St. Germain - Summary

All good things must come to an end. We pretty much just got up and left first thing on Sunday morning. It was looking like a very hot day, and the time we did spend outside packing the cars found us swatting at a lot of mosquitoes which had been very sparse the rest of the week.

Lots of interesting things happened during the week, but here is a quick summary of some of the more memorable things:

- I lost my wedding ring (still haven't found it)

- Quin learned to swim with a life jacket

- We vacation with a very good mix of kids that get along with each other very well

- Matt's boat started on fire on Saturday

- We learned that an unopened bottle can explode when introduced to heat

- Chantrelle mushrooms are quite delicious

- Ethan learned to filet a fish (not filet-o-fish)

I'll be publishing the vacation photos in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out.


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Location:Prairie Dr,Oconomowoc,United States

St. Germain - Day 7

It was my morning to get up with Quin. He didn't go to bed until 10:00 last night, so it was a bit of a surprise when he got up at 6:00 like normal. Luckily I just convinced him to lay down and within about 10 seconds he fell back to sleep until 8:00. By that time his diaper was a wreck! I was changing the mess that had accumulated saying something about "stinky poop" or something, and Quin said "I poop potty." I asked him, "really?" Quoting a perfect Donkey from Shrek he said, "Really, really." Chalk another one up to nurture.

It was looking to be windy and warm today, so we decided to go take in a game of mini golf before it got too hot. We played at a nice course called the 19th hole, or something equally as cleverly named. Ethan had a blast and Quin even tried to join in much to Jenny's and my chagrin. He played my ball for the first 7 holes and Jenny's for the remaining 11.

After golf and some lunch, Quin took a nap and the rest of the kids went swimming. I was actually afforded some time to read my book which I had ignored to this point in the trip. It's not a bad book if you are able to read more than like 2 pages at a time! After about 90 minutes of reading, though, Quin woke up and I was taxed with taking him swimming. This time, however, we just kind of let him go himself. He had no problem just getting into the water with his life jacket on and swimming out to the raft where he joined the rest of the kids and swam for almost 2 hours! I can't imagine Ethan ever doing that at that age, but then again, we were pretty guarded parents with him.

At some point, just jumping off the raft and swimming got boring for the bigger kids - one of them had the bright idea that they would sink the paddle boat! It was pretty hilarious! They worked on sinking that thing for over an hour and had a blast doing it. I think Ethan said at one point, "we should have been doing this all week!"

When swimming was complete we gathered around and did a little fishing. Quin put a pole in and actually caught a decent size perch! He told me he wanted to kiss it before I put him in with the rest of the fish we were going to eat, but got scared at the last minute and decided not to go through with it. He did make friends with some dead minnows, however. While I was cooking the meat on the grill, Quin took a dead minnow over to the canoe, gently set him in the front seat, then walked to the middle of the canoe and said, "ready fishy?" I'm pretty sure he was going to take the minnow for a ride.

Dinner, and pretty much the whole afternoon was dedicated to mass consumption of all the stuff we hadn't yet eaten or drank from the week. Matt fried up all the week's fish, we put some ribs on the grill, Tim and Laura sauteed some mushrooms that they had found in the woods, and we had a big, delicious meal. After the kids went to bed, we continued on the same theme but with the remaining beer. Matt, Tim Z., and I all managed to complete all of our beer before we left the fire that evening. I'm pretty sure Tim A. would have as well had we not almost blown ourselves up. Tim Z. was digging through his cooler to bring out the dregs of his drinks and came upon an O'Dools. Nobody really wanted to drink it, so he placed it, unopened in the fire. After a couple of minutes it started to whine. After a few more, it started to whine louder, which prompted all of us to get up and vacate the immediate area around the fire. It couldn't have been 10 seconds too soon because as soon as we cleared about a 10 foot radius the bottle blew! It was quite impressive - a large crater had formed at the center of the fire, firewood had been thrown in all directions (luckily it was a small fire), and burning embers surrounded the fire-ring for around 10 feet. There was no sign of the bottle that I could see, though the color-sighted people said they did find shards of it in the ground around the fire. After that episode, Tim A. wisely decided it was time for bed. The rest of the guys made a huge fire and talked smartly about how we should do that again - we didn't...

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Location:St. Germain, WI

St. Germain - Day 6

Last night was an early one - we were all pretty beat from 5 days of vacation, so by 10:00 pretty much everybody was in bed already.

Today started warmer, but still windy. After Jenny and I each had a run we ran into town to get some chai tea and a smoothie. We then ventured into Eagle River to hit the liquor store. All that took a surprisingly long time. By the time we got back it was lunch time!

After a quick lunch of leftovers, we got our swimming suits on and hit the water. Today Quin proved himself to be quite the brave kid once again. Early in the week he proved he could jump off the swimming raft by himself with no problem, but I was still in the water with him. Today he proved that he could do even that by himself. He learned to propel himself through the water by himself and hung out with the other kids without Jenny or I being in the water at all with him! It was weird with Ethan when we could leave him alone and he would play either by himself or with some other kids, but he was a bit older than Quin was today when we were able to let him do the same. Second kids...

A little later on, Jenny and I decided to take the kayaks out with the kids and do a little kayak adventure. Unfortunately Ethan wasn't quite up to the adventure. It was a little warm, and he was wearing a black swim shirt, so after we kayaked for a little while, he claimed he was overheating and had to stop. At one point he stopped and the waterworks started up because he was too hot to go on. Quin and I drove by him and splashed him to try to cool him off a bit. I think he was really just a little over-vacationed by this point and needed to hang out by himself for a little while.

After we dropped Ethan off to recover from his heat exhaustion, Quin found himself a kayak and decided he would pilot it himself. It was beached on shore, so he shoved it out into the water by himself, then climbed in it, procured the paddle, and tried to take off. Luckily the wind was blowing in pretty hard so he couldn't get very far, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I think he actually kept at it for over 45 minutes before he turned his attention elsewhere.

As the night wore on, the Ziegler's and us decided that preparing dinner yet another night was more than we were prepared to do, so we trekked into Minoqua to try out some local pizza. Neither Quin nor Tim's kids had napped that day to speak of, so within about 10 seconds of the 20 minute commute they were all sleeping. Normally that would be OK, but we didn't leave until about 5:30 so the 7:30 bedtime was looking precarious at best. We got some delicious pizza for the adults and spaghetti for the kids before coming home and commencing the long process of fighting Quin into bed - it was 10:00 before he finally went down for good. We will need some time to re-acquaint ourselves with a schedule when we get back home!!!

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Location:St. Germain, WI

St. Germain - Day 5

Still a little cool to start the day, so Quin and I made bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast before we headed out fishing with Tim and Logan Ziegler. The fishing wasn't all that great, but we did have a close encounter with an eagle. It was pretty awesome, actually. We heard something heavy in the trees, then the eagle flew just above the water not more than about 20 feet from the boat. He skimmed the water across the lake, picked something up, then reversed his path and came right back past us again. He perched up in a tree and ate whatever he picked up in the lake. Thinking back on it I couldn't help but think about the double rainbow guy on YouTube. I had thoughts of me saying, "An eagle! What does it mean?"

After some lunch, Ethan and I went out on the boat with Matt, Jacob, and Devan on his ski boat and did some tubing. Ethan really enjoyed tubing. We weren't able to get him outside the wake, unfortunately, but he had a good time anyway.

The rest of the afternoon sort of passed. We did some kayaking, some canoeing, tried to find the eagle again. In all it was pretty uneventful. Right after supper, Quin and the rest of the "gang" started playing in some round tub that somebody had brought up. That was pretty funny watching them get in and roll each other in the bucket. It's amazing what kids will do when left to explore.

Just remembered the funny quote of the week - I think it was by Jenny last night. She was trying to convince Ethan to take a shower. He was claiming that he was on vacation and didn't need to take a shower. Jenny told him, "You don't get a vacation from personal hygiene."


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Location:St. Germain, WI

St. Germain - Day 4

It was windy and cool today, and I am training for a 1/2 marathon, so I picked today to do my long run of the week. I mapped out a route before we left that took me around the entire lake. While I was supposed to run only 10 miles, the prospect and symmetry of running around the entire lake was too good to pass up, so Tim Z. and I ended up running a little over 11.5 miles. It took us a long time, and it was hilly, but we did it. I now feel I'm ready for the 1/2 in a little over a week.

Because it was so windy, we started a fire early. We also decided to roast hot dogs on the fire for lunch, which are always more delicious than hot dogs on the grill or in the microwave. Ethan even went so far as to say they tasted as good as Uncle Brett's hot dogs, which is not faint praise.

After lunch, it was time for a shower and to dress warmer. After my shower, I went to put my wedding ring back on which I had taken off for my run, only to find that I could not find it. I'm still not sure what happened to it - I think Quin must have taken it off the table and thrown it on the floor. Hopefully it turns up somewhere.

On the topic of naughty Quin, he has developed a new, interesting routine while up here. He has been doing things that he knows are naughty, which really isn't all that different. Where his behavior is changing is that he will look at us after the deed is done and say "Sorry daddy, hug!" followed by a nice hug and kiss on the cheek. Hard to be mad at him when he does that, but if thinks we don't see through him, he's crazy!

It was too cold to hang out outside, and our cabin a little too small to hang out there for too long, so we took a journey into Minoqua for some shopping and to make our daily pilgrimage to the grocery store. It was largely uneventful, though the weather did seem to improve a lot while we were there.

When we got back, the weather had, indeed improved, so we quickly ate some supper and hung out by the water while we waited for rest of the families to eat. The kids started playing with the sand toys and being generally loud and annoying, as they tend to do. Somewhere in the mix, Ethan went back to the cabin, put a towel in his shirt and a sweatshirt on his head and paraded around telling everybody that he was a woman...

We finished the day on a nice pontoon boat ride, courtesy of Micky's parents who came up for a few days and were nice enough to bring their boat. Tim A. drove the boat and was nice enough to let several of the kids to drive. Ethan was one of them, and it was the highlight of his day!

Now it's time to head out to the fire to enjoy some beers and quiet as the kids go to bed. This is my personal favorite part of the day.

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Location:St. Germain, WI

St. Germain - Day 3

Jenny's parents stayed with us last night, so Ethan went to sleep at Jacob's cabin with the Abholds. That didn't last too long, unfortunately. At about 1:30 we heard somebody talking to us through our window - it was Micky telling us that Jacob had gotten sick and that Ethan was now feeling sick, so she was returning him to us for the night. So much for that idea...

By morning, Ethan was feeling fine. It was rainy and a little cold today, so we went up to the U.P. to check out a waterfall up there. It was pretty awesome. Bond Falls, it was called (I think). One really neat thing about it was all the trails around the falls. They had some permanent, wood trails built that gave you very good access to the entirety of the bottom of the falls. They then had some "off road" trails you could take up the side of the falls on one side, and a paved set of stairs on the other side. Ethan found his way up the non-paved side and made us all follow him, but it was worth it. What views!

We quickly ate some lunch then headed into town for some go-karting and mini-golf. Ethan had been looking forward to this all year. Last year we tried to go go-karting but Ethan was foiled by the fact that he was about an inch or two too short to drive the cars himself. He was sure that he would be tall enough this year. Sure enough, he stood next to the measuring line and was clearly tall enough to pilot the go-kart himself. He was smiling from ear to ear! He couldn't wait another minute to go on the go-karts, but this place was a little bit of a strange establishment. They had plenty of different go-karts, bumper boats, mini-golf, and other assorted kid's stuff, but nobody was really on anything, and there wasn't anybody manning all of the different appliances. So we first took Quin over to a kiddie track that offered 12-volt 4-wheelers and gators for the smaller kids to drive. Ethan was starting to get impatient, but it wasn't long before somebody finally came over to the "big-kid go-kart track." He was first in line and managed to get onto the track with Tim and Jacob in one car and Micky and Allison in another, just the three cars on the track. Ethan did very well - I was both proud and surprised. After getting off the track he immediately took another ticket and did it again, this time Quin and I also rode with him. Our car was pretty slow, and Ethan took full advantage and passed us at his first opportunity.

After the second bout of go-karting on the regular go-karts, Tim A. asked if anybody wanted to try the "slick track" with him. Ethan immediately volunteered. After somebody finally came over to that station, he took a look at Ethan and said, "he's not tall enough." We simply looked at him and said, "of course he is." Well, that didn't convince him, so he made him stand next to the measuring line. Apparently the minimum height on this ride was 54" rather than 52", but Ethan backed up to the scientifically measured line and very slyly stood on his tip-toes, just a little bit. Apparently the kid running the ride wasn't all that bright because he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "OK." The slick track was pretty cool and Ethan immediately picked up on how to turn the opposite way of the turn when you started to spin. Pretty cool.

The night finished out like all nights up here - put the kids to bed then went to the fire for some beers before hitting the hay ourselves. Tonight, however, Jacob decided he wanted to sleep over at our cabin. That worked out just fine for awhile. While at the fire, around 10:00 or so, we saw the lights go out in the cabin signaling that the kids had finally decided to turn off the movie and try to sleep. It wasn't 5 minutes before Jacob exited the cabin and headed towards his own cabin. He claimed that his mom would miss him too much if he slept in our cabin, and he didn't have a sleeping bag with him and he couldn't sleep without one. Oh well, 0-2 on the sleeping over attempts.

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Location:St. Germain, WI

St. Germain - Day 2

Day 2 was a lazy day. The weather was beautiful and sunny, so we did a lot of swimming and hanging out at the campsite. Along with your usual swimming, running, eating drinking, and sunshine activities, the following things stuck out:

- Quin introduced the world to his "booty-butt." Somewhere along the line he picked up the term "booty" as a word for his bottom, but he never really dropped the "butt" part. Now he just says them both.

- Quin and I did a bit of kayaking. At one point I started singing "Row your boat," and Quin finished the song for me. He is a wonderful singer!


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Location:St. Germain, WI

St. Germain - Day 1

The trip started out somewhat inauspiciously. I had neglected to pack anything - Jenny packed all the kids' stuff as well as mine, but there was still a pile of things that I needed to take care of the morning of our departure. My parents, Blaine, and Brett along with respective lady friends of each of theirs joined us the day prior to celebrate mom and dad's 39th wedding anniversary by going to IrishFest in Milwaukee. It was a good time, but afforded us a little less "last minute" packing time than normal. I thought we would be fine as long as we just packed in the morning... It seemed Karma didn't want us to leave, for some reason.

First, I had about 4 ounces of root beer extract in the refrigerator waiting to make another batch of root beer. This stuff must be the messiest stuff known to man - I think it was probably easier to clean up Chernobyl than it was to clean up the 1/2 ounce of this stuff that is still smudging up our refrigerator. I put about 40 minutes into cleaning it while Jenny tended to some other things, but by the time I was ready to quit, there was still a bit of the stuff left coating the fridge.

After packing the car and putting away the lawn mower, I went into take a shower, feet covered with grass clippings from the freshly mowed lawn (another thing we had to scramble to do). As I was showering I noticed the water steadily climbing in the tub - looks like we had a clog. Thankfully it was just a slow leak, so we decided to leave it and address it when we got home. Hopefully we remember.

We finally got out the door, but the trip's string of bad starting luck wasn't done yet. We were traveling with one of the Johnson's kids because they were borrowing a boat to bring up for our entertainment for the week. About 20 miles from home, their luck took a turn for the worse when the wheel on the trailer blew. They were able to put the spare on, but had to spend the next 3.5 hours in Madison getting new tires for the boat trailer they borrowed!

Thankfully we finally made it to our destination in time to enjoy a wonderful first day. Thoughts of our earlier misfortunes evaporated quickly as we soaked in the sunshine and beautiful lake views we were able to enjoy for the remainder of the day.


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Location:St. Germain, WI