More Blue!

We just brought our new tub home from Menards. It was last year's model, so we thought we were pretty smart to score such a sweet deal. Until we removed it from its packaging...

Another blue tub!

I nearly had a heart attack right in the middle of our driveway. 

Thankfully, I was quickly informed that the blue is just the protective liner and the actual tub is white. What a relief! In keeping with the theme, however, I planted five blueberry bushes to replace our crazy dogwoods. The dogwoods were supposed to stay five feet tall and wide, but they grow nearly 12 feet every single summer. They had to go. I did a very last-minute prep job on the soil, so I'm a little worried how the blueberries will fare, but we'll see. I have a feeling that the rabbits will be a bigger challenge than soil acidity. At least blueberries are slow-growing. That will be a nice change.

Adam took care of the last of our flooring. See you, bathroom! 

(P.S. Someone came around and took our scrap pipes approximately one hour after we put them on the curb. For the life of me, I can't imagine the return on investment would be enough to justify hauling those heavy, disgusting, decades-old pipes around, but it's one less thing to worry about on our end!)

Our Second Blue Project of the Summer*

(*The first blue project currently in process until late October.)

Oh, what have we gotten ourselves into?

You remember Ye Olde Blue Bathroom? It's been a thorn in my side since we purchased our house - six and a half years ago! Even ignoring its (many) cosmetic flaws, it's always had a small variety of minor electrical and plumbing related quirks. (There is no vent, the sink faucet is always clogged, the toilet does not flush properly, the plumbing under the sink is comprised of plumber's putty and an ice cream bucket, the one electrical outlet has reverse polarity and is located about four inches above the main water source, the linoleum floor is peeling, the light switch is outside the bathroom and across the hall, and so on.)

There is nothing like a baby to spur those long-overdue home projects. So we're tackling the bathroom first (and we have about three other projects lined up before summer's end, too). 

  

We started small. Demo doesn't seem so bad when you're just removing cheap bath surrounds.

Behind the bath surround was sheetrock, then old lath and plaster, then original studs. And dust. Lots and lots of dust. And probably lead paint (Adam did the demo). The bathroom floor actually sits nearly an inch taller than the adjoining kitchen floor. The reason? Underneath the linoleum, we discovered - in order - plywood, sticky tile, hardwood, subfloor, original planks.

After removing the painted linen cabinet, we discovered that it really could have been worse. Honestly, I would have loved to have met the color-blind people that inhabited this house before us.

The view from my kitchen. This scene has not changed in weeks and is likely to remain well into August at the rate we're going. (Now is a good time to mention that we are not actually doing the bulk of this remodel ourselves. We are assisting where we can, which is generally demolition, cleaning, making hundreds of small and incredibly boring decisions, and purchasing obscure items from every single aisle of Menards and Lowes, even items from the scary back corners of Menards and Lowes that no one ever really ventures into.)

Working late into the night.

Hard to tell, but Adam is wearing a fine layer of insulation.

Time to call it a night. Refreshing gin and tonic for Adam, sweet blood orange soda for Nicole. Thus ends the first weekend of very hard work for two lazy bones.

20 Weeks

Whew...we made it to the halfway mark! And for those placing bets, little Baby Johnson will be a boy!

Adam and I really didn't have any intuition one way or the other (not knowing what to expect anyway), although we were both leaning approximately 52-48% toward boy. This has been a relatively relaxed pregnancy, especially compared to what came before, and I've felt more mellow and stress-free pregnant than non-pregnant. If it had been a girl, I think the double dose of estrogen would have sent me over the edge.

By the half-way mark, I had gained 8 pounds - half of it in popsicles - and decided to put the maternity pants into regular rotation. He started to kick one day shy of 17 weeks and has been living it up lately, especially mornings and evenings. Adam felt the first kicks on Sunday, Father's Day. Baby is reaching the one pound mark, and then things should really get rocking.

I'm still not a huge fan of ultrasound pics, but I had to make an exception for this guy. He's already cute as a button. 

I think we're blowing bubbles here, according to the tech.
It's absolutely amazing that you can see the spine, the stomach, the little nose, etc.

I counted, like, 18 toes, but we were assured that there are only five.

NSFW!

It will most definitely be a little boy.

This is my favorite pic. Check out that bicep! Adam says he already has a great frisbee arm. For about half the ultrasound, he had one arm behind his head, just hanging out. I have a feeling this guy is going to take after Adam. He's very chill.

Pink and blue cookies for work. My co-workers were split down the middle on what we were having, but everyone agreed on a cookie or two.

The BWCA

We kicked off our delayed summer with a quick trip to the Boundary Waters for the Memorial Day weekend. Following some much needed pre-planning and knot-tying tricks from Marlene and Andy, we loaded up the Lumina and secured our beast of a canoe to the roof for the five hour drive up north. 

And since we were already running late, we decided to swing into Split Rock Lighthouse. It's not everyday you can be tourists in your own backyard.

The weekend was cool and spring had barely reached the North Shore, but we avoided the rain and overcast skies consuming the Cities. It was a clear, full moon weekend. Highs were in the mid-60s, lows in the high 30s. Perfect for Adam, a touch chilly for Nicole, who immediately wished she had packed more wool socks and fewer tank tops.

Our entry point was Bearskin Lake, off the Gunflint Trail about 30 minutes outside of Grand Marais. We had one short portage (60 rods) into Daniels Lake, where we camped for two nights. 

This was my first trip to the BWCA in over 10 years, and Adam's first trip since his bachelor party in 2006. We may have been a little rusty, but if that baby could do it (see canoe, below), well, then, we were going to try. (Bonus FYI: only one of us was crying all the way out of the BWCA two days later, and it was not me!)

Still trying to secure the food bag out of the bears' reach.
This took multiple tries, and by multiple, I mean more than 50, probably.

We found an axe in the water and plenty of chopped wood at camp. More time for relaxing!

My two requests were to see the Northern Lights and to hear the loons. We 110% succeeded on the latter. I was thrilled. Loons are fascinating. Especially this one.

Fishing for lake trout.

Being more of a literate fisherwoman, I read the entire Minnesota fishing regulations guide and left the physical aspects of the sport up to the others.

However, I was more than happy to share in their catch! 

Our second day in the BWCA proved even sunnier than the first.

The breakfast of champions: blueberry oatmeal and polish sausage.

Taking a break from fishing, we decided to hike to Canada.

And not surprising, we discovered hidden remnants of snow.

(Though not enough to keep Adam out of international waters.)

Day Two's catch. Honestly, I never ate as well as I did on this camping trip. We had enough food and whiskey for a small, drunken army.

Our final morning was crisp and cool, like the others. Adam was the resident fire-builder, while I helped to pick up sticks. A side effect of the late spring meant no mosquitoes and fewer ticks, which is a pretty good trade-off for the cooler weather.

A four-fleece chilly morning. 

I wish I could say I didn't wear these (all of these) all weekend, but I would be lying.

I also wore three pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, a winter hat, mittens, and hand warmers to bed.

The air is so still in the mornings that the lakes are like glass. The winds usually pick up just as soon as we put the canoes in to head out fishing.

  

It wouldn't be a road trip without a frisbee throw.

Just shy of 18 weeks pregnant. The layers hide a lot.

We hope to return again just as soon as we can. We're so fortunate in Minnesota to have such an abundance and diversity of natural areas. I'm glad we were able to take advantage of the beautiful weekend, especially since it was a needed break from projects at home. We'll be back. I still need to see those Northern Lights.