Pool Day

Spent all of Monday afternoon at the pool with the Kruse boys. Great fun. Jeremy recited the student creed at Karate class to earn his first tip. Required celebration: a trip to the restaurant of his choice. He deliberated between El Picante and McDonalds, because, "El Picante is my favorite restaurant and at McDonalds I can get a Happy Meal and get something I can keep forever." Sadly, he chose McDonalds. Got a green bear teeny beany baby, and now we are patrons of the beanie baby virtual world - a close imitator of Webkinz World. Ugh!

More Cousin Time

Sunday afternoon in Findlay, Ohio.

Cousins!

Poor Tim. After he arrived home at 11 PM on Friday night, I drug him to Findlay on Saturday at 2pm. We had to. The boys' cousins, Ryan, Logan, and Devin were in town. We hadn't seen them in 20 months! That can't be passed up. We took everybody to the Chicken for putt-putt Saturday night. Don't ask me. I didn't see any chicken anywhere. It's a Findlay thing, I guess.

He's home!

Friday was a trip to the neighborhood pool, dinner with Mom (who came over only because she felt sorry for me being alone!), and a 10 PM phone call to Tim to find out he was on his way home with an hour left to go. We scrambled to make a big Welcome Home sign. Zachary's added note was, "I am very excited you are home."

White Belt

On Thursday, Jeremy earned his white belt by cleaning his room. He LOVES playing dodge ball after karate class, and always raises his hand to play after Zachary's class, too. (Also we had dinner at the Loughner's house. Thanks!)

Karate Kid

Today, as we were running errands, Jeremy talked about starting karate. I didn't want to push him, but I was SO glad he finally feels ready. SO, we took him to class tonight. He did awesome - not intimidated at all, looked Mr. Patten right in the eye, answered "yes sir" just like he was supposed to, and was really enthusiastic. I'm so proud of him. The only bad thing was getting the phone call from Tim just as Jeremy was starting class. I've been waiting to hear from Tim for 3 days, and I STILL didn't get to talk to him. I'm ready to have him home.

Day 25: Holy Cow! and Home

Despite the gazillion attendees of the girls softball "World Series" or somesuch, the last night at a hotel was FUN. We swam this morning, then packed up. We couldn't resist stopping at Fair Oaks Farm on our way past (near Lafayetter). SO GLAD we did. Despite my initial distress at seeing a soon-to-be mamma cow ON A STAGE ready to give birth (like feet already out ready), I was totally wowed to see that little calf born. Really fun and educational trip.

Back on the road at 4:30 PM and home by 8:30 PM. Ready for bed.

Day 24: Tours

We woke early and were at Miller Brewing Company at 10:15. The tour was pretty neat, as were the free samples. I really wish they would've let us stay at the bottling area for much longer. I could have watched that for hours.

It turns out that google maps doesn't give the best directions, or maybe I'm just not that good at following them. We saw lots of Milwaukee that I would've gladly passed up, but surprizingly we did make our way to the lake and a public beach. Much to the kids' delight, we had a picnic lunch of McDonalds, then they slipped on their swimsuits and played on the beach of Lake Michigan. Milwaukee is a neat town, from what we saw. I would be at the beach all the time if I lived there.

Next stop was Jelly Belly. It's really just a train ride around their warehouse, not a factory tour. The kids loved it just the same. We did buy a couple of bags of Belly Flops (not perfect, but completely tasty) jelly beans. Then, we killed some time at a park before finding a Panera for dinner and braving the highway through Chicago. With really very little trouble (except for missing our exit and turning around to get to the hotel), we arrived safely. The Case Family Mini-van viewing of Star Wars Episode IV ended just as we got off the (correct) exit for the hotel.

Day 23: Ducks

We swam at the hotel pool in the morning, then we set off for Wisconsin Dells. Found everything without too much trouble, and got our tickets for the Ducks. I think the kids liked the trip on the Wisconsin River and Lake Delton. Saw beautiful rock formations, some deer in the woods, and even some ducks from the duck. Found a little park by the lake to have lunch, then the boys talked me into mining gems. For $15, we got a bucket of sand and rocks. It was actually less of a waste than I thought it would be. It's all about making memories, right Susie? They found plenty of very precious gems (that look suspiciously like rocks to me).

We got to the hotel at 7PM and (Halleluia) there was an Outback Steakhouse connected. Had an easy and tasty meal, then an hour at the pool. Way past bedtime, we went back to our room and blessed sleep.

Day 22: Mmmm.... Cheesy

We left the cabin at 7:45 AM. We had to stop at the dump, then in Virginia. We had promised the kids McDonald's "pancake sandwiches" for breakfast. They LOVED them. We found Old Country Cheese in the middle of an Amish enclave near Cashton, Wisconsin. They process up to 180,ooo pounds of milk a day, making something 4000 pounds of cheese. YUMMY cheese curds were consumed by all. The boys even saw their first Amish buggy go by.

Once we were settled into the hotel, it was SWIMMING time. Jeremy is now jumping into 4 feet of water and swimming across the pool by himself. Amazing! It was Culvers for dinner, and I'm heading for bed SOON!

Day 21: Goodbye

I HATE leaving this place. It's even harder now, knowing how much my kids love it here, too. I'm not sure if this year's rotten weather makes it easier or harder to leave. We spent another cold, rainy day wishing it would be nice JUST ONE MORE DAY before we left. I kept thinking we'd see some sunshine before we have to go home, but no luck!

The boys and I went to see Hans Mayer play music at the Ely Library this afternoon. So fun. Jeremy loved it so much we bought a cd. His favorite song was (to the tune of God Bless America) "God Bless My Underwear... my on-ly pair." So silly. I tried to let them play at the park, but Jeremy went down a wet slide and soaked his pants, so that was it for that!

It stopped raining a little this evening - I took the boys to the firehouse to ride scooters. We are all going stir crazy, so it's probably best to get out of here!

Day 20: Packing in the Rain

Today, we spent most of the day packing and cleaning and trying to keep from driving each other crazy. The boys are going a little batty with the rain, I think. The plan was to take them to the firehouse parking lot for more scooter riding (but NOT down the big hill this time), but it was just too windy, cold, and rainy. We missed dump day, so we drove to Bearhead in the evening to stealthily deposit a bag of trash in their dumpster. (Shh... don't tell.) We saw 4 deer on the way. The four of had another wii bowling tournament, too. This time, I actually scored 200. My personal best. Jeremy scored 103, which was also his personal best. Yay. At least Mom didn't knock me out in boxing (but only because we didn't play).

Day 19: Laundry

Sadly, Wednesday was mostly taken up by the trip to the laudromat and its aftermath. Two and a half hours and $26 later, mom and I had all of our laundry and cabin laundry done and packed back in the car to go home. A Wii bowling tournament and make your own pizza night rounded out the day. The weather was cold (50s) and raining again.

Day 18: Cold Again

The temperature dropped again, and it was overcast all day. In the morning, the loons and their two babies were swimming just yards away from our dock. I let the kids watch movies and play wii, while I finished my book. We didn't do much at all!

Day 17: Beach

The boys and I spent all afternoon at the beach at Bearhead. It was probably the warmest day we've had so far. They swam, built "waterslides" in the sand, and even played a little with other kids. We saw a baby mud turtle swimming around and some baby hawks (Cooper's hawks, maybe?) in a nearby pine tree waiting for mama to come feed them. And a bald eagle swooped down right in front of the swimming area. Mom went home at 4:00 to fix dinner and came back to pick us up.

The wind died down a bit in the evening, and it was an incredible night. Zachary, Mom, and I played scrabble in the screenhouse. We also had a little campfire. The kids got to bed late again, but who can put kids to bed while it's still light out on a perfect, beautiful night?

Day 16: Grassy Lake

Wow did I sleep in today. It was 10:30 before we were all up and fed. I really don't sleep as well when Tim's not here. He arrived home at 12:30 PM local time last night. I waited up for his call then was too keyed up to sleep.

I spread mulch this morning, then we went to the grocery in Tower and the dump. When we got home, we all took a walk to Grassy Lake. I think the sign for the trail has been missing for several years. At least I never saw it. So, when we saw that it was a half mile walk, mom decide she could do it. The last leg of the hike was boggy and extremely buggy. The lake (at least what we could see of it) was COVERED with tall grasses. It was really beautiful and different than I'd ever seen before. I want to explore it in a canoe some day.

It was a windy and mild day, but we went down to the lake anyway. The boys played with rocks and sticks, and I finished my book. I even got in the water for 10 minutes or so. FREEZING, but refreshing. I made pretty yummy (if I do say so myself) black beans and rice for dinner tonight.

Jeremy was really wanting to see the sun "actually go down" for a few days. We went down to the dock to see it tonight. The wind had really settled down, and it was a gorgeous night. We saw fish jumping all over. It made me wish I could go fishing! A squirrel was running around, and he provided a pretty good show. The loon was out, too. Just perfect.

Day 15: Picnic

Tim and Josey left for home at 8:30 this morning. Mom, the boys, and I went to the Eaglesnest Lake Association picnic. Zachary was beyond excited that he won a doorprize - a little yellow cloth bag filled with dollar coins and candy. Jeremy was satisfied that Zachary would share, and he also loved watching Tom and Jerry in the back room with the kids. We were over there for a couple of hours, then we came home and played some Kings in the Corner. Then, I had a lazy afternoon, letting the boys watch movies while I read and rested. It was very windy again today.

This evening, we drove around "deer hunting." For anyone who doesn't know, this is driving around looking for wildlife and trying to get photos. We saw about 11 deer, including 2 fawns and two young males. We also saw a red fox. Beautiful!

Day 14: Packing

We did our adventure boat ride this morning to use up some of the gas in the boat. Zachary drove for a bit (until he made me seasick), but Jeremy didn't want to. Following the "traditional" route for the adventure trip, we went into Lake 2 and explored "Case Island." There are certain people who think it should be called "Hicks Island," but obviously they're wrong! The spring holes were pretty and almost as remote feeling as I remember them, despite the new cabins. We saw the eagle back there, and some mergansers. Then, we went over to the river, where we got stuck on a rock! We did extricate ourselves from the rock without harming the motor in any way.

So, then it was time to pull the boat out. Tim did the set up work, and we all went over to the public landing. I tried to back the trailer into the lake, but didn't QUITE make it, so I handed the work over to Tim! Let's just say we did eventually get the boat back home in one piece. Tim put away the motor and we put the canoe under the cabin. Before bedtime, we did get to play one last game of Penny in the Pot with the boys.

Day 13: Wind

It was a windy and threatening storms all day. The morning was spent outside moving boats, and getting ready for a big storm which didn't exactly ever come as bad as we expected. We took the boys over to the firehouse, where Zachary road successfully down the hill on his scooter 9 times. As you may have already guessed, the 10th time was not such a success. He went rolling about halfway down the hill. He's scraped up on his knees, elbow, and face. He's OK, but he walked like an old man all day. He won't actually straighten his knees! We had to calm things down by doing a craft project in the screenhouse (of course I carried him down there!)

By evening, it was much calmer, and Tim and I went out fishing with just Josey (thanks for the babysitting, Mom!). I actually drove the boat the whole way. Tim caught a sunfish and a Northern Pike. He is pretty much a catch and release fisherman unless a kid has caught the fish and is BEGGING him to keep it, so of course he didn't keep these. I was pretty proud of myself for managing the boat, the depth finder, AND my own fishing pole, but I didn't catch anything.

Day 12: Perfect

Wednesday was one of those perfect days that we might be lucky enough to get once a vacation around here. Of course, it started in the campground where we ate breakfast and took a canoe ride all over the S. Kawishiwi area north of our campsite. The kids saw one island that they named Rocked Island (naming islands is apparently the thing to do). Then we found where the northern part of the river flowed into the area we were exploring. There were the most beautiful rapids and a rocky island named Castle Rock Island. The boys actually went on the island by themselves at first. When they started climbing the rocks, I knew I needed to follow. I couldn't believe Zachary scrambled right up the rocks on his own. It WAS a beautiful little spot. We saw several irridescent green dragonflies. Beautiful. The boys really enjoyed the stop at the island.
On the whole ride, the only wildlife we saw was one loon, right up near our canoe.

After we got back and had lunch, we broke down camp and let the boys swim at the beach. They spent the entire time making moats and pretty much just digging in the sand and getting filthy. We were back at the cabin at 4PM. Mom was gone getting her hair cut in town. Right after we got back, the Knapps called wanting to make sure everything was OK - they hadn't heard the boys in two days! I think that means my kids are pretty stinkin' loud. They thought somebody broke a bone or something.

Anyhow, the boys and I decided to reassure them by heading down to the lake. Tim took Josey out fishing, and the boys and I swam and just enjoyed the perfect weather.

Day 11: Camping

Tuesday morning, we decided to get this camping thing over with. Zachary wanted to "camp in the wild." We didn't do quite that. We packed up all morning and drove our stuff and our canoe and our kids (but not our dog) over to a forest service campground southeast of Ely on the South Kawishiwi River. We were hoping for a spot. Last year at Fall Lake we were "lucky" to get a spot. I guess this campground is a little quieter. We had no one on either side of us or across. The spot was a few steps down from the road and, according to Zachary, 41 steps from the lake. We pulled in around 2:30 PM, picked the spot (we splurged an extra $2 for a lakefront for a total of $12!), and started to set up camp. That's when we realized that the rucus the boys had made in the tent on Monday had rendered it unihabitable - in a word, broken. Off Tim went to town to buy a new tent. The boys were thrilled, which does not seem like an appropriate emotion after ruining my nice tent. We walked down and played in the lake near our site then walked over to the swimming beach. Zachary chatted up a 2 year old girl and her 7 year old brother, grandkids of a couple from Ely who were staying in the campground with their family for a week. An hour and a half and a failed duct tape experiment later, Tim found us and we went back over to put up the new tent and start dinner.

I made an awesome fire, if I do say so myself. The dinner menu (all cooked over the fire) consisted of

• Galactic Dinner (tinfoil dinner with hamburgers, onions, potatoes, and peppers)
• Moons of Bogg apples (apples baked in the fire)
• Yoda Force Smores (named by jeremy and made in tinfoil packets so as to melt the chocolate and protect the marshmallows from burning.

This Star Wars recipe thing has really gone too far. It didn't really inspire them too much when it came to actually eating the dinner, either. At least not until it came to the smores. Then a round of Kings in the Corner and Skip Bo and to bed.

Day 10: Lazy

We woke up in the tent to Jeremy asking for breakfast in the screenhouse. Tim compromised by cooking in the cabin and bringing it out. The boys vowed to camp all morning, meaning they didn't enter the cabin until after lunch. It was all going fine until they had a big fight and knocked the tent down. Geez.

The boys goofed around outside all morning and part of the afternoon. Then, then came in and watched a little TV - really they've only watched about 2 hours since they've been here. Considering all of the rain we had at first, that's a real feat.

Tim put the ladder back on the dock then went to the dump and to Tower for fishing line. I used the time he was gone to rest! Then, the boys and I sat on the boathouse and had happy hour. Tim fished a little before dinner, and the four of us + Josey went out again after dinner. I caught the motor, which was really fun to fix, and Tim caught a little Northern that Jeremy was dismayed to see thrown back. It was not the most exciting day, but it was nice!

Poor Mom went to the doctor today. I think she's feeling a little better, but it's slow. I know she's frustrated!

Day 9: Explorers

Day 9: The morning was spent recovering from a day of me not straightening our room. It's incredible what a mess can be generated in just one day. After lunch, my boys (all three of them) and I set out for Twin Lakes. We put in the canoe and paddled all around the two little lakes. While investigating a beaver dam, we found the small river that led to Mitchell Lake. We were able to follow it for a while but were finally stopped by a dam all the way across. Tim vowed to explore it some year. It was a beautiful day, and a pretty paddle despite the lack of wildlife. We did see one loon. We occupied the boys by having them try to take photos of things that started with each letter of the alphabet (with Jeremy's waterproof camera). Then, we all played name that tune. At the landing, we found hatched turtle eggs and the remains of a turtle, too. The boys buried the bones and shell and gave it a tombstone. So funny!

They also convinced us to camp in the yard. Zachary and I swam, then we set up the tent. Jeremy took about six loads of stuffed animals out. After dinner, we stoked up the fire and made some s'mores. I love that the boys are so happy from such a simple thing.

Day 8: Americana

Beautiful day for a small-town Forth of July celebration. By 10:30 AM we were headed into Ely, bound for Whiteside park and festivities. We all watched the BWCA races, since I couldn't convince Tim to join a team. It was a relay with a canoe carry, running with a Duluth pack, and pitching and taking down a tent. The boys got to search for quarters in a big pile of sawdust. Jeremy found $1.75, and Zachary found one quarter. The older kids' division was quite a bit more competitive than Zachary was expecting. The parade was entertaining, though not as un-PC as parades we've seen in Tower (thinking of the OJ Simpson trial float from several years back). I had never seen a lawn chair drill team before. The kids enjoyed the post-parade carnival. There were lots of fun "north country" style carnival games - Fishing off the Dock, Loons on the Lake, Cast Away, and more. We didn't stay for too long, since our huge bag of parade candy was melting in the van.

The late afternoon brought swimming and a delicious steak dinner. Then, we were back to Ely for fireworks over Miner's lake. Spectacular. I LOVED to hear Jeremy's giggles as he saw bigger and better fireworks. The crazy people with the big blasts near us before the show were plenty of entertainment, but the show itself was just great. Much bigger than you'd expect for a town Ely's size. Tim had insisted on bringing Josey. Needless to say, she HATED it and was trying to crawl up into the dashboard before the real show even started.

Day 7: Sunshine

A beautiful Minnesota day today. The sun shone all day. We were in the water, though we still amost froze. Zachary and Jeremy went in out in the paddle boat by themselves for the first time ever today. (Yes, Dad, they were wearing life jackets and I made them stay near the dock.) We had a big adventure when a dog of unknown origin ran into our yard and stole Jeremy's Vanilla Doggy webkin. After a search on foot and then by boat, we recovered Vanilla Doggy with the help of some kids a few docks down. I would not have imagined we'd get him back, much less in the same condition as when we lost him. Lucky boy.

Tonight while fishing, Tim and I saw a loon with a baby on its back, 2 herons, and a huge snapping turtle up on land looking like it might be laying eggs. Then, there was a mama duck with 6 babies by our dock. Outstanding. The mayflies are out in unbelievable numbers, too. No fish, but hey, who cares on a night like this?

Day 6: Beauty

Mike and Louise left very early this morning. Mom was the only one who woke up to see them off. The day got off to a late start, and lunchtime found us in town doing laundry and errands. When we came back, the boys, Tim, and I went fishing. No fish, but I did net some photos:

Day 5: Blue Skies Shining

Day 5: Blue skies shining... for a bit, anyway. In an effort to stave off cabin fever, I sent the boys out on a nature scavenger hunt in the morning. Later in the day, they got to go to the dump (woo-hoo) and to a playground in Tower with Uncle Mike and Aunt Louise. Mike and Lousie saw a bear on the way home, but it was gone before the boys spotted it. Tim and I took a ride in the canoe. We saw an osprey land and grab a fish out of the lake right in front of us. There was a bald eagle hanging around, too.



Jeremy was very proud of another lunch creation: tie fighters.
Jeremy caught a little walleye while out fishing with Aunt Louise, and Tim, Zachary, and I jumped in the lake for a few seconds. Zachary went right it - I couldn't believe it. We rounded out the night with popcorn and a showing of Daddy Day Camp.

Day 4: Coldest

So it was 50 degrees all day today. COLD COLD COLD. We drove to town, where we had lunch and explored. The big highlight of the day for Jeremy was developing a new "Star Wars" recipe. He made me promise to publish it on the blog:

2 scoops of Rainbow Sherbet
Sprite

Scoop sherbet in a metal cup. Fill cup with sprite. Mix with a long spoon. Drink