4th of July by Gret!

Here is Gret's drawing of our 4th of July this year. Enjoy!

Father's Day Weekend at the BH!

Before I begin, I must start by saying that we did spend Mother's Day Weekend at the BH this year as well, but since I forgot to put my memory card into my camera, we didn't get any photos of the time spent there,(Cue the sad music) and without photos, I did not write a blog entry. I do remember, however, being woken up on that Sunday morning by a woodpecker who decided to make our house his breakfast! LOL.

Anyway...on to Father's Day!!! We headed up Friday after Billy and Liam were picked up from Reece's bday party sleepover. This was Polar's first trip up with us and he did fabulous! Gret likes to say that he is from "up north" anyway, so apparently he should have been fine with the drive. Too cute. We had plenty of time on Friday to pick up some Mishler's chicken dinners and give Polar the grand tour of the BH. It was supposed to rain early in the am on Sat, so Dan made plans with Grandpa Lu to go golfing around 11am and have him, Grandma and Aunt Lisa over afterward to celebrate Reece's bday.

The weather cooperated beautifully and Reece's 1st real golfing experience went off without a hitch! He golfed 5 of the 9 holes and LOVED driving the cart. Grandma and Grandpa brought over a huge b-day cake for Reece and we had a nice time visiting. The boys had been catching quite a few frogs since we arrived, so they had fun showing them off, especially to Aunt Lisa.

On Sunday, we honored Dan in the fashion he is used to...and let him sleep in. The boys were excited to give him his presents, a White Sox shirt to wear when they play baseball, and some Detroit Tiger's lounge pants. Plus a plaque to hang on the wall at the BH that said, "Dad...when I grow up the thing I want most is to be just like you!" Then we had breakfast on the porch and did some fishing. When Dan and I were out on the boat, he said he really wanted to catch a big one. So I said, "Did you hear that, fish, Daddy wants to reel in a good one for Father's Day?" Wouldn't you know it...about 10 minutes later he landed a whopper! Awesome!

Sometimes on Sunday's we pack up early and get headed back, but that Sunday was so nice, we packed up and went over to the beach at the big lake. After playing some baseball on the sand, we were all hot enough to go swimming. Ah, was the water refreshing!

So, all in all, it was a wonderful weekend! How fitting for such a wonderful Father!

Memorial Weekend 2009 at the BH!

If we weren't already looking forward to spending a nice long 4 day weekend at the Brown House, what made it even more special was stopping along the way to visit our new puppy! Yes, you heard right. After many long years, I finally gave in and got Dan a puppy for his 40th birthday. After looking at strays and breeds and whatnot, I fell in love with the Coton De Tulear. Then I found a breeder in Mt. Pleasant and as luck would have it, she had a litter born April 22nd. We talked on the phone and via the internet and before long, we were the proud owners of another baby boy. This time a fur baby. Gret and I were the first to meet him and thought he looked like a little polar bear, so Polar became his name. We got to visit him when we went to the BH for Mother's Day weekend, and now we were back again. He'll come home with us for good in early June, but the breeder has been very nice to let us visit when we head her way, so that is what we did.

Polar is getting bigger and fluffier, that is for sure. He is such a little sweetie and Gret especially could not be more in love if he tried!

So, after a visit with Polar we continued up and got to the BH with enough time to settle in before the Wings game! We made arrangements with Aunt Lisa to come and watch the boys so we could go into town and see the game at Club Shadows. Matt and Nora and the boys were coming up, too, and got a later start, so they decided to just meet us up there.

The Wings went down quickly 3 to 0 and it didn't look too good, but by the end of the 2nd, we had tied it up! The bar started filling up with lots of Lake Miramichi people, so we got to meet a few new people on our lake, which was cool. Grandpa Lu came up and eventually Matt and Nora made it to see the Wings lose in OT. It was an exciting game and a good time...even if we did lose.

Saturday started a little rainy, but cleared up to be a nice day. Lots of fishing was done by all. We dusted off the washer toss game and played it all weekend. The boys played some baseball and caught a frog or two as well. It was great to have a campfire at night and of course we had to have smores! Yum!

On Sunday we invited Grandpa Lu, Grandma Dorena and Aunt Lisa over to watch the Wings play Chicago in game 4. This time we could get it on our TV at the cabin, since it was on NBC. Luckily the Wings jumped out to a big lead and kept it the whole game, so we were all able to relax and enjoy it! We had a steak BBQ with patriot cookie cake for dessert and followed it up with the first annual Memorial Weekend fishing derby at the BH. Walker was the big winner reeling in the biggest bass of the weekend. Way to go, Walker!

Nora noticed that there were tons of turtles on the other side of the inlet, so she and Walker took the boat out and caught 3. A Mama, a Daddy and and a baby! We put them on the patio and had a turtle race before releasing them back into the wild. Mama won!

Matt worked on the telescope and we had some stars that night, but finding a level place where you can see around trees is still an issue...so we'll have to work on that some more this summer.

We finished the night with another fire and sparklers to commemorate the Memorial holiday, along with Patriot stir sticks, of course!

Monday was another beautiful day, so we stuck around some before heading home. It was fun spending time with the Utley's, both for the kids and the grown ups! It was a nice taste of what is to come this summer. Bring it on!!!

Easter 2009 at the BH

It was WAY overdue...but we finally made it back to our beloved BH for the first time since New Years. Can that even be possible? Sad, but true. It was also the first time we had been back since my Dad passed way. He always said if my Mom passed first, he would move up to the BH and hermitize himself by living in the basement. Dan and I just smiled when he said this. Why not? He would be happy there, as long as we eventually installed satelite TV. So, even before heading up, the boys and I talked about how Grandpa Tom's spirit was probably already there. But can you believe that when we walked in the door, one of the pictures on my fishing wall of fame had fallen off the wall? Guess which one? The one of Grandpa Tom of course! He had been there, just like we thought! That made me happy.

On Friday night we dyed Easter eggs. The boys had a good time mixing colors and being creative. It was a lot of fun.

Then on Saturday, Reece was still feeling crafty and decided to paint his birdhouse that Aunt Amy had gotten him for Christmas. He did a really nice job and we filled it with seed and hung it before we left for home. In the late afternoon, we headed over to Grandpa Lu's for Easter dinner, one day early. Lisa was home from Michigan State, and Aunt Bernice was up for the holiday, too. Then, after we ate, Sorena and her boys drove on up. Needless to say, the boys had a good time playing with Clayton and Lance and everyone else, too! It had been a while since we got to see everyone,

so it was nice to spend some time together.

Sunday morning we woke up to an egg hunt. The bunny had hid 11 eggs and 1 basket per boy. They were harder to find this year, but eventually there were all found. The boys were very excited about their basketballs, tootsie roll banks, and hatching dinosaurs. It was a beautiful spring day, so after a while, we headed outside to jump on the trampoline, look for turtles and throw the new frisbes around. I even threw a line in the water to try to catch the first fish of the season. My line got picked clean a number of times, but I was too slow! Oh well, just left me wanting more!
After a while, we packed it up and headed back home, stopping at Big Boy for an untraditional Easter dinner. The boys were excited to get the buffet since it had mashed potatoes on it and who doesn't love hot fudge ice cream cake for dessert? Yum!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Ringing in 2009 at the BH!

After a fabulous Christmas, our plan was to head up the the BH to ring in the new year. But before we could leave, Gret had his first hockey tournament to play in. Originally we talked about skipping the tournament and spending a whole week up north, but Dan's coaching skills were needed and Gret was actually excited about playing in a tournament, so we stuck around for it. THANK GOD!!! Not only did the Mighty Rangers win all 3 of their games, but they made it to the semi-finals and won and then went on to win it all! Tournament Champions!!! It was an amazing experience and it truly changed Gret. Somewhere around game 3, it was like a bell went off and he turned a hockey corner that you can't ever go back from.

So, with trophy in hand, we headed up on Dec. 31st. Just in time to get settled in and whip up a london broil dinner before the Utley's arrived. Matt, Nora and the boys drove over to spend a few nights and celebrate new years banging on pots and pans, Radomski style!!!

The kids had a blast together, per usual. After ringing in 2009 in grand style, there was lots of Wii playing, sledding, ice fishing and skating. This year, the boys tried using their sleds as snowboards and when I say boys, I'm referring to Matt and Dan, of course!

The grown ups got their fair share of game playing in too, and in between reading Twilight (Nora) and A New Moon (Beckie) we taught Nora how to play Euchre. This time Walker wanted to learn as well. He was a pretty quick study. By the time he hits college, he'll be ruling the dorm! The 4 of us also got in a good game of Stack-o-derm with Dan and Nora tying for the win.

We spent one more night before cleaning up and heading home. Dan actually left his laptop at home this trip and it was so nice to really get away as a family. Of course...he'll have h*ll to pay when he goes back to the office come Monday morning. But right now...I'd say it was worth it!