keeping the 'burr' in December!

A polar vortex by any other name still feels as cold.  The temperatures had settled into record setting lows and we are inside more than we are out.  We did venture out to Baird's creek, as bundled as we could, to break the cabin fever of the post Christmas lull. With balaclavas and hand warmers to fight off the frost bite we took in the beauty of the winter landscape and Dog-O enjoyed the time to stretch his legs a bit too.  We did head back inside and ended up in a movie theater to watch a hot, humid jungle themed action movie while stuffing our bellies with popcorn.  Munkly Arky was in town and while Ella headed off with a friend for another movie Grace cheered on the Gamblers to shoot out loss.  Amy and I are finally getting our heads around cribbage, a game we have tried to learn for several years off and on.  We called in some experts to spend an evening with us and tutor us through it.  The kids were intrigued and caught on much quicker than our old minds did.  Inside, outside it doesn't matter...we have fun and find ways to keep laughing.  On to a new year!

family ties

  

The snow has come and an instant winter is upon us as we close in on winter break.  We spent an evening singing all the Christmas carols we knew while ringing the bells at a local grocery store.  We don't actually know that many carols, but the patrons pass by quickly enough so as not to notice our single verse memories and extra choruses.  Ella impressed a packed house with her new clarinet during an evening band and jazz band concert.  We headed back to Eau Claire for a gathering of the Kans and Christmas cheer and bought out about a third of the movie theater to watch the new Star Wars film.  Grandma dozed off and Grandprize was caught snoring but the 3D action kept everyone else entertained on a Saturday afternoon.  Back home we spent Christmas eve backing treats and decorating cookies before a traditional spaghetti dinner.  With Herbie the elf heading back to report to Santa the kids dozed off and were ready to rip through the paper of yule time glee.  With bellies filled with bacon, eggs and hashbrowns from my new griddle and the house with the smells of home it was time to spread cheer to the south and we headed to TR.  The families all checked in for laughs and good-natured ribbing and the Christmas rat was even dug out to put in his proper place.

'tis the season

We hit the woods amidst a barrage of kid events from basketball, birthday parties and soccer games to cut a tree for the Christmas season.  It was the most perfect tree with natural and unshapely boughs to hang the multitudes of ornaments from years past.  The kids wanted to cut a much larger tree but paying by the foot and plans of hauling it out on my shoulder put the kibosh on their illusions of grandeur. St. Nick's day has come and the kids eagerly got up when I awoke to empty their stockings and find Herbie.  The dog days of summer have been holding fast and even allowed for a determined dandelion to bloom earlier in the week in front of the house.  The forecast is set for cold temperatures to blow in soon so we are expectant of some snow to play in.  Oliver is fast learner and the kids are spending time teaching him tricks from sit, shake, bye, kennel and roll over.  As always life is good.

Seasons of Change

 The late fall has come but the weather has stayed comfortable and the kids have readied themselves for the Halloween night festivities.  Ella ran with friends as the Chipmunks and Sophia had a gang of robbers wander through the neighborhood.  Grace was  superhero and helped to keep the hoodlum gang in check.  Merrick had a gorilla suit and a crew of about twelve other boys.  All of them filled bags and behaved to the best of my knowledge.  Grace had her las Neon Nights, as she will be moving schools next year so there are still plenty of final events ahead of her this year.  Oliver is spending plenty of time in a cone but that hasn't taken the puppy out of him as he keeps stacking on the pounds at a rate of three a week.  Fall soccer ended with a cold tournament in the Dells and the pumpkins have moved aside to make room for the Christmas lights.  There is no snow in the air but the change is always swirling around us.

Forest of Fun

It took a little coaxing but Grace gave in and headed out to hunt a while.  Oliver was all in too.  She was all talk and smiles and wispy hair before we got out of town. We hit the Oconto and it sprinkled a bit but not enough to dampen our spirits.  Grace was under Barney Fiff rules and kept her bullet in her pocket while walking but had plenty of time to shoot pop cans that we found along the trail. She shoots really well, but will have out grown her gone by next season for sure.  Oliver was insane as he splashed through all the mud he could find in the swamp and then tore up and down the trails like....well like a puppy loose in the woods.  He did a great job of retrieving the pop cans after Grace shot them, quickly bringing them back to me..only for us to set up again and plink.  We found plenty of time to work through the trail snacks before heading towards the corn maize to pick up Ella.  Not sure Oliver notice we got her as he was comatose in the back seat.

Soggy hunt

Merrick and I made a trip across the state against the forecast of nasty rain to try our hand at the deer hunt.  We spent the first night with Grandprize and the Bryan clan playing mad libs and laughing until late in the night.  Awaking to the down pours of torential rain we delayed our start be eventually made our way to the woods, stopping for new rubber boots along the way.  We did have a blind to set up and that helped keep us dry and made the late morning and early afternoon tolerable.  We snacked and ate lunch.  I think we even both dozed off for awhile. We eventually allowed the boredom to win and figured we should head back to the vehicles and see if anyone else was in the woods yet.  Ollie and Grandprize had done some nice tarp hanging in preperation for an overnight camp and Brad and Jake had been there for about a half hour but it was ultimately decided to shoot the .357 a bit and then just call it quites.  Grandprize headed off to find grandma but the rest of us headed south to a little tavern for some burgers and pool before making the drive back across the state.

Maize Maze!!

 
Ella has been putting in plenty of hours at the local corn maze at an organic farm.  Sophia is getting fewer hours due to her soccer schedule but Ella is becoming a full fledged productive member of society.  We headed out early Saturday to run the maze before heading home.  The whole maze is over four miles long if you take all the turns.  We didn't win any speed records although we didn't help ourselves either when we didn't recognize there were two mazes!  if only we knew someone with inside information. Either way we ended with a solid meal at a local restaurant and had plenty of laughs on a beautiful fall day.  Grace is still taking guitar lessons and Merrick is now working on drums at school and continuing with the piano lessons.  both of them read music very well and are impressive to watch and listen to them.

Cheer 'em and hike 'em!

The older two girls are working their ways through fall sports.  Ella is bumping, setting and spiking for the school's Volleyball team while Sophia is kicking (and pushing) her way across the soccer pitch.  We drive them around and cheer for them as loud as we can.  We seem to spend most of our time driving but when there isn't a game scheduled we are still finding reasons to head outside and get some fresh air.  The kids did a mini Narrows hike at Bairds Creek although the dog was only interested in wading for awhile.  The weather has been phenomenal with highs still tickling the 70s.

And then there were seven

 It is back to school time and we are meeting teachers, smiling for pictures and resetting our schedules.  The lockers are 'pimped out' and spread over four different schools. But added to the routines is the newest addition....Oliver.  He has been getting plenty of walks, baths and treats. He is learning plenty of tricks and sucking up plenty of attention.

Cooler by the lake....just a different lake!

 
 

  With the domestic duties done and some time before school started again we hitched up the camper and headed west to Wissota.  It was in the old stomping grounds but I hadn't spent any time there so it was a whole new park for our tribe of six to  explore.  The temps were cool by August standards and the swimming was limited but the butterflies were beautiful.  The park had a large area of new prairie  Grandprize and Grandma made a couple of appearances and brought along some carving materials and tennis rackets.  Pretty standard camping with biking, hiking, smores but we did add in plenty of poision ivy plants...nobody got the itch so that was a success!

Time to Boot

Boot lake 2017!  We headed first to spend the night with the Bryan Klan for some celebrations and high flying rope swings but left early in the morning and headed to the Nicolet with camper in tow.  We were going to stay until Wednesday but it didn't take long for us to extend our trip until the following Sunday for no other reason than it was better than going home!  The kids made their annual pilgrimage to the candy store for candied rocks, taffy and cigarettes.  We had the traditional theme night party: Hollywood.  Batman, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Katy Perry and Brett Micheals all made an appearance and we had garbage bag and tin foil catwalk competitions.  Morning and evening fishing in the canoe bookended the afternoons at the beach.  The kids snorkeled and dug holes at the beach and hitched a tube ride around the lake.  There was plenty of time during the day for lounging in the hammock to read and work on flint/steel fire starting and the nights were for games in the camper and around the fire.  The weather cooperated and it was about as perfect as anyone could ask for!