"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of!"
Surrounded by my sweet boys (hubby Eric, sons Connor and Ramsey, and our dog, Jango), I thought this a rather befitting name for my crew's blog. To our cherished friends and family, happy viewing! We love you!
Well... today we were supposed to take Jango to the resort for the dock jumping competition. Ramsey and Eric were both under the weather. With Jango being such a strong and wiley character yet, there was no way I could handle him myself (around other DOGS and people).
Bummed out, we took a walk on the trail instead. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! And, though pup didn't get any dock-jumping in today, he did get a nice bit of exercise along the point.
Well... Ramsey is back in school and I have to work Monday through Friday. But, with the nice summer temps still, Eric is convinced (and rightly so) that it's better to be on the boat than stuck in the house (or, mowing the yard for that matter). Priorities!
Eric took Jango and popped outside to pull some cranks. He returned a few hours later with a fine assortment of fish, all good-sized for their species. He brought them up in a bucket. The northern was so long, he was hanging out of it quite substantially.
The picture seems skewed. The walleye looks tiny, but in actuality, the walleye is 19" long. The northern was a lengthy 33"! Normally, we throw all of the northern back in the lake (too difficult to get much meat off them, due to the "Y" bone situation), but this guy was big enough to carve some nice filets off of.
While the other fish had succumbed to the air, the crappie was a litttle fighter and kept flopping off the kitchen counter. He fell onto the floor a few times and into the dog's water dish once as well (that was a nice splashy mess - ugh).
Day 1 got off to an amazing start for Ramsey at school. (It was only a half of a day, technically.)
When he got off of the bus at 4PM, he chattered away at how amazing school was, what he learned, classroom rules and opportunities, who he played with at recess, who he saw on the bus, etc. Success!
This morning, his teacher sent over these pictures of Ramsey and his classmates through the Seesaw app (which has a feature for parents and teachers to message, send pics, etc).
Ramsey's last teacher was very active on Seesaw and sent lots of pictures and classroom activities. I think Ms. H is going to also be quite active on the app, which I am very thankful for!
I have to chuckle because after Ramsey read that Ms. H would be his teacher (and that he had some buddies in his class, plus a bully was not! ha!), he said, "Mom, God really did answer my prayers!" 😊🥰
Oh Ramsey, little Doodlebug, what a fun and aterrific first morning of school!
So, this child AMAZED me this morning. I begrudgingly rolled out of bed at 6:05AM (after one snooze). With gritty sore eyes, I trudged down the stairs to Ramsey's room to get him up. I met the little stinker in the hallway. He's carrying his Darth Vader digital clock and he's pointing at it, telling me he got himself up all by himself - he set his own alarm! That little milestone goes on a "Ramsey's First List!" ha! I was impressed. From there, I knew even more that he was beyond eager and enormously excited to get back to school. That made my heart so very happy. It perked me up and I forgot about my tiredness and red eyes.
On this morning, there was no foot-dragging or otherwise. Everything was QUICK, EASY, with zero chance of any meltdowns, sadness, or whining to have to eat breakfast. Nope... I hate to jinx it, but it was a pretty excellent morning. (I'm still shocked, honestly.)
Of course, I had to take a gazillion pictures. Ramsey was talking like a ventriloquist through his teeth, stating all of the things he was looking forwar to that day, and worried about when the bus was going to be there (it wasn't for another 20 minutes, so he needed to CHILL!).
For his First Day of School sign, he told me that the "Favorite Subject" should be changed to "History". But, then again, I didn't need to formally change it, since he could learn history through reading. I'm taking that as a nod that I can leave my Photoshop print as-is. Yay.
During these pictures from the main entry, he looked past the yard and to the lake. He screamed with excitement at the beauty of the sunrise! He hadn't seen a sunrise for at least three months. And this one, well it was magnificent.
He was so anxious for his new backpack and to see Bill, the bus driver, that he had to make a few "test runs" to the road to make sure the backpack was sufficiently snug. He cleared it as-is with no changies. I had to laugh.
After being ready so early, Bill showed up at 6:52 AM. We waved to each other and I kissed my baby goodbye for today.
When he returns, I hope he still has starry eyes, plus a boatload of amazing fun stories to tell us!
God, please bless my child this year at school... and bless his teachers and friends, the bus drivers, lunch preparers, the school receptionists, the nurse, the principal, and everyone else that makes my special boy's day a good one.
Ramsey, Monday morning: "Mom, I am really nervous for school tomorrow." Me: "Are you nervous in a good/excited way or in a scared sort of way?"
Ramsey: "More scared, but a little excited."
I know there can be lots of emotions when going back to school. After all, school has structure... and book-learning... and people... LOTS of people. Oh, the varying personalities, playground drama, older kids picking on younger ones on the bus, and the desire to just "fit in". I get it, little bud, I get it.
We had errands to run before the open house, but we wrapped them up early and were able to get to the school well in advance. When we arrived, Ramsey told me to stay in the car, as he wanted to go to the front door to check the list to see who his teacher was.
When he returned, he was ECSTATIC to know that his teacher would be Ms. Hoellein. I asked him which friends would be in his class. He was so excited with the teacher, he didn't check the class list. So, we went back together. Right then, the school principal also was walking to the main doors. She was cheerful and made Ramsey feel so special with her personal greeting and welcome back!
Sidenote: Ramsey was quite pleased with his classroom friends. There were a few he wished were switched, but overall, he was happy.
Early arrival advantages: We found a great parking spot, snapped pictures without a ton of people in the background, and (bonus!) the ability to play on the playground for a nice chunk of time!
I even played; climbing around and swinging.
It was quite warm, so Ramsey broke out into a sweat. Gosh, he was having fun though.
I could tell that he was really excited in general!
With 15 minutes to spare until the doors opened, Ramsey wanted to leave the playground, grab his supplies, and prepare himself for entry into the school.
After the doors opened, the horde of people entered the school. Ramsey knew exactly where to go and found his classroom. We met his teacher and he immediately went to find his desk.
Ms. Hoellein had a survey on the board for the kids. One of the questions was "How do you feel about 3rd Grade?" Ramsey happily put his sticker in the "Excited" area.
We were happy to see that his buddy, Henry, would be in his class this year! He hadn't been the previous years, so both boys (and us Mommas!) were thrilled.
After we unpacked his supplies, we took a peek around the classroom at all of the wonderful decorations, fun reading area, meaningful quotes/reminders. Then, we said a "see ya for now" to Ms. Hoellein.
Ramsey, after returning home from the open house: "Mom, I want to make time to faster. How do I do that?"
Me: "Is this because you are anxious to get back to school?"
Ramsey: "YES!"
Me: "Then, go to bed. When you're sleeping, time flies by quickly. Get some rest. 6AM comes quicker than we think!"
With that, for once, the kid didn't baulk at bedtime prep or try to stall in any way. He did the usual ritual without numerous "reminders" and then stated he was ready for bed.
I read him a few stories from his favorite silly fairytale book. After about 15 minutes, he informed me "that's enough, Mom, I'm ready to sleep now". He didn't chat with God too long at prayer time either! It was rather short and sweet.
Wishing this sweetheart the best and most amazing 3rd Grade year ever!
Our last Sunday of summer before school starts. ...makes me sad to write that. Enjoy each precious day!
We boarded the pontoon and threw out the fishing lines. Eric had put smaller crank baits onto the lines to try something new. We fished more shallow and close to the shore lines. I particularly liked this, as I like looking at cabins, landscaping, plus the scenery along the way.
The first fish was a teeny tiny white bass that was apparently very hungry. He wasn't much bigger than the crank bait! I caught the next fish... another itty bitty white bass. Obviously, they were thrown back to live another day. ...cute little stinkers though!
The rest of the day, we caught a number of crappies, plus a bluegill and a perch on these smaller crank baits. Strange! Eric asked me if I thought it was more fun to catch walleye or small pan fish. I told him it was more fun to just CATCH a FISH vs not catching a fish. Fish are fun to reel in!
Sometimes Ramsey plays his Kindle on the water (hours of boating can get to be a bit much for a kid), but when we have fish in the live well, Ramsey chuckst he Kindle and loves to play with the fish instead. He doesn't stick his head in the water anymore (that was a favorite from a few years ago!), but he does find amusement in just watching them and playing in the water.
We have a "deal" with Ramsey. He goes fishing with us for a few hours and then we go swimming.
Here, Ramsey is being the captain and driving us home.
We stopped the pontoon close to our shore line and the boys dove in and swam about. Since Daddy jumps off the pontoon bench/couch, Ramsey thinks he should get to try also. Just jumping off the deck is apparently getting to be a bit ordinary.
He must have one of us to hold onto him while he jumps though (as a mother, the first time for this was nerve-wracking!).
Oh, he laughed and loved this!
It's a good feeling when you see your child overcoming their fears and becoming more brave. This little turkey is getting carried away though. He wants to be like Connor now and start doing sommersaults and flips into the water. Um... NO! 🤣 Let's let Mom's heart remain intact for another year or two before busting out those types of tricks.
Poor Jango though... he would NOT jump off the pontoon and just paced on the boat and whined. I guess if he wants to bad enough, he'll just do it one of these days! I suspect the next outing like this, he will go for it.
Wahoo! It's county fair time, once again. In my youth, I lived for the fairs. After all, I had show cattle and I worked my tail off all year for the fairs and other shows. The fair has a different meaning to me now that I am no longer in agriculture. I still appreciate all of the hard work the 4-H kids put in. But now, it's more of a family affair of goofing around for a day than anything else.
The first stop was to find the bouncy castles and the kids' area. At noon, the bouncy castles weren't up yet, so we went to the petting zoo. Eric and I agreed that we were [oddly] more enthused about this than Ramsey was. But, Ramsey did make a few new little friends, like Little Mr. Goat here.
I was surprised at how many loose goats there were inside the gate. Literally, they were everywhere - dozens of them! And, there was this little pigmy goat that found it cute to use Mr. Tortoise as a step stool. Sidenote: This black and white fella looked just like the two funny little goats that we had when I was in high school (except ours were chubby).
We came across a little Scottish Highland calf. He was pooped out and probably ridiculously hot under all of the long hair, so he didn't get up. Oh, how I wanted to take him home with me!
Surprisingly, there were also porcupines, what I suspect were patagoanian maras/marsh rabbits (like a rabbit, only shorter ears), and this guy... a sweet kangaroo (who had no interest in meeting us or giving us a good glimpse of its face).
The bouncy castles still weren't inflated yet, so we checked out some exhibits on the way. We stopped at a place that sold generators and spas. Ramsey... wants... a hot tub/spa. He actually said (later) that looking at the spas was like the best part about the day. We HAVE been looking.... 😉 (Maybe next year.)
Then, what's a county fair without some grub? I ate my usual yearly corndog (yum!), even though there were clearly more creative things I could try. Eric had been trying to convince Ramsey to try Dippin' Dots for the last few years (to no avail). This year, he bucked up (not sure how trying a new form of ice cream is "bucking up" really) and had a few bites. He was HOOKED. Dippin' Dots was also on the top of his "favorites" for the day. On our way out of the fair, Ramsey and I actually ordered more. Why not?!
Then, into the Expo Building to visit the Game Fish & Parks local-area species fish tank.
The tank was filled with all the native fish; crappies, carp, large mouth bass, small mouth bass, white bass, northern pike, walleye, bluegill, perch... and a cute little turtle (which is why Ramsey's head is turned sideways in this picture). The little boy next to him was obsessed with the turtle!
I don't recall seeing a catfish.
And, Eric said that all of the bluegill family fish were just bluegill; there were no pumpkin seeds or sunfish.
We started walking through the Expo more, but Eric got cornered by a salesman. Ramsey and I bolted. Eric wasn't amused. 🤣 We walked through a few animals in the Expo barn and then went to the Big Tent. Here, they had a hypnotist comedian.
We saw military vehicles close by, so we went to check those out instead of being put in a trance.
Ramsey found this missle carrier to be quite impressive.
As we were looking around, an Army soldier came by to talk to us. He saw Ramsey's interest and had keys to the inside of the vehicles.
He let Ramsey climb inside the missle carrier and the military fire engine.
Another favorite for Ramsey today!
After this, we met up with our friends Jonah and his his son Charlie. Ride time!
Last year, he hated the caterpillar roller coaster (in previous years, he loved it!). This year, he tucked his head down and didn't look up. Needless to say, no arms in the air this trip.
Off to the mechanical swing. It didn't look scary and we saw lots of little girls laughing their butts off during the previous ride. Easy enough, right?
Ya, not so much. After the ride started, Ramsey's face was distorted and he freaked out. He hated this ride!
From a parent's perspective, it was a little bit funny. Then... also a little bit uneasy. I didn't take any pictures of when he was really freaked out!
Next, off to The Speedway! Again on this one, at first Ramsey had his head down and wouldn't look up.
After he stopped the ostrich act and looked up, he enjoyed the ride and laughed his butt off!
Ramsey and Charlie went on this ride five times! This one ride nearly paid for the day pass wristband.
After the Speedway, off to the 4-wheelers. Their horns/buzzer didn't work, so they were a bit miffed about that.
Charlie desperately wanted to go on the swing ride again. Even though he had the previous freak-out, Ramsey still went! He said he just closed his eyes until it was done. Fair enough. At least he did something for someone else, though fearful for his own life! Ha!
It was HOT this day and we were started to get pretty pooped out (plus headaches). We said goodbye to Charlie and Jonah. On our way out, Ramsey saw this Strong Man game.... and a giant blow-up sword he could try to win. Eric coughed up $5 (ouch!) and Ramsey went to town, swinging the sledge hammer.
It was a darn small sledge hammer, so, ya know... "rigged". 🤣 Ramsey didn't win the massive sword, but he did walk away with a blow-up camouflage M16 assault rifle. He was happy.
When we got home, we were beat! I had to take a nap. The boys did whatever they did to relax for a while.
The impending "end of summer" was looming over us, so we decided we needed to get out on the pontoon again that evening.
Because it was Saturday night of the fair (and the resort was closed for the week), the lake was so quiet and peaceful.
Ramsey captained the boat for a while and we enjoyed the sunset and family time together. ...just wished Connor could have been there with us too.
