First Fall Cabin Weekend

Original plans for this past Saturday and Sunday were a quiet Tory and Mommy girl's weekend at home. Andi spent the better half of late September traveling for work in what was his last "big trip" before Baby Boy arrives next month. Last weekend, there were wildfires in California where Andi's work event was scheduled to take place which caused an event cancellation and his early arrival home. We decided to make a last-minute trip to the lake cabin since we had an unexpected weekend together with few plans. The first full weekend of fall promised to be somewhat rainy anyway, so better to be at the cabin relaxing by the fire than going stir-crazy at home.

Our official purchase of the cabin is nearing and we've been busy shopping for new decor. My SUV was loaded with pictures, a bookshelf and frames for the cabin walls. After a quick stop by the self-serve farmer's market on the way to the cabin, we spent most of Friday evening talking idea layouts and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather outside. Instead of dining on the Crock-Pot Pot Pie Stew I made for dinner, we opted for take-out from The County Line, picnic style on our back patio overlooking the lake. It's crazy how "seasonal" cabin life is for some people. It felt like we were the only people on the lake last weekend as many other lake-lovers had pulled their docks and boats from the water and "closed up" after summer. Pulling our dock from the lake is the official end of summer and always a moment Andi and I mourn. We weren't ready to do it quite yet, but next weekend will likely be time. Well, who am I kidding? I won't actually do anything but watch Andi pull it out of the water.

Self-serve farmer's market and a payment by honor system.
Isn't small town America just awesome?

Most of Saturday was windy and rainy. Andi, Tory and I made a trip into town for window shopping and a few groceries. We found the most adorable stuffed animal taxidermy for Aden's rustic nursery at Idlewild Outfitters. Part of me can't believe I hung replicas of dead animals in my baby's nursery, but the other half can't get over how cute they are. Better yet, the ones we found at Idlewild were much less expensive than similar ones seen here, so WIN.

After the rain stopped, we headed outdoors. It started with a walk down the main cabin road and for once in forever, I wasn't feeling pregnancy-winded by the end. We decided to keep going through some wooded trails by the cabin. We told Tory we were on an adventure and kept ourselves busy collecting fallen leaves and sticks along the way. Andi taught Tory how to stand under small sapling trees and shake their trunks to "make it rain" on us. It was determined our silly Chloe dog is the worst hunting dog ever as she was more concerned with sniffing stuff and running ahead of us than kicking up the low-lying grouse nearby. The birds nearly scared us (okay, me) half to death every time they've abruptly fly off by our walking path.

The three of us were having so much fun, we decided to take the paddle boat for a spin in the lake's bay. We paddled around on a "baby boat ride" as Tory calls it, and stopped to explore the island in view from our cabin's backside. It was fun for this 8 1/2 month pregnant lady until I about had a heart attack from excursion. Turns out Baby Boy doesn't like to be bumped in the belly repeatedly from cycling. He was kicking up a storm by the end.

"Selfie!" Tory said when Andi snapped this photo. Ha!

Sunday, Andi had a few meetings scheduled with various cabin contractors and a couple interested in buying our Ranger ATV. Tory and I played indoors while he did so. Like the dork that I am, I downloaded Leaf Snap onto my iPhone and Tory and I made a craft with all the leaves we collected during Saturday's wooded adventure. My smart husband correctly identified most of the leaves while we collected them; I knew none of them. (No wonder I got a C+ in that Plants and Animals class in back college). The app was perfect for this type of toddler nature project. The "Year 2000 me" must've known there would be no need to learn all those plant species.

Sunday afternoon, Andi and I decided to take Tory to Fawn-Doe-Rosa Wildlife Education Park to see the animals. We drive by this place almost every weekend on the way to the cabin and we've always wanted to stop. Sunday was the perfect fall day to do so. Tory absolutely loved the animals and it was neat to see them all up close. We saw deer, ducks, chicken and geese wandering along the paths, in addition to donkeys, wolves, rabbits, raccoons, alpacas, sheep and goats behind fences. Andi bought Tory a bag of feed for the animals and Tory kept chanting "more carrots" during our entire visit. She loved the idea of feeding the animals but didn't want to do any of the actual feeding herself (and I can't blame her)! Andi ended up doing most of the dirty work feeding the animals out of his hands. It was a fun time, though it's no secret I have a deep dislike for birds and the flocks of geese running around our feet were a little un-nerving.

All in all, a fun fall weekend. As sad as I am to see summer go, I'm also excited about the autumn activities we get to take advantage of as the weather cools down a bit and the leaves begin to fall around us.