Fishing and Football and Cookies.

Last weekend we finally found some time to celebrate our last Christmas of the season with Lady Di's parents in northern Minnesota. And the weather surprisingly cooperated completely. We actually had warmer weather there than at our home five hours south.

But don't worry, it still was cold enough to keep the lakes hard enough to fish on. In case you forgot, these are the 'fishing grandparents'.

We arrived late on Friday, so all we had time for was exchanging belated Christmas gifts. Well, actually we also had time to snack on Christmas cookies and a few other sweets Grandma just happened to have out. Grandma complained that she was just sick and tired of looking at Christmas cookies, so I made sure to help her out in any way I could.

On Saturday morning, we all woke up bright and early. Even though I woke up the least early, I was still in time for pancakes and ham. Thanks Lady Di.

With our bellies full, the kids and I rode the four wheeler down to the lake for some ice fishing. Uncle Greg had his fish house all set up and ready on Grandpa's lake. His fish house had two holes, a chair and a bucket. Number One Son got the chair. Sweet Pea sat on the bucket. And I stood. I stood mostly outside since the weather was so nice and the fish house ceiling was so low. The fish didn't cooperate much that morning and N1S walked back to the house after an hour or so. SP was a little more determined, sticking it out for another hour before succumbing to boredom.

Saturday night, we visited Uncle Greg who lives just up the road from Grandma and Grandpa. He has two big dogs and a kitty which SP did most of her visiting with. But when she took a break from the animals, she had business on her mind. SP just happened to bring along her Girl Scout Cookie Order sheet. She then turned on the 'sweet niece' act and proceeded to take Uncle Greg to the cleaners. First, SP took down Uncle Greg's order for a couple boxes of Thin Mints. Then she took her order sheet to Uncle Greg's girlfriend who added a few of her favorites to the list. Then SP returned to Greg to show him some choices he might have missed. By the end of the evening, SP had inked 13 boxes to her Uncle Greg's column. I'd say that was a successful sales call. I'm not sure, but I think SP even sold a couple boxes to Greg's dogs.

On Sunday morning, we had just enough time to squeeze in some more fishing before the Vikings football game. N1S decided that he preferred virtual fishing on the computer to the actual thing, so SP and I were on our own. At least this time I had a place to sit in the fish house. Our luck picked up just where it left off the previous day without even a nibble. But that's why it's called 'fishing' and not 'catching'. But the peace and solitude of the fish house offered the opportunity for Dad and Daughter to have some time to discuss the important issues of the day. We talked about fishing. We talked about the upcoming children's play auditions and which songs she would like to sing. (She decided on "Your a Mean One, Mr. Grinch") SP also expressed her concern about her brother playing too rough when she asks him to play Barbies with her. Apparently, his idea of Barbie play involves more crashing and falling than SP is comfortable with.

After a half hour of pleasant discussion, our conversation was interrupted by a few nibbles on our lines. We lost our bait! This was a good sign. It wasn't too long after rebaiting that SP got her first strike. She reeled in a small perch. Now we were excited. As I was getting her perch off her hook, my rod started bouncing. I couldn't get to my rod before my fish spit out my hook. I'm sure it was a huge one that got away. After that excitement, the fishing action settled down again to just a few nibbles here and there.

Then SP got the big one! She started reeling like a champion pencil sharpener on Red Bull. She excitedly stated, "Ohhh, this is a big one!" And I could tell it must have been big because her catch was taking line out as fast as SP could reel it. I finally had to grab her line and pull the fish to the ice hole. SP let out a startled yip when her four pound northern poked it's pointy lips though the hole. Her line broke just as her fish filled the hole but he was too big to go back down. So I grabbed all 24 inches of fish out of the hole for SP to admire. We measured and then SP was ready for the fish to return to the lake. She likes to fish, but doesn't want to get too close to the fish.

After that you would think SP would want to continue fishing, but she was starting to get hungry so we went in.

That was OK with me because it was getting close to game time anyway. I got to watch the first half of the Viking's drubbing of the Cowboys before we had to say good bye and start the long drive home.

So our Christmas celebrating has finally come to a close. Christmas is always better late than never. And always better if celebrated three times than once. And if anyone is looking to buy some Girl Scout cookies this year, SP is still taking orders.

Empty Nest

Last weekend the family and I trekked out west to South Dakota. You may ask, "Why would you go to South Dakota?" Because it's super fun and interesting and not at all boring.......and Gramma & Grampa live there.

After enduring the five hour (2 DVD) drive, we unloaded and started the fun. N1S and I got to go golfing with Grampa. N1S had some really good shots, but hitting golf balls was only the chore to complete between golf cart rides.

Gramma then rolled out the slip and slide for the kids to cool off. We had a cookout where Lady Di made some incredible steak and chicken kabobs for the grill. Those kabobs will probably get us invited back.

The weekend was only marred by one event. We all went for a walk around town and ended up at the high school football field. When we stopped to sit on the bleachers, we were chased away by a swarm of angry hornets who must have been nesting close by. I was trying to swat them with my baseball cap, but one sneaked through and stung N1S on the back of the neck. Lady Di and I both felt terrible for him. After about 2 minutes of howling, he calmed down enough to ride his bike home and tell Gramma all about it.

We left on Saturday with only half a van full. The kids got to stay for the week, and we will pick them up next weekend. It sounded like Gramma and Grampa had a full schedule for them too. They had a trip to the museum planned as well as golfing, swimming and 4-H days.

We still call every night to talk to the kids and it sounds like they are so exhausted at the end of the day that they are asleep before they hit their pillows.

We miss them terribly but we can use this break to get caught up on some things that we have put on the back burner for so long. Lady Di is using this mini vacation to paint N1S's room. I am working all week and not much else. We did get to sleep in on Monday though, which was nice. With the kids gone I'm noticing that it is much quieter in the house. It takes three days to fill the dishwasher with dirty dishes instead of one. And I now have extra time to post about new subjects. Should I write about the problems of society? Local politics? The meaning of life?

So many choices....................................................................................................................................

Is it time to go pick up the kids yet?

South Dakota Vacation

This weekend we gave Lady Di a break from us. The kids and I went to South Dakota to visit my folks. Lady Di was in charge of a fund raiser for Number One Son's school and she had to work there on Saturday. I can't recall when Lady Di has had a weekend at home to herself. She will either love it or go stir crazy.

This weekend was also my Mom's birthday. The kids each made her cards and we gave her a gift certificate to a local store. We gave the cards to her a day early because we just couldn't wait. The next morning, the kids sang Happy Birthday to Gramma just before lunch. Fifteen minutes later we sat down to lunch and couldn't find Grampa anywhere. The car was gone and so was he. We started to eat anyway. He showed up about ten minutes later. We asked him where he went. He suspiciously said, "Oh, just an errand I had to run."

Immediately, Gramma said, "You had to buy a card, huh?"
Number One Son and Sweet Pea instantly looked up from their food, wide eyed. They saw Grampa's face turn pink as he was trying not to smile, assuring his guilt. Sweet Pea then asked in her sing-song girlie voice, "Grampa, did you forget Gramma's birthday?"
You just can't slip anything past her.

We had a really nice weekend. It could have been better if I hadn't strained my knee last week. I twisted my knee while trying to save orphans from a burning building. I mean, I was showing Sweet Pea my advanced gymnastic routine when I caught my ankle on the basketball hoop and twisted........Oh, all right! The truth is, I over extended my knee putting in a shelf at work. That somehow doesn't sound as heroic. Grampa got to golf with the kids while I rode along in the golf cart and held up the 'Quiet Please' sign. This was SP's first time golfing on a real golf course. Once I explained that she can't dig a hole in the green with her putter, she was fine. N1S had quite a few good shots and is a very good putter. He may need to teach Grampa a few putting tips.

Anyway, I had an MRI done this week and I have a torn meniscus. I get to meet with the orthopedic to schedule a procedure to fix the tear. The same thing happened to my other knee a year and a half ago. I guess I just have weak meniscuses.

Besides walking around in constant pain, the real bummer is that I can't do the normal things I do with the kids. The weather, lately, has been perfect for walks, bike rides, and yard work. I haven't been able to do any of it. I wanted to help Sweet Pea with her cartwheels this week. I wanted to help Number One Son with his football class this week. A knee injury is never convenient, but it seems this week couldn't have been worse.

The up side is that after the knee is fixed, it should only be a couple days of recovery and it will be as good as new. That's what happened a year and a half ago anyway. I should be able to get it fixed next week. Then a few days of recovery and then 'watch out fun!' I will get to mow and winterize the lawn, blow out the sprinkler system, rake some leaves and take down the window screens. Wait a minute. I think I had it better when I was incapacitated.