Catching Fish and Catching Up

It seems like forever since I've written anything here (actually only 4 months) and I have no excuses other than laziness.  I felt I had to write a bit about the grandkids first trip to the cabin this year. We had been talking about it for some time, and Jack and Wes were beside themselves with excitement for weeks in anticipation.  Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of Summer here in Minnesota - the first of many weekends when it seems half the state fights Friday evening traffic to head "Up North".  We have been lucky enough to be a part of that exodus for 25 years now, and we enjoy it even more now that the grandkids ( and of course Beckie and Sean as well) are able to join us at the lake.

I picked up great-gramma Fri morning and came back home to wait for gramma to get home from work.  We left the Twin Cities around 3PM for the approximately 4 hour trip  (3 hours when traffic is normal) to the Brainerd Lakes area. After a stop at Chico's restaurant near Onamia for their Friday night sunfish and crappie fish fry, we made it to the cabin, got everything ready, and patiently waited for the stars of the weekend to arrive.  Around 9:30, we heard the back door open and 3 sleepy kids came into their home for the next few days.  Jack remembered the cabin, but Wes and Elise were too little last year to remember much, so I gave them a quick tour of where they were to sleep, eat, and go potty.  They were way too excited to go right to bed, so we played and talked for a while ( Billy Bass and the gopher from Caddyshack were big hits except for Elise, who got scared when Billy Bass turned his head and started moving his mouth).  Then they reluctantly headed for bed, to dream about the fun they were going to have the next couple of days.

Saturday morning started the whirlwind of activities that they were determined to experience. ( of course they wanted to do everything "right now" as Wes would say, and telling them to have patience was like talking to a post) .  They all were able to:  dig in the sand and build sandcastles, play in the lake, ride grampa's "buggy" ( 4-wheeler ), drive grampa's speedboat, go fishing, have a fire, roast marshmallows and hot dogs, and swing in the tree swing.  Wes also reached a milestone on his journey to manhood when he peed on a tree for the first time.   Jack's favorite thing was to ride the buggy into the lake and try to get back out of the lake by driving through the "mud hole" without getting stuck. 

It was a wonderful weekend, and we are looking forward to the 4th of July, when we will participate in the boat parade and picnic and fireworks.  I can't wait to see the kids have another great time at the cabin.  I hope they will remember these days with as much fondness as we do.

Sorry for no pictures, but I'll post some soon.