Lovable Leila

I have just returned from an overnight visit in Colfax and while doing laundry and petting the large heads of these 2 crazy dogs, I have decided to use the rest of this evening to do a quick update.

Much to our disappointment, but keeping to our history of poor luck, Mark and I had to cancel our vacation plans with some very good and extremely understanding friends (we had been planning on going to Hayward with them and relaxing) a dangerous form of canine influenza struck part of our doggie "network," sickening and killing Louis, Van and Judy's neighbor dog, and striking Mingo and Lily's best friend, Lizzy. Lizzy was horribly ill, but she received some excellent care from a vet whose office was located somewhere outside the Twin Cities (poor Van and Judy were out of town with her that weekend, trying to visit with relatives, but spending a great deal of time worrying about and tending to their dog). Lizzy has now fully recovered from the ordeal.

Lily began showing a sign of the illness, coughing, almost 2 weeks ago. Mark immediately took her and Mingo into our emergency vet (the night I was at the Brewer game in Milwaukee), and they gave them both antibiotics, even though Mingo wasn't coughing. They told Mark that if Lily was sick, it would only be a matter of time before Mingo became sick since they sleep, eat, play, and drink together--there's no avoiding a double illness. The vet was also very concerned about what had happened to Louis and Lizzy, and advised us not to have our dogs interact with ANY other dog for 7-9 days AFTER the cough stopped!

Michael smiles for the cameraProud Lisa

Quarantine for dogs+sizable emergency vet visit bill= no vacation in Hayward.

I did want to "run up" and visit my sister and her kids for a night--we had been planning on swinging by their place as we drove back south from Hayward. I really wanted to give Leila her baby quilt that I finally finished and I had some fun little gifts for Mikey and Emma too.

I'm so glad I went up. Lisa had a yummy lunch of tuna pasta salad (eat your peas Emma!) ready when I arrived and the kids welcomed me with smiles and hugs. We went for a nice walk around the trails in their woods and later in the evening we went for a longer walk down their picturesque road. Lisa also prepared a wonderful spaghetti dinner, complete with homemade garlic bread and wild berry cheesecake!

And there was talking! Lots of discussions about all sorts of things, from table manners to geography to school to...all sorts of stuff!

Leila is such a doll! She was soooo smily and happy. And, like Stephen with Kenny and Beth, she is VERY interested in what Michael and Emma are doing. She was constantly looking at them, smiling, observing, and "taking it all in".

Before I left this morning, Lisa and I talked more over a few cups of coffee. Emma was ready and willing to start playing a game of Charades as soon as we got up in the morning, but I had to explain to her that I really needed some time to drink coffee and wake up first. She understood and waited very patiently.

I'm doing charades here...

Michael mercilessly killed me in a game of Chess (he took my little castles and horsies!). I tried to do some super special secret moves on him, but he called me out on them. He knows the rules!

Michael relishes in victory

Leila continued to smile.

Emma did a wonderful job sitting for me while I tested out my flash and macro lens. What a model!

Although it was a brief visit, it sure was worth it to see everyone!

Take me out to the ball game...

Beth and Lulu

What a couple of gorgeous days we've had here in Cross Plains! The temperatures have gone down, the sun is shining, the skies are blue and our night air is cool and pleasant. The only bad thing is the gross number of mosquitoes we continue to be plagued by. As horrible as they are by our house, I still don't have the heart to wish for the coming of cold of weather, which would kill off the pests.

Stephen

Jim & Kenny

This past Friday I finally attended a Brewer's game with my brothers who have been hounding me for years to go to a game--INSISTING that I would like it. Those of you who know me, know that I'm really not interested in sports, unless there is somebody I know personally playing or involved in the game in some capacity. Subsequently, I was extremely skeptical about actually enjoying myself at the game.

Miller Park

I am happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised. I had an absolute blast!

John & Jim preparing hamburger patties

I met John and Jim at their condo downtown and after a little bit of a delay, we happily headed over to Milwaukee where we met Don, Hope and the crew (Mark unfortuately couldn't make it). Together, we drove to a parking lot next to Miller Park where we set up our little tailgate "camp". John and Jim did a wonderful job cooking and getting things ready for our early dinner. Hope brought some absolutely amazing blueberries she and Kenny picked while they were in Michigan. She also presented John and Jim and myself with some homemade jam.

Fun times!

Although we were sandwiched between a couple young, perhaps more-inclined-to-party groups, they actually were quite respectful and I think we all enjoyed their music--for the most part. Without a doubt, little Beth did. She was dancing and smiling while nibbling on blueberries.

Displaying my ticket

Bragg Family South

Jim also bought and assembled a bean bag tic-tac-toe game. Kenny and Beth played a few games with John and Jim, although I think they know that they can get away with a lot more when playing with the adults...I'm not sure if Mikey and Emma would have abided by their "rules of play".

Bean bag toss

Bob and his girlfriend, Lisa, showed up while we were walking to the stadium. Together we sat in our really good seats--somewhere behind first base?!? I was really impressed with the ballpark. It was brightly lit, lots of colors, sounds and people. Lots of stuff going on. Vendors hawking their beer and food. Fireworks went off after the Brewers scored. I ended up not watching much of the game (except for when CC Sebathia was playing--Mark really wanted me to get a picture of him), because I was too busy watching everything else around me!

Milwaukee ended up beating the Washinton Nationals. Nope, I don't remember the score, but I know we won!

Bobby enchants Beth & Stephen

I told Mark that I would go to a game again next year with him if he wanted. He couldn't believe it! I guess this is why you should always be willing to try something new and different because you just might like it. Bob & Lisa

A "Pecking" Tom

Heeheehee!!

Hello everybody. This past week I took a really fun and informative class through the school district and Viterbo University called PC III. In the class we learned how to scan pictures, use The Printshop, Corel Paintshop, Collage Creator and apply these programs to a wide variety of materials, i.e., magnets, notepads, cards, puzzles, balloons, address labels, etc.

Go to piknic.com to create your own image!

I have to admit that the first 2 days of class I was a little stressed because I wanted to produce a bunch of things to get my material fee's worth, but by Wednesday I reached my PC III Zen and realized I needed to just relax and have fun and learn how to do a few big things rather than every little thing. I didn't have to worry about getting my money's worth either--I went through almost 5 cartridges of ink and made LOTS of little fun things.

Above the shower

The big ruckus at our house this week was frequent visits from a red-tailed hawk that has built a nest in the trees overlooking our house. "Hawkie" was first noticed a couple weeks ago when I was upstairs making the bed and observed Miss Fanny looking intently out the only little window in the bathroom. Hawkie was perched right by the window by flew away when I came too close. After this Mark and I noticed the constant piercing cries and calls these birds make...then it was the hawk flying right by the 2nd-floor windows...then it was both of the cats sitting in our shower area or on the toilet on the 2nd floor watching this bird as it perched on the skylight in the shower. Truthfully, I think Hawkie was a little too interested in our kitties--poor Fanny and Britches probably looked like 2 succulent little roasts to him! Yikes!

Look out cats!

We had to bid adieu to Hawkie though after he began to hang around the shower while I was showering. Not that I cared really that it was looking down at me but, and I'm not sure if it was the water and steam collecting onto the window, but Hawkie began pecking at the window! That made us a little nervous, so Mark spooked him away by tapping at the window a couple time with the broom.

Hawkie peering and pecking

Very exciting.

These are pictures taken of the wonderful garden we have behind the restaurant. It has been doing really well and we use a lot of the vegetables for various dishes at the restaurant (talk about using local product). We had a much smaller garden last year and it did well, so the guys quadrupled the size for this summer. It has turned out to be a very wise decision.

Mark holding a couple of patty pans