Pictureless Posts

Hello family and friends,

It's been awhile since I posted without pictures but that is my only option right now. Last Monday when I was taking the pictures of the kids splashing in the pool I left the camera in the middle of the picnic table and went inside to answer the phone. When I peeked back out about five minutes later Lydia was walking around holding the camera by the string with it turned on and the lens completely zoomed out at a rather precarious angle. Suffice to say the camera is no longer in working condition. Ugh.

We've still be having a delightful taste of spring with or without pictures. The tulips are all popping up, we have a few robins around, the boys were watching sparrows gather twigs for a nest in the birdhouse on the patio, and we had one entire day of rain last week. I know that last one might not mean anything to you in MN/WI but it is never rainy here for more than and hour or two so an entire gloomy day puts both Nathan and I in a surprisingly good mood. Call it reverse seasonal depression.

Today we took good friends of ours, the Maertzes, on a geocache on the Flume Trail. Many of you have been on the Flume Trail during one visit or another in the past few years. It follows an old flume bed that was used to transport logs from the Hills to a mill. The entire trail is 13ish miles and we did about a four mile loop today. What is most impressive about that is that Hans is now hoofing it as he's getting to heavy to pack. That's a BIG hike for a little guy. By the end he was hungry and tired so he bummed a few brief carries but did great. We've got to keep in shape as we look forward to a summer of caches and some time in the mountains for vacation.

That's about all that's new here. The kids are doing great, Nathan has 45 days of school left, and I'm enjoying a weekly pottery class right now. Drop us a note, give us a call, or just pop in anytime. See you soon. :)