Some Road Time, Some Home Time

 
 
The oppressive heat has ended and we are back in action.  Spent last weekend on the road and visited the grandparents and cousins back in Eau Claire.  The kids ran the woods like a pack of wolves, well a pack of wolves with flashlights.  Merrick burned through most of grandma's supply of band-aids and bacitracin but that was required to keep the smiles and giggling.  Grandpa got the kids into two different boats and we played around in the river and Cold Creek for a while.  Merrick's giggle was very much audible over the engine when grandpa "Cannon."  The kids were having issues with the idea of "Canning it" and were quite sure he was saying "Cannon." There was some down time on Sunday morning before heading back home.  Monday we met some friends at Heritage Hill for some Music on the Green. Always a great summer activity, and the first time we have made it over there, due to Merrick's soccer was on the same nights. We take the bike trail over from the house, pack a brown bag dinner and the kids run through the weeds, do gymnastics and find a collective mass of other kids to play tag.  All of this with the wonderful sounds of open air live music from the large central gazebo makes the scene a little Rockwellish. We also were able to get back over to Bay Beach for a couple of hours.  The tickets are lasting longer than in the past as the kids have aged out of so many of the rides and into rides that I have no interest in riding.  Merrick hit the big swings for the first time, a gigglefest for him and a version of neurosis for me at the fear that he would freak out and try to climb out.  He did great and then it was off to the tilt a whirl and scrambler.  Boy wonder did blow out a flip-flop on the scrambler and he had to retrieve it when the ride was done--the kids are used to wearing shoes.  Merrick is still too short for the new roller coaster at the park, but we decided next time he will just wear his snow boots, that way the larger heels will add and inch or so and maybe he will come up to the all important red line and gain admission.  Yesterday was quite busy with the threat of rain we went to the newly opened children's museum and played around for about 3 hours before having some Ebert and Gerberts for lunch.  The new museum is smaller than the Appleton Museum but still offers some great exhibits including much of the old hands on equipment from the Packers hall of fame.  The kids had a blast.  We rounded out the day with a trip to a local water park and splash zone and played on the water slides and fountains until Merrick was convinced that the no running signs and my constant reminders were really just suggestions.  He slipped on the pool deck and cracked the back of his head nasty-hard and produced a monster goose egg.  His hair was all puffed out on the back of his head and he looked like a nubbin' unicorn.  His pupils looked generally normal but it was still time to head home and pack in a ton of tacos the likes of which can only be eaten by three people after a couple of hours of swimming.  Today looks like another gorgeous day and with these two for company it is sure to be wonderful.