As Good As It Gets

There is nothing quite as satisfying, fun, and comforting as spending time with family. Some of you may have already learned about our family weekend here in WI by reading Betsy's blog, but I have more to add and some pics of my own to share. We wish the whole family could have been here, but it was great to have Will and Sandy, Pete and Betsy, and, of course, Henry here with us.

We had sort of built the long weekend around the Lumberjack Championships, but Henry had not been here since Thanksgiving of 2005 when he was only a year old, so there were lots of things he and his grandfather needed to experience together for the first time. The first couple of hours of Henry's visit were jam-packed with one thing after another.

One of Henry's first stops was our pinball machine. This is one that Uncle Will restored some time ago and sold to us. Later, when Uncle Will arrived, the two of them could frequently be found refining their skills. This is a "Monster Bash" pinball game, and Henry was quite intrigued by (and maybe a little apprehensive of) the various monsters in the game, though he knew them all by name.


Next, it was time to break in the sandbox. We had arranged for a sandbox to be built into our lower deck, but except for Josey finding it a cool place to sleep, the sandbox had not received a proper inauguration. Henry was the right person to do that. With the sand toys that Grandma had purchased last year all ready to go, Henry declared the sandbox to be a fine addition to our property.


Then, after spending a little time repairing Betsy's old Snoopy rod, Henry wanted to try his hand for the first time at fishing. Fortunately, we can often get some bluegill action just off the end of the dock, and this evening was no exception. Here are the results--Henry's first fish.




Grandma introduced Henry to wading and exploring along the shore line. Franklin loved to dig there too and was seen to be eating who-knows-what.


Later, he and his Dad caught frogs along the shore. Uncle Will even found a mudpuppy, which looks like the critter below (found this picture on the web--not a picture of the one Will found).


We also went for an evening boat ride.


Will and Sandy arrived the next day. We took in two evenings of the Lumberjack Championships, which include various events involving log rolling, pole climbing, and log cutting with both axes and different types of saws. Here are a few shots from the events, along with some shots of my favorite spectators.








Will and Betsy each fixed dinners for all of us, which we enjoyed on our screened-in porch.


One of my new toys is a radio-controlled helicopter, which I am still learning to fly. Henry wanted to see it, of course, and not unexpectedly, he wanted to try to fly it. Not wanting to put the helicopter at greater risk than I put it myself, I decided to let Henry fly simulated helicopters on my computer instead. He had very interesting approaches to this, mostly involving sending the helicopter straight up and then cutting its power so that it would drop and crash. His Uncle, Aunt, and Dad found this hilarious, as you can see below.




The new Harry Potter book was a topic of much discussion this weekend. Evidently, Will and Betsy have already polished it off. Another of us spent quite a few hours soaking it up.


Will and Sandy had to return home on Sunday, though not before some additional canoe rides. Later in the day, the rest of us took another boat ride, stopping to play on a sandy island for a bit, and then enjoying some dinner at a cafe that is near the midpoint of the Chippewa Flowage. It was a great weekend.