On the Water

The boys had a full day on the water. Grandpa Bike man took the boys out on the lake so he could show them how he checks the lake's clarity, which he records for DNR. Then they all came back to the house and picked me up so we could go up the river for an afternoon of swimming.

Guess who followed us up the river? Uncle Mike, and cousins Rissa and Dria.

On a hot humid day, this is the best place to hang out......the Hay River, which feeds into Tainter Lake. The water is clear and refreshing.

Who wants to pay money to play in a water park, when we have nature's best gift.....a shallow river with lots of birds and wildlife.

Ian's prize treasure today.

Besides finding clams, Ian spend several hours collecting river sticks so he could build a tee pee with Rissa.

After nearly three hours on the river, we were all ready to head back to our house. Just in time to beat a late afternoon storm. The boys were exhausted and in bed by 9 pm tonight. Grandpa drives them back to Minnesota tomorrow morning.

All in all, it was a good weekend and the boys had fun.

I Think They Had Fun Today

Wow, it was a full day for grandma & grandpa. Started out with a nice cooked breakfast, a drive over to Uncle Mike's house to pick up some kid-size life jackets, a quick stop at the Grain Bin for bread. Then back home to make sandwiches for lunch, followed by a boat ride with the boys. We even rescued a run-away buoy, which we hoisted into our boat and then put back in the lake in it's proper place.

After getting back to the house, it was already dinner time.....whewwww. Quickly made two homemade pizzas and then it was followed by bath time and bedtime by 9 pm. I don't remember these type of days being so full when our kids were little. It's a whole different world with visiting grandchildren.



After a little game of badminton and soccer this morning, Quentin wanted to help me pick kiwi fruit from our kiwi bush. It seems the ripened fruit always drops to the grounds. The boys loved the little miniature kiwi's.

I'm exhausted and Bike man is already snoozing in his chair tonight. Tomorrow will be an interesting day since it's suppose to be super hot and humid.

As for our cat.......she has discovered she doesn't like active little children. Kitty has been finding private places to hang out during the day. Poor thing.

PS. So grandpa explained to the boys about our lake having a big blue algae problem. Well, the whole time we were in the boat enjoying our ride, Quentin kept asking if that was allergy! You just gotta love kids!!!

We're On Grandpa/Grandma Duty!

Left work 30 minutes early and headed over to the grocery store to buy some kid friendly food. Yup, Bike man and I are on grandpa/grandma duty all weekend. The photo above is our grandson Ian......7 years old.

And this is our grandson.....Quentin, 6 years old. Of course, me being a librarian, I had to bring home tons of books and movies for the boys! The favorite book of the boys turned out to be the "book of pee." One of the things I've learned in the library world is that young kids love the yuck books, especially books that talk about vomit, blood and other bodily fluids.

This is going to be a long weekend, so I hope we can keep the boys happy and occupied. Any helpful tips for keeping grandkids manageable?

We're Growing

What a beautiful day. Lower temperatures and a nice breeze. Headed out tonight on the Red Cedar trail. Guess what?

We've acquired new turtles......or should I say youngin's!!! You know, the twentysomething's!!! Anna & Jeff joined us today on a trail ride south to the Chippewa River. Kim joined us too....yeah, Kim is back from her two week vacation.

The new turtles worked very hard and kept up a good pace on their road bikes. Oh man, I wanna be young again. We had fun and that's what counts. 29 miles

PS. I just have to report that Bike man's seven months of weight control has paid off. As of today he has lost 27 pounds. Good job BM!

When Will the Humidity Break?

It's miserably hot and muggy....I'm miserable. With no air conditioning in our home, it's days like this that I just hate. I end up feeling cold at work because of the AC, and then when I come home it hits me like a ton of bricks, that hot, sticky air. Have I done any riding this week? Heck no and I feel miserable about that too.

I was glad to learn that Bike man headed out on his road bike today and did 34 miles. Good for you BM. This is going to be a long work week.

On a brighter note, we are planning our next bicycle trip. Hopefully we will take off August 29th and ride towards the Mississippi River. Our goal is to reach Dubuque, IA in search of ice cream! We will turn east and head back into Wisconsin and heads towards my parent's home in Southwest WI for a little break and then continue north to home. We are looking at somewhere in the 400 mile range. As we get closer to that time, I will blog our bicycle trip itinerary.

Face-Lift

Yikes, came home from work and Bike man was busy upgrading his oldest mountain bike....the Novara. His 20 year old bike got a new face lift today.

New handle bars, stem, seat post, and saddle. I think this was an all afternoon project that proceeded into the night. No riding tonight! That's ok, because it's 83% humidity and you sweat just standing still. Since we don't have air conditioning in our house, days like this are long and drawn out.

Very nice.

A man needs his tools....Bike tools that is!

Check out my new cold Quinoa salad recipe under my Turtle Recipes.

Friends and More

Today was garden day. Since my friend Joan is providing me with fresh vegetables from her garden, I decided to go pick green beans from her garden so I could freeze a bunch. It's nice to have a friend that shares. What we don't grow in our garden, Joan grows in her garden. I got a small bag of green and wax beans, but then picked some onions and more banana peppers.

While arriving at Joan's house, I discovered she was butchering more chickens.....all by herself. What a woman. It just happened that Trisha stopped by to see what I was up to, so between Joan, Trisha and me, we ended up helping double wrap all the big birds for the freezer. Of course Joan wanted to give me a fresh chicken.....I couldn't resist.

Came home and Bike man fired up the charcoal grill. Chicken it was! Add some sauteed vegetables, boiled red potatoes, and call it a meal. Trisha stayed for dinner, which made it extra special. Two more weeks and the Son will be coming home. Can't wait.