Baby Turlte Rescue Mission

The day after the wedding, Tricia's parents invited us to the beach house they were renting. We took a walk out to the beach. The air was so humid, I could hardly keep my camera lens from fogging up. The wind was really whipping and the ocean was much more choppy here. The day before we had spent some time at East Beach, which was so glass-like, it looked and felt more like a lake.

As we walked the beach, we discussed future options for Medication Informatics (Lowermydrugbill.com - see link under "Other Businesses & Organizations" in the sidebar.) Jim and Tricia came up with some really great ideas. Perhaps this beach has some magic to it. I wonder if these leaders came up with any viable answers to the world's problems as they walked this same beach 4 years ago.

Soon after the Med. Inf. Summit, our friends, The Wilsons, showed up. They told us that they had seen a baby turtle as they were walking in and their son, who is Evan's age, held it. I could see jealousy in Jim's eyes. As we were all about to leave, Jim noticed something in the grass. It was another baby turtle! It was a loggerhead and it was stuck behind the wall of a building, with no straight path to the ocean.

Jim was elated!

He gather up the turtle....

Then we decided that it would be best for the newly married couple to release the turtle to the ocean as a blessing on their wedding.
*There's a lot of wind in these last two videos (hurricane Gustav wasn't too far away) and it's pretty loud. You may want to turn down the volume a bit.

It was cute watching everyone fuss over this precious baby turtle. I could tell that my perspective was being influenced by the fact that Owen is starting pre-school next week. Everyone was worried about the turtle flopping over or not being able to swim into the sea, but I kept saying that he had everything he needed to know to be prepared for this very moment. It actually was very exciting showing him to the gate of the rest of his life. Hopefully he will not be terribly effected by the coming hurricanes. Hopefully he will live a long full life. And maybe Jim will get to see his little friend again someday as he is snorkeling in the ocean.

CONGRATULATIONS TRICIA & BROCK
and thank you for a wonderful weekend!

Wedding on Sea Island, GA

We went to a wedding this weekend on Sea Island in Georgia. The wedding was at The Cloister which is in a gated community. The ceremony was held on the beach. We decided to go early and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere. Hurricane Gustav was racing toward the gulf and we could see and feel the effects. If it hadn't been for the hefty breeze, I think I might have choked on the air.

Brock, pictured in the middle with the blue tie, was the groom. He is one of Jim's partners in their business, Medication Informatics, which tries to educate patients on how to lower the prescription drug costs. Eric, on the left, is another partner. All of these guys spent some time together at UW Eau Claire.

*I'm not sure what's going on with Jim's hair, but it's like this in every picture. Must have been some combination of humidity, hotel shampoo and champagne.

The ceremony was beach side. It was brief, but beautiful.

The reception was at the cloister. This is a small section from the outside.

There were manatees in the water below, but Jim and I didn't see any.

Dinner was held in a small room with one large table. It was very cozy. A guitarist played soft music in the background. The servers had a routine of serving the plates that was almost dance-like and agreeably a little spooky.

My favorite thing on the menu was this Watermelon Gazpacho. It was the perfect combination of sweet and spice. I'm sure it had red onions, cantaloupe, and possibly cayenne pepper with watermelon juice. I was reluctant to try the cold soup, but I was so glad I did. It was delicious and I ate every last drop.

As dinner concluded, people began to step out and further investigate the cloister. The findings were humorous. You'll have to wait for the next post to see what shenanigans the guys were up to next.

Shenanigans

After dinner, the shenanigans began. It turns out the G8 Summit was held at The Cloister in 2004. The room displaying the table, chairs, and photographs was right next door to the reception room.

Many of you know that we are political junkies. Our friends are pretty much the same. After a few drinks, Jim and his friends started to role play various G8 leaders such as Tony Blair and everyone's favorite, George W. Bush.

Jim loved playing Putin who always looks like he's going to snap.

Brock, the groom, showed how a leader might appear to be paying attention when really his mind might be on a variety of other things such as watermelon gazpacho.

To me, the most interesting of all the photos displayed in the room, was this one of President Bush with President Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq's interim government (2004-2005) in a GEM car. The obvious attempts to con over the public continue to appall me.

More skits followed with the Medication Informatics crew. They thought they might get more interest if they displayed this scene as their typical brainstorm meeting. Usually they meet at Geurkink's cave with dinner following at the Boca Chica Taco House, which is now closed.


The final exploration was a couple more doors down. We found this beautiful ballroom. Inside was a grand piano. I was taking Jim's picture as he pretended to play and then he really started to hit some keys. The sound echoed through the room and we realized it was wired to an amp and the speakers. Needless to say from this picture, Jim was surprised.
















After that we headed to the bar and scared some miserable residents away. Apparently they couldn't be bothered with the joy and happiness of the bride, groom, and their wedding party. There was less than thirty of us that interrupted their quiet evening sipping terribly expensive cognac. They even called us rowdy kids and fetched the general manager! He walked in, took a look and walked right back out. The woman who fetched him was in such a huff she left. Shortly after she left things actually did get a little rowdy. Travis spilled his drink all over the floor sending the bar manager into a slight tizzy and one of the bride's friends starting playing ACDC on her iphone.

Later when we were leaving The Cloister, the grumpy lady was also heading back to her not so humble abode. She mumbled "non-residents" in a disgruntled tone and pushed past us at the door to have her car valeted so she could immediately get away from us vermin. Now that is a woman that WON'T be voting for change.

Family Reunion in the Northwoods

My mom invited her family up for a weekend of fun in the sun. My cousins came with their families and we hit the water within the hour. The kids all wanted to kayak, but we only had two doubles. Jim went and got ours from our land, but by that time the kids had moved on the other things. Here are pictures of Evan with my cousin Kristin, my cousin Brock with Owen, his daughter Brenna and his nephew Gus, Me with the boys (notice Owen doing all the work) and then Brock with his wife Tracy, their youngest - in-utero, and their niece Greta.

After a few times around the bay, the kids needed to get out of the boats and into the water. It was actually hot, which is a rare occurrence at my folks'.








My parents rented a pontoon for the weekend. They like to test these out once in awhile in case they ever win the lottery. Mom stayed back to make us a delicious lunch and to keep my Grandfather and Great-Aunt Sarah company.






We tooled out on the chain for a long time and all the kids remained entertained. We were mesmerized by the shimmer of the water and the warm sun.










We cut across three lakes to Lake of the Isles. This is a house that my Dad landscaped. Does it look landscaped? If not, that's the point.













The house pictured on top is actually the guest house. The island also holds their main residence, a boat house and a couple storage buildings. Very private. I love going to look at this house. I always expect Swiss Miss to come bounding out the front door with a tray of pudding.

At nap time, Owen got to play football. He not looking tired at all. Owen had a blast chasing Graham around.
You would think all that would have worn them out, but no. Then they all wanted to go for a bike ride. Gus, who is four, can maneuver his bike like he's a stunt rider, but since he doesn't have his hearing aids yet, it was a little nerve-wrecking having him cruise so far ahead and behind. Owen and Greta are just learning to ride with training wheels. It was pretty slow going with them. Greta got going pretty fast down a hill. Kristin couldn't catch her in time and she crashed. Maybe she'll be the stunt rider. Luckily we insisted that they wear helmets.

Owen was still not done we got back from the long bike ride. This video is for Gina. Thank you so much for this little strider bike. He is really getting good at it. I can't believe how he can glide and handle the bike and he's only had it for a few weeks!

He can lift the bike up, move it around and even purposely crash it into things without losing his balance. Nice pop-a-wheelie, Graham.

The highlight of the day was unfortunately not caught on film. Hard to believe in our household since if I'm not snapping pictures, Jim is videotaping. My Dad and Jim took Graham, Gus, and Owen fishing. Not only did they catch a fairly large northern, but when they threw it back, an eagle swooped down, picked it up, took it to a nearby bank, ate it, and then splashed around in water cleaning his feathers. I thought this was going to be all Owen talked about, but he was actually more excited about going in a "speed boat!"

Everyone had a great time. Thanks Mom & Dad! It was an unforgettable day.

It's a Jungle Out There!

VIDEOS FINALLY ADDED

Wednesday we went to see the play "Jungle Book" at Northern Lights Theater in Hazelhurst, just south of Mincoqua. Owen seems to take after the Letts side of the family in his avoidance of audience participation. He didn't want to be a monkey or an elephant or even a wolf which is one of his favorite animals! Mowgli came out in the audience to hide and asked Owen if he the seat behind him was taken. Owen just stared at him with a completely straight face. Mowgli did not falter out of character, but mom and I got the giggles something awful. When the play was over, Evan became the shy one and Owen was eager to give Mowgli a high five for his great performance.

One of our favorite things to do in Minocqua is to visit Peck's Wildlife Zoo. Outside the zoo is a pond where you can observe muskies, a channel with paddle boat rides, and this awesome kiddie train that makes animal noises while you drive it.

When you walk into the zoo, you are usually greeted by at least on "kid." There are tortoises and boars walking around the farm area and you can touch various animals like bunnies, skunks, porcupines, ferrets, etc.

Jim and I love nature. We both grew up in small towns and spent a lot of time as kids exploring our natural surroundings. I never really thought about how that might change a person. Neither Owen or Evan wanted to pick up these little bunnies. Another older girl put this one in Joe Cool City Dude's hands.

The best part about the zoo is that you can walk amongst the deer.

Ya-ya thought that the deer were getting a little aggressive. The fawn was so cute, but a little skittish.

My mom bought some rye crisps for us to feed the deer and they swarmed us. Apparently rye crisps are way better than the pellets from the little coin machines in the deer's grazing area.

Although Owen's stoic antics with Mowgli gave us the giggles, nothing could have been funnier that him walking around in his future professional uniform. Owen has wanted to be a scuba diver since before he first saw Finding Nemo. He has been obsessed with that green mask scene for ages! Ya-ya found just the right costume to complete his fantasy.
This is a child who really won't even get his head wet in the bathtub. We got him all decked out in his gear, Bumpa got his suit on, we took him down to the dock and then he decided he didn't really want to put his face in the water after all.

No Northwoods Jungle Adventure could be complete without a little fishing in Bumpa's boat.

Wisconsin Dells with The Hornings

This past weekend we were invited to The Wilderness Territory at Wisconsin Dells with our friends, The Hornings. Reid and Jim have been friends from elementary school, through college and were even roommates during Med. & Pharmacy School. It was so fun to get together with these old friends and see what amazing parents they have become. We are so thankful to them for inviting us. We stayed in an amazing condo that was nicer than our house! It was relaxing and fun. What a nice break after a long "Hell Week." We all went down the Lazy River. They even had rafts for little tykes. The front hole has a bottom, so the kids won't slip out.

Here's Jim tossing Owen through the air.

Owen and Collin went down this dinosaur slide about a hundred times. They are starting a new olympic competition for toddler sliding. Extra style points are given for creativity such as the reverse stomach slide and other novelties.

Jim lifted Evan up to hug the dinosaur.

We plunked all the kids into our whirlpool tub which filled up with bubbles so high that they had to stand. They had a blast covering their faces with long soap beards.

Afterwards we headed down to the arcade for some serious air hockey and skee-ball action.

It was a wonderful weekend.

THANKS REID & KIM!

Ladies Man

"You wanna see my belly? I know you do."

We went to a play date today at my friend Rena's house and Evan was a complete flirt. This is really nothing new. I've seen him flirt with a box before, but I'm thinking it might be because he's never really been around all that many girls. When we started in our little Mommies group there were only two girls.

We always do stuff with Owen's big boy friends and Evan just tags along.
The big boys often run off and do big boy stuff. Here Dr.Yeager is making a house call. Not really in the under-two-year-old's realm of play.
Evan first discovered there were kids his size when this little tulip popped in the window.
"You wanna lift in my rad ride?"



But then, his love came to town. My friend Rena's daughter took him by the hand and dragged him to the bushes. She showed him the fence.


They had a little-person conversation and they held hands all the way back up to the play area.




I noticed when they got back that he had a bracelet and seemed very smitten.








Lexi got busy driving her own car and Evan tried to find a new girl to swoon. Unfortunately this one was not as eager to hold hands. See the desperation in her eyes as she scans the yard for mom? I'm sure he's thinking, "Come on. I've got a bowl. We can fill it with all kinds of crackers and cookies and run away together into the ball pit."





Alas, Evan was dragged away, back to the land of big boys, where he seems to be perfectly happy to share nose bops with his adoring big brother.