Erich and Lily and Brody have been here since Thursday. They worked their family vacation to coincide with Jordan and Kris' family. Erich and Jordan had plans to get some serious fishing time in during the trip.
Captain Grandpa made French
toast for everyone on Friday; it was a great start to the day. Justin and I had an appointment to get the oil changed in the car and I had a sewing class on Friday. (I wanted a refresher on making round cushions with piping using outdoor fabric. I was the only student in the class since the forgot to cancel so I got a few tips that were well worth the price of admission.)
In town, afterward, we all met at El Sarape for a dining experience. Jordan, Kris and their three kids, Erich and his two plus Justin and me. I was about to jump out of my skin. Thankfully, Ben and the rest of the waitstaff are tolerant.
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We had a jigsaw
puzzles picked out for the kids. It was a world map with larger pieces. As
it turned out, it was mostly completed by Erich and me and Justin chimed in a
bit. The kids couldn’t be bothered.
I made pasticio while the kids
were here. It was a hit even with Lily and Brody. I had everything to
make spanakopita too but that just didn’t happen. Banana-blueberry muffins went
over well one morning. I also made chocolate chip cookie dough and had it in the freezer
so Lily had her first experience baking cookies.
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The kids were, not
surprisingly, very interested in movies, especially when it was chilly outside.
We watched Transformers,
Sinbad, Sponge Bob Square Pants and Secretariat. One evening when Erich
and his kids decided they should sleep in Jordan and Kris’ canned ham (huge
mistake, BTW), Justin and I watched a movie about Anita Hill. Will we one day
soon see a similar documentary capturing Christine Blasey-Fords’ recent
testimonies?
One afternoon all the kids and
I headed to Chaudoir’s Dock. The kids had a great time at the playground there
until a couple of sandbox bullies showed up so we left and went to have a
beverage at the local pub. They were dozens and dozens of bikers there but we were still
able to find a table outside. I went inside and found Jimmy to tell him
“Jimmy, I have four kids outside and no money. I need to run a tab. I
need two kiddy cocktails, one root beer, one water, one big-girl lemonade and
two cheese curds.” He laughed and told me he knew I was good for it. The
big burly biker next to me said, “lady, all you had to say was ‘four kids’.” Yes,
kids are allowed in bars in Wisconsin — this could never happen in Texas.
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| We counted over 60 bikes when they all pulled out. |
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| Did anyone here used to live in Japan? |
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Captain Grandpa had a chance to teach the kids the finer pints of tether ball
or "slobber ball" as we like to call it when Molly plays.
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Marsha and Randy , Kris' parents, went to Jordan and Kris’ for Father’s Day lunch. Erich and his kids joined them. We were invited I think, but we passed knowing that everyone was coming over here for burgers and dogs for dinner.
Erich and Jordan went fishing
almost every day. They finally caught something on their next to last and
last trips out. They cleaned the fish and there was talk of a fish
fry but that didn’t happen. They took Jordan’s 14’ boat out. Caleb went
with them one time but he got bored after the first twenty minutes. Somehow
though, he lasted a few hours. Our Bayliner is ready to go and sitting in
our front yard but they didn’t want to take it out. Justin’s thinking
about selling it. He had envisioned that it would be a “family” boat. That’s
not happening. We have a slip at Chadouir’s Dock, where, like everywhere,
the water is quite high. We are dependent on Jordan and his truck for
launching and pulling the boat; if we get it in the water and the winds
pick up and we need to get it out right away, what if Jordan isn’t available? I
sure am not comfortable asking to borrow the truck.
On Monday, the guys from Pier
and Waterfront solutions came to finish securing our breakwall. The
brought their cool all-terrain machine. Thankfully Erich was here to get
some of the concrete out of the way so Justin didn’t have to mess his back up. They
were able to lift up the cedar beams then get them back into their original
position. It is easy to see just how much shoreline we’ve lost there and
it is most depressing. Justin has been writing to the good folks at the
DNR and at the county to see just what steps we need to take to get our
temporary and then permanent permits. We will need to coordinate with Don and Amy since we will need to use their land for access to the bay. We will
only want to mess that up once.
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This is some big ol' asparagus. We harvested a bit this spring and we know we will lose the
garden when then do the stone work. oh well... guess we will plant again.
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Justin worked with the kids to learn to rise their bikes. Lilly is so close as is Caleb.
Jonas might learn to drive first. One day when he is interested he might just surprise us all.
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On Tuesday we all made a trip
to Dyckesville. I was
excited about cheese curds because everyone knows the best curds on the planet
are at the Dyckesville Bowl The kids were excited to get to go bowling;
Jordan and Erich had a brother bowl-off too. Erich and Willow took home
the blue ribbons. Jonas and Caleb bowled most of Willow’s balls but she
managed a strike on her own and that set her up for her win.
Next stop was Frosty Tip. Justin
and I wanted burgers from there since they claim to have the best burgers in
town. Yes, it is a small town and I won’t need another of their burgers,
but you can’t beat their chocolate banana wonder. Caleb had a melt down
during ice cream time but thankfully, all was better by the time the four
older cousins came back to our house.
After one last trip to April’s
for breakfast this morning, Erich and the kids headed home. Justin and I
made a run to Marchant’s and to Tony and Mo’s to get eggs before we came home
to work in the yard. Thankfully the weather was warm enough. I
couldn’t muster up the umph to start cleaning the house yet and it was just to
pretty outside. It it finally warming up a bit and I wanted to be outside
in it!
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