Short List.

Ruby [to Momlissa]: You know, Mom, you should really root for the Packers instead of the Vikings.
Momlissa: What? Never!
Ruby: No, you should, because Wisconsin is really great.
Momlissa: What's so great about it?
Ruby: Six things - I went on an airplane ride there, there's a good view, Grandma and Grandpa live there, there's deer there, it looks pretty, and I like it.
Momlissa [a little astonished]: Oh, really?
Ruby: Yep. Deer, airplane, good view, like it, Grandma and Grandpa, pretty.

In Beautiful You-Know-Where.

Last month the girls visiting their grandparents in Wisconsin. It's always a highlight of the summer for them (and for Grandma and Gramps too). And on a cold, windy, rainy September night like this, I think it's important for us all to look at them, and remember.

Home Again Home Again

We've done very little blogging lately because we haven't had much to blog about - the girls just returned from an extended stay with Grandma and Grandpa K in Wisconsin. We spent last weekend there, left the girls on Sunday to come back to MN, and only retrieved them yesterday (Friday). It was a LONG time without our favorite girls.

It worked out well because this week was full of various commitments for me and Dadam, so on one hand the week went by quickly and was pretty uneventful. On the other hand, the house was too quiet, the mornings were too calm, and I didn't laugh nearly as much as I do when my children are here. At times it was downright painful without them.

But now, thankfully, they're home. Our family is complete again and all is right with the world, and now I must sign off so I can go clean up the Cheerios that are spilled all over the coffee table...

Fall Trip To Door County

We spent a long weekend in Door County over MEA break (I've come to understand that other states don't have this -- go Minnesota!) and enjoyed our time with the K clan. We made our annual fall pilgrimage to the tower in Pot Park, the girls took a scenic airplane ride -- thankfully the pilot didn't bring his laptop ;) -- and we saw some spawning salmon. The colors were beautiful, the company was top-notch, and the cheese was bountiful. What more does one want from Wisconsin? Well, maybe their quarterback...

And here's Grandpa teaching the girls how to light things on fire using a magnifying glass:

Not To Put Too Fine A Point On It.

We've had some complaints about our lack of posting these days (sorry, Mom), so here's a second item for today. Hopefully they'll tide you over for a while.

I really shouldn't be telling this one, because I only got it secondhand, but here's my impression of it. Last week Ruby called Grandma K------ on the phone to chat. Most of you know that my mom and dad live in a beautiful patch of country in rural Wisconsin, and animal sightings are quite common - deer, sandhill cranes, wild turkeys, coyotes. Well, Grandma K. was telling Ruby about the trouble they've been having lately with raccoons in their garden. The conversation went something like this:

Grandma: Every time it looks like the corn is going to be ready, we'll come out and a raccoon will have pulled it down off the stalk.

Ruby: Oh!

Grandma: What a naughty raccoon!

Ruby: Yeah . . . what a dumbass.

At this point Grandma asked for a clarification.

Grandma: What did you say?

Ruby [sheepishly]: Um . . . a bad word?

Momlissa said she's never heard Grandma laugh so hard in all the time she's known her.

UFO Sighting.

On Wednesday night this week, Grandpa K------ was lucky enough to see both the international space station and the space shuttle when they flew over Wisconsin. A little while ago Ruby talked to him on the phone, and I told her to ask him what he had seen in the sky. They talked for a little while, and when they were done I asked her, "Well? What did he see?"

Her response? "A SPACE SHOVEL!"

Reunited & It Feels So Good

The girls are back on their home turf and we've just wrapped up another busy summer weekend. Thursday we left for Wisconsin and got to our girls (and Door County) around dinner time. The weekend was full of activity, most notably two triathlons completed by mother and daughter (one each). Cecilia competed in a kids' triathlon and did a marvelous job on her 100 yard swim, 1 mile bike, and 1/3 mile run. She finished in the top half (after being one of the last kids in the pool), and now has a nifty little medal to add to her collection. She makes us very proud.


Yesterday we made the long trip home and even managed to make it to the park for some Frisbee before calling it a day. It feels pretty darn good to be together under the same roof again.

Real real gone.

The girls have been gone since Saturday afternoon. They are enjoying an extended stay in Wisconsin with their grandparents and by all accounts are having a terrific time. I, on the other hand, started to struggle almost immediately. I thought I had it more or less under control today -- then I realized I just spent the past 1/2 hour going through old photographs of the girls on the computer with a ridiculous grin on my face.

Only 42 more hours we'll be reunited with our little goonbags...

I Miss My Family.

We went up to northern Wisconsin this weekend with some friends, and it was fantastic. We had beautiful weather, a beautiful house on a beautiful lake, canoeing and swimming and running, a local small-town festival and an unexpectedly stunning fireworks display. I'm home now, while Momlissa and the girls stayed on for an extra two days.

I acknowledge that I usually look forward to this family-free time. Momlissa and I are different in that she doesn't really see the value in time spent alone, whereas I feel there's no greater treat than having a few hours to myself, to read or play the pipes or watch a scary movie or just to do a glorious bit of nothing, without having anybody else's needs to attend to, or having to feel guilty because you're not attending to them.

But the reality is, it isn't all that fun. I got back at about nine last night, fed the cats, took a bath and went to bed. Woo hoo. Already I'm feeling lonely and bored and wishing my family was back, or I was still there with them - especially those two crazy little monsters who exhaust me so but who also are the best joys of my life.

Maybe that's the real benefit of this time away - it isn't the fun I have when they're gone, it's realizing how much fun I have when they're here, and how much I need them.

The County of Door.

We spent last weekend in beautiful Door County with Grandma and Grandpa K, and as usual we managed to pack in a ton of activity in a very short amount of time. Here are some of the highlights in pictures:
Checking out the garden and picking wild strawberries in the field; posing as a family; riding the tractor per usual; kicking back with Dadam on Grandpa's hammock...








...and out for a pleasure cruise on Lake Michigan for Father's Day!


We had SUCH a good time and the weather could not have been more beautiful. Good thing it's just a few short weeks until we go back for more!

Cici The Foodie.

Those of you who know Momlissa and me well are aware that we like food. We like eating it, we like making it, we like trying things we've never had before, we like forcing other people to try things they've never had before, we like talking about it, we like reading about it, we like watching TV shows about it (even if they're on creaky old VHS cassettes that we've already watched together a thousand times).

Well, lately we've been feeling that Cecilia might have caught her parents' food bug. A few pieces of evidence (in addition to the conversation about tater-tot hotdish that Momlissa has already documented) point in this direction:

1) When eating some homemade applesauce Momlissa made a couple weeks ago, Cici said she preferred it to the stuff she got at her school, because the texture (chunky) was so much better. (And she's right about that, of course.)

2) At breakfast a few days ago, she made some very accurate observations about the differences in flavor between Honeycrisp apples (sweet) and Haralsons (sour). (She prefers the Haralsons, and so do I.)

3) The other night we went to see Christopher Kimball, a noted food expert, the founder of Cooks Illustrated magazine and host of America's Test Kitchen on PBS. Cici watches the show with us, and after we had attended the event she said to me, "Dad, if he's such a great cook, how come he never cooks anything on the show?" (A great question - I told her she should have raised her hand and put him on the spot during the Q&A.)

And 4) (although this one's more funny than observant) When we were getting ready to go see Kimball, I told Cici that we were going to see somebody who was a famous cook. She said, "You mean Earl?" It took me a minute to figure out who she was talking about - and then I realized she meant "Boilmaster Earl," the crazy old fisherman who oversaw the rustic Wisconsin fish boil we went to last month!

What a super kid. I hope she never loses interest.

Busy Busy Busy

[Note: The reason Ruby is crying in the picture is not because she's afraid of heights; it's because she wanted to climb the observation tower without holding anybody's hand. (It's me who's afraid of the heights, as you can tell from my expression. - Dadam)]

We haven't gotten much up in a while, mostly because we're all running around like chickens with their heads cut off! Last weekend we spent 4 days with Grandma and Grandpa K -- a nice, long visit during a gorgeous time of year in that part of the country. The girls went to their first fish boil (a Door County tradition), dug potatoes from the garden, visited some sand dunes near Lake Michigan, rode Grandpa's tractor over and over and over again, climbed the tower in the park, picked out our pumpkins, and got to see a few deer and turkeys run through the field. It was a great weekend and it was a bummer to come home.

The rest of this week has been spent preparing for a Halloween party for Cici's class at our house on Saturday. Her WHOLE class. Wish us luck. Oh, and here's the highlight of the fish boil:

Wisconsin

Some highlights from our recent trip to Door County:

A Matter Of Simple Logistics.

Earlier this weekend Cici said thoughtfully to Momlissa, "I wish that everyone who lives here would move to Wisconsin."

She thought a little bit, then added, "Either that, or Grandma and Grandpa K---- would move to Minnesota."

Deep in Conversation

Ruby and Lindsay, deep in conversation while on a walk a few weeks ago. I can only imagine what these two were talking about...

Happy Birthday Dadam!

To the best daddy in the whole, wide world:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

We Are Family!

We went to Sturgeon Bay to celebrate the March birthdays and took this great picture of the Al & Linda family.

Aren't we cute?

Drive safely

Tomorrow we're off to the K---- house for Thanksgiving; looking forward to the trip.

Anybody reading this knows how sick Ruby was last summer. We're so grateful that she's still with us, and will be for all our Thanksgivings to come. We're also grateful to everyone who took such good care of her, and of us, while she was in the hospital. We're incredibly lucky to have you.

Gobble, gobble!