Finnian's Vacation At Grandpa and Grandma's

Finnian finally got his vacation at Grandpa and Grandma's worked into his schedule. He has been looking forward to this all summer but has been very busy with swimming lessons and karate, and birthday parties for friends and so many other activities requiring us to pack lots of things into a few days.

What?! No power steering???

He and Grandpa spent LOTS of time working on Grandpa's "New" truck. Grandpa calls it "barn fresh" - I'll agree with that! Here are a couple of shots of a few lessons on "bleeding the brakes". Isn't the truck a "honey"? Lots of trust going under that fender... hmm, trust rhymes with "rust". (Yea, Grandpa actually bought it this way and intends to leave it as is-just another one of the things I'll never understand).

It takes a lot of muscle and leg to push the brake pedal all the way to the floor.

Then it was on to wood working - another birdhouse - this one a "3 apartment" design. All apartments were numbered and will be ready for new occupants next spring. Its good to have plenty of eye protection-but maybe actually LOOKING at what you are doing might be a good idea too!

Oops! A closeup should be shown of what can happen when you take a hand saw and try to swat mosquitos and gnats....I think the insects came out on the lucky end of this idea.

There were many other activities not documented in photos. There was Perkins lunch, Classic Car show night, pizza in the valley, picking tomatoes for spaghetti sauce, picking apples for making apple pie. Finnian suggested a little ice cream and caramel sauce on top of the pie - he created a winner with that idea. We also made krumkaka ice cream sandwiches - that will be a repeat for sure! Time spent playing with squirming, licking, dachshund puppies, mixed with some quiet reading and playing with cars rounded off the days in Cochrane.

There will be days off during the school year that can be made into mini stays at the "grands" and we'll pencil in next summer's vacation before it gets too busy. Now we'll just file these memories away and look forward to the next stay.

Good luck to Mr. First Grader and Miss Pre-K when they both return to school on Tuesday. Adalia will also be attending State Road School this year, which should make it a little less hectic for Mom and Dad each morning. Remember to always be a friend and above all stay safe!

Summertime Fun

Shawn, Kevin and Ivy spent some time at Grandpa and Grandma's house last week while Mom and Dad enjoyed a week away from work. Ivy kept busy with lots of activities. After tidying up Grandma's kitchen linen drawer, she found time to get a little aerobics in on the exercise ball-asking permission from Mom first, of course.

Once she was settled on the ball, she discovered it was not motorized, nor did it have a handle to hold, but heck - Mom can take care of all the necessities!

After all the day's fun activities from swinging with Grandpa, to picking apples with Grandma, it was time for the cousins to sit back, relax, and share some girl secrets!

I'm sure there will be many more summer days spent at Grandpa and Grandma's house, with lots of time to run and giggle and share secrets with special cousins.

DUCT TAPE PURSES???

When you've been around this world for as many years as I have, you meet and befriend a lot of characters. You also get used to crazy questions like you wanna go here, or do that, so of course when old buddies ask if you want to take a "Duct Tape Purse" class, its only natural that a person can be caught off guard and say "sure, why not?" Our fearless instructor, Jeni Bauer, tolerated all of our questions, whining and patiently lead us through the steps - and two hours later here are the results of our labors (minus Jean's fabulous camouflage number). We just have to be careful not use them in the hot sun or leave them in a closed car or we'll have a puddle of melted duct ribbon. Jeri designed the catchy black and white number, Margo created the timeless black and red - and the nondescript tan and over-ripe plum number is non other than MY futile attempt.

This is my buddy, Margo - each day she gets out of bed, says her morning prayers, and gives thanks for her "ability to "accessorize". Just look how excited she is about her newest fashion accessory! Ah, such a happy girl.

Everyone should be lucky enough to have friends like these in their lives. Thanks for the fun evening -let's "do lunch" sometime - after all, we do have these cool, new bags in which to pack our provisions.

Caricature Artist and 3 Characters

We spent the afternoon in Waumandee at the St. Boniface Fall Festival. An artist asked Grandpa to sit for a caricature drawing - Grandpa thought of three other "characters" he would rather have in a pencil drawing. He pulled three photos out of his billfold (they are ALWAYS close at hand) and asked that he draw them instead. Although the photos are all from last year (just a subtle hint for some new ones), I think he caught their personalities quite well using small photographs. After watching a little softball, browsing the auction items, eating brats and chicken and catching up with old friends, we left before I was too tempted with the milk shakes that always call my name. We had a rainy start to the day, but it cleared in time for all the activities. Now its back to relaxing - maybe watch a movie with a homemade MILKSHAKE!!!

Some Work - Some Play - Weekend Post #2

Adalia has been asking Grandpa to make a tire swing since last fall. We finally found a small tire and Grandpa got this great ride set up before she and Finnian came for the weekend. They each took turns having rides on the "super swing".... And - regarding "rides"...Grandpa has been wanting a "Rat Rod" - "Why?" you might wonder - well, so do I, but hey, I bought a car on ebay a few years ago, so I couldn't deny him the same thrill, although I think I definitely got the better deal. Finnian was anxious to help Grandpa "work" on the truck - a 1960 Chevy pickup - "barn fresh" - he calls it, hmmm. Yep, barn fresh.

Adalia loves to help bake - this weekend she helped me make some muffins - a very healthy version with carrots, raisins, applesauce and wheat bran. The kids love them and we make "tiny muffins" that are cute and fun to eat. (And, it may help get us off the hook for the cookies, ice cream and gum the day before?) While we girls labored away in the kitchen.....

...... Finnian was busy helping Grandpa put in a curb edge along the boulevard in front of our house. He devised a way to "lift" the blocks off the pavement to make it easier for Grandpa to grab each piece and install it. The muffins were done in time for the guys' breaktime.

We put some additional ideas on hold for next time. There are petting zoos, and carousels, and many more parks and playgrounds to be discovered and explored for future visits. And maybe one day soon little Cousin Ivy will be able to join one of the "grammy extravaganzas", as Finnian likes to call it.

Picnic in the Park-Weekend Post #1

Finnian and Adalia spent a couple of days at Grandpa and Grandma's house while Mom and Dad took a little time off. We kept busy finding lots of stuff to do. We'll start with play time. We traveled to Buena Vista Park. Buena Vista Park is located high on one of Buffalo County's blufftops overlooking the City of Alma and the Mississippi River, just a few miles UP (literally UP) the road from our home. We arrived to find two gentlemen from Eau Claire who were relaxing before releasing around 60 homing pigeons to the skies. The kids got a close up view of the beautiful birds - I never knew how pretty they actually are. The birds soared off and circled several times before heading back to Eau Claire. Finnian and Adalia followed them in the sky as long as they could....we then headed for swings, picnic lunch....

which part was documented for momma to show that they actually had healthy choices as shown here with the brocolli "trees"- before the chocolate chip cookies and the Doublemint gum were revealed.

Then it was off for some rappelling - just look at how far down it is to the river! These kids are naturals for hiking and rock climbing!

One last look at the view of the city of Alma with the Mississippi River, Lock and Dam 4 and lots of fun memories; with a promise that we will come back with Mom, Dad, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Shawn and Ivy real soon. Ah, yes, the view is gorgeous, those rocks are luring, and Grandma was busy repeating "not too close", "step back please" and "I think we should go now".

Then it was off to watch a boat lock through at the dam and a stop at the ice cream store across the street from the Lock and Dam. Two tired kids and equally bushed Grandpa and Grandma headed home later in the afternoon, but everyone enjoyed the day. Hmm, what can we do tomorrow?