Well, Well, hello April

Doesn't time fly??  

#abandoned

The Musical is over and I had a super short week of school, and have now really enjoyed 3 days of a ridiculously short "spring break".  I realized when I sorted through and deleted probably 800 photos on my editing program that I hadn't downloaded any pictures for at least 3 weeks.  I had a few on the camera, but not enough to make me remember after a long day of work and play practice to open up the camera and insert SD card into card slot on my trusty little laptop.

Pancake ice on Lake Superior

That was sad.  So I invited my dear friend Cat to come along with me on a journey to the north and of course I took my camera.  We did a little hiking, a little eating, a little shopping and a whole lot of catching up- good day. My camera got a great workout, and I then had days in front of me that are lending themselves to mini photoshoots.

One of several lovely sunrises lately

Facade

I have many photog friends whose work I admire, and several of them do a spectacular job capturing abandoned houses, buildings and vehicles.  I have been a fan of this for a while, but until recently haven't specifically worked on those subjects.  I mean I have taken photos of the stone house and the remnants of the ghost house for years, and I have painted pictures of old trucks and cars that I had photographed, so the interest has been there.

Not much holding this up

This fence appears to be keeping this building from falling over

So  I have done a few photos of different abandoned or empty buildings which is a hoot.  When something is part of your landscape, sometimes you don't really see them.  I shot one place that is on my drive to school, I mentioned it to the MA and he said- yeah I had thought of that, but didn't think it was worth it..... well, don't make that decision for me!  It was worth the stop.

Not worth mentioning....

Trumpeter swan

Speaking of the MA, another nice thing about these days off is that I actually sat at the dining room table and ate lunch with him in my own house!  As mundane as that sounds, it doesn't happen much.  When one (ahemCPAtypescough)  gets home at 8/9 at night, one's spouse does definitely NOT wait for you for supper.  Of course Saturdays are meant for eating out and Sundays we both seem to be hurrying to get back to something else, so lunch may or may not be eaten in the living room.....  rumor has it, you know!

yesteryear wasn't so long ago

AND speaking of eating out, I am very very excited to anticipate the opening of a new restaurant in town here.  The likes of which we have NEVER had here- the likes of which you have to travel many miles to get a similar experience.  It is called Valerie Mae's and it is being opened by a former student of mine who is involved in running his family's farm (Shady Knoll) and has brought farm to table produce almost all year round.  I am thrilled to be getting some fresh green things again to eat and can't wait to begin dining in the restaurant.  YAY!!

Anyway, the sun is shining and I am feeling the need to go out into it.  Hope your April 1 is fun and not annoying like many April Fools jokes are-

Be a joy giver today and always, and it will be returned to you.

A whole pile of random things...

So I sort of have lots and nothing much to say.....  this is my mood these days.  Which is mostly just fine with me.  Those who need to know my stuff do- and those who don't, well, don't.

First off, I recently purchased an AMAZING wide angle lens for my camera. (Insert happy dancing here)  And I do mean amazing.  It is the lens I have wanted my whole life and didn't know it.  I will be using it for cloud pix and landscapes mostly, and already, it is so incredibly satisfying.  It ticks off so many many of my photography needs....  I could soliloquize for days, but I won't.  But look!  LOOK at those pictures!!! It really bothers me that I didn't have it for my Bayfield trip.  I had ordered with what I thought was plenty of time, but the order got hung up in processing.  Um- wut?  If I didn't know that lens was going to be amazing for me I would have canceled.  I'm glad I didn't though- so very glad.  But what is up with that Canon???  HMMMM???

This was a really good weekend for the most part, I got a lot of little things done- plus finished one book and polished off a collection of short stories.  GOOD STUFF PEOPLE!!

The short story collection especially was excellent- called Drown by Junot Diaz.  A group of 10 stories about different members of a family based in the Dominican Republic and in the US.  Some brutal stuff, but quite compelling.  One of my favorite books in this genre!   The favorite other short story collection that I always recommend is Interpreters of the Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri - both worth picking up and reading.

Old house with a bit of mystique

In other news it has been cold and tomorrow will be warm and then it will get cold and I want daffodils.  The warm weather has pushed me into premature daffodil longing- I try not to think about it too much before the end of March, but here I am- wanting some.  I've had a couple photos sent my way by people that understand- - -  I will take more of those!!!!  :)    Pictures will do until I can either pick some or procure them in another way.  

The MA has been busy busy this month, as you all mostly know.  He sort of hit the ground running very early in January and has been in the office every day since.  LONG days....  So when he gets here we do chit chat a bit.  The man is getting even funnier these days- I feel like I should get a book and record the things he has been saying, sort of like what you want to do for your kids or the students at school.  Because you know you are never going to remember them in an hour.  The last thing he said a couple days ago- and maybe it is funnier to me than any one else when we were discussing the lengths that people go to maintain their accountant.  The miles they drive, the things they do.....  he tells me: No one wants to tell the new guy about their life.  Which like I said, sent me into fits of giggles, but other people may not get it??  No?  Oh well.  Anyway, he sleeps a lot in front of the tv after he finishes supper.

LOOK at that smooshy, kissable face

Not me though, the more I do at school the less likely I am to sleep.  It is just a wonderful thing being awake for the 4th time at 11:30 pm- said no one ever.  So I slept a lot (I got laughed at when I said I slept "in" until 6:30, but that IS sleeping in for me!) this weekend, as I really was able to relax.

As you may or may not know, tis the play time of the year and the Chequamegon school is putting on The Music Man- you know- 76 trombones and all that.  Lots of fun- silly, catchy songs.  Plenty of scenery to paint.  And my initial massive group of enthusiastic volunteers has dwindled a bit.  But such is the life of the Mad-Art teacher!  We will be fine, the troops will rally.

Last month's visit with the grandgirlies

It has been intense at school, though.  Many students have a hard time in the middle of the year like this- the winter, the school work, the rare days off and the stresses of families seem to add up to a lot of kids in distress.  Seniors are focused on finishing strong, junior are worried about imminent ACT tests, sophomores are sort of lost and freshmen still- as a group- are pretty clueless. But warmer, longer days are coming- and we will make it. As I said in my last post, this snow day could not have come at a better time.  We needed this unexpected mental health day.

I still have more artwork to get into the hallways, I need to do my high school progress reports and I shall be needing to get to looking at art work for the upcoming art show as well.  So there will be no easing up in the foreseeable future.  But that just makes the week go fast, so thats ok.

Lots of things coming up, lots of things to make the day go by fast.  I've said frequently the last few weeks that I would love to discover a worm hole and a perpendicular universe so I could come to school- get into that time warp and clean both of my rooms- then come out of it and teach school.  In a tidy art environment.  That would be great- someone needs to hook me up with that - K?  Anyone?

So, I am feeling like I need to get out a book and read and relax and get myself to bed here soon.  I hope all of you have a great productive week and if I find someone who can direct me to the nearest 4th dimension, I will let you know so you can get everything done you need to do, too!  I'm helpful like that!  And I send you a week full of joy as well.

The Best Possible Snow Day

Yesterday we had a snow day.  The weather people were messing with us for a week saying we would get x number of inches of snow- then they would decrease the number and then increase and winter storm watch and then warning and then advisory.....  sheeeeeesh.

I got up yesterday and was bitterly disappointed that a. there was barely a dusting of snow on the ground and b. that the phone hadn't rung at 5am announcing that there was no school.  I was secretly mad at the MA as he predicted  the night before there would be no storm to speak of because it didn't "feel right" out there.  I ordered him to bed as he laughed at me and made fun of me/pitied me.  Lol.  Such a smartie pants he is. Who died and made him weather man??  

Ah..... a cup of joy and delight perfect for a snow day

Anyway, I was kind of worried as there was virtually no snow.  So I was wasting my time, dragging my feet getting dressed until the last minute and literally the second I had begun to stand up to find my jeans and something presentable on top- my phone rang!  WHAT???

So yeah, there was a snow day with virtually no snow.  AND the storm stayed south of us.  BUT thanks to the weather people and almost every school in the northern half of Wisconsin, the threat was real enough for everyone to call school.

Don't you dare judge the administration for this!!!  First of all can you imagine how obnoxious it is to call an early day if the weather had disintegrated and we needed to get the kids home early?  AND in our particular case we have the largest area wise school district in the state- there are some kids who are on the bus for an hour or more and in the remotest places you can imagine.  So, lets not be hasty to call them out.

The thing is that we all needed this day. Staff, administration and students.  A break from all practices, meetings, classes, hallway incidences, sickness, traumas brought to school from home and on and on. WE NEEDED THIS!!!!!  For me (it's my blog and I'll whine if I want to) I have been pushing to get art work done for next week, trying to get grading done for progress reports, do scenery painting after school, etc. etc.  Lots of drama everywhere.  Lots of counseling of many of my favorite kids. (On the record- I have no favorites.  Off the record- some of them just need me, so of course I secretly love them the most ;) )  I come home, crash and burn, eat a little and then sleep like crap.  So this day was needed and wanted and it was loved and cherished and admired.

I cooked a little, read a lot, had a visitor (hi Jake!), drank copious amounts of coffee, chatted a bit on the phone, and I felt layer after layer of stress and anxiety (oh yes I have that in spades) peel off of me.  I slept really well last night.  whew.

So today it is windy and pretty and I don't foresee a whole lot of outside activity.  I have to do a little grading, some prep work for a meeting I have next week, and a touch of mending, but there are these books that need to be read and probably some photos that need to be edited from fun trips, and a camera that needs to be mastered....  

I will find my zen, my peace and my joy!

HEY! New school year!---- you're on deck

Holy smokes I am exhausted right now...  It isn't so much the fact that I hauled myself out of bed indeed before 5 am (because I am crazy, that is why) but the fact that I ended up with 2 kayak sessions yesterday for a grand total of 9.3 miles or something to that effect....

Clouds began to breakup and the sun did indeed come out!

While I am certainly capable of going 9 plus miles in a kayak, I had also done a nice little weight lifting session on Saturday and concentrated on my shoulders, abs and arms. So, yeah, I feel MY triceps this morning.  And when I do fairly heavy workouts like that, I do not sleep well.  Because I wake up all the time and rearrange myself and fall fitfully back to sleep and then rinse and repeat.  I believe I got up at 1:30 and took ibu- evidence left on the kitchen counter points to that conclusion.  Lol.

This blue heron proved to be a little sneaky, but Lisa spotted him in a tree

It was a GORGEOUS day for kayaking though.  Both times!  I went on Butternut Lake with the Mad-Lisa friend in the morning.  We didn't see the eagle, as per usual, in the tree of choice- but we did scare up a blue heron and then followed the thing over to the other side of the lake.  And we founded him!!  YAY!  While there were a lot of fishing boats on the lake, it was pretty peaceful and nice.  Perfect temps, only light breezes- water therapy at its best.

The clouds were quite amazing- I was wishing for my wide-angle lens

Last night, the MA sprung it on me that he wanted to kayak with me--- so I am INCAPABLE of saying no to that, so off we went to Smith Lake.  I found some ducks and a loon and some fishermen- but only one boat full.  It was super nice last night and the river was like glass.  And then we got back in time to FaceTime with the Mad-Oldest son and his lovely family.  With those two girls, that can be quite the entertaining event.  Ava is starting to crawl around and Ella gets increasingly silly as she gets more tired....  It is quite enjoyable.  hehehe

Young mergansers

Anyway, I do realize the post title says something about school- so yeah, we have full-fledged, sitting-all-day, summer-ending meetings..... today and tomorrow.  And then there is Open House on Wednesday with school beginning on Sept.1.  I've just resigned myself to the meetings, as they must be morally obligated to "improving our teaching" or some such thing.  There is a session this morning that seems will be pertinent and sometime in the next 2 days I get to collaborate on curriculum with my compadre from the Glidden school- so there is that!!  I just hope that I have enough breathing room to keep working on my lesson plans.  I used to be able to have a semester worth of plans ready- but that was when I only taught elementary school.  So I retain that panic of not having more than the first 3 weeks pencilled in.  Though I know that is ridiculous and no one has a whole semester ready, unless they do the same thing all the time.  Which I am incapable of doing.  Which reminds me, I have a brand new first day of art for the elementary school in the works (I always love finding new stuff like this) and I have a HUGE amount of paper cutting that needs to be done- any volunteers???  Lol, just asking'!

This guy showed up unexpectedly right in front of me!  The light last night was lovely

Hey, when did it occur that it is so dark at 5am??  I know that there are clouds and an impending Thunderstorm, but wth is with that??  I think I am in seasonal denial.

A pair of fishermen were spotted- I have other photos- I just found this one interesting how the people pop out and the rest is sort of hazy-- and I see its a touch crooked.  oops.

Anyway, I have to finish this up and go do a few things- at least I do not have to dress up today.  That will be coming soon enough!

So, make this day a joyful one.  I, for one, will be avoiding the joy-stealers that lurk about the area.... I am going to make the best of the day if I possibly can.  Happy Monday!

And now an annoying Monday night

So here is a daffodil- at least that is not annoying.

So I have been indicating how nice it was going to be that tax season was done....  well, just for that last little bit of annoyance- the MA is STILL not home and it is heading towards 6:15. This is crazy.  

I don't really blame him, because obviously he wouldn't still be at the office if he was done.  I don't know who to blame.  Lol. I know he was planning his last day last night- extensions I think.... Now I wish I would have gone to the gym, but I thought maaaaayyyybe we would go have supper somewhere.  Silly me.

Anyway, I have nothing more to report- other than I got some fun information about the Italy trip today.  So there is that.  And that is about it.  Idk if there is even time now to go walk to the Way-back Field before sunset.  sigh.

Oh well, I guess there is always tomorrow....

I will definitely be going to the gym tomorrow.  HA!!

And I always find that a joy.

December ...... Where did you go?

Lola finally looking wintery

I know where December went- I spent a lot of it sleeping.  And coughing.  Good grief.  I have this amazingly uncanny way of knowing when I am going to pick up a virus these days....  Right at the end of Thanksgiving when certainly little adorable Granddaughters shoved their dirty little fingers in my mouth- I knew it: sick.  In mid-December, when I watched a child cough right towards me from 10 feet away, and saw a vision of those little germs incased in a lime green cloud of disgust- you got it.  I was right.  That one was a lot worse.  That one had me in bed by 8 some nights, destroyed my vocal abilities for 5 days, still has me coughing now 3 weeks later.  I only recently began walking outside, and my hardening back, chest and arm muscles are needing a tuneup again.  sigh.

Oh well.  I am encouraged by the fact that I am pretty sure I will not be affected by the bug that the MA has right now.  He stayed home from work yesterday for the first time in probably 15 years.  I was a bit surprised, he must have fielded all the calls from desperate tax payers that he was going to.  And no one called the house, so this is all good.  And don't worry people, he's fine.

Requisite blurry selfie from Christmas Eve

We had a pretty nice Christmas, it was stretched out over a few days, which is just fine with me.  The oldest Mad-son and his lovely Sarah could not come this year as the next little sweet baby is going to be born in mid January!!  YAY! AND it is much easier for the middle Mad-son and his lovely Sarah and family to be in their own house what with naps and stuff, so we went there for Christmas day!  I actually don't have a ton of photos from any of my Christmas celebrations, preferring to ooh and ah and smooch with the grand kiddos....  So Christmas Eve was spent with the elusive Mike, opening his gifts and having a nice supper and generally relaxing.

RUTHIE!!

Christmas was a hoot, as we arrived, much food in tow, at the Oswalds and immediately embraced the children.  Ruthie is SO cute, and is starting to coo and smile and interact.  Greggy likes everyone to see what toys are his favorites and in general holds wordless conversations with us.  When those words begin, that child will be filling us in on lots of things- he has amazing powers of communication and memory.  Goodness.  And then there are the dogs- Ruger, who insists on lots of attention because she is after all a lab, and Toby- who is a special snowflake, loves me and needs to try to sneak in when Ruger isn't looking.  Toby who loves me, yet gets all excited and spends a lot of time pretending to bite my hand when I pet him....  he's such a goof.

GREGGIE!

A little impromptu Christmas music!  :D

Anyway, the Mad-Accountant and I got a TV from the children for Christmas.  The thing about us is that if something is working, we are really fine with it.  We still had a MASSIVE TV (in square footage, not in screen square inches) from probably 8 years ago and it really had been chugging along quite fine.  But of course, it had been discussed in the past (by certain off-spring) that we should get a flat screen.  blah blah blah.  Anyway, apparently over Thanksgiving it was decided that a new TV was the way to go for us, so it was being planned.  A week later, when I got home from the Madrigal dinner said massive behemoth of a tv had blacked out.  Which is when my lovely self started doing some TV research..... well sort of.  I had help from a certain very smart tech savvy friend who was giving me TV advice.  Anyway, the next day I tried turning the TV on, fortunately, and it worked -otherwise I was TOTALLY heading to Minocqua or possibly Rhinelander to pick up a new set.  Of course I discuss things like this with all of my electronics experts (the boys seem to have picked up this expertise somewhere) and I am sure they were all having a minor heart failure over it.  Because they know that once I finally decide to be brave and do crap like that I do.  And besides, who'd ever think a TV would be under the proverbial Christmas tree.  Long story short(er), I discussed Tvs again right before Christmas day as I was going to be going online the day after Christmas!  AND THEN I got a text with a super deal at Sam's club---  so...... JON!!!  Will you go pickup that TV and I will get it when I come down?  The child lied to his mama....  Lol

Anyway, now I have to get a DISH upgrade which apparently will involve a new satellite; we've had the same receiver since we got the system (no judging, I told you, if it works, why mess with it??)  Sigh.  Oh well, it needs to happen.

Greggie had a blast!  

Did I mention that I will finally use that part of my Amazon Prime??  This should be fun.

Meanwhile, we have this MASSIVE  OLD TV in our front room, and it really needs to either go to a good home (doubtful) or get recycled.  And with the MA being under the weather, well, I am really hoping that he makes an astounding recovery so it can get the heck out of my house tomorrow.

At the Rotary Gardens

So, the Sunday after Christmas I drove myself down to Janesville, gifts in tow, and hung out with another Oswald family for a few days.  We went and saw the Rotary Gardens Holiday Light Show, which was AMAZING, had a little Mexican food and just generally had a  nice evening!  In spite of a ice/sleet/snow storm on Monday, I made it home Tuesday.  Which is when the festivities continued with the Mad-English teacher coming to visit, an amusing supper at the Mad-Science teacher's house, a trip to Bayfield on Wednesday, a wintery hike on Thursday..... whew!!!  I spent yesterday afternoon sort of putting my house together again.  Today or tomorrow will be Christmas removal.

SELFIE SPOT!

This is an amazing event!

Ella in her dressup clothes from Gramma

I also have at least one and probably 2 more blog posts to write.  They have been building up.  I am so far behind in lots of things.  SO MANY parts of my house need straightening up again after a couple months of crazy.  And btw, speaking of that, I am so ready for a little sunshine.  We have had a month of virtually no sun.  It has come out once or twice, but I was sick that day- or in one case, I was in Janesville for the sunny day up here.  sigh.  I am ready, man.  If that sun is out today I am OUT the door, camera in hand.

Good morning with Ella

Anyway, since this is my first post of the New Year, I would like to take a moment to wish you all a spectacular New Year- 2016??  Wow.  Enjoy your year, embrace your life, live for now....  you are all awesome the way you are!  That whole new year, new you stuff is such bull shit.  You people are spectacular, you don't need fixing, you don't need to change.  You can trust yourself, you know what is best for you.  You sure as hell don't need Oprah insinuating that you are not good enough.  You all ARE good enough and in fact you are perfect.  So, eat what you enjoy, move how you like, wear what you want and don't let the MEDIA dictate your life.  They portray an illusion and you are real.  Mute their asses!

WOO HOO

I hope that you have a lovely Jan. 1!  Find your joy and keep spreading it around all year.  Avoid those joy stealers and share  your smiles.  You never know when someone is going to need it.

Recovery time

Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that I had a glorious time in Denver.  I loved flying, I took lots of pictures, I met up with a good friend and met a virtual friend, I climbed every mountain..... oh wait, maybe not.  But I climbed on a couple of them, and hit up a museum and generally had the best time.  We CRAMMED every minute full!!  I would not have it any other way!

I have not even opened my cameras yet.  I have a bunch of pictures in there that need some editing, but I do have my phone photos.  They are pretty good, so for this post those are the ones that will do for an overview.

The last couple days have been recovery days.  On Friday, we put in a full day of stuff, from hiking and doing stairs at Red Rocks (oh my goodness my legs were tired by then) to walking downtown Denver to walking and sitting at the airport. Our flight was delayed about 50 min. so we got into Minneapolis about 8:30 and home about 1.  Naturally falling asleep was an issue after all that, and I was up until after 2:30.  So, I was sort of a happy zombie all day on Saturday.

Clouds during the flight back, I think over South Dakota

I really was happy in spite of being sore and tired and groggy.  I was awash in the glow of a fantastic trip that had almost no down side to it, but I barely knew what to do with myself.  Of course the MA was very happy to see me and I made him sit down and look at all my FaceBook pictures.  Between mowing and fixing his mother's garage and attempting to get into the garden with all the rain, he wasn't home much apparently.  Well, I suppose he was working all week as well!  I did manage to get all my things put away, and some laundry done..... sheets changed, towels and table cloth all replaced.... dishes.....  all low stress chores.  I was incapable as a rule of even finishing a sentence.  

Red Rocks hiking trail

Sunday morning I slept in to almost 8!!  Hold the phone and tell Grandma to sit DOWN!  That doesn't happen very often.  I slept so hard my neck hurt from not moving more than twice during the night.  Today I feel much more rested and normal.  I realized ON VACATION that I forgot to do my requisitions (aka: ordering supplies and paint, lots of paint)  for work, so guess what I did yesterday!?!  Bleh.  And I got my elementary orders virtually done when I realized that I had used a 2013 catalogue!!!!!  AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH.  Oh well, so I had to redo mostly the prices for the entire order, and actually had to change a few catalogue numbers.  Major suckage there.  So 5 hours later I was done with that.

Falls at Berthaud Pass 

So, today I am sort of a girl without a plan.  And that is just fine.  I will do a little cleaning upstairs for my company coming next week and I will do some weeding as well.  Beyond that I have photo editing to do.  And in light of the fantastic meal I had at Ali Baba, I want to make some tabuleh today, if I get the energy to drive to the store to get parsley.  

Panorama Point, near Reverend's Ridge

Enjoy these few photos and know that there are more to come.  I will also be sending one or two to Channel 9 if you are one of those folks who watch for my pictures on tv.  :)  That is such a weird thing to say, but its true.

Happy Hikers

Have a lovely Monday, be a joy giver and hopefully you will enjoy the photos here and those to come.  

Lookout Mountain

Panorama Point

Crop circles!  :)

The kids and grandkids-

This whole Gramma thing is a serious hoot!  And I am so in love with these little people!!  Everytime I get a picture of one of them, I just melt a little.  I got a pic of little Greggy with his mama last week, and I seriously teared up.  He is such a cute little thing and wow is he an observer of his life!  Interesting how you begin to see things about their little personalities already at 2 months of age.  Anyway, visits with the kids have a whole new dimension, now!

Playing the piano with dad

Anyway, I digress.  I was fortunate enough to hang out for a day or two with both of my farther-flung children and their off-spring.  I stopped at Jon and Sarah's on the way to Missouri and at Greg and Sarah's on the way back.  I know Missouri to Park Falls by way of Waukesha may seem unusual, but there was a grandchild to see, so there was no missing that little trip!

Ella likes her block towers

First time she crawled into Manny's kennel and opened and shut the door!  LOL

Good morning!!

Things are looking good for both sets of parents and children, and it was a nice trip.  I helped Sarah and Jon with their garage sale, hung out with little Miss Ella and in general had a nice time being with them.   After the trip to Missouri, I stopped back in Janesville to pick up some things that I decided did not need to be dragged all the way to Missouri and back (like some extra tomato plants) and the things I picked up for the MA at Menards (or maybe it was Home Depot- they all look the same to me) and I drove ANOTHER hour after putting in 6 on the road before that.  Little Greg is doing so well, getting so big!!  

Morning selfie with Ella!

Morning selfie with Little Greg

LOVE that little furrowed brow

And we had a nice time snuggling.  I also got to snuggle with these two- what can I say, I am very popular.  :)

It was nice being in Waukesha and spending a little time with Sarah and Greggy and helping out where I could so the parentals could do some things that are hard to do if one person is on baby patrol.  I also babysat the little guy when Sarah had an event to attend and Greg was not getting home from work for a few hours.  He has his fussy times still at night, but it was fine.  We all have our fussy times!!

Full disclosure:  I was so tired from traveling, I only got phone pictures of Little Greg and NONE of my Greg or Sarah!  I was horrified.  Lol. It was a surprise to download those pix and figure out what I did.  Oy.

I could die this is so cute.

Whew he's sleeping!  :)  He was a lot of fun to be with, he does like being held!  

You will notice that Gramma Debi likes to take morning selfies with the little ones!  It makes me happy!!

I stayed through Saturday morning, and then drove home. I had exactly 3 days to then prepare myself, my home and my refrigerator (I was gone for 9 days) for company for the 4th of July.  Jon and Sarah came up on Wednesday night, so we could go for a little trip to the Wildwoods on Thursday and they stayed through Sunday.  That was a very nice amount of time for them to be at our house.  I wish I had a pic of what Ella learned to do!!!  Climb the stairs!  Lol, and she was darn good at it too.  

Learning to negotiate the little step between the kitchen and living room

She loved sitting in the little chair that Great Grandpa Oswald made for her dad and uncles

Grandpa snagged her as she was crawling by!

What is this thing, Grandpa Fred? 

LOVED swinging!

The Wildwoods in Minocqua is a little zoo that I have blogged about before.  I like it there, especially the tigers and the aviary!

Not sure about the goats

This picture cracks me up!!  "DAD WHAT ARE YOU DOING, HERE??"

Ella LOVED feeding that camel

Crackers are much appreciated by the camel

Thinking maybe the goats are ok

This partially albino deer was happy to get crackers

I dogsat Manny when the kids went to visit friends

The boy still smiles on cue for the camera!!

And they are headed for home!  See you soon!!

Anytime spent with the kids is a time of joy!  Until next time, be a  joy giver!!