Big Mouth Billy & Sweet Georgia Brown

We spent a week at Aaron's family's cabin in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. There are actually two cabins on the same plot, so Aaron and I got one while the rest of the family stayed in the other. The trip was great, even though it rained a couple of the days.

The highlight of Caeden's trip had to be the Big Mouth Billy Bass that was hanging on the wall. For those of you Big Mouth Billy virgins (although that is hard to believe since this is one fish who has really gotten around), this is a plastic fish mounted on a plank of wood made to look like it was a prize catch. When you press a button, the fish turns its head toward you and starts singing either "Don't Worry, Be Happy" or "Take Me to the River." At first Caeden was hesitant about Billy. He would ask Aaron or I to push the button, then he would run behind the couch so that there was a piece of furniture between him and the fish. He loved to hear it sing, but only from a distance. As the week went on he became more and more brave until finally he worked up to touching the button himself. This was a blessing and a curse because although it meant that we didn't have to be around constantly to push the button for him, he would incessantly push the button. "Don't Worry, Be Happy" would be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Another Caeden highlight was fishing off the dock. Caeden had already had one other fishing experience with Papa Keller in which he caught real fish (if you thought he was afraid of Billy, you should have seen him when he hooked a scary 2 oz. sunny). He loved to cast the line, but the art of reeling in the fish was lost on him. At the cabin we took the hook off of the line so that he didn't hurt himself or other people when he tried his hardest to cast out. Aaron somehow tied on a grub, though, so fish would come nip at his line. Caeden was a bit confused as to why he wasn't catching any fish. He would try to entice them by saying, "C'mon fish. Bite. It's delicious." Alas, with no hook, there was no such luck.


Avery's highlight had to be the hours she spent in a floaty. This is a girl who was made for the water (which might explain her weird birthing as one moment she would decide to come out and join us in the world only to scurry back up to the safety of the water sac). Avery splashed around and kicked as hard as she could. Her distant cousins also loved pushing and pulling her around between them.



Aaron's highlight was probably accomplishing the 75 mile bike ride out to the cabin. He left early in the morning, packed with peanut butter bagels and water. He made the ride in about six and a half hours, but the heat got the best of him and he was in bad shape by the time he arrived. I was in the Dr's office this week and mentioned Aaron's symptoms and she thought that he probably had a mini heat stroke. Ouch!

My own highlight was girls' lunch out. Every year the girls in the family go to lunch at Adventures, where the grub du jour is a creamy bruschetta that I dream about every year. It's almost worth the trip just for the bruschetta.

The rest of the time was spent hanging out on the pontoon, riding the jet ski, or trying to get back up on skis (since I've been pregnant or recovering for the past 3 years, this was my first time back out in the water...it only took 3 times to be able to get up on the skis again).

When we returned, we promptly blue-taped the kitchen and spent the next few days introducing the white walls to Sweet Georgia Brown.





It seems strange to be thinking about starting school in a week. I suppose it'll be back to the old grindstone, as it were. After looking back on my summer which was filled with plenty of days outside by the wading pool, going to the park, visiting Iowa and Nebraska, fireworks and parades, time on the lake, running outside, and The View, I am really glad to be a teacher.