Our Northwoods ABCs - Part 4

Our Northwoods ABCs - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

Our last installment of our Northwoods ABCs is here!

S is for Sun, Sand and Swimming

Notice I didn't say anything about warmth and that wasn't just because it didn't start with an S! I guess I could have used the sixties or seventies (low) since that is what the weather was most of the time. Certainly not my favorite weather for hanging out at the beach, but it didn't stop the kids! They still had fun playing in the sand, jumping in the water, and picnicking!

I know I look ridiculous with my hoodie and towels, but it was cold and very windy! I was so relieved at the end of the day when I got in the car and the air was still. You have to take what the Northwoods gives you. If you wait for the perfect weather, you'll miss out on opportunities.

T is for Target Practice

We had two bb guns and three pellet guns up at the cabin for a little target practice. We had a blast shooting soda cans and bottles off of the deck railing. Isaiah was the best...of course! Haha! I have only shot one time before at a ranch in Wyoming. I shot a cow pie. Let me tell you, shooting water bottles and soda cans is a LOT more fun! I had a blast and wasn't too bad at it. I was good enough to make Jason stop shooting while I was around since he wouldn't be as good. He likes to shoot big bodies of water not cans and bottles. I think some day I'd like to go to Buffalo Rock with them to shoot. We'll see.

I brought up some butcher paper and we made our own targets to shoot at too. Mine is the flower below.

U is for the Upper Peninsula

My mom and I drove up north one day to pick up this pumpkin guy for Kelli. She owes us big since the UP isn't necessarily our favorite place! First we ended up in a bunch of traffic for Loon Days in Mercer. The good part was that we got to see this loon. The bad part was that it took about 30 seconds longer than normal to go through town. We had a little trouble finding the workshop since it was  really just a big barn without any signage. Then there was the issue of finding an ATM. Aye! We're happy to say that the trip is over and Jack is safe and sound at home.

V is for Vienna Beef

One of our favorite stops for lunch is Hoggie Doggies. I think we ate there 3 times!

W is for Waverunners

We rented waverunners for a day from Wave Rentals. The waverunners were a lot of fun. Jason and I were property searching again! Clark and Kent both HATED the waverunners. I don't get it. They are nothing but fun!

X is for Xtra Strength Mosquito Protection

Dave is crazy about mosquitoes biting him. He bought this nice hat while at the tubing place in Eagle River. We could all just hear him mocking the mosquitoes, "haha, can't get me now!"

Y is for Young Waterskiers - aka the Min-Aqua Bats

The Min-Aqua Bats are one of the oldest amateur waterski show teams in the country. In a word - they were awesome! It was just a bunch of kids having fun and waterskiing. I swear some of them couldn't have been older than 13 or so!  The show is free but they do pass the bucket for donations. They had this amazing boat with two 250hp motors on the back. They would tilt the props up and then the boat would literally stand straight up in the water. Jason was pretty impressed with that. Then he was even more excited when he heard that they sell the boats at the end of each season. Haha...not going to fall for that again!

Some of our favorite tricks are pictured below: dog on skis, pyramids, human waterskis, and jumps!

Z is for the Zoo

We made a stop at the Wildwood Wildlife Park this year. I'm not sure why we've never been before. It was a really neat zoo. There were so many animal encounters to be had there. You could hold bunnies, hear wolves howl, feed deer, walk with tortoises and even feed giraffes.

One of Jason's favorite parts was to feed the bear. You buy bottles of "bear juice" which is really just soda and feed it to them through the fence. The fence is covered in bees which stopped me in my tracks, but the boys didn't mind at all. Then there was a cool goat feeder attached to this tall house. You put your cracker in the cup and then send the cup up with a pulley system. The goat takes it out and then demands more. We also went in and fed the parakeets. Clark and I are not crazy about this experience, but Kent doesn't mind. Even Kara seemed to be happy getting in on the action.

There were lots of other things at the zoo too. Alvinia and Kara had to take pictures with their fashion inspiration. They were both wearing zebra print. Clark loved feeding the goats. Kent loved sharing all of his problems with the goats. They were also able to pet anything in the children's zoo. They had a red fox, a skunk, chinchillas, a giant rabbit, the fattest pig I've ever seen and lots more!

Until next time...

The End.

Our Northwoods ABCs - Part 3

Our Northwoods ABCs - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 4

I had one guess of "more fun" for the letter M. I'm going to have to save that one for a future vacation log. This time around we went with something a little more specific.

M is for Movies (and maybe some marshmallows too)

Jason always brings his outdoor movie set up when we go on vacation now. It's fun to build a fire and watch a movie together. This time we watched Bedtime Stories. Most of the family did anyway. Kara started crying shortly after it started. I went inside to see if she would go to sleep and I had finally laid her down and walked outside only to see "The End" up there on the big screen. Bummer. Later in the week it rained a bit, so we set up the projector in the cabin and watched The Lion King and The Great and Powerful Oz. We were going to try to hook the Wii up to the projector too but I'm not sure if they ever did.

Isaiah and I built a fire for some heat for the movie and of course for the marshmallow roasting. I love this picture of Clark. He reminds me of John Travolta and I fear he may break into song about Sandy at any moment.

Dave brought his GoPro camera on vacation. It was pretty cool to get movies from a different perspective. He took it on the waverunners and on the tubes on Eagle River. I'm not sure how exciting a tubing video would be, but maybe he caught some eagles or something on it. Then Josh got to wear it on the go-karts. When we were on the go-karts, I was riding with Kent and we were slowing down so we could be in the video. The camera came by just as we were going up a hill. We didn't have enough steam to get up the hill and rolled backwards. Then Jason comes along and slows down to make fun of us for not being able to make it up the hill. He stopped laughing once his go-kart started rolling in the opposite direction too! So much for making a good impression on camera!

N is for Naptime

Vacations are notorious for wreaking havoc on children's sleep schedule. This one was no different. The kids tried to sneak in some zzzz's any chance they could. Looking back I wish we would have pushed Isaiah off the boat while he was sleeping here. Too bad he wasn't asleep with his life vest on or we probably would have done it!

O is for Our Lake House

Whenever we go on vacation where there is water, Jason starts talking about our lake house. We have planned on moving to a lake when we retire, but now he wants to push the timeline up a little sooner. I'm not totally on board yet since we still have a TON of stuff to do on our house. Wouldn't it be fun though? I've started a Pinterest board called Our Lake House to gather ideas for our dream. While we were out on the boat, we found many lovely properties that we would love to have! They are just $1 million dollars over budget.

P is for Paul Bunyan

Ahhhh, the cook shanty! This year we stopped at Paul Bunyan's for a fantastic breakfast to start our vacation. They have the most amazing sugar donuts in the world. And I know donuts.

How do you like that Clark is picking Babe's ear and Kent is picking his nose.?

Q is for Quilting and Crafting

I guess technically I was piecing, but do you know how hard it is to come up with a Q? I guess I could have gone with Quiet except that there wasn't any of that to be found, haha! So here we are back at my quilt top. I picked up this awesome jelly roll back in January 2012. 18 months to piece a quilt that was just for me for fun - I'd say that's pretty good!

We always have a list of projects that we do up at the cabin. This year Kelli brought stuff for the kids to do some Pinterest projects like making crayon candles. They didn't really work out the way they were supposed to, but it kept little fingers busy. They also made parachute cord bracelets. Dave brought his models to put together. And we did a puzzle that Kelli wants to frame. We gathered rocks for googly eye rock pets but didn't get around to making them. Maybe next year.

R is for Renting a Pontoon

On the last day we decided to rent a pontoon boat and some tubes. Clark, Jason and Alvinia loved the tubes. Isaiah and Kent did not. They were the only brave souls to try them. I decided not to do a tube this time around. A Northwoods summer is certainly not known for the heat. It was probably 70 outside and the water was colder. Clark made his dad super proud. He was steering the tube, making jumps and he even took his hands off the grips. He had a hard time letting others ride it because he was having so much fun. Then when the boat would stop, he and Alvinia wanted to get out and swim. How fun is that? Kent did get in the tube, but it didn't work out. Jason tried holding on to the back at first, but the boat wasn't fast enough to get him up on the tube. Then we tried Kent sitting on Jason's lap but they toppled backward before the boat even moved. Kent was mad about getting on in the first place, so we decided that he didn't have to ride it if he didn't want to. Usually we force the kids to do things they don't want to. It's our job to ruin their lives, er...give them opportunities.

It was so nice to be on the boat though. It was maybe one of the more relaxing things we did. We saw a lot of wildlife: loons, otters and many eagles! The boat was brand new and we made some very BAD food choices! We brought on orange soda, popcorn, chocolate donuts, PB&J. Seriously could we have picked messier things? Maybe caramel apples? Even with all the possibility of messiness, the boat stayed clean except where we brought the anchor up!

More ABCs coming soon!

Our Northwoods ABCs - Part 2

Our Northwoods ABCs - Part 1, Part 3 and Part 4

You've been on the edge of your seat wondering what F is going to be for, right? Wait no more...

F is for Fishing

The kids loved going down to the water to fish. They caught panfish mostly...and they mostly used a net...cheaters!

Kara's not really fishing, but it was on the same day...does that count? She was there. :)

G is for Go-Karts

We love riding the go-karts out in Wisconsin. Our favorite place is Holiday Acres. When we were younger we used to check out all the go-kart tracks in the area. We always came back to this one. It just so happens that it is the closest one too!

Pictures were rough on the go-karts this year. Not sure why...maybe it was getting too dark. Here's the best of the bad.

H is for Horses and Ponies

Horseback riding used to be an annual tradition too. I'm not sure why we stopped, but when the kids came along we started doing pony rides with them. This year we did pony rides for Clark and Kent and Alvinia and I took a horseback ride - so fun! This was also at Holiday Acres.

I is for Ice Cream (what else would it be for?)

Another must stop place is Charlie's Fine Cheese. We love to get our Windmere Brick cheese and also a little ice cream. This particular stop was notable since Isaiah ordered the 4 scoops in a cup. The lady at the shop challenged him to eat the whole thing. Not like he would back down or anything. If the lady's dare didn't motivate him, my mom would have! They had an awesome Snickers Fudge ice cream on this day too. The next day when we went again...it was all gone. What a shame! I'm glad they had Kent's favorite flavor, Blue Moon. What on earth does a blue moon taste like?

Jason's note: Blue Moon ice cream tastes like Froot Loops.

J is for John Dillinger

We went to Little Bohemia. Jason heard about it from one of his accounts at work. It was the location of John Dillinger and his gang's shootout with the FBI. We weren't able to go up to the lodge room, but we could see the holes in the wall and windows of the dining room. Kent is sticking his finger in one in the picture. Next time we'll go early for the tour and then skip eating there.

K is for Kruzing on Bikes (sorry...that's the biggest stretch though!)

The guys and the kids went on a few bike rides over the ten days we were there. The ladies and Kara usually went shopping while they did their touring. Next year Kara and I will be able to join them though. We kind of feel like we missed out. It's one of the few times a year that I actually get on my bike! Clark was really good at keeping up with the group, but his little legs had to move a million miles a minute. Next year he definitely needs a new bike.

L is for the Lumberjack Show

What a fun time this was! The Scheer's Lumberjack Show in Woodruff, WI is hilarious and awesome. My mom and dad said that I went to a show when I was younger, but I don't remember it. They should have taken pictures. Then I would have remembered it! The lumberjacks were really talented and the skits were so funny. The show got rained out, so I hope we can do it again next time. I'd love to see it when there isn't a torrential downpour! The guy in the red plaid was a beast. He was the first place chopper in the Lumberjack Nationals or equivalent. He chopped through that log in about 10 seconds. The two guys in green with the double buck saw were able to saw through their log faster than another guy with a chainsaw. How crazy is that?

More of Our Northwoods ABCs to come...

Our Northwoods ABCs - Part 1

Our Northwoods ABCs - Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4

The last time we went to Minocqua I compiled our vacation stats by the number. This time I thought we'd try it ABC style. That means that these will be a smidge out of order...wouldn't it be cool if you could only do things on your vacation in ABC order? No, probably not. Hmmpf. Here goes...

A is for Astro Van

For all of the grief that I give about the color of my big blue, it really is a great van. We bought a hitch adapter this year so that we could attach our bike rack and also a trailer. We felt a little like the Beverly Hillbillies. Some guy actually took a picture of the contraption on the way up there. I figured I'd be seeing it soon on Pinterest or Facebook with some slam on it. Maybe he was impressed...who knows, ha!

We made a nice little console for the boys in between their seats. It worked really well for them to be able to have snacks and drinks and activities without everything getting all over the place. We have to work out a better solution for the garbage though because that little plastic bag in the front where they can't reach just didn't work out. Kara had her own little set up with her new carseat toy. It worked some of the time. Other times the only thing that would work was taking her out of the carseat which meant we had to pull over. I'm glad we didn't travel to Canada with her yet. She would have been awful for 30 hours. 6 was plenty.

Clark modeling his favorite place to stop on road trips...or any time he gets to pick the place for fast food. He ate it twice on the way home!

B is for Bumper Boats

We made an impromptu stop at Elmer's, a new go-kart/horse stable/golf place. This one had bumper boats too! The kids loved them. Clark was tall enough to ride them on his own but he wanted to see how fast they went first. Jason took him on his first ride and then he said he definitely wanted to drive on his own. I guess I don't mind him being a bit cautious!

C is for Catching Critters

I'm glad that my kids have Jason because otherwise they might not ever want to catch critters. I certainly wouldn't be the one to teach them that! They caught some frogs - Alvinia even kissed it! Kent caught a snail then dropped it, oops! And Josh caught an Alvinia.

D is for Dunking

If there's water around...someone is getting wet. That's what we learned while in the great northwoods. And Jason was usually the reason. Clark knows better than to wait for dad. He just dunks himself now and earns his dad's respect!

Isaiah might have been a little full of himself while on vacation. We kind of kept wanting to teach him that he wasn't the best at everything, so we told Jason to give him the ride of his life on the waverunner and to be sure that falling in was included in the ride. Jason is always happy to cater to craziness on water so he did it. Jason's reaction was that it was the most fun he has ever had on a waverunner. Isaiah didn't speak for a good 3 hours. He might look happy in the picture but it was only to keep from slugging someone, I'm sure!

Jason's note: "Isaiah, you owe me a new pair of glasses!"

E is for Eagle River

We thought it might be time to introduce the kids to tubing on Eagle River. This is something that we used to do every year when we went up to the cabin. We even equipped them with water guns to make things more exciting...my parents never did that!

We even went to the same place - Hawk's Nest Canoe Outfitters. My mom, Kelli, Kara and I shopped Eagle River while they were all on the tubes. We heard that Clark and Alvinia were kind of expecting a faster ride. They kept asking when it was going to be over. I'm surprised there wasn't more dunking...! Isaiah came out of the water and said that was the worst thing he ever did. How could tubing be that awful. You just float and enjoy nothingness. How wonderful would that be?! Next year Kara and I are going to try to go.

A snapshot of Gigi looking into middle distance and contemplating the meaning of life or something...

Kara in one of the rare instances where she slept in the carseat. Love those little toesies peeking out from underneath!

Stay tuned for more of Our Northwoods ABCs!

Vacation by the Numbers

686 Miles

550 Pictures

246 Unread Emails

65 Max Speed of the WaveRunners

47 Months - Age You Have to be to be able to Drive a Car

26 Poopy Diapers

18 Fish Caught by Clark

15 Fireworks

12 Jars of Homemade Jam

10 Go Kart Rides

9 Ghost Stories

6 Horses and Ponies

5 Maximum Number of People on the Paddle Boat

4 Bikes & 1 Trailer

3 Trips to Tropy Park & Beach

2 Outdoor Movie Nights

1 Happy Family....Priceless