Travis, Jess and Maia at the Lake

This week we have been blessed to have visitors from Nashville and Fort Collins with us. Travis, Jessica and Maia flew into Minneapolis a few days ago and are now ensconced with us here at the lake. Kathie had not seen Maia since March. I had not seen her since January, when she was born, and Great Grandma had never met her in person before. (Watch for an official four generation picture in the not-too-distant future!) I know, I know, we hadn't seen Jessica and Travis in awhile either, but somehow the grandchildren always seem to spark an extra smile or two and some extra anticipation.

Grandma and Maia were enjoying the hanging chairs when I took this picture. I should have maybe waited for a better time of day when the light wasn't shining through the cracks from above, but they just looked too cute together to pass up the opportunity.

Later in the day, Jess and Maia watched Grandma do some fishing from the dock. Maia is sporting a bonnet that Uncle Rob and Aunt Carrie and Cousin Eleanor loaned her.

There is always a game or two of Hand-and-Foot when we are all together.

I made Maia a little paper hat, and she took on a Little Dutch Girl image.

Travis was the last one up, and when I asked him about whether he wanted big or little pancakes, he said, "Surprise me!" Well, I like a challenge, so I did the Mickey Mouse thing and added a face with some blueberries. I got this reaction in response, when I put the plate before him. Later on, he and I went golfing and had lots of fun. Neither of us had a terrific score, but we laughed lots, had some good shots each, and enjoyed a beautiful day.

That evening we went to the Lumberjack Championship event in Hayward. Kathie and I had been to the event before, but this was a first for Travis and Jessica, and I think I've posted about this before, when we took Will and Betsy's families in prior years. There was pole climbing (races) of 60' and 90'. I won't be taking up this sport anytime soon.

Maia, her mom, and her uncle were taking it all in (in more ways than one).

This young woman didn't win her match, but she did avoid hitting her feet. I kept hoping that unlike baseball and the occasional broken bat flying into the stands, an axehead wouldn't come flying our way.

This is the single buck version of sawing. Contestants were from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA. States all across the northern part of the US were represented, but most participants were from Wisconsin and Minnesota.

TJ Beaver was throwing out souvenirs.

Uncle Travis and Maia watched, but Maia seems to be unhappy about missing out on a handout from TJ. On the other hand, her uncle Travis is a TJ, so maybe that will suffice.

This is double buck sawing in the master's competition (old guys like me).

Younger men and women competed in log rolling events and in an event called boom races, which involves running across the floating booms (logs tied together end to end but able to roll individually). You can see a boom in the foreground and log rollers in the background.

I didn't get pictures of the chainsawing events. We'll post more pictures of the visit in a few days.