Packing It All into the Weekend

 
 It was a great weekend with gorgeous weather.  Lower temps and even lower humidity.  We did head out before all of our guests arrived to shoot.  Sophia is practiciing or the upcoming deer season and a couple of rounds from the 20 gauge certainly gave both her and I some confidence in her ability.  Merrick shot the big bore as well and then we all shot plenty of .22 rounds from their little framed Rossis.   The real fun began on Friday, Amy and the girls came up and we hit the thrift sales for some great deals including red Packer hats just for the game.  The clan Bryan arrived just around dinner time and we spent Friday evening and most of Saturday afternoon playing around the backyard wich now includes: slackline, pool, badminton, washer toss, soccer nets, driveway hockey, four square, swingset and some other odds and ends.  The favorite toy/game....dark.  The kids wait all day for it to get dark so they can play tag.  My flowers are trashed and we have a new set of crutches in the house.  Sophia hit a root at a full run directly on the bottom of her foot,  this inflamed the tendon on the bottom side of her foot and she couldnt walk.  We did some X-rays and it was all soft tissue damage, ice and time.  She did have to crutch her way through Lambeau however.  Saturday night was the Family night game, so us and over 63000 of our closest friends went to watch The Pack play against themselves.  The team looks about the same from last year and will likely continue to beat themselves, but the kids (and adults) had a blast.  We tailgated a bit before walking over.  I hugged a complete stranger and we we caught bratwursts that were flying through the air and called it dinner.  Life was good and we weren't even inside yet.  In hindsight Merrick could have done without the can of pop while tailgating and the bottle of water as soon as we got to the game, but I know the bathrooms very, very well.  The kids had a screaming contest with the rest of the crowd.  We watched the whole game, missed out on the jersey give away but watched some great fireworks.  Sunday morning was a little slow to start for most everyone and after such a full weekend, Sunday afternoon was pretty slow as well.

"Idiots Out Wandering Around"

 
 

  Counting the miles is much easier than counting the innumerable but memorable laughs and smiles.  We packed the explorer to its gills with humanity and luggage and headed west.  A detour through Valley Fair added only a few minutes to the total road trip time and was well worth it.  The heat was as high as the excitement for the big coasters and we headed straight to the wild thing.  Merrick, Ella and I forged a quick allegiance against the mighty coasters as the others waited in the wings.  It was great and with almost no lines we were able to ride the green beast twice in about 15 minutes.  The whole day felt as if it was our park alone. We weren't sure if the lack of lines was due to the heat or that it was a Thursday or maybe the maintence cut back on the rides.  Yup the restrictions have become a little lax.  Grace added 3/4 of an inch to her height for the Corkscrew but simply smiling at the young European worker.  Merrick and Grace were also riding the ocotopus, a large black scrambler with an altitude plane as well, when the ride abruptly stopped.  The worker told me they would be able to get the kids down.  Grace was standing up in her car and then Merrick too was standing up while still high in the air waiting to be off loaded, as the PA system sweetly played the country ballads of "anything can happen" and "we die young."  When they finially reached the ground the workers stated to work on their car.  Apparently the safety belts weren't holding them in!!  We hit all the major coasters, but finished with a big splash ride with the kids running loops for about a half hour on the same ride.  We told them final ride and as they were getting off, the next group of people was stranded on the watery ascent.  Back to the hotel and a greasy pizza joint before setting out again on our trail.  We didn't make it far before we made a stop at Minnesota's largest candy store (the yellow barn), for some morning sugar.  We made it to Sheldon in the early afternoon.  the pool was filled with kids decked out in Tyr gear.  There were canonballs for everyone including grandma and chicken fights across all age and gender categories.  If we weren't swimming then we were eating or wandering to the park for Ollie's birthday pinata.  The darkness of the evening didn't pull us from the water but rather like a moth to the flame, Kate tossed in hundreds of glo sticks for the kids to dive for in the darkening water.  Sunday found us ready to head home and although we missed the Spam museum everyone traveled very well and the hours quickly slipped away as we made the trek back with plans of doing it again.

Full swing summer

 

 Soccer has only next week left and the garden is in need of a legume harvest, so we are clearly in fully, smack dab in the middle of Cesar Julius' month.  Summer school ended last week so we have been shifting gears into full summer mode.  We did get out for a berry pick and have been spending plenty of time at local pools.  The kids are having a blast jumping off the high dives.  Not sure if I should be proud or a little apprehensive at the way Merrick has no fear and jumps with his little body from the 12 foot heights.  Luckily the winds have been light and he landed on course all giggles.  Sophia spendt last weekend tubing around the big lake at a friends cabin.  Merrick and I have a lot of dude time as Sophia really starts to spread her wings of independence.  We have been spending most of it outside, but did visit the library as well.  We hit the links early Monday morning to play some frisbee golf, but that ended when I lost my disc.  The second disc that course has swallowed up--it looks so open.  Merrick finished off the course and we just continued to walk and chat.  Truly a great time.  Caught a couple of grasshoppers for Mitch at our favorite field, but then I sent him into the store by himself to buy some more.  He came out all smiles at his independence.  His smile grew with his self-esteem and my pride as he beat me in chess later in the week, while Sophia was entertaining friends for a sleep over.  Chess and blackjack are still his games of choice and I think the math and promethian nature of the games must be good for his edutainment.  We are packing up today for our trip west.  Plan on hitting Valley Fair on our way to Munkly Arky's place to visit the whole family.

So now we Dance!

  We camped in a totally new way this fourth, it was a festival, a resort, a circus of laughs, giggles and water spray in all its wonderful forms.  We were fortunate to be invited along by Amy to join her traveling clan of merry makers and with was great.  With a dozen or more others already at the campground we headed out early on Thursday morning.  The resort had miles of road for the kids to scooter around on and two different parks, ice cream shop, geocaching, beach with obstacle course and slides and a to compliment those features was a legitimate pool and waterslide features.  There was plenty of smore time to replenish the calories that the kids spent running around in a dirty dozen pack.  Friday was pontoon day.  We rented a pontoon for several hours and trolled around the lake stopping occasionally to swim in the shallow areas of the lake.  The heat and humidity was too high to allow much in the way of afternoon napping, but Merrick and I did coopt an AC controlled hardside and crank off a much needed recharge during the four day stay.  The weekend had fireworks on the beach with several locals putting on very remarkable shows from about 5 different places on the lake.  The arcade was always an option for the kids and we spent a couple of green backs on bubble hockey. Saturday was the bike parade followed by the campground dance. The arcade was converted into a fully functioning video DJ came in to set the stage for conga lines and dance hits that were perfect for the kids. Watching the kids shrug at the late hits of the 70's was hillarious, but they danced nonetheless.  One of the tribe also had his 5th birthday, which required superhero capes and masks for everyone.  Somewhere along the line we had water balloon fights, rode the trolly, ate a couple of ice cream cones, but even now as my body starts to recover from the fun the chronology of those event is lost to me.

Summer in forms most Gorgeous

 

 
 

It has been Sophia's Birthday week which just ended with a late night sleep over with her friends.  Grandpa and Grandma made it over for some mini golf, cake and icy cones.  The mini golf winner is still unknown as I lost interest in keeping score with such creative counters. Rest assured we were all winners with a twist cone to beat the heat after an afternoon on the links.  Merrick's soccer wrapped up, albeit anticlimactically, as the last night was cancelled due to a lightning and sever storms.  But it was a good year either way.  Summer School for Sophia is still in full swing and she is practicing for her play that the drama class is putting together  this has freed up a lot of "dude time" for Merrick and I.  So we hit the parks, thrift stores and rivers for a variety of fishing forms.  We caught some bass on hook and line and also tried our hands at carp spearing in the local rivers, including the river hog pictured. The garden is coming along really well and the raspberries should be ready soon and the peas are already way above Bruisers head.  Those are the highlights with a lot of summer seeping into all the crevices between.

The End is the Beginning

 
 

This year the kids had school longer than I did, which meant I was able to meet them in their Cafeteria for lunch during their last week.  It as great, I was already at Merrick's table when his class came in and to watch his smile grow and the excitement build as he jumped and hopped was really wonderful.  I was even invited to play at recess with him, although it was only about 4 minutes before I was asked to move our game of monkey in the middle, back on to the playground.  Lunch ladies and playground supervisors still give me a little scare.  Sophia was happy I was at lunch as well, but said I was not invited to recess, because she and her friends had to talk and I would "ruin the mood."
With the final days of school over we changed gears to summer. We headed back to EC for the weekend to see the whole gang, with grandpa setting up tents and hiding gorillas in the woods, it was a pretty typical weekend.  Back in GB we headed out to the sanctuary to feed the geese and ducks, only to come home and find a mallard had nested in our front flowers, right under the window.  At this time she is sitting on a clutch of 11 eggs.  Ducklings will abound very shortly and we are excited for the hatch.  We also hit the thrift sales on an early Friday morning and made some great finds including a tag-along bike for Merrick to follow behind me on longer rides, a globe and even a karaoke amp for Sophia. With her birthday coming up Merrick and I already grabbed a new microphone for her to complete the set up.  Sophia started summer school, albeit a day late.  We were camping along Lake Michigan and woke up Monday morning and only then remembered that she had school that day.  She did come out of class just beaming after her first day.  Merrick and I however decided to go fishing as well as score him a sweet new mountain bike from a curb for only 10 bucks.  We cleaned it up while Sophia was at school and he is now set on bikes for the next several years.  Camping was fun with some great hikes and kickball games, there seemed to be a dozen sugar and dirt coated kids running around so it looked like N. Rockwell meets T. Redlin images all weekend long.  Some of the time was spent catching alewives at the beach as well.  Merrick lost his peddle about 6 times, his chain twice, loosened the goose-neck and blew out a reflector.  Making the new bike find particularly timely.

A Month and More

We must be keeping very busy as I have not updated the blog in over an month.  The weather has been a roller coasted of late spring with sweaty highs followed by biting winter winds.  But rest assured that we are staying busy both outside and in.  Merrick's Soccer is in full swing and Sophia's is just revving up.  Dance is done and school is coming to a fast end.  Add to this a new slack-line and the kids racing in the local 5 K and it all makes for busy times

 

Sophia ran in her first 5K race and finished in 34 minutes flat.  Her legs have gotten long and she has the grace of a gazelle.  Merrick also ran in the kids run in the same race and has a swagger and strut that can only be created through confidence and testosterone.  Grandpa and Grandma came over to watch the kids run their laps around the field inside of Lambeau and Grandpa came ready for a banner for each kid to hold while the other raced.  We also spent some time back in EC.  We collected a grocery bag full of morels when we were supposed to be playing whiffle ball (it has been a remarkable year for morels). Made it out to big falls for a high water hike complete with several snakes, one of which was right on top of Sophia's shoe as we scaled the granite shoreline.  Last weekend was mostly spent at Sophia's dance recital.  It was on the big stage and consisted of two  3 plus hour shows.  Her two dances were beautiful and during her ballet dance she was lifted and carried like a princess from the back of the stage to the front...it was moving in multiple ways.  Merrick was outsmarted by a poorly designed foyer curtain and in an attempt to run through it "Toro" style, quickly found that there was a wall directly behind the curtain.  We have strung a slackline between two trees in the backyard and Sophia is getting quite adept at walking the line.  Merrick and I are playing plenty of driveway hockey and I was strangely proud of him the other night for breaking his first stick....rites of passage.  School is done next week and Sophia is taking two summer school classses (Drama and Girl Talk).  I asked Merrick if he wanted to take summer school and his response was "Or what?"  He decided him and I would fish while sophia was at school...I tend to think that is a wonderful idea.