Horse Manure Park

 Bob and Kathy's Paradise on the Lake We finished up a fun weekend camping at Bob and Kathy's place - Dale and Mel were also there, so we had a mini-family reunion.  Beautiful weather, despite a big thunderstorm which rolled through early Saturday morning.  We ate like kings, enjoyed a few beverages, took a pontoon ride and Ava even tried to fish a little.  Mel had "Farm Fest" visors made for the girls and baseball caps made for the guys.  Pretty awesome! What goes better with camping than a little karaoke? The biggest news is Ava lost her first tooth Friday evening right after the pontoon ride.  It fell out in her mouth and she spit it into her hand.  When she realized what it was she got scared and dropped it in the grass, but after a search and recovery operation, good ol' Uncle Bob found it and the Tooth Fairy visited the camper Friday night. The initial trauma of losing your first tooth... ...doesn't last very long! Here are a ...

I'm not stupid, but I can be a slow learner some times. Other times, I'm a little intimidated to try something new because I'm afraid I'll screw it up - hey, I've got a history. So after we got our new Mac I was really disappointed that it didn't recognize our digital camera.  In the Microsoft world, much of the technology is "plug and play."  Just plug the USB port into your PC and the new gizmo is up and running.  I have found that isn't necessarily the case with a Mac.  (it could also be very possible I'm doing something wrong - hey, I've got a history). I knew when I purchased a Mac that they weren't compatible with some things - it is Bill Gates' world and we just live in it.  Apple is Microsoft's competitor and Microsoft is the giant of the world.  But the payoff to owning a Mac is that you get a fine-oiled machine that just works .  And that's very much proven true so far. But one rainy evening I decided to ge...

I guess I could ask something stupid like, "Hot 'nuff fer ya?" but I'd have to punch myself in the face.  Yeah, they say it's warm out there.  And I'll take their word for it.  I'm in central air.  The kids are stir crazy, as is their dad, but we are all staying cool. Actually the weatherman has tempered his enthusiasm a little bit.  A couple days ago the forecast high was 100 for this neck o' the woods.  Now the forecast high is 92.  But as usual, the dew point is the problem - we've been in excess of 70 degrees for almost a week.  At one point we were very close to 80.  I'm not sure if I've ever experienced a dew point that high.  Really makes me wish my dad was still here.  He'd really think this is some kind of weather.  Meanwhile my lawn is an embarrassment.  You want to talk about perfect weather for your lawn.  It should have been mowed last week, but what can you do?  It's either too wet or it's too...

Two years ago I was a very nervous expectant father pacing around Family Birth Place at the hospital.  My wife had been in labor all night and I had been up for about 32 hours or so.  Oh, the joys of child birth!  And I had the easy part. Yes, my little boy turns two today.  Mom and Dad both have to work for his birthday, so we had a little party last night.  We had homemade pizza, chocolate cake with ice cream and birthday presents.  Just a tiny party with Mom, Dad and big sister, but we had fun... Here are a few pictures of the evening: Lighting the candle.  He's already gotten into the frosting, as you can see on his lip. He thought it was pretty neat that everyone sang to him. My favorite pic... blowing out the candle.  Or at least trying to! With big sister.  Ava has a loose bottom tooth, which you can sort of see in his picture.  Neil can't keep his fingers out of the frosting. Chocolate cake rocks Dude......

Well, my daughter finally got to the point of being so frustrated because she couldn't tie her shoes that she actually sat down and let me show her how.  It is sort of funny because I remember learning to tie my shoes under similar circumstances.  She's very proud of herself!  July 11, 2011     They took away the tee at tee ball last night.  But Ava hit the ball well.  Here's a couple of pics of the action... Look at that form! Ready to run to second base. That's all for now!

Second stop, Two Rivers Campground, Royalton Another camping weekend is in the books.  We spent a fun couple of days with the Budahns at Two Rivers.  The weather was perfect, maybe even a little too warm and humid (dew points in the 70s), but we didn't get rained out so no complaining here. Our camp sites were right on the banks of the Mississippi River.  Brian and Lindsey's campfire was literally less than 20 feet away from the river bank.  The kids, of course, were attracted to that like flies to feces so we needed to keep a close eye on them, especially the Boy.  But it was all good and we had a great time. On Friday night we didn't do too much.  We let the kids run around the campground until their legs couldn't carry them anymore.  The theory was that they will collapse with exhaustion and sleep like logs.  Great theory.  However, Mr. Neil decided sleep was for losers and stayed up until 1:00 AM.  I think it was just too warm ...

I am a lifelong KISS fan, but that really doesn't minimize the impact of this when you watch it, especially if you've lost a parent. A quick background for those who don't know - Gene Simmons' father left him and his mother, a Holocaust survivor, when Gene was a small boy. Gene had little contact with his father throughout his life. Almost ten years after his father's death, Gene went to Israel to visit his father's grave for the first time. No bad acting here; a very sincere and heartfelt scene. Gene is emphatic at the end of the clip as he kneels at his dad's grave: "I didn't run away from my kids. I'm a good father.  You would be proud."

*Warning - this entry contains coarse language because, quite frankly, I'm a little pissed off right now. The Fourth of July weekend is upon us. The timing couldn't be better for a state government shutdown (the second in six years).  Does this really have to happen right now ?  Yes, I understand the whole fiscal year stuff, but c'mon.  Really? As we approach the busiest holiday weekend of the summer, plans that thousands of hard working folks have made for months - vacations that have been anticipated since the winter winds howled - are snuffed out. Thanks to a bunch of politicians that can't get their shit together. Reasons to be pissed off this holiday weekend: If I had made reservations to camp at Gooseberry Falls or Itasca or some other beautiful state park over the Fourth of July - reservations I would have undoubtedly had to make months in advance - I'd be very pissed off right now. If I had explosive diarrhea while traveling through the state of M...