Monday, August 20, 2012

Back to Reality

The week after vacation went by in a whirlwind.  We had all day Sunday at home before our vacation was officially over.  To say we were lazy is an understatement.  We had a fun early dinner at The Works (our first time eating in the train!) as our last hurrah.  Tuesday night at karate, Jeremy tested for his kicking combinations tip.  That officially caught him up to Zachary, who had started karate a full year before he did.  Apparently that did not sit well with Zachary.  The next day, while I was off picking up produce from our CSA, Zachary tested for and earned his board breaking tip.  Just like that.  He hasn't broken with some of his breaks since December.  And he did all three.  And I missed it.  I walked into the karate school, and a mom said, "He got it."  I thought, "What in the heck is she talking about?"  It never dawned on me that he would test.  Friday, he asked to test for his knowledge tip.  Mrs. Broyles wasn't sure he should be testing for his black belt after coming off of a long vacation, but once she saw his form, she was convinced he was ready.  I've never seen him look so motivated.  So, Saturday he tested for his black belt.  I really didn't know what to expect.  I felt like I had pretty much learned that when he wants to do it, he can do it.  I was still worried.  The kids ate a big, late breakfast.  I took them for haircuts and to buy camera batteries.  I took them home and left for the karate school a full hour before testing was scheduled to start.  I just couldn't sit at home anymore.  Mr. Patten was not there for the 2 morning testing sessions.  It felt somehow wrong to me that he would get his black belt without Mr. Patten.  I was so relieved that despite attending a family funeral in the morning he came to the end of Zachary's testing.  He was there for sparring, board breaking, and the ceremony. 

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Minnesota Vacation Day 23

We left the cabin at exactly 7:30 AM Central Time and arrived home at 11:55 PM Eastern Time.  That made it about a 15 1/2 hour drive.  I only drove a couple of hours of it.  We had some heavy rain.  We were ALL happy to be home.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Minnesota Vacation Day 22

The last day at the lake is always bittersweet.  The morning dawned overcast and wet.  It worked out, though, because I did the majority of our packing in the morning before things cleared up and we could get outside.  Tim took Jeremy on a fishing trip to the channel.  Unfortunately, they didn't catch anything.  While they were gone, Zachary and Grandma made the scones from the mix Zachary picked out at the Blueberry Festival.  Lydia came over and played Sequence with Zachary, then she helped frost (and taste!) the scones.  By that time, Jeremy was back, so they all decided to swim.  They were trying to catch minnows, but as they had only one net, and there really aren't that many minnows around, they didn't have much success. 

Tim and I swam and did some jumps/dives off the swim platform - a position that also allowed us to keep an eye on what the kids were doing.  It was pretty windy, and we quickly got cold and windblown.  Goober's thing this year was to come down to the lake and watch us swim.  He sometimes sat on the end of one of the docks, but he also loved to jump in the boat and lay on the bench seat.  He didn't like to get in the water at all, but he did love to watch!  He never wandered off, and always came when we called. 

We heard a big commotion with the kids, and it turned out they had captured 2 frogs, the second one valiantly nabbed by Zachary.  (I think they were all reluctant to touch them, so Lydia's mom grabbed the first one.)  I walked over to see the frogs, and I wound up staying to chat with the Knapps.  At one point, I went to check on the kids in the sauna, and I stayed in there with them for a few minutes.  They thought it was funny to dump a big bucket of water on my head!  If it hadn't been 144 degrees in there, that may have been a problem.  By the time we walked to the lake, I was already cooled down, but I jumped in with them anyway.  For some reason, they just thought that was so much fun.  So, we went through the whole thing one more time.  By that time, it was approaching dinnertime, so we said our goodbyes to the Knapps and headed back to the cabin. 

We grilled up some small steaks for dinner.  Dessert was Zachary's AMAZING blueberry scones.  After dinner, Sarah and Doug stopped by with Lydia so that we could all get a photo of the kids together.  Then, it was Zachary's turn for a fishing trip.  He graciously agreed that I could come along (this was a dad and kid thing).  Zachary caught a (very) small walleye, but that was all.  It was actually chilly enough for me to wear a jacket. 

Here are the three pals right before we said goodbye for the year:

When we got back there was a little more packing to do, then a game of penny in the pot.  I was reading a library book on my kindle that was about to be automatically returned.  Luckily, I was able to read past midnight and almost finish the book.  I left it open in the hopes that it would still be available for the car ride the next day!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Minnesota Vacation Day 21

What a fun adventure Tim and I had today!  We wanted to take at least one canoe trip while we were here.  Mom agreed to take the boys for the afternoon.  She took them to town to do a load of laundry and go to lunch.  We took the canoe to the public access on the south end of Burntside Lake.  I've never been on Burntside before.  It's a huge lake compared to Eaglesnest, but a beautiful one.  It has the same clear water as Eaglesnest.  Much of the west shore borders on the BWCA and has We paddled along the south shore, where there are just a few cabins.  That took us to the Tamarack Creek.  We followed the creek for about a mile and half until it ended at a beaver dam.  The dam was all the way across the creek, and the level was at least two feet higher on the other side of the dam.  The entire way, we saw no wildlife other than birds!  Back on the lake, there was a small island covered in seagulls and one heron.

We got back to the cabin around 3PM, only to hear that Mom and the boys had seen 3 bear right by the old railroad tracks when they were on their way back from town.  There was a mother and 2 babies.  They watched them for 5 minutes or so, and one of them went right up to Mom's car.  I'm excited that the boys got to see some bear, but bummed that we went into the wilderness and didn't see anything!

After Tim and I ate some lunch, I went swimming for a short time.  It was a bit colder today and not as easy to stay in the water all afternoon.  Then, I heard the boys singing over at Knapps, so I walked over.  I found them having a "band" with Lydia - they had fake wooden instruments and were "playing" them and singing Dynamite.  After their performance, they went back to our cabin, but I stayed and chatted with the Knapps and Lisa (our next door neighbor) and her son Nelson.  We had invited Lisa and Nelson over for Skyline Chili, but Lisa is on a special diet.  Nelson wanted to come anyway, so the 2 of them wound up coming over and Lisa brought her own dinner.  It was a last minute thing in the end - it's nice to have neighbors that you can do that with.

After dinner, Tim, the boys, and I went out fishing.  It was a quickish trip, because wee started late.  The sky was mostly clear, with a few clouds, and the moon was nearly full and low in the sky again.  Though we didn't catch anything, it was an absolutely beautiful evening.  We rounded out the night with a game of penny in the pot.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Minnesota Vacation Day 20

This morning, I finished painting one tiny strip of wood at the ground level of the cabin on one side.  Tim split wood, and the boys stacked it.  They were WOUND up this morning, so I thought we'd better get them out of the cabin.  I packed a lunch, and we took the boat to Lake 2.  We went to the springholes (the area of the lake where the springs that feed it are supposed to be) then to "Case Island."  We brought both dogs, though Josey needed some help getting from the boat to land.  The kids immediately started exploring, and eventually wound up walking along the rocks to another tiny island nearby ("Hicks Island").  Tim and I swam just a bit, then we went to see what the boys were doing, and Zachary was in the water!  (He still had his life jacket on.)  He said that he walked on some rocks and "the next thing I knew I was swimming."  He eventually swam all the way around the island (in 388 seconds).  Jeremy swam a little, too, but then he discovered a cut on his finger.  His response?  "And I was having SO much FUN!"  He soon seemed to recover, as we spied him climbing a tree not long after that statement.  He also found a stick that would be perfect for making a bow, and he brought it home.  We saw a bald eagle while in the boat on lake 2. 

When we came back, Tim and I went swimming.  Zachary went inside and helped Grandma make dinner.  Jeremy went to Lydia's cabin.  Tim and I played a game of Scrabble on the boathouse (nice of him, since I like it a LOT more than he does).  Jeremy went on a boat ride with Lydia and her parents, and Zachary snorkeled. 

Dinner was chicken and dumplings!  After dinner, Tim and I went fishing by ourselves.  There was the MOST beautiful full moon low in the sky over our cabin.  When we came back from fishing, there were dragonflies swarming over the boathouse.  Suddenly, I saw what at first looked like a huge dragonfly.  Quickly, I realized there were now at least half a dozen bats flying right overhead.  I love bats - I don't know why.  The boys came out to see them.  We ended the night with a round of pinochle (we are still playing partners, as the boys are just learning).   It is now 11:20 and they are just heading to bed.  They will probably read for a while, too.  I don't know how I'll get them back into a normal routine when we get home!