Another Great Weekend!

This past weekend Mike's nephew, Jim, and his family came up from Mankato for a visit.  Also joining us for a few days was Jerry (family calls him Fritz) and Stacy.  Jim and  Tessa just had a baby, Henry, three weeks ago so our house was blessed with its youngest visitor.  Big brother Rickey and Big sister Stevi completed the list of weekend guests.  I'll let Henry tell you about the weekend.

Hi, my name is Henry and like my shirt says, I'm tough like my dad... well, I will be anyway.  I have my eyes closed a lot and people think I am sleeping but sometimes I just have them closed cuz the light hurts my eyes.

When we got to Great Uncle Mike's house on Thursday night, it rained and the big people were going oohhh and aahhh about some light in the sky they called a rainbow - I guess it must have been pretty cool.  Great Aunt Jan took lots of pictures of it. 

We have a dog named Sarg in our family.  We ignore  each other right now.

These are loons.  They were swimming by the dock.  They seemed to like being in the rain.

My Big Brother Rickey and Daddy fished off the dock.  Someday I'll go fishing with Daddy.

There was a swimming pool in the backyard and a tent that Uncle Fritz and Aunt Stacy brought.

Great Uncle Mike likes to hold me.  I think Jan is afraid of me; I wonder if she thinks I will break?

I don't know what he was thinking, but I was thinking he looked kinda fuzzy.

And I was wondering when my Mommy would be back.  I don't like her to get too far away from me.

Uncle Fritz and Aunt Stacy went fishing.  Big Brother got to go along.

Sarg got to go swimming.

Daddy and My Brother and Sister love to jump off the boat.  I hope I can do that when I am bigger, like maybe five.

Sister Stevi didn't like to jump last year but now she loves it.  I think I will love it, too.

They saw a baby loon with its mother.  The baby loon doesn't like to be very far away from its mommy either.

This is just a baby fish so they had to put it back.  They didn't catch any really old and big fish.  It must be the time of the year for babies.

My Daddy is good at helping my Big Sister and Big Brother.  I bet he will help me, too.

One day, the big people decided we should all go golfing.  I am not so sure I should have to work as a Caddy yet, but maybe it will be okay.

 

Okay Daddy, I think you should use a 7 iron for this one, or maybe an 8.

 

 

Well Uncle Fritz, you should probably do the same as Daddy.  



 

 

Oh My Goodness, My Big Brother, Rickey, beat both of you on that hole.  



 

 

 

My Big Sister got some help from Daddy... Maybe Rickey should help her...

 

Some of the big people had something called a cocktail, but Mommy just took care of me and drank some water. 

 

 

 

Being a Caddy wasn't so hard after all - I had a nice cart and everything.

 

When we got home, I did take a little nap.

 

Mommy went out in the boat with Daddy and Rickey and Stevi so I slept on Great Uncle Mike's chest.  It was okay but I like Mommy's better.

Before we went home, we had our pictures taken. 

 

When I come back next time I will be bigger.

Daddy, Uncle Fritz, Aunt Stacy and Great Aunt Jan stayed out by the fire late last night and then Daddy packed everything up this morning.  I still think he looks pretty good.  I was born into a really good family.

I liked meeting my Great Uncle.

 

I like this picture of my sister and me. 

It was another great weekend - the third weekend I've had in my whole life. 

Ahhh... The Joy of Summer

One of the many things I like about our summer home is the visitors.  I like the anticipation, I like the fact that people care enough to spend their time with us, and I have to admit I like the times inbetween when it is just me and Mike. 

And I love the sunsets ... 

 

These beautiful scenes greeted Shelly and Eric's family when they came to visit.

 

 A trip to Glendalough State Park to do a little hiking just about wore me out - but I made the "short" 3.4 mile trek.

Since we have so many thistles in our lawn, maybe I should convince Mike to just let them go - flowers are pretty.

Anybody remember way back when we painted these things and used them in winter arrangements...

So what do you think this looks like?  Can you tell what it is?

 

 

On Sunday,  Suz came down with her great niece and nephew - they caught fish off the dock and she even kissed her "first fish caught ever".

 

Gunnar was a good sport and entertained the kids for awhile.

I when it came time to go home, we were good buds.



 

 

 

Anna looks exhausted from her 6 mile hike at MapleRiver State Park - I passed on that one!

It was a joy to entertain this crew for a few days - hope they come back soon!

After a few days had passed, the bus from Cleveland showed up... Ok, it is not really a bus, but they packed 9 people in the Burg Motorhome this year.  This was the second annual trip and it was even more fun than last year... I wonder what next year will bring????

 

Mel was in form for a little serious competition.

 

The BeanBag game takes good form - Louise has it...

Mel definitely has it...

Jim has mastered spectator...

Sharon has good form...

 



The Driveway Ladies have a good handle on spectator form.

Mike may look like he is praying for a good game but he is actually sanding the board cuz the competitors thought it might be a little slippery...

 

Sharon's socks aren't slippery but they sure leave an impression.

Can you believe this beautiful lady is 65 years old?  Me either.

The next day was a golfing day for the guys while the gals enjoyed shopping the thrift stores in Detroit Lakes.  In the afternoon, our very own resident artist treated us to a wine and paint session.

She was a delightful teacher and a very talented waitress or is that a talented teacher and delightful waitress - either way, Sharon made the hours fly by and we all produced masterpieces!

Diane was concentrating on details of her painting while big sister Donna looked on.

The guys were pretty darned impressed - they thought we were just fooling around...

 

Lael produced two masterpieces which I am confident will adorn her home come winter time - oh wait, they are gone in the winter...

It was fun to have our neighbor Steve and his lovely wife, Liz, join us for parts of the day.

The finished products!

It does make you smile...

 

After much urging, the two swimmers from last year approached the dock with Mike and they stayed dry.

 

The last day came all too soon and Gloria and Bill's crew from Cleveland packed it up and headed south.

SCARY to see these two determining the route to take...

Sharon and Jim are hiding, but we all know they are there.  No, they didn't kidnap Mike, but they tried.  See you later in the summer friends!  Already looking forward to our adventures next year, 

 

Thanks Friends for sharing your time with us - it is truly a great joy of summer!