Pumpkin Carving Party 2008!!

Our annual pumpkin carving family gathering was a huge success! Everyone had a great time carving, going on a hayride, bobbing for apples (even Murphy & Buddy got in on this event!) visiting, and of course enjoying all of the great food! Thanks everyone for making this a great day..we can't wait for next year, and we are already planning for some new fun things, so make sure you don't miss it! Click here for some great (and maybe scary) photos! UPDATE: You may have noticed that I added a photo to this post...I ran across the top photo of Madeline Leers (Mom) and Kesse carving pumpkins in 2002! They really had fun that day, and I thought everyone would enjoy seeing them.

Autumn at Wolf Lake, Kidders Cabin

This is probably our last trip to the cabin before the snow starts flying! It was a perfect weekend, and Scott, Micki, Grace, and the dogs, Toby and Sydney came for a visit. It was Graces' first time here, and we all had so much fun. I'm sure you'll enjoy the individual posts of our activities. Before you get to them, click here to see some beautiful fall colors! We took so many pictures, and had such great photo opps...click here to see them!

Graces' First Trip to Kidders Cabin!

This was Graces' first trip to the cabin. She had so much fun! I'm sure this will be the first of many more in the future! Grace was willing to explore and go anywhere we went. I think we have a future mushroom huntin', fishin' kayaking, campfire Kidder in the family! Click here to see more cute photos of Grace at Kidders Cabin!

Buddy, Sydney, Toby

I think the dogs had as much, or even more fun than we had!! They swam, fetched, played, took a boat ride, explored, and then started all over again. They were so exhausted after our 5 mile hike that they all flopped down and took a nap in the yard. It was so much fun watching them have fun! I'm sure they will be coming again, and Buddy will be looking forward to having his friends Toby & Sydney back. Click here for some hysterical photos!

A 5 Mile Hike

Another of our favorite things to do is to hike the 5 miles around wolf lake. Especially this time of the year. It's a great way to see all of the unique cabins and "trailer parks", and it gives the dogs a chance to meet some of the neighbors. All of the dogs did great, they all stayed right with us and we only had to put them on the leashes a few times when traffic got heavy. Click here for more photos.

Touring the Pine River Corridor

When you come to the cabin, you just have to take an hour and take a trip down the two-track that runs along the Pine River. It's a great way to see what the river is like without getting into a boat! The colors were awesome, and we had a great time exploring, looking for bears, and gathering stones, leaves, and bark for Graces' project! Click here to see our photos!

One Last Boat Ride!

We just had to take one last trip around Wolf Lake before taking the boat & pier out..besides, Grace just couldn't wait to drive! It was chilly, but a beautiful day for a cruise, and the dogs just loved it! I think it was Toby and Sydneys first time on a boat! Click here to see some more pictures.

The last of Hurricane Ike

The remnants of Hurricane Ike came through Elkhart September 13 & 14, dumping up to 12 inches total in some parts of northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan. Bud & Irene have lived on Christiana Creek since 1955 and have never seen the creek as high as it is. There are many lakes that feed the creek, and it continues to rise even today, 5 days after the rain stopped! Here at our house, the Washington ditch, which drains all of the farm fields around us flooded its banks and ran over the field next to us and flooded our pond. The Washington ditch went down back to it's normal level within just a few days. Click here to see some photos of the creek at Bud & Irenes house, and here at our house.

Late Summer at Kidders Cabin

We finally got a few days to go up to the cabin! It was so nice to be up there, even if it was only for a few days. We had not been up since early June, and were ready to get going! We had a couple of nice days to get some chores done, mainly mowing the grass and trimming some trees along the paths on the 10 acres. We also went on a sunset kayak trip on Wolf Lake, and got back just at dark. What a relaxing way to end a day! We also got to kayak the Pine River again. (see the post below) We had nice weather, and finally some rain! It's been dry up there, too. We also got to visit with Chuck & Joy and see the big Buck that Chuck got some photos of. (Of course, the location is top-secret!) We were sad to see our "Kidders Cabin" sign was missing. Leo & Bud made the sign for the cabin in 1996, and it was a treasured part of the cabin. We will have to make a new one to replace it, but it just won't be the same. Hopefully whoever took our original will return it one day. Click here for some photos of our trip.

Kayaking the Pine; after the flood

We were anxious to get to the Pine River and see how the flood in June changed it. We had been reading on the internet that it was really different, and was actually closed to canoes and kayakers for several weeks. It really has changed in many areas! There are many more rapid areas, lots & lots of logjams, and the twin boulders that were near the end of the run at Low Bridge are missing? Moved? Or just underwater & sand and we can't see them. If you've done the Pine you will remember these boulders that you had to go between. They were one of the rivers major challenges. There are many more challenges since the flooding, but it is still passable, and lots of fun! The trip from Peterson Bridge to Low Bridge took us approx. 3.25 hours. What great day! Click here to see some great photos of the Pine River, and some of its logjams & boulders.

Kayaking Christiana again!

Here we go again! This is our first evening trip. We got on the creek after 6 pm, and out just at dark! It was a big group, Tuff, Alys, Vic, Perry, Miss, Brian, Melissa and Jim. Some first time kaykers again, and everyone had a blast! We started at Redfield road in Michigan and got out at Vic & Perrys again. It's about a 3.5 hour trip. We stopped at Bud & Irene's house on the way and had some apples from their trees. This stretch of the creek is always fun! Click here for video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4, video 5, video 6 & video 7.

And again! "the guys trip"

Tuff, Scott, and the Coryn brothers Scott & Shawn went down Christiana Creek for the first time on Sunday, and had a blast as usual! They came across a huge water snake that you will see in the photos, and Tuff said Scott Coryn had everyone laughing so hard! Click here for some photos of the guys trip.

Kayaking Christiana Creek

We recently went kayaking on Christiana Creek with Rick, Betsy, Megan, Courtney, Chris & Brooke. We put in at Redfield road in Michigan & got out at Vic & Perrys house in Elkhart. This trip took us about 4.5 hours, a nice leisurely float. The creek is very clean and a good fishing creek. Tuff & Rick grew up on the creek, and used to spend hours upon hours in it. It's nice to be able to still get on it & have a great landing place at Vic & Perrys. Perry had a wonderful lunch of fresh pizza, salad, breadsticks & cold drinks waiting for us, thanks Perry! We had such fun that we decided to make the run again a few days later. This last trip was just Tuff & Alys & Rick & Betsy. Tuff & Rick had all of their fishing gear this time, and some anchors rigged on their kayaks to make fishing a little easier. It gets a little swift on the creek in a few spots and it's hard to stop and fish without one. They both caught many really nice bass, smallmouth and largemouth. I even caught a pretty nice smallmouth, it was a blast! This trip took us about 7 hours with all of the stops for fishing, but it was such a perfect day just to float & relax. Hopefully we will be able to get to the Pine River before summer is out. Click here for some photos of our adventures on Christiana Creek. We also have some fun video of the day, click for video 1, video 2, video 3 & video 4. This is some of our first attempts at videoing while kayaking, and it gets a little tricky, so you'll have to forgive some of our upside-down/sideways/turned around views.

Flower Power

Here is our wildflower field. This is our 2nd growing season, and the 3rd year since preparing the soil. Tuff and I attended a seminar put on by the Michiana Master Gardeners featuring Neil Dibol, and were immediately inspired. The first year we cleared the ground in the spring & summer, then broadcast spread the wildflower seed in the fall. We were really amazed at the results last spring & summer, and again this year. It seems like each season brings new color and a different variety of flowers and grasses. Click here to go to Neil Dibols Prairie Nursery website.
Click here for more photos of our Wildflower field.

Gardening

As you saw in our earlier post, we are experimenting with raised garden beds this year, in addition to the more traditional style of gardening. We have discovered that we love the raised beds! There are many benefits, such as non-compacted soil, and planting, weeding & harvesting from a sitting position is much easier on your back. The raised beds are 2x12x16 long. We still have the tilled area for pumpkins, watermelon, squash, etc. And, in addition to that the 75 (15 different varieties) of tomato plants that Bud started for us in his greenhouse. So, now you know where to come & get your tomatos!! Click here to see our gardens.

Creek Party!

Irene and Bud had the 2nd annual creek party at their house, and everyone had a great time! They live on Christiana Creek, and it's a perfect spot for kids of all ages to play & explore. Bud & Irene have lived there since the 50's, and 4 generations of Kidders and their friends and extended families have enjoyed the creek. (actually, there are 5 generations that have enjoyed the creek, because Bud & Irenes Dads' both used to fish there!) The day started with a wonderful dinner catered by Essenhaus, and then the fun began! The kids played in the water, floated, and searched for buried treasure in the sand pile. Thanks Gram Irene & Grampa Bud for such a fun time! Click here to see more photos of a very special day...

Grace

Our Grand-Daughter Grace spent the night with us a few weeks ago. We had so much fun with her! She had wonderful adventures with Papa Tuff picking strawberries (and eating them) and exploring the wildflower field, playing with Buddy, and playing in the sink...that was one of her most fun things to do. She also LOVES to swing! She discovered she could do it all by herself, and kept saying she was a "Big girl".
Click here to see more photos of Grace!

Kesse & Brittany at Kidders Cabin

Alys, Tuff, Kesse, Brittany, and the Moyers, Betsy, Rick & Megan all spent 5 relaxing days at Kidders Cabin. We had a few cool days, but most of the time the weather was wonderful. (the tubing photos look warm, but it was a chilly 56 degrees that day! the girls just had to go!) We had a ton of fun kayaking, fishing, and sitting around the campfire. Click here for some fun photos!

Chuck Krause

Update: Our friend Chuck passed away this fall. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Chris, and his family. We will miss having him stop by the cabin, but his spirit and memory will always be with us.
Original post:
We received sad news this morning from Chuck Beurmann, Pete & Rachels son, that our friend Chuck Krause, who lives near Wolf Lake and is the local wood carver, had a terrible accident while cutting a tree down on May 19th. Apparently a tree that he had cut down rolled onto him, breaking his back, hand, and causing other injuries. The outlook is not good. He will most likely be paralyzed from the neck down. The best case scenario will be if he can recover the use of his arms. He is being cared for at Grand Rapids hospital, on the 4th floor, heart center. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Chuck and his family. We will post updates as to how he is doing. Chuck Krause became a friend of ours many years ago, and always enjoys stopping in at the cabin and showing us his latest wood carvings, and sitting around the campfire talking. He is especially proud of his kids and grandkids accomplishments. The last time we visited with him was just a day or two before his accident, and we gave him a section of the Elkhart Truth newspaper from last summer that we had been saving for him. It had featured an article about his son and grandson in the cherry spitting contest. They are world champions! Chuck was also a champion cherry spitter. We did not know that he had been injured the last time we were at the cabin, and had driven by his house, only to see that he was not at home. Click here for some of Chucks wood carving pictures that he is so proud of. Beautiful work, Chuck.

Twin Fawns

While we were at the cabin Megan and her fiance Dustin came for a visit. Megan has been coming to the cabin since she was 10 years old, and wanted to show Dustin around. So after a tour of the cabin and checking out Wolf Lake, we all got on the golf cart and drove down the road to our 10 acres. This is a nice wooded area where Tuff loves to deer hunt. While we were driving around the trails, we noticed that Buddy wasn't with us anymore. Tuff blew his whistle (which always brings Buddy running) but this time, Buddy was nowhere to be found. We drove around the trails again, and Tuff spotted him over by a downed pine tree. After investigating, we found out why: Buddy had found twin newborn fawns, and wanted to show us. When Tuff went over there Buddy was licking one of the fawns on the head. The fawns were beautiful. We didn't have our camera with us, but went back to the cabin to get it and rushed right back. The fawns had moved, but Buddy was able to sniff them out again. We took a few photos and left them alone. It's awesome to see so much wildlife thriving in the area.
Click here to see the fawns.