Wildfires and life here

I finally moved all my tomatoes out of the garden this weekend. I had 8 plants that I transplanted into five gallon buckets. They are now on the patio next to our house. My beets didn't grow too well, I have little tiny bulbs under the leaves, but only the size of a dime:-) We have one pumpkin showing that will have to be picked this week. And quite a few cukes are trying to grow up. Our septic will hopefully be put in this week so things will look alot different soon. Topsoil will be put in around the addition and we'll plant grass on a large part of the yard by the time we're done. Our sandbox still needs to be moved and I'll be loosing my beautiful apple trees;-( Paul says, oh well we'll just buy some new ones, but what he doesn't realize is the length of time it takes for an apple tree to grow to that size. I've always loved apple trees. Michael and I played for hours on end in ours in Rapid River. It was our fort! Michael used to throw our little crabapples at passing cars- it was amazing that we never got caught- although maybe he never really hit the cars. He was maybe 5 or 6 so I kind of doubt it now that I think about it. Ah, it's been a long time since I've spent time in a tree!
Speaking of trees, there are sixteen wildfires burning in the U.P. right now- 14,000+ acres up near Tahquamenon Falls which really makes me sad. Stonington is also burning although at a slower rate- it's been evacuated and the road is closed. The daily press had this article about Stonington; http://www.dailypress.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=12636
They say they are the worst fires in history. The picturesque beauty of Tahquemenon is at least caught on pictures that we took last year.
At least they weren't results of arson- the Tahquemenon fire is from a lightening strike and they are thinking something similar for Stonington. It's so dry here so hopefully some much needed rain will come this week and help. Crews from the National guard are dumping water from helicopters and firefighters from Minnesota have come to help as well. No doubt this will have a huge impact on our biggest form of economy- tourism.
Then there's this bridge disaster six hours away in Minneapolis. Many bridges in Wisconsin and a few here are built similarly so they have been doing tons of inspections and they apparently have passed. I am amazed that this tragedy wasn't alot worse! Not to be crass, but with as many vehicles that fell, you'd think the death toll would've been in the hundreds. So thankful that it wasn't!
We had our church service/picnic at Camp Harstad this past Sunday. It was a great day and we had the best turnout. We actually planned on 70 for food and ended up with almost 100. We had rotisserie chicken and corn on the cob and of course all the salads and desserts you could imagine. Every one liked the change from burgers and brats. Next year, we're thinking about having deep fried turkeys. The kids were able to swim in the lake after lunch and they had a bunch of games too. Water balloons, volleyball, basketball, football on the beach- it was just a great day for making memories.
Tonight the boys will get haircuts and Tyler and Katia have their closing program at the library. Tyler won the video, "Where the red fern grows" which he's excited to get because he loved the book. I don't think I ever read it.
Tayton will be turning three next week! I have to come up with a plan for his cake. I made a bundt cake last year, but he'd like to have a Thomas cake. Course it has to be milk free, so I'll be making it again. It would be nice if I could just make the cake and then bring it in to the grocery store to have it frosted and decorated, but I doubt that's an option. I had a light bulb moment yesterday thinking about it, there's big business in a bakery that accomodates allergies! Hmmm. :-)