Week at Lake Edward

In mid July I loaded up the car with multiple suitcases, stuff and the kids to drive to Minnesota for a few weeks.

My brother & his family live in Edwardsville IL - providing a good stop for the two day drive. My nephew Grant turned 1 in June and he's very mobile. He's mastered this one legged crawl of sorts that kinda makes him move around looking like a gorilla. It's just adorable. I suspect he'll be upright and walking very soon.When offered the opportunity, the kids couldn't resist a ride on Uncle Todd's motorcycle. Rachel loved it so much she kept asking Todd to go faster, faster, faster. She took 3 trips on the cycle. I hope you can see how big her smile is in this photo. David wanted to ride but was a little nervous about it. He rode at a snail's pace about 3 house-lengths and was ready to turn around and get off.

Rachel at stand-still because getting an action shot would be very blurry:

David at coasting speed:

Unfortunately David started some yucky symptoms which quickly turned into an ear infection, so we only stayed one night and then drove on up to Mom & Dad's in Rochester MN. Of course, after a stop at a walk-in clinic to get an antibiotic for David. (Putting everything together, now in hindsight, we know that a large part of David's symptoms were due to his cat allergy.) What a way to start vacation!

For almost a year, the Anderson family had been planning and looking forward to a week's vacation at my Aunty Mary's lake home near Brainard Minnesota. It was a good way to celebrate my parent's 40th weddding anniversary. Our time together was a good combination of fun and relaxation. A few of us were fighting colds and ear infections, but the conversation was never at a lull.

Here's a review of the week (including some meals, which is very important to discuss, since this was a gathering of Swedes).

Friday Cousin John was the first to arrive from Chicago. The kids and myself picked up Greg from the Minneapolis airport and my parents followed us up to Lake Edward.

Mary's place is breath-taking - 40 acres of lake front property with woods and hiking trails surrounding the house.

The kids quickly noticed the lake --- running down to the dock and then the golf cart. With acres of wooded bliss, everyone took many many rides around the property. Here's a photo of the kids with Aunty Mary. I believe they were making their rounds filling all the bird feeders on the property. That's a big task; I'm sure Mary loved all the helping hands! Dinner was beef roast, mashed potatoes, sides & cookies.

Saturday Cousin Danielle arrived from Chicago.

And this was the first day that John & Rachel went joy-riding around the property -- and started searching for signs of gypsies living in the woods. I guess it's best explained that John's imagination is just as great and bizarre as a 5 year old's. There was much discussion about gypsy life the entire week. Rachel was immediately drawn to Danielle (she is way cool, if I say so myself) and they danced together and hung out together all the time.

(Note to John: this past week, Rachel had kindergarten screening/testing. When it was over, the teacher told me that Rachel told her, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a gypsy. But not the kind that steals." Thank you, John. I will remember this when you have children.)

Mary prepared a delicious dinner: ham, sides & cookies & ice cream.

First thing in the morning, we had a handoff line stocking up the wood shed with firewood and replenished more bird feeders. With all the big kid toys and equipment, chores are actually fun!

Greg, Mom & Dad, and David went to an Antique Boat Show at a nearby lake. According to Greg & my Dad, it was very impressive. A couple of the boats were worth about $300,000.

The rest of us hung around the lake. Taking hikes, playing games...mostly just enjoying the view. We had a wonderful ham dinner followed by Reese's PB Cookies Danielle made.

Sunday Uncle Dick arrived from Chicago & Todd, Nicole & my nephew Grant arrived from Edwardsville IL. Here's John & Todd on the deck.The wonderful thing Dick brought with him was Aunt Donna's salsa. Oh, I remember that yummy, just-enough-spicy-kick-to-eat-more salsa! Donna, we missed you & thank you for the salsa!

We enjoyed the lake a lot on Sunday because the sunny weather demanded so. Boating around, hanging out on the beach. Enjoying the pure goodness of a Minnesota summer day. Here's a photo of Grandpa the floating turtle and boat riders Greg, Dad & Danielle.

Since us Wallers have cat allergies, we were lucky enough to stay 2 miles down the shoreline at The Nelson's home. Lori & Herb started a bed & breakfast at their lake home and they maintain a beautiful, nearly weed-free, very sandy beach. It was a great spot to stay -- Herb dabbles in wine making (and is very good at it!) and I must also say that I brought home a handful of Lori's breakfast recipes. (Watch out for some yummy new dishes, MOPS friends!)

I spent most of the afternoon with an ice pack over my ankle and sitting in the sunshine on the beach. It was fun to watch the kids in the sand while sipping homemade wine.

We had a bonfire and made smores for dessert, after a dinner of grilled brats & hot dogs with traditional sides. Monday Greg, Mom, Dad, and Uncle Dick headed out to a nearby golf course to play 9 holes. When asked how they did, they all responded the same...."we had fun." So, I guess that means they didn't keep score!?

A massive flock of geese were attracted to the bird feed and each evening David and Rachel loved to chase them back into the water.The remainder of us enjoyed the weather - playing in the woods, breaking out all sorts of lawn games and attempting to challenge one another at something. The kids constantly looked at wildlife...birds, geese, deer, and even a red fox crossed in front of us once. Good ol' fun. We had a lot of appetizers and make-your-own left overs for dinner. Followed by some fireworks. It was the first time the kid's did sparklers; notice Rachel's wearing an oven mitt!

I think Uncle Dick was on day #2 of repairing the rain barrel and took a break in the evening to use the telescope on the tower (3rd floor) baloney. We very quickly had to establish a "no kid" rule for using the telescope!

Tuesday A group of us took the kids to play mini-golf. The kids really had fun --- all of us did! Afterwards, we drove through a small lake town called Nisswa for ice cream. Anytime we pass an ice cream spot with Grandpa in the car, we have to stop! One of the simple pleasures of life!
Greg, David, Nicole, Grant & I went for an evening boat ride.

Wednesday This was the day we had been looking forward to all week - The Nisswa Turtle Races! On Tuesday, we had seen a pizza place across the street from the Chocolate Moose Ice Cream Shop with a big banner saying "Rated Top 100 Best Pizza in America". Well, they needed say no more. Our plan included pizza for lunch and then participating in the turtle races at 2:00.

The Turtle Races are long tradition in Nisswa, every Wednesday all summer long. The day we participated, there were 563 racers. To participate, you had to register, pay $3 and wear your button with your race number on it. Each race included a group of 15 people, each picking out their own racing turtle from one of the several buckets of water in the middle of the circle. On your marks, you placed your turtle on the start line and then cheered your turtle toward the finish line, the outer circle. John won his first race, but lost in the semi-finals. After all numbers had raced, they held separate races for various groups, such as out-of-state participants. Here's Rachel & David getting their turtles ready for the out-of-state race.
Cheering on your turtle involved splashing it with water, banging your bucket on the ground and/or cheering. Here's David's turtle taking the lead passing Rachel's.
David's turtle won this race and he received a green semi-finalist ribbon. Now, he got to participate in the finals.

For the finals, the commentator asked David his name & where he was from. His 3 competitors were from Iowa, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
David studied his turtle for a long time. This was the second turtle he'd selected from the over 30 turtles in buckets behind him. He had put back the first one, and really took a long time selecting the turtle.
Apparently he has an eye for picking a winning turtle. He won again! Because he won the finals, his name & hometown were announced on the local radio station in Nisswa. He received a medal and was so excited he couldn't stop hugging everyone and jumping up and down. My cousin Danielle caught the whole race on video. After a computer repair, we're hoping she'll post it on YouTube for us all to see. I was sad that Dad had missed this (and the ice cream celebration afterwards). He had left early in the morning for his pre-op appointment at Mayo.

Thursday was not nearly as exciting as Wednesday's turtle races, but we still had a lot of fun. We were sad to see Todd, Nicole, and Grant head home. Our numbers were starting to dwindle.

By this point in the week, Greg & I had learned that both of our children have inherited Greg's allergy to cats. So, keeping out of the lake house in cooler, rainy weather was a little more challenging but very necessary. Grandma decided to take Rachel & David out to McD's for lunch and a little shopping trip at the Dollar Store. Later in the afternoon, when we realized the rain wasn't clearing enough for boating, we went bowling.

We were happy to see Marilyn get off work to head to the lake for an early start to her weekend. It was sad to have such a short visit with her.

Friday, our lake vacation came to an end. We can't thank Mary and Marilyn enough for generously hosting our whole crazy family. We were 10 adults and 3 children. Proof that we are Swedes, since there was never a lack of games, food and beverage.

We pulled into Rochester with Rachel on Motrin and complaining her ears hurt. We drove staight to the walk-in clinic to get her checked. It was her turn to start a 10-day treatment of antibiotics.

I stayed in Rochester for the week that followed to be with Mom & Dad for Dad's surgery. We are so thankful that it went well and he is off to a good, strong recovery. The full recovery is longer than any of us would like, especially Dad, but we are blessed by the medical expertise he has access to at Mayo. We can not adequately express thank you to everyone for your prayers and support.