Super Rachel Zana's Spot

Cousins! Golf cart rides! Pontoon Excursions! Swimming in the lake! Crazy lawn games! A giant pile of sand! Fishing! Board games! Snacks! And a prolific black fly population.

A couple of weeks ago a big chunk of the extended family gathered at a cabin we rented in Northern Minnesota for our annual summer cabin gathering. Peanut Maximus was very excited to try out Uncle Bryan’s jetski with The Banana. He did not like going fast, but he thought…

The Banana has been doing calculus in every spare minute for her summer calculus II class, and to keep things interesting, she moves from place to place in the house. One afternoon she was on the couch in the piano room with her laptop on a lap desk, a notebook,…

It was so incredibly hot, and we actually had full intentions of swimming. Unfortunately the water did not cooperate with us, because it was remarkably colder than normal. All the warmish surface water was blown to the other shore, and the cold water from the deep middle of the lake…

The Banana made this awesome celebratory sign on the chalkboard. Peanut Maximus had a celebratory sign on the side panel. I’m so thankful that I managed to photograph it before Peanut Maximus ended up accidentally erasing it while playing with the garden hose while I was teaching later in the…

Dr. Peds was supposed to hang out with Peanut Maximus on regatta day, because regattas can be long and slow, and this one was forecast to be hot as well. Peanut Maximus was hopping mad that he wasn’t going to be going to the regatta when his big siblings left…

It was before the heatwave, and the breeze off the water was lovely, and maybe even a bit chilly. Peanut Maximus had been asking to go to the sandy beach, so when I said he could pick where we were going, it was an easy choice for him! He knew…

It’s been a week around here! A heatwave descended and it was miserable for four days straight. Thank goodness cooler air arrived today, but unfortunately with it came thick smoke from wildfires nearby to the north. What have we been doing? Sweating. Taking cold showers (three or four a day).…

She’s a busy girl this summer (I’m so happy to have her back!). She’s lifeguarding, teaching swimming lessons, rowing, helping one neighbor with her garden, and temporarily helping another neighbor with lawn care while Mr. TOF negotiates his cast. (Things will be likely a little easier in a week or…