Mike, Kendie and Mikey arrived to visit for the Fathers Day weekend. It was so great to have them with us. It was even cooler to enjoy the holiday with Mike, as this is his first official Fathers Day. And what a Dad he is! So loving and giving, and Mikey just adores him. He literally lights up when he sees his Daddy. If I would have thought of it, I would have gotten a 3 generation picture of "the Mike's" on Fathers Day, but maybe on the 4th of July. When I do, I'll be sure to share it with you all.
Saturday was a busy day. Taylor and I headed up to Hayward at 8:00 am to catch the carpool for her Rabbit meeting in Spooner. Nick headed on to a birthday party. While I waited for them to finish, I helped my buddy Liz out at the Fairgrounds. Had I known what a taskmaster she was, I may have thought twice! :-) Seriously though, I always have so much fun with Liz no matter what we're doing, so the day moved along nicely. We painted, cleaned, weeded, planted flower beds, etc. Taylor arrived around 1:30 and helped us for a while, before ditching us to go watch the Horse show that was going on there all day. Horses were crawling all over the place and she was in Heaven! Michael and Mike came up later to help me take down the huge bails in our 4-H Archery range, so Kendie and Mikey rode along. Nick had a blast at the party but was quite tired. Guess they went swimming at the beach. So after I picked him up, we headed home. But not before stopping at Wal-Mart and buying a .... trampoline! YIKES! I've had reservations about getting one for a long time, but the kids conned me once again. (They should both go into sales) I caved and told them if they saved up for one, they could get one. Who knew they could earn the money? Well, I guess I should have, because they've done it before. Actually, we are quite proud of them for it. They are learning a strong work ethic, how to save, to work for what you want, and how to bargain shop.
We brought it home, set it up and HAD A BLAST! I think Kendie was on it as much as the kids! Mike kept teasing them that it was a useless item and now they wouldn't be able to afford college, but guess who enjoyed it the most???? Yep, that's right. After the kids went to bed Saturday night, SOMEONE (Mike) snuck on to it and had a ball. So there we are, around midnight, having jumping contests on the trampoline. By the way, Mike is the official Adult Butt Bounce Master! What a fun night...watching the neighbors fireworks from the pontoon boat (which we calculated at costing them way over $1000 easily by the way. A concept that totally floored us.), firepitting, and trampolining!
On Sunday morning they left early to enjoy BBQ'ing with Kendie's Dad. It's always sad to see them go. So we headed on to church and then out to breakfast for Fathers Day. Michael got a brand new mousepad from the kids for his gift, and some cards. Michael chose to go fishing over in the Chequamegon at Stock Farm Bridge for his day, so we packed up some drinks & snacks and had a wonderful time. As always, I heard about deer hunting drives, or grouse hunting, and who stood where when this deer was shot, or who missed a big one over there, etc.
It was so HOT that after some snags, we quickly ditched the fishing idea and went swimming in our clothes. The water was just too inviting. When we were leaving, Michael put the kids in the bed of the truck and we went off road riding. I think he found the bumpiest roads made (if you can call them roads). But the kids LOVED it and laughed the whole time. It reminded me of my youth when my older brothers used to let us ride out the windows when we would go the the Chequamegon forest in the Medford area. However, I think the kids enjoyed even more laughing at me. I tried not to let it show, but I was a bit nervous. THEY BOUNCED ALL OVER THE PLACE! But all is well, they had a great time and another happy memory was made.
We hope you all had a blessed, wonderful Fathers Day weekend and got to enjoy your family like we did. We remembered Michael's mother Jean on Saturday, as it would have been her birthday, and thought of both of our Dad's on Sunday. It's such a sad feeling to be separated from loved ones who have passed away, as many of you know, but it's a bit easier when you remember it's only a temporary separation.
We love you all and we'll write again soon. And please remember to sign our guest book, we'd love to know what you've been up to!
