Retaining wall and front steps

Yesterday Dan and I were out at the lake to meet with the electrician to mark out all the lights and other outlets at the cabin. He was a really nice guy and very thorough. Dan had lots of ideas for our sound system and we are also having him pull a wire out to our little red cabin so it is ready if we decide to put a hot tub in there in the future. And then we can have electricity out there too!

We forgot our camera again and this time in the evening the pictures didn't turn out so well. Last week they did the retaining wall and worked on the front steps. So, roofing didn't happen but we are hoping it will this week. Now comes the tough part of coordinating the plumbers, mechanical and electricians to get their stuff in before the interior walls are mudded and taped. I'm thinking that it will push out our finish date a few more weeks to coordinate all these guys to be here at the same time. So, my educated guess is now the beginning/middle of October. It is only a month off of estimates so not too bad.... I've heard stories of these projects lasting 9-10 months. At least we aren't that bad yet!

I really like the retaining wall. The colors are very neutral and now we have about 6-7 parking spots (if you squeeze!). We've been parking along the road so there are a few spots up there too. By having 2 retaining walls on that side it keeps the driveway up and then the steps down to the second level makes a nice spot for grass and it is a perfect spot for tents between the red cabin and green shed. Then it steps down to the ground level where the patio will be outside the walk-out. We sat on those stairs and I think we'll do that a lot - it gives extra seating right around the patio.

If the weather is nice we'll be out either Saturday or Sunday this weekend and maybe the roof will either be started or done. We keep hoping the roof and windows get done soon so then it is all interior stuff to work on so it doesn't matter if it rains. Then we'll take some better pictures to post!

Putting us to work!

So far all the heavy labor at the lake has been primarily our builder and sub-contractors but yesterday Dan and I had to do some heavy lifting! We are acting as the general contractors and so have the responsibility of keeping the site clean so the subs can do their work. Up until now we've taken bags of garbage home each weekend, but that was about it. The landscaping is going to be done this week so yesterday our job was the clear out the logs from all the trees that were cut down and move them to an area where they were out of the way. We also cleaned up all the scrap wood around the site and started burning it in our fire pit. It was a warm day and it took us quite a few hours to clean everything up. It is amazing how tiring heavy labor can be! I get out and run for exercise as often as I can but I don't do a lot of lifting and those trees were pretty heavy. We both felt a sense of accomplishment though afterwards and are glad we are participating in the building process!

Last weekend I didn't expand on my day of little accidents, but now that Dan had a day just like it yesterday I thought I would explain. So, last Saturday when Roger and Monica were out with us to celebrate birthdays I slipped off my sandal and one of the bushes that we had cut down a few weekends ago still had a 2 inch piece sticking out of the ground and I cut my foot on it. It was rather sore all day, and especially in the water. Then we started putting together the hammock and I tried it out first, and as you could probably guess it fell and so did I. It would have been ok except a big rock was right there and I smacked the back of my head on it when I fell! We did get the hammock up properly which was good so I could rest my head :) On the way home we had gathered some garbage to bring home and stopped for a restroom break and Dan wanted to throw some of it away while we were there. It was in the backseat with me so I moved, Dan grabbed it and turned to shut the door...... on my toes! That night I was laying in bed with a sore foot, head and a blood blister on my toe :)

This weekend was Dan's turn! We were taking some of the 6 foot logs and carrying them over by the fire pit and when setting them down, Dan apparently set them on top of a wasps nest!! About 10 wasps found their intruder immediately and attached themselves to Dan's face and legs. I turned around and he was running all of the yard yelping and I could see the wasps holding on for dear life - they didn't let go! Dan finally got them all off but we counted about 9 stings :( That was definitely worse then all three of my injuries last weekend!

Here are some updated pictures of the cabin. This week they will finish the last dormer, do the retaining wall, wrap the house and possibly shingle. They just need some good weather and it should go really quickly. We also need to pick out the bath tubs and showers so the plumbing rough-in on the main level can happen. We went shopping today for a bit before I was ready to be done, and Dan (who is much more detailed about this stuff) decided to stop at a few more places by himself to do some research. Good job Dan! I would have just picked the first ones we saw at Menard's, but I know you'll find the best ones after all your research.

Our bedroom window all framed and the roof sheeted!The east wall framed and sheeted (The top "box" window is actually an octogan window shape)
Living room window - just needs the dormer framed and its done
Dan is standing on the middle level.. we are having 2 retaining walls - one for the driveway up above and the one he is standing on to get down to the patio level
The roof and east wall is framed!
View from the lake
A view of the wood piles we organized! (they look way bigger in person :)

We'll be out again next Saturday and will provide another update then. Have a good week!

Birthdays

Dan's parents, Roger and Monica, came out to the lake with us today. We were celebrating Monica's birthday which was today and mine which is this coming Wednesday the 25th. We had lots of good food and gave Monica a new cell phone and charger and I got a hammock! It was a PERFECT day outside and went for a boat ride and just enjoyed relaxing on the lake. We talked about how these type of days are the reason we endure the long miserable Minnesota winters... :)

Here are some updated pictures. The roof is pretty much up and they are working on the dormers and the final east wall. The well also went in so it was a good week. Next week they are hoping to have it all enclosed since the weather is supposed to be nice and sunny.

Looking at Dan and Roger standing on ground level from the master bedroom
View of the master bedroom new dormer

My new hammock along the west side of the newly roofed house

Framing of the living room wall upstairs

Master bedroom window

Our new fire pit location - west of the house
Roof framing

We'll be out there again next weekend because Dan is taking some of his co-workers fishing. I hope it is as nice as the weather was this weekend! Even though I probably won't fish I'll still go out and bring the camera so I can document the progress. Have a good week!

New cabin stuff

Amber and Brent came out with us to the lake last night with Bella and we had a great time kayaking and making pizza's in the pie irons for dinner. We have a ton of leftover wood from the building that we used for the campfire - very useful!

It was fun to finally see some progress on the cabin. Our builder's step dad passed away on the 4th of July so nothing happened that week, but this past week Wednesday - Friday he was hard at work. The interior walls were up in the basement and main floor and they are finally going to be putting the roof on this week provided it stays dry! I forgot to take pictures until it was dark so it is hard to see the interior walls too well, but we will be out again next weekend to celebrate my birthday and mother-in-laws birthday so we'll take more pictures then.

Interior framing on the main floor

Framing in the living room

The office framing and the wet bar area in the basement.

The master bathroom and closet framing

Camping

The young adults at our church are called the Momentum group and we went camping at Lake Maria State Park the weekend of July 6th. Friday night was actually fairly cool and good sleeping weather but Saturday was incredibly HOT! We spent a lot of time at the lake and went to DQ to celebrate Jeff's birthday. It was fun getting to know everyone better although next year I think it would be good to go on a cooler weekend!

4th of July

We spent the 4th of July with my family at my sister's house for brunch and a parade and then went to our friends house for dinner and to watch the fireworks. We had fun playing with Amber and Brent's new dog Bella although she got a little scared of all the excitement at the parade :) The funniest part of the parade was seeing Jeremy, Allison and Hunter in Apple Valley since we were hanging out with them later that night with Tom, Becky and Jon in Wyoming, MN!

5 year anniversary

Dan and I went to Duluth for our 5 year anniversary. It was a great weekend and here are a couple of pics!