Anders' Birthday

On our way back to the lake to spend the month of September, we stopped to see Anders and his parents. Anders has a second birthday coming up, and since we are not going to be able to join the big birthday bash, we thought it would be fun to bring his gifts and celebrate a little early. I made him an easel and a footstool, both of which you can see in use here. He was fond of saying that the footstool let him do pictures "way up high."

I think he is quite the artist.

He appeared to enjoy the gifts.

Will had a dinner to attend the evening we arrived, but while he was away, the rest of us enjoyed some yummy pasta that Sandy whipped up.

The next day, Kathie and I took care of Anders all day, while his preschool was in recess. We had a wonderful time having waffles at the local coffee shop, playing at the playground, playing in the sandbox, and taking wagon and bicycle rides. I forgot to take my camera along when we left the house and missed lots of opportunities for great pictures. I should be ashamed of myself! Later, we spent the evening with Anders so that his folks could go out on a date.

Cubs Lose (So What's New?)

We spent a wonderful few days at the end of last week as the guests of Peter and Mary, our daughter Betsy's parents-in-law. The visit started out with the grandfathers, Peter and myself, building a new sandbox for Henry and Clara. Betsy posted some pictures of that work which you can see by clicking here. All of us also enjoyed some time at Northbrook Days, especially the time spent watching the grandkids enjoy the carnival rides. Betsy also has some pictures about that here.

However, for a baseball fan like me, the time we spent on Friday at the Cubs vs. Cincinnati baseball game was extra good. Peter and Mary had four tickets and invited Kathie and me to join them for the game. Here we are in front of the Harry Carey statue prior to the game.

After downing some beer and brats, the first round anyway, we bothered someone sitting behind us to take this picture.

Here are the friendly confines.

And that unique Wrigley scoreboard, showing Derrek Lee at bat.

And, by golly, here is the man himself.

The Cubs lost 2 to 0, even though they did get men into scoring position several times. Ah, the Cubs... What can you say?

After the all the fun and before we returned home, we all went out for breakfast at a restaurant called Kevin's Place in Deerfield. Clara posed reluctantly with her dear old dad.

Then she admired Kevin, who is quite the entertaining host. Clara was fascinated with his stories and the special attention he gave her (a Minnie Mouse chocolate chip pancake!).

Meanwhile, Henry drew an elaborate picture of three robots for me. (I asked him if I could have it. He said yes.)

And The Name Is...

So after trying out many, many, many, many names, the winner is (drum roll) Tighe, pronounced with a long i and a silent h. It's kind of an English name, I guess, and it seems to fit him. I still think of him as "little buddy", and Kathie says I can call him that also if I want.

I have to admit that I haven't been enthusiastic about getting another dog or going through all the puppy training issues, especially the chewing on everything and the indoor "accidents." But I have to admit that so far, pretty good. Besides, something that can put this kind of smile on your spouse's face has to be a good thing, right?

Herrs At The Lake Part 2

In the week prior to the Herr's visit, Kathie had been scoping out possible new experiences for the grandkids. One of them was an area attraction called Wilderness Walk. These things can sometimes be rather cheesy, but this one turned out to be lots of fun and will be worth return visits. Eleanor and Anders will need to see it, after all! Anyway, here are Grandma and the grandkids near the entrance to the park.

There were lots of animals to see and to pet. Some careful coaching on how to keep the hand flat while offering food prevented any nibbled fingers.

Check out Clara's sharp new sunglasses.

Henry liked the tortoise.

As did Clara.

"Grandpa Bild, there are chickens in here!" Clara had this new version of my name during this visit.

We heard this guy all over the park. Actually, he was one of many of the proud birds.

Henry figured out how to operate this rocking (in more ways than one) bird.

Everyone liked the dromedaries.

Here's another example of "I'm tired of posing for pictures and am not going to be especially cooperative here."

On the other hand, "Heh, heh, heh. Velcome to the Monster Mash. I vill mesmerize you vith my semi-circular moves." (You need to have played our pinball machine to fully appreciate this.)

Flintstones, meet the Flintstones...Let's ride with the family down the street, through the courtesy of Fred's two feet.

I didn't take all the pictures.

But I did get this one of five of the most precious people in my life.

And another of just our visitors, some of whom were semi-willing to pose.

Betsy or Pete took this one of two very happy grandparents.

Back at home, I took this picture of Kermit and Kathie's new lilies. Kermit was a gift from Henry and Clara last year.

On a different day, we visited our favorite local greenhouse and nursery. They had this fairy village and garden on display.

Henry was fascinated with the paths that meandered through the hosta garden in the nursery's nearby woods.

Henry and Clara both loved seeing the koi in the pond in the flower garden.

On the way back to our cabin, we stopped at the local watering hole. They have acquired a new bear, so pictures were again required.

One of the last things on Grandma's list of activities was to make s'mores. I built a fire and then Betsy and Pete demonstrated the proper techniques for marshmallow roasting.

Henry and Clara, on the other hand, demonstrated how to get most of the s'mores into one's mouth.

You can see why I look forward to each family visit to the lake!

Herrs At The Lake Part 1

Betsy's family spent most of last week with us up at the lake. We did so many things while they were there, and I took so many pictures, that I decided to break the report up into multiple postings. So here is the first.

Naturally, Henry continued to hone his pinball skills. Since his Uncles Will and Rob also have pinball machines, he gets lots of practice. Because his eye/hand coordination is so much better than mine, he regularly beats me!

I delivered a step stool that I made for Clara to her at the beginning of their visit. She used it to climb into bed and to spend lots of minutes playing at the sink, allegedly brushing her teeth or washing her hands. We all thought she just liked being able to operate the faucets herself.

The grandkids wanted to take turns at the wheel when we went out for boat rides or fishing expeditions. Henry actually got pretty good at running the boat. If he doesn't look too happy here, it is only because both he and Clara are becoming increasingly tired of being asked to smile for the camera.

For three consecutive years or more, we have been trying to make sure that Pete had a good fishing experience while he was at the lake. Prior years have not been all that eventful, but this year, I think we succeeded. He and I had fun fishing for bass in the river one morning and caught quite a few, though we released them all. Then we had two consecutive evening outings when crappie were hitting. We anchored near a floating bog both times and fished right at the bog's edge. The first night, we were treated to a rather spectacular sunset. (That is the bog in the foreground.)

We caught a total of 18 the first night, including one nice walleye that Kathie caught. We could have easily kept more, but cleaning 18 fish late at night was enough work. Anyway, Pete seemed to have a great time, as did we. We caught and kept 11 the second night when Betsy and the grandkids were along with us.

This is what it is like fishing at the edge of the bog.

Here are the 18 fish in the live well of the boat after we got back in for the evening.

Also, Henry showed that he had not forgotten how to fish. He caught this bass off the end of our dock.

More tomorrow (or the next day).