor system.  It does more than just beer!

Phoebe was really into using Grandma's calculator.

Phoebe was due for a haircut, so we just went to my mom's beautician.  Nicely done!

Loren working.

Joe and Loren's house.

After the flood, Ramstad was demolished.  This is the remainder of my old Junior High.
The town I grew up in really doesn't exist to me anymore.  The home we grew up in has been demolished as well. 

Phoebe's been enjoying the sweet corn lately.
At Grandma and Papa's, she ate this piece like it was a
bag of M&Ms.

Loren getting roped into drawing pictures--mostly of  Cinderella.
Loren visited us last weekend to attend a Jamey Johnson concert at the MN State Fair

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.