Another Bounty from the Lake

The boys brought in yet another bountiful catch from just some straight-up dock fishing.  ~ Not too shabby!

Eric and Connor caught a nice 18" walleye, some large white bass, crappies, and... dun dun dun... a bluegill!   They are hoping that this means the bluegill spawn might be a bit early this year (typically it's the third week in June or so).   They're also pleased that the crappies seem to be coming back from the "incident" this lake had a few years ago (thousands of crappies died and washed ashore from contamination and oxygen shortages due to some major run-off).

The next night, I fried up the walleye and some of pan fish.  The rest were made into delicious spicy fish cakes.  Yum!  

Last night, Eric caught a jumbo perch and a walleye.  They're still hanging out in the fish basket in the water, awaiting company in order to keep a filleting session efficient.    I'm anticipating a fishing night out soon myself to reel in some fine finned friends!

A Better View.... We Axed for It!

Wuh wuh wuh... bad pun, right?   :-)
On the brighter side (literally), we finally have a full view of the lake now and a more manicured, less disheveled-looking yard!
After seven years of "talking about it", we finally had our neighborhood "tree guy" remove some trees, shrubs, and trim large branches.

He removed a dead evergreen from the back of the property, some volunteer trees that were mixed into the evergreens that divided our property and the neighbor's (which were also overlapping and killing our nice adolescent oak tree), another volunteer that was calling the lilac bush area home, cleaned up the back corner of the property (where there were large overgrown sucker and volunteer trees - a total mess!), and trimmed a myriad branches from our other large trees (alleviating issues with branches on the rooftops of the house and garage, plus giving our other neighbors relief from branches that hung low onto their property).

But... the "piece de' resistance" (and a seemingly daunting task) was the removal of the 30'ish foot evergreen that was located smack dab in front of our house, impeding on a large part of our lake view.   Let's call her "Lola".  She was a large, full, and beautiful tree and it was a bittersweet decision.    RIP Lola.  Thank you for your sacrifice.  Your wood will be enjoyed for many future campfires.

To put it into perspective, Nick, our tree guy, is not a small dude; he's probably about 6'2".

We hadn't ever had a view of the lake from our bedroom and most of the view from the kitchen and dining area was non-existent.    From the inside of the house, it's like night and day!  We love our "new view".

Old View:

(This picture is of Connor and his walleye in 2012.)

(Here is Eric and a big ol' carp that fought like a rock star - which, incidentally, got thrown back into the lake.)

New View:

From the Lake... Old view:

New View:

Yes, we have a flag pole!  There was never any reason to have a flag flying before, since it couldn't be seen from anywhere.  I'll be buying a flag, a cable, and a solar spotlight soon to show our patriotism (sub-project #2).

Sub-project #1: Much of our Memorial Day weekend was spent dragging large tree branches into a pile (Nick the Tree Guy's chipper broke down towards the end - darn it!), dragging the larger limbs and cutting them into firewood, and burning some of the dead branches.  Sidenote: Ramsey was in "stick heaven" with "treasures" being found everywhere.

Nick still needs to come back this week to remove the stumps (and chip the leftover branches that couldn't be burned - once his chipper is fixed) and then we can mark this project wrapped.

Next project:  Leveling ground and then installing a new wooden play set for Ramsey!  Whoo hooo!
That project is already turning into much more than we had bargained for.  But, then again, don't they all?!?!

Two Brubbies and a Baby

Ah yes, brotherly love.
Connor is the perfect jungle gym for Ramsey when he's here; he lays on him, crawls on him, and snuggles up to him to watch Connor play a game on his iPhone or Kindle.
Whether Connor wants them or not, he gets hugs, kisses, and the occasional whack!

Ramsey absolutely ADORES his Big Brubby Connor.

I suppose you may be wondering "what's with the DOLL?"  Oh, so happy you asked.  (I am sure that Ramsey will give me a ton of grief when he's older because I posted the pictures and videos.  Sorry, Doodlebug, love you!!)  

Substory:  I purchased this lovely baby doll over a year ago (I promise that I DID look for one that had a blue or boyish outfit, but they didn't have any), in the attempt to teach Ramsey to be very gentle with babies and to be nice and gentle in general... and, just in case we ever decided to have another little curtain climber.    He didn't ever play with it and couldn't have cared less about it... until about two weeks ago.

To date, Ramsey hadn't "bonded" deeply with any sort of blanket, stuffed animal, toy, or other inanimate object (sure, he has his favorite Darth Vader figure and such).   For some reason, he and this sweet little baby doll did solidify a bond.  This baby goes many places with us (she has to stay in the truck when we go into Walmart, Dad says), it calms him down when he's having a tantrum (yes, he's finally having those now - oye!), and he takes it to bed with him when he sleeps.  He is always giving his baby hugs and kisses.

As strange as it is for our little "rough and tumble" Star Wars and light saber-loving, sticks and stones-playing toddler boy to have a precious little baby girl doll, it is very sweet indeed and his kindness towards the doll melts our hearts.
Sidenote: Daddy says it's his "girlfriend", not his baby doll.  :-)

Oh, and this one's for Dad.   He's also very loving and sweet with his Storm Trooper.  But, Storm Trooper doesn't fit in his bed very well for nigh nigh time.  :-)

Whooptie-Doo, More Fun on the Deck!

I rave about my deck... not because it's the biggest most glamorous deck in the world (cuz, let's face it, it's nice, but...), but because the kids love it.  Riggs loves it.  And, because we don't have a fenced-in yard, the kids and dog can roam freely, playing on it for as long as they want (or until it's supper time).  I am thankful I have the deck!  Ah, the little things in life....  :-)

Ramsey loves learning how to ride his trike on the deck (his feet don't yet quite touch the pedals).

And "push mow".

The deck is an awesome place to slide (usually head-first).

And run.  Or do "side-winders" like he was doing here.

It's a great place for "bubble time" (in your pajamas, of course!!).

And holy heck, who knew, it's the coolest place EVER to play with the Kindle!

Ramsey's First Ice Cream Cone

It's summertime!  The Twist Cone has been open since the weather hit 70 degrees (back in March).  Last weekend, we finally ventured there for the first ice cream of the season.

There is nothing monumental about this post, but for the simple remembrance that it's Ramsey's first ice cream cone....ever.  Yes, we are terrible parents, aren't we?    He's so deprived!  The kid has had a malt before, so simmer down.  :-)   

Sidenote:  Ramsey wouldn't touch the cone and wouldn't even try it until it started to melt.  After the first bite, he finally hankered down and got a sizable portion ingested.  

You're thinking: I will post just about anything, won't I?   They're only young once, so... yes... I... will!  

All Giggles "On Deck"

A random "chore" turned out to be a playful fun time for the boys... and Riggs.

Back story: Our bird feeders have been attracting all sorts of lovely feathered friends lately; house finches, gold finches, chickadees, sparrows, cardinals, thrushers, orioles.... and black birds.  ...large obnoxious blackbirds who use our deck as their personal bathroom!

What started out as a task to hose off the dirty deck turned into some serious fun and laughs.   Riggs loves water... any kind of water... to include the garden hose, which he loves to drink from and get sprayed with.  Riggs wouldn't leave Connor alone while he was "working" and wanted to be sprayed.  Connor was loving it (years ago, he used to love spraying Wyatt with the hose) and happily obliged.   Ramsey thought this was just the cat's meow also.  He got sprayed a few times too and wound up completely soaked.  :-)

I gave Ramsey a bath afterwards and Connor shampooed Riggs thereafter also.  And, the deck got cleaned up.    Projects completed, and all with lots of smiles.

Oh yeah... after everyone got bathed, here's Riggs.   So much for the nice shampoo job!!  (The algae is coming in.)    We tried!!  :-)

Tractor Ridin'

Yes, it is that time of year again; time for yard-mowing!  Eric is thrilled.  (Smell that sarcasm?!?!)  :-)

When Ramsey was a baby, he loved tractor rides with Daddy!

This year... not so much!  Last weekend, it was more like a bull-riding championship.  He barely made 8 seconds.