Serenity Lake

What great family shots. Thank goodness for the tripod and double px take on the self timer. For the complete show go to my Photo Gallery.

I had a great time in Wisconsin. It was the most relaxing vacation I've ever taken with the least amount of traveling and the least amount of things to see and do. I anticipated getting more reading done but forgot what it's like having a 2 year old around. The weather was almost perfect with having only one full day of rain. We all went stir crazy that day except for maybe Bob and Matt. They did their best to master the Wii game Tanks. One day Susan, Jenny, and I took a walk and realized the ticks were thick. We had to do thorough body checks when we got back so that put a damper on walks. I think we were still finding ticks around the cabin and vehicles days later. Dad rented two canoes so there was much time spent on the lake. The lake itself was black due to the pine needles in it. It was extremely cold so the only swimming we did was in the hot tub. Grace loved this. We used our new fry daddy on cheese curds, onion rings and of course fish. The fishing rules were very strict so we mainly only ate 4-6" bluegill. They were still tasty, just small. I didn't get any px, but there was a momma duck with 8-10 ducklings that waddled through our camp quite often. Grace loved this. After the lake we went to Baraboo for a night. We toured the Ringling Bros. circus where they stayed over winter. It was a great place for kids. We were disappointed to find out our motel only had an outdoor pool that I think was colder than the lake, so once again no swimming for Grace. On our way home we stayed a night in the Cities at a Holiday Inn. Grace got to go swimming twice so I think this appeased her. It was all she could talk about. This week has been back to work and trying to catch up. Only a few minutes for blogging!

Graceless

Wow! This is called service. Where else can you go 600 miles and get a free car wash without asking? I believe Grace was the first one to get wet by Grandma of all people. Good thing it was a hot day. Grace Susan and I had a water balloon 'toss' afterwards. Grace was scared of them at first because she thought they were fireworks. I think 4th of July won't be very fun for us this year. Grace travelled the best she has yet to Grandma and Grandpa's only asking 900,000 times if we were at Bapa Koch's house yet. Saturday night we had supper at Bob and Jenny's. It was delish, especially the volcano cake. After was Susan's testimony. One memorable question was how Susan typically made friends. She answered: by showing off. I inwardly chuckled, and groaned later on when Grace was the main attraction of the young group that night at lunch call at my parents. Maybe I made friends the same way when younger:S I choose to forget certain parts of my childhood and some of it is reliving through my daughter. Monday morning we left at 5am (and in IL it is not light yet at 5am.) I was pretty tired but got voted for first shift driving. Grace got to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's all week. I think they all forgot what it is like to have a 2 year old around, but I know she is having a blast. Every time I call she has little interest in talking on the phone especially if she is going to be around Jessie soon. Rustin left Monday night for Colorado and didn't get back until Thursday night. Let's just say I was ready to see a human being in the house. I worked for the city all week so was able to stay busy. Today I have been running errands and packing and getting the house ready for when we go on vacation next week. I'm excited to see my little peanut and my family of course.

I have to share a revelation I had the other day. I was mowing at one of the parks and came upon a bird nest that had fallen from the picnic shelter rafters. One of the baby birds was dead and the other looked and sounded like it was going to die soon. At first I mowed farther away from the shelter, but when I came nearer I noticed the mother was laying on top of the dying bird sheltering it from harm and showing it she cared. It just hit me that no matter what race or species, a Mother's love is universal. Maybe I was missing Grace or maybe I'm just plain weird but this experience even brought a tear to my eye. A few minutes after, a bunch of kids came over and were looking at the bird, so I never saw the Mom again and don't know what they did to the bird. Not every day I have revelations on the lawn mower. I do find it is a good prayer time!