MinnieMom Campground

Thanks disneyteach! Yes, that inclusive statement is specifically about conversions and even older RVs. There's a thing where a lot of newer campgrounds don't allow RVs more than 10 years old.

Although, it could just as easily serve as a statement about a basic principle for Standing Pines. We are working hard to go past ADA compliance to create a space that is welcoming for as many guests as possible.


The crew is here this morning - the first beams are up for the Welcome Center! More to come on the livestream tomorrow for this construction!

Big news - Rascal is set to publish on Monday!

I think I am updated on your plans.
I love that your dogs and entire family are creating this together . And Rascal Friends too!

Since you mentioned being in town I just picked up the free magazine at the Publix Customer Service desk called Orlando Family
Mayor Buddy Dyer is on the cover .
April is Autism Awareness Month and it must be time to plan local summer camp for this year.
The Summer Camp Guide is extensive and lists all the local websites . On page 44 the Camp Thunderbird is interesting for children and adultts with development disabilities .
I know you are extremely busy so the listings would be interesting to check out online in case they offer ideas …
I forgot that most local libraries also have Summer Activites . So don’t forget your nearby library to check out.
I have been looking online for discounted Campfire Cooking Books and magazines … The Barnes & Noble near Universal that I visited had quite a selection .
I’m also checking out Log Cabin Magazines . When your life has settled in about 2 years perhaps consider a Camping Magazine for publication because there is not much out there. I also went to Books A Million to search and found 1 magazine about log cabins.
I did purchase Camp Cocktails by Emily Vikre. $26.99 I had a bunch of gift cards and a family member 10% discount but it is full of pictures and love the titles !

Hope my schedule is not so busy with your next visit .Would love to join in if you have a mini get together with others.

Just wanted to let you know your enthusiasm is present in everything I see and hear online !
So happy you are sharing !

I wish I had time to rent a golf cart and invite you to join me to “ tour” the Fort …
If we discuss Standing Pines does it become a business meeting for tax write off ? 
And do you have a copy of autographed Rascal Friends and or complete boxed set of Your books ? 

Happy Sunday! I'm in my temp office in the future rental RV enjoying an afternoon catching up and prepping for work next week. DD and DH are playing video games together, so it's a good time to try to do some planning.

Overall, last week was mixed progress. Sitework continues to move at a good clip. The future drainage field for the sewer system saw a lot of progress. The internal roads for the campground continued to get work and some initial grading continued as small hills were cut down and the dirt spread in different areas.

The building steel crew continued to be MIA. Our GC is about over this - I would not be surprised to see him cut this sub contractor from future jobs. Happily, this is not a critical path job for opening. There is time to do what needs to be done for the clubhouse even with this 3-4 week delay. But it is irritating/frustrating, as it means there is very low confidence level the crew will show up this coming week. Every time they say they will then don't show, it impacts the other scheduled work for the clubhouse. That's what I am beginning to worry about. If GC has to continue to call interior framing crew to reschedule, we are going to get knocked down to the bottom of their priority list. That could be bad.

The pool permit issue is simply an exercise in frustration to me at this point. I'm sitting on a couple of decisions with it because I'm unhappy about the whole situation. Again, I'll get past it and on to the project management. But for the rest of today, I am putting that aside. It can wait until tomorrow morning for follow up.

One great suggestion to come from my discussion with our future social media manager while I was in Orlando earlier this month was to find ways to engage our facebook audience more. I think I have an idea for that, so will work on it later today.

The chapter book for the "Forest Friends" is now ready for ARC readers. A 3rd grade teacher in another state is working with me to assign the draft to her advanced readers, which is exciting. I anticipate having that ready for publication by June this year. A couple of MOs have written reviews for "Rascal" - - thanks so much for the help!!! Those ratings and reviews are very impactful. I appreciate the help!

That seems like the big stuff. Lots of little stuff for sure, but the big items this coming week are the pool permit and associated issues plus getting the building dried in. I'll come back and post the Tuesday live stream video update sometime in the next few days.

Later!

And here's the link to this week's video update - Reflections, Part 1, at Construction Mid Point

youtube.com/live/TrD66VHJWLI?feature=share  

youtube.com/live/TrD66VHJWLI?feature=share

I realized last Friday we are halfway through the construction timeline. Happily, DH, GC and sub's all seem to think we are right on track. So do my brother and father, both with decades of experience in this type of development. Seeing everyone around me confident is both reassuring and irritating. Why isn't anyone panicking? Less than six months till opening and we are basically just a giant, overgrown sandbox. That's when I knew I needed to do a couple of shows about progress and plans at the mid point of the construction journey. It's actually been helpful for me to see has been accomplished in the past six months. So I suspect it might be reassuring or helpful to others watching us build as well.

I'm working on Part 2 for this today. It may wind up as a 3 part project, with the first two weeks focusing on key progress so far and the third video (week after next) highlighting planned milestones over the next six months. I'll need to step away in a bit for some community relations work. A community member contact me earlier this week expressing concerns around our location. I offered to meet this afternoon, as the initial exchange left me concerned there is some inaccurate information floating out in the community. My goal is to reiterate our development plans, which have been very transparently public. I hope to know more about the whole situation in the next couple hours. Here, I'll admit I'm going into the conversation a bit guarded. There were several red flags in the initial communication that concern me.

In other news, plans are going relatively well for the first private preview event just 3 weeks away now. While one of my BFFs is likely going to have to drop out altogether and we downsized the scope of this initial event, I think we have a good plan for the ~60 planning to attend. Also, the illustrator for the Forest Friends books is back after a much needed vacation. She has shared several fun ideas this afternoon and I look forward to chatting with her. We have been able to set up three book signing events, so that's also a positive.

The 3rd grade class that has volunteered as ARC readers for the chapter book kicks off that work today! I'm really looking forward to what I expect to be fairly stout criticism for this group. Kids tend to be fairly direct and honest. I have faith they will find the gaps and weak points in the story. That's great! It will give me time to improve those prior to publishing the book.