Golf

We enjoy playing golf, though neither of us plays often enough to be good. There are several nice courses around us here in northern Wisconsin, and today we tried one that is quite close to our cabin but that we had never played before. Especially, when we play during the week, we can avoid being pushed by other, better golfers and can play as a twosome. We can take our time, hit extra balls, as we often need to do, look for lost balls, and enjoy being outdoors.

Kathie is the better golfer of the two of us. Her dad was quite good and taught her a few things over the years.

Kathie bought nice clubs for me several years ago, and I took a few lessons once, so I'm better than when I first started back in college. However, my dad, who originally thought the game was silly (wasting time chasing a little white ball through a cow pasture), took up the game later in life, and he was much better than me. He could never hit the ball very far, but he had a knack for getting good straight shots right up the middle of the course. You can avoid lots of trouble that way. I sometimes spend too much time zig-zagging across a fairway, which adds shots, distance, and trouble. I had fun playing with dad and his friends years ago.

This course today had lots of woods, marshes, and water around each fairway or hole. So, good straight shots would have been helpful. (You'll notice I said "would have been.") Here I am sizing up a tee shot.

What a swing! What power! What poor form! I look too much like someone trying to swing a baseball bat through the ball instead of someone who has a graceful swing with a golf club.

But you know what? This was a great way to spend part of my birthday—an outing in a pretty place, doing something fun with my sweetie. We obviously knew how to dress for the occasion.

Memorial Day Weekend

The three Decker children and their families were with us at the lake for the holiday weekend. Every bedroom was occupied, and the large family room was outfitted so that all but the littlest cousin could sleep together on a set of cots. I understand there was a fair amount of giggling and meddling as they tried to settle down each evening.

The nearly three days we shared together were filled with all kinds of activities and too much good food. For example, there was chalk drawing on the deck—here is Eleanor creating a blue slug.

Will found a baby snapping turtle in the sandbox, and before it was released into the lake, all the kids had a chance to study and touch it. Lots of pictures were taken of that little reptile.

The weather cooperated reasonably well, so there was some sunny time on the deck.

Fishing was on the agenda too, especially for the kids.

Clara has caught fish in prior years, but she was proud of this bluegill never the less.

I believe this was Eleanor's first-ever catch.

Anders caught a couple, the second almost completely by himself. I believe these were his first angling successes too.

Of course, on a Friday night, one must partake of one of the local fish fries.

Everyone cooked at least one meal. Rob made apple fritters for one of our breakfasts.

The hot tub became a swimming pool for the weekend.

Uncle Rob and Aunt Carrie played Sorry with Eleanor and Clara.

We grandparents had decided that minnow races might be a fun thing for the kids, so we made two raceways from some roof gutter parts and fashioned a couple of "starting gates" from wood. The minnows were not always cooperative, as you can see in this little movie clip.

I would have thought that the spectators would have been more wildly enthusiastic and supportive of their favorite participants, but there isn't much boisterous cheering in this picture.

This picture is in here just on general principles.

We rented a 25' pontoon boat for all of Sunday. So all eight adults and 5 children had plenty of space for the outing, which involved more fishing, sight-seeing, and a picnic.

At the picnic location, lots of interest in climbing arose.

Later, I thought I'd fascinate the grandkids with my remote-controlled sailboat. You can see in this picture just how fascinated they all were.

Doesn't get much better than this! Am sorry that they are already back at their respective homes.

Treehouse Part VIII (Das Ende)

So the treehouse is done! Well, it isn't really a treehouse, is it? We have all struggled with what to call it—stilt house, playhouse, wee house, ... Yesterday, I finished the trim around the door and windows.

Then I hung the two parts of the dutch door, which I had made while up at the lake. I have hung doors before, but this is my first dutch door. I must say there is a lot more to have to fuss with to get the two parts to swing together properly and to align properly. I spent waaaaay too much time on this step, but it turned out well, I guess.

At least Clara thought so. Here she is peering out through the screen and the owl cutout.

Then it was time for a break and some baseball. Henry's team had a game. He is a good hitter and fielder, and he throws well too.

Throughout their games they rotate all the players through various positions, and everyone gets to bat in each inning. We saw Henry play first base, short stop, and catcher.

Today I built the railing, which was the final step for me. As I said in a prior post, Betsy and Pete will have to finish the painting.

Here are the owners of the new wee house together with their chosen builder. I think of this as the "I'm done picture." What fun I had doing this project! Maybe we need one for little visitors up at the lake...hmmmmm.

Treehouse Part VII

I'm back at Betsy's house and working again on the treehouse. Betsy posted some pictures too, which you can see by clicking here. Today, I finished the pulley arm, to include some additional braces for it. Then I applied a first coat of paint while I could get at spots that will be more difficult to reach once all the final trim is installed. Next I put the fascia pieces on the roof and then began the shingling. I'll leave the final painting to Pete and Betsy. They want to do the trim in a nice green color.

When Betsy took this picture, she told me not to make any weird faces, which I guess I sometimes do when concentrating on a task.

Yesterday, when it rained most of the day, I worked inside the little house, or wee house as it is called in the plans. This included putting down a floor, making a trap door in the floor and a "hidey hole" for stashing secret stuff, and building these little bunk beds at one end of the house.

Henry and Clara are always excited when they get home from school or their other daily activities to see what progress has been made. When I was at the lake, I made a little table and a couple of small stools that I put inside the house. Clara was surprised to see them when she peeked inside.