Seven

Today is the day! Our Adelynn June turns seven years old! 

What does this girl live for?

• Reading and getting 100% on her AR books. She’s the highest reader in her class and gets to test out in the hallway. (That must be a big deal). 
• Hockey! “I was born to play games!” She also helps the younger kids in the Learn to Skate program.
• Coloring and lots of it!
• Taylor Swift on her Amazon Alexa.
• Cleaning, unpacking, laundry, dishes, you name it and she wants to help.

For her birthday she got a heart shaped necklace that said “I love you more” from Grandma Loken. A new fancy coat, a hockey hat and Sam made her a blanket in her FACs class.

Inspection Day

Today we met the fire inspector. We should have studied!

What work has been done on your home? By who? What year? Permits pulled (he knew that answer)? He wanted to know every little bit of work we did to the house even down to painting the kitchen ceiling.

Nick recounted the moments leading up to the fire and each step taken once discovered. The cause seemed clear that there was an arc in the electrical line between the junctions box and the attic light. Next was who did the electrical work in 2008? Not us! We bought the house Spring 2009.

Our insurance adjuster stopped by and spoke to the fire inspector. We were told to stay out of that room until the fire investigation was complete. What does this mean? No demo work until all is cleared. How long? Upwards of two months depending on how long the investigation with insurance and statute of limitation was cleared. Good. This will be great.

Our potential contractor stopped by as well and met the other two gentlemen. Three times we had to walk through and point out damage, explain how we felt it started and wait to hear their plans.

My house was a mess. Strangers tromping through at their leisure. I dislike this. I’ve always disliked having people over when my house is a mess. With four kids and three pets who don’t understand where they let their waste go, makes for a yuck house. 

StayBridge Suites

Today is an exciting day! We get to take our next step in bringing some sense of “home” back to our family.

We checked into Staybridge Suites in Eagan this afternoon. It’s tight but so much better than I expected. We have a central living area with an almost full kitchen. (Minus an oven)

Through the far door is a room with two queen beds and a full bath.

The other door off of the living area led to a master suite.

For the first time in 9 years, we had a second bathroom. This is going to be great!!

The hotel offers complimentary breakfast, three complimentary dinners, laundry on each floor, light housekeeping and did I mention two bathrooms?!

Frustrations

We recently bought the girls loft beds, new mattresses, new shelving for clothes. Their room didn’t smell like smoke much but the water came pouring in.

Back to the beginning we go! Plus side, we can reevaluate a lot of purchases.

Can’t Come Back

It’s a beautiful day outside. The bigs are loving their time with the Taylor’s and riding the bus to school. Nick and I are still at a loss of what to do. I have a need to clean the house but can’t. We aren’t allowed inside the house until the Fire Marshall comes.

Now what? I guess we could take advantage of the weather, clear our minds a bit and kayak down the Cannon River. Our neighbor Troy drove us to the launch site so we wouldn’t have to deal with two cars.

It was a great float... until the severe weather came rushing in. We pulled out on a high bank and called the Roberge’s to see if they could give us a lift home. 

What To Take

Nick and I returned home to pack to some things. The bigs were at the Taylor’s house and the littles were hanging with Grandma Schiller.

We found a hotel that would fit the six of us and allow pets. Closest was in Eagan which was great for work but not so much for the next month of school. Downfall, can’t check in until Monday.

I was at a loss. What am I supposed to grab. How do I know what we’ll need? I can’t take a lot since we have to live out of our cars for the weekend. Summer clothes? Kids stuff? Ugh! This sucks!

Water had a chance to settle into the plaster and our ceilings started to crack. We are pretty fortunate for having plaster walls and ceilings. If they had been sheetrock, the fire would have spread more rapidly and the water weight would have dropped any ceilings on the main level that were intact the night before. 

The Fire

I was getting ready to leave for dinner in Madison when I got a call from Nick. Our house was on fire. It took a bit to determine the severity and whether or not I needed to go back to my hotel and pack up for a long drive home or if it was minor enough where me coming home wouldn’t be of benefit.

The attic light started on fire. Seth noticed a loss of power in his room and the breaker kept tripping. He called for Nick who confirmed something was going on and then let the littles know he’d be right back outside. Then Nick saw smoke and hollered upstairs for Seth to get out.

I came home. Packed up and started the four hour drive in the pouring rain. My drive was full of phone calls with family, friends, insurance and work.

I got home about midnight and Nick showed me around by flashlight. The main level stink like smoke and burnt debris scattered on the floor leading upstairs, all of which was being tracked down from upstairs. As I went upstairs I had to cover my face with my shirt to breath.

The hallway attic access door was down, the roof black. Sam’s old bedroom ceiling was full of holes from the fire department as they tried to stay ahead of the fire. The attic was charred. Our belongings inside were soaked with water and fire extinguisher contents.

It could have been worse. Our fire department acted fast with the help of the Cannon Falls Fire Department.  Damage seemed minimal. Our house looked fine from the outside minus a few broken windows and plywood covering a hole on our roof. 

Nobody was hurt, our pets were safe, or upcoming days suddenly became unknown. As of tonight, all we knew is that we couldn’t sleep in our house again for months.