So, I've not been sleeping in as much as I usually do at the lake, because I'm sleeping on the porch - windows on every side provide plenty of light to help nudge me out of bed in the morning. I can't say that it worked today, though. I slept until nearly 9AM. Zachary had a big project planned for morning - he wanted to make another recipe. This time it was breakfast tarts. Breakfast tarts looked more like dessert to me, but considering it's vacation I gave in and let him make them. They're pretty much just 2 layers of pie crust with some jelly in between. Tasty, but not very healthy! The boy had fun, though, and he even half-heartedly helped clean up.
The morning was devoted to catching up on the blog and getting some photos posted, because people had been asking (believe it or not). We also planned a day trip for tomorrow to Minnesota Discover Center in Chisolm. Again, Zachary spent the morning reading (he's on to the 3rd book of the 2nd Warriors series), and Jeremy played solitaire. I then forced the kids to go out in the canoe with me.
The last time I went out in the canoe without another adult was about 3 years ago. Zachary was unable or unwilling (or both) to paddle. It did not end well. I was pretty sure my lack of control as far as steering was due to the weight differential between the two ends of the canoe. This time, in addition to having a nice, calm lake, I put both boys in the bow, and I sat in back. I had no problems whatsoever maneuvering. Yay, me. When we got back, I let them go out in the paddle boat, but they didn't get too far - they were arguing about steering and got frustrated, I think.
We found some really cool animal remains. I picked up a small bit of bone that I thought was a claw, and it turned out to be a jawbone with 2 huge pointy teeth and a bunch of tiny teeth. We're still trying to figure out what it was.
Mom wanted to change the filter on the water pump, so I tried to help. We couldn't get the thing unscrewed to get the old one out. Lucky Joyce and Vaughn Knapp picked just that moment to come visiting, and Vaughn helped me by pushing some secret button to release the pressure. OK - the button was red and plainly visible, but I didn't know what it was for!
We had a nice visit with Joyce and Vaughn. We are excited that their granddaughter, Lydia, will be up in a week. Jeremy loved playing with her when he came up with Grandma 3 years ago.
After lunch (the festival of leftovers), I took Jeremy to Bearhead State Park. We bought a pass and got information on Geocaching. They have several caches in the park, but they no longer have a free GPS to loan out. We will have to get one from Soudan Park if we want to try it out.
When we got back, the boys were more than ready for swimming. When the 3 of got in the lake, I noticed a small snapping turtle - it was head first inside a cement block that we've been using for a step. I first noticed its tail sticking out. It was pretty docile, and it stayed there the entire 2-3 hours we were in the water. While the boys swam, I tried my hand at paddling on my own. I stacked up the floatation cushion that were in the boathouse in the center of the canoe and used them as seat. I didn't want to sit on the bottom of the canoe, because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to read to paddle. It worked pretty well, and I was able to paddle from dock to dock and get around without too much trouble. I did see another snapping turtle on a large log that the neighbors have in the water. I couldn't stray too far because I had to keep a close watch on the boys in the water. They don't really do too much swimming - they pretty much stayed in the very shallow water and floated on the inflatable alligator and the inner tube. I swam for a while, too. While in the water, Zachary got my attention to point out a loon swimming not 10 yards away from me. Not long after that, several ducks flew by. One of them was about 3 feet from my head. Of course I didn't have my glasses on either time!
We eventually went up to start dinner. The boys decided to fix their mussels tonight, and they wisely agreed that preparing three would be plenty. We brought them up to the cabin, and I had the boys scrub them. The things are odd - you think they're just docile little things, but then they spit some lump of something out or something. When we were scrubbing them, one squirted water at us!
Mom fixed fried chicken for the actual dinner part of dinner. I have to admit I'm a fan of my mom's fried chicken. When I was a kid I didn't like it. In fact, I remember a huge dinner at the cabin where I was so proud of myself because I never took any chicken and no one noticed. (If they had, I'm sure I would have been required to eat at least one piece). Anyhow, that's no longer a problem for me. The boys ate their mussels and acted like they liked them. They looked extremely unappetizing to me, and I can't believe the kids actually ate them.
After dinner, I took Zachary out fishing in the canoe. (Jeremy will get a turn tomorrow night). I wasn't sure how it would go, but we did just fine. At first I was sort of letting him troll, but then I just took us to the weed beds near the cabin. Not long after putting my own line in I caugh a really nice sunfish. It's been a long time since I've caught a sunfish that was more than a tiny little thing. We kept it. Then I caught another much smaller one. Again, we kept it - mostly because Zachary wanted to. Finally, I gave him my pole. He caught 2 fish of his own. The first completely swallowed the hook and was dead by the time we got home. The second was tiny and flipped itself off the hook before he got it in the boat. I was glad he caught a fish, but not happy about the hook swallowing part.
I was especially unhappy that he convinced me to clean the little sucker. Once I had cleaned his, I decided to go ahead and do my bigger one, too. (We had put it in the live box so we could decide what to do with it.) It was NOT dead when I brought it up to the cabin. I had to use Uncle Don's trusty metal pipe to beat the thing senseless. That is the WORST. So, now we have 4 tiny sunfish fillets waiting to be cooked for dinner (or at least an appetizer) tomorrow night. When all was said and done I felt like I needed a shower and a drink! It was 10:30 by that time, and I was more than ready to call it a night!
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