An Oriole for Eleanor

When Eleanor was here with her folks last weekend, we mentioned Baltimore Orioles, and she said she had never seen one. So, I got out the little board I made up a few years ago that has a couple nails for holding halves of oranges and a little cup for some grape jelly. She helped get it prepared with the necessary ingredients, and we set it out on the rail of the deck. However, no one showed up during those days for her.

Then yesterday we finally spotted an Oriole in a nearby tree, and sure enough, he (or this may actually be a female) timidly worked his/her way over to the goodies. So, these pictures are for Eleanor and anyone else who might enjoy them.

Memorial Day Weekend with Rob's Family

For several years, Rob and his family have chosen to visit us at the lake over Memorial Day weekend. I look forward to this every year. The very slow arrival of spring/summer this year is keeping things quite cool, but we had some nice sunny days for outings nevertheless. One of our favorite places to visit is a nearby nursery. Kathie and I wanted to buy flowers for our flower gardens anyway, so this fit in perfectly with our plans. Eleanor has taken to doing model-style poses for pictures lately.

She and Penny both liked looking at all the different plants, flowers, goldfish ponds, and gardening accessories. Of course, Eleanor is very into miniature fairy gardens, so our visits to the nursery always include a stop at this display.

Winter, a small Wisconsin community near the nursery, had its annual spring fling event on main street, so we stopped there too. There were lots of crafts and food items for sale. I bought some tasty barbecue sauces, local honey, and maple syrup. Caught Rob's family as they rested on a curb. I do think the girls were having more fun than this picture suggests.

Grandma and Eleanor tried some fishing.

Later, Eleanor helped me plant the flowers I had chosen at the nursery. She decided on the arrangement of colors and helped with the planting of each one.

In the afternoon, she read some books to me while we lounged on the deck.

A local cafe serves an excellent breakfast, so we went there on Sunday morning. I have a computer program that allows me to make crossword puzzles, so I made one for Eleanor, and she really seemed to get into working on them. (She even asked me to make one for her to do on the drive home on Monday.)

Meanwhile, Penny studied the menu, trying to decide what to have for breakfast.

Afterwards, we went to the Wilderness Walk in Hayward, which is a small zoo and set of activities. Just inside, there is opportunity to see all kinds of newborn critters and to pet various animals. Eleanor saw this huge rabbit there.

Carrie struck up a conversation with a llama. I don't know what she was saying, but the llama was very attentive.

Kathie communed with a goat.

I think Rob and Carrie should star in some old western or pioneer movie.

I now have photos of Henry, Eleanor, and Penny in this same Boot Hill setting.

Everyone tried panning for gold.

Penny liked having her Pop give her a swing, and they also tried their hand at operating a backhoe in a sandbox.

Got milk?

Rob helped me set up the electric train modules I had built for myself. (Modules are individual tables with track preinstalled that all interconnect with each other. They also have removable legs and can be assembled in various ways or stored.)

Penny liked watching the two trains travel around past each other.

The cool weather also made the hot tub a major attraction and gave Rob's sore back some relief.

Loved having them all here and will continue to look forward to each subsequent Memorial Day weekend with them.

Weekend With Maia

While her parents got away for a long-overdue break, we spent a long weekend looking after Maia in the Minneapolis area. On Friday morning, we took her to the Mall of America. No, not for shopping, but to see the aquarium. Along the way from the parking lot to the aquarium, we stopped for a photo with Sponge Bob Square Pants. Maia was happy like this for the entire weekend. We really had a great time.

She expressed a bit of wariness about some of the creatures we saw in the aquarium. I think she liked the jellyfish best, and this tide pool gave her a chance to see some starfish up close.

No, we did not buy her this Nemo hat, although it was tempting.

We topped off the visit with some fish and chips, which seems fitting.

After the aquarium, we drove to Great Aunt Paula's house. Maia knows my sister and brother-in-law well, since Paula and Ron have hosted Jessica, Mike and Maia for a few visits. Paula was having a garage sale on Saturday, and we planned to help out with that. One of the items for sale was this arrow-through-the-head novelty. After I took this picture, I texted a copy to Jessica and Mike to show them how well we were caring for their daughter.

Although it was rainy off and on during the garage sale, Aunt Paula and Maia found this perfectly fine. Stomping around in puddles in the driveway and walking in the rain in your raincoats simply made for extra fun.

Nana and Maia tried out one of the items that was for sale. Later they hung out together while we all watched Lady and the Tramp.

Zipper and Ron have a special bond, and Maia liked playing with Zipper too.

On Sunday, we had breakfast with Sarah and Josh and then lounged on the porch.

Working on art projects with Paula is a mandatory part of any visit.

On Monday, we spent the night with Will, Sandy and Anders. Alas, I have no pictures to share, but as you might guess, Anders and Maia enjoyed seeing each other. Maia is becoming quite the conversationalist. After eating out for dinner and on our way back to Anders' house, Maia said, "Going Anders' house? Play toys? Play outside? Run around?" That about sums it up!

Swedes At The Lake

As you know from recent posts, we had an unexpected extension of winter while at the lake. Over 12" of snow reoccupied our property and the roads. This resulted in a number of complications, including having to clear lots of snow from the driveway and upper deck and dealing with our neighbor getting his truck and trailer (with boat) stuck in our driveway. We were concerned that our weekend visitors might be unable to drive back to our property. As it turned out, the truck/trailer/boat did finally get out of the way, all our guests had four-wheel drive, and the tracks I had packed down on a couple of drives out and back in made it possible for everyone to arrive safely and without too much extra difficulty.

Visiting us for a long weekend were my sister and brother-in-law and her two children (my niece and nephew) and their families. Nephew Mark is now a resident of Sweden, so we see him and his family not very often. They had long been wanting to come to our lake home. So we planned months ago for this weekend visit, thinking we would have nice spring weather and opportunities to be outside, including possible boat rides or fishing outings. Though Mother Nature threw us a few curves, things ended very well.

Kathie and I were so pleased to see our great nephews Oliver and Felix. Felix speaks English nearly as well as Swedish. Hearing him toggle back and forth between the two languages, depending on whether he is conversing with us or his grandparents or, instead, with his brother or parents is fascinating. Oliver understands English well, but he almost always speaks Swedish, so his questions and comments often challenged us.

The boys loved my electric trains, and I loved having an excuse to play with the trains too.

Both of them took turns operating various of the engines. Oliver seemed to like lots of whistle blowing and bell ringing and speed. Felix, on the other hand, liked varying the speeds and operating the various trains sounds (engine sounds, engineer announcements, etc.).

Because our first morning together was cold and rainy (yes, we got rain/sleet after the snow), we spent that morning in town noodling through the various shops, including stopping at the local bar that displays trophy fish and other critters. I even bought some pull tabs just for some extra fun. The boys each won $1 and found uses for same at the candy shop a bit later.

What would grandchildren do with their grandmother? Art work of course!

Both dogs received lots of extra attention. Tighe was very good with the boys, both indoors and outside. He seemed to be extra tired at the end of each day. I think he put on many more miles of activity than he usually does.

Dining experiences are always a big part of our gatherings. We had the extra leaves in the table so that everyone had a place. Paula brought along lots of good things to help out with the cooking.

We went out a couple times too, including once for breakfast.

I like this picture of Oliver working on his plate-sized pancake. He was intently listening to something has grandmother was saying across the table from him. And, yes, he did eat the whole thing!

The hot tub was a big hit. Walking across the cold, snowy deck to get there was interesting, but the 102º water felt soooo good. This picture was taken on May 4th! Looks more like February 4th. A few days earlier, I had been outside in a T-shirt raking the yard in 75º weather.

At one point, the Swedes, including the little ones, started jumping out of the hot tub to roll around in the snow before returning to the nice, hot water. Ron even tried it and was unlucky enough to be the one caught on camera when the rest of us learned what all the screaming and laughter was about. (I have his permission to include this photo.)

Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous, sunny day, even though there was still plenty of snow on the ground. So, we spent most of our time outdoors. Mark and Anna dug one of the canoes out of a drift of snow and took the boys for a ride.

Oliver and Felix played in the sandbox, which required capturing lots of melting snow water from the downspout to flood the rivers and dams they were making.

We started a nice fire and gathered chairs and benches for seating.

Oliver and Felix roasted marshmallows,

which involved coping with the smoke that gets in one's eyes.

After proper roasting, Grandma provided lessons in turning the gooey marshmallows into s'mores.

Finally, here are some family photos to document the fact that despite the weather or maybe because of it, we all had a really wonderful time being together.