Minnesota Vacation Day 4

We've had another long and fun day at the lake.  We started the morning kind of lazily, waiting for the person from the phone company to hook up our internet connection.  Yay!  The boys and I read (Zachary is reading Warriors The New Prophecy, Book 2 and Jeremy is reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School).  Mom worked on our grocery list.  I went down to the boathouse to look for our fishing license from last year, and I stayed down at the lake just relaxing and watching the world go by until Jeremy came down to get me.  Mom wanted me up at the cabin because the phone company guy was here.

Once we were set up with an internet connection, we left for town.  Okay, okay - I did check facebook and email before I would even considering leaving!  Driving along 128 just before Armstrong Lake, we saw a grouse walk across the road.  I have seen one in the woods before, but never out in the open like that. 

On Pam and Vince's recommendation, we went to Stony Ridge Resort Cafe for lunch.  It's right by Semer's Park on Shagawa Lake.  The restaurant is not much to look at, and the prices are a bit steep, but OH MY THE HAMBURGERS!  Zachary and I split a burger, and Grandma and Jeremy split one, too.  I have probably never had a hamburger that delicious.  Crazy good.  Ridiculously good.  Probably even worth the $50 we spent on a meal of two hamburgers with 3 sodas and the included side of homemade chips. 

At Zups Zachary had his own cart, which he filled with everything he needs to make the recipes he's planning.  Total cost was only about $20, so I guess it was worth it.  We bought a family fishing license while we were in town.  It's $12 more than the married couple 2 week license, and we'll be able to fish the entire time we're here, so I guess that's not bad.  We also made a stop a the old Pamida, which just reopened under a new name after a week of being closed to transition.  There was almost nothing in the store - it was sort of eerie and depressing to be in!

When we got home, the boys and I got the canoe out from under the cabin.  That's the first time I've been the one to go into the crawl space to pull it out.  Totally not my favorite thing, but I managed.  It was way too windy on the lake for me to try to take the canoe out (the last time I took it out with a kid on a windy day I wound up getting IN the water to walk us back!).  So, we swam ALL afternoon.  The boys were in the lake for four hours.  I spent some time in the lake and some time sitting in the shallows reading.  The boys made up a two forms of "karate" called Tae Kwon Soak  and Kung Wet which involved lots of splashing and flailing around.  I'm just glad they found a way to occupy their time.  They also played on some of the water toys I had blown up.  My favorite is the big alligator!  In more wildlife news, I saw a bald eagle circling just a couple of times while we were out swimming.  It was back behind the cabin, and I was the only one who saw it.

Finally, at about 6:15, we went inside to start dinner.  Zachary planned and help make create-your-own pizzas.  YUM.  Jeremy's pizza was loaded with cheese, cheese, and more cheese, plus olives and pepperoni. Zachary's was more conventional, with normal quantities of cheese, pepperoni, and ham.

Zachary made 2 creations from the Star Wars cookbook tonight - 2 different kinds of Java Jive milkshakes.  One was banana chocolate (for Mom, me, and himself).  The other was peanut butter vanilla (for Jeremy).  The boy IS a good cook.
After dinner, Jeremy finished the book he started this morning (Sideways Stories from Wayside School).  Now, Jeremy is playing solitaire while Zachary
plays UNO on my kindle. 

GREAT DAY!