The Anni-Birth-ery Palooza Wrap

All July 4th means to us is that our personal celebrations of two birthdays and one anniversary are over – and America takes over the spotlight.

I took a mini-getaway Up North on Wednesday so I could do a post-birthday celebration with my twin. First, I had lunch with 4 of my sisters (who I've always called the Older Girls) and 2 brothers-in-law.

Good lunch and visit and then they surprised me with some birthday ice cream.

If you ever wonder how I feel about getting birthday attention or a treat of any kind, it's pretty evident by the huge smile on my face!

After lunch, I connected with my twin and we opened some appropriate ice cream-related gifts from our sister Romey. The "cones" are actually ceramic candles. Just twist off the top and light for a yummy vanilla sugar smell!

From there, went to Lene's house and changed clothes and then headed out on Mudhen lake to kayak and eventually swim – on purpose. No kayak flips, honest.

Our cousin loaned me a kayak so I didn't have to haul one up (and drive Jim's big truck). Thanks, Candy.

The weather was perfectly warm with a light breeze – and the presence of 3 eagles! Oh how I wished I had my "real" camera and not just my smartphone to rely on. I guess since this was my first time out on the water this season, I was definitely out of practice.

After our paddle and swim, we headed back to Raylene's to change into dry clothes and exchange gifts. The "car coaster" above, which is meant to absorb water and condensation in the cup holder, is something I got at a Cracker Barrel in Nashville in April! When Raylene and I were singing on the wedding shower circuit in adolescence, "Bushel and a Peck" was always a song we sang!

I also got my lovely red-tractors-only farm girl a wind chime that is allegedly solar so perhaps lights up the tractor headlights? I'll be curious to learn more.

We continued our birthday adventures at Adventures restaurant in Siren. So excited they had my favorite – coconut shrimp – on the menu. Happy birthday to me again!

It was just so nice to have some one-on-one time with my twin to catch up on all things "secret sisterhood."

From there, I headed south to Luck, to spend the night at my sister Rachel's house.

Somehow, it's always the Golden Hour in Luck, Wisconsin. Am I right or am I right? So nice to catch up with her and see her amazing progress since her last surgery. She can't put weight on her left leg yet, but when she can, she'll resume her title as a "walking miracle" again!

Headed back to Rapids about mid-morning yesterday so I could spend Jim's birthday with him. We later went to a new venue called the Lake House at the River Ridge campground to hear some live music with friends.

The entertainment was Tanner Gomes, who was on Team Kelly on The Voice in season 19 (2020). He happens to date or is engaged to someone we know. Somewhat. He was very good and very entertaining. Great to see several friends too!

Today was just a "weekend" day of cleaning and vacuuming (me) and removing more nails from the siding (not me). Carter and Mamie were going to come home for the weekend but an unexpected family emergency on her part has them postponing their visit 'til hopefully just next weekend.

So we'll just celebrate our "freedom" tonight by doing nothing. Since that's our right.

Be safe and careful out there!

Something in the Air

Between pollen "dust fairies" and the smoke sneaking down from Canadian wildfires, it's not a great time to spend lots of time outdoors. 

But well, that was pretty much our weekend! 

Saturday we went to a cancer benefit for our friend Jeanne, then went to a graduation party, and then I went down to Lake Arrowhead to watch the Shermalot Water Ski Show Team perform. Since they were short quite a few team members, they didn't do the show they plan to do this summer. But still there was plenty of jumping, twisting, and pyramid building!

I don't know how they do any of it. But it's fun to try to capture. I kept looking over my shoulder, too, because the sun was setting behind me and it was getting colorful. The top photo was taken at the end of the night.

This was earlier in the evening. I call it "Smoky Sunset at the Ski Show." Crazy, right?

I took so many pictures that I got to bed well after blogging hours. Sorry.

Today was another day outside. We both sang in our church choirs (indoors) but then we went to a potluck year-end choir gathering (my choir). It felt like summer. Thanks for finally showing up on June 1, nice weather!

This afternoon/evening we had couple's golf league. We have to use at least 3 drives from each player in our two-person couple scramble format. Thank goodness I had enough that worked. I felt like a good contributor. And even did a par dance when I sunk the par putt on the par 5! 

Fun afternoon but it took us nearly 3 hours to get done so we grabbed pizza at the clubhouse and got home after 8:30. I'm beat. So much fresh air (not quite fresh) so I should sleep well. 

I did hear there be Northern lights tonight but I don't know what the smoke will have to say about that. I'm sure I'll check it before my head hits the pillow. Just because I hate to miss out!

Have a good week and be careful out there!

June Goes Out With a Bang

It was quite a fun birthday week! I managed to bookend it with couple's league golf both Sundays plus bonus fireworks!

On Saturday evening, I shot lots of pictures at the Shermalot waterski show team show down at Lake Arrowhead. By the time I got through half of them, it was way past bedtime so I didn't even think about blogging.

It's always so fun to watch, though. And I especially enjoy capturing action shots of the jumpers and trick skiers. Cool stuff! (And literally COOL stuff as the temps dropped and wind picked up and I was so cold!)

Today was sunny and mild and we managed to tee off at 3:30 p.m. for our golf match. I struggled on some holes but managed to par two of them! Those par dances are few and far between so I was pretty excited.

After golf, we stopped to visit Jim's dad a bit on our way to Rudolph. They had the band Southbound playing for the evening to lead up to fireworks.

And they had a few food trucks there, too. I was especially excited about this one. But guess what? After our huge burgers, we were too full for dessert. And yes, it was kind of too cold. We were all in sweatshirts with blankets over us if we had them.

How is this July 4th week? Crazy!

It was a nice transition though to Jim's birthday week. So his started off with golf, too. And we had fireworks on our Anniversary Eve.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

The Heavy Stuff

I have to laugh at this meme from Caddyshack. Frankly, the "heavy stuff" has been coming down for awhile. And it resumed right before we teed off for golf league last night.

Not raining when I left work in Stevens Point, but then it started sprinkling and was a steady light rain by the time I got to TriCity. Our league rule is that we play in the rain unless it lightnings. Well, this was our view from the cart, which Marigene and I never use -- but had to to keep ourselves (and my new clubs) somewhat dry.

We were all wishing for lightning.

By the end, everything from our headcovers to our socks and underwear was soaked! Pretty miserable. I don't even know what our score was and how we did. We were all in cold, wet survival mode. So don't let anyone fool you when they say ANY day on the golf course is better than work.

There are exceptions!

Today it continued to rain so Jim didn't get together with an old friend to hit the links somewhere between here and Green Bay. But there was a moment of sunshine for about 2 hours when I set out my wet golf glove, shoes, headcovers, and bag to dry. That somewhat did the trick.

After work, I hit the road and headed north. For the first hour it was raining so hard I could hardly see -- and was experiencing the joys of hydro-planing. Good times, Mother Nature. You're not making any fans.

She always responds with "Yeah, but how are your flowers looking, Robyn?"

Must she have the last word? For the record, my hail-damaged blooms have sprung back to life. But so have the many, many weeds I "thought" I eliminated a month ago. Never trust Round-Up, I guess.

Too bad there's not a "We love our jolly good weeds June" to follow "No mow May."

Hope you all stay dry and safe. And can escape the moisture-induced mosquito invasion!

Hello, Summer

It's definitely Summer Official when it's 89 degrees at 5:19 p.m. AND the sunset isn't until 8:46 p.m. Whoo-hoo! Welcome, Summer. So glad you're here!

To celebrate Midsommar – as we Scandi-hoovians say – I kidnapped my dream team for a brief Solstice Time Out after work. Pretty sure we all needed it.

In fact, I noticed when I resumed work at home tonight that even my stress ball (er, head) looked stressed. 

May summer ease our stress, our worries, our tension, with gentle heat, cool treats, and warm hugs when we need them! 

Life in the Fast Lane

As the Eagles would sing, we've been living Life in the Fast Lane this weekend. Well, at least the Busy Lane.

We took the afternoon off Friday and caught a ride to Appleton with two of Jim's classmates. Then we met up with 3 more couples for dinner at Spatz, a pretty good little bar and grill close to the Performing Arts Center. Then we walked over the PAC for the Eagles tribute band Hotel California.

In the Small World category, we ran into Jim's cousin Kim (far left with her hubby) and also his cousin Keith.

Then in the Super Small World category, I ran into my old friend Stacey from Menominee, Michigan. Yes, way back in my newspaper days up there from 1990-1994. We kept in touch through Facebook and I saw her some 4 or 5 years ago. But still.... SMALL FREAKING WORLD!!!

Now onto the show... Normally, I'd rather see a REAL band than a tribute band, but since the Eagles weren't in town for 50 bucks a ticket, we went with Hotel California – their tribute band.

We definitely were pleasantly surprised by the caliber of talent. This kid could play fiddle, piano, and guitar and sing!

This guy has been with the group for quite sometime and was great!

Mr. Long Hair was entertaining – and play the harmonica or mouth harp or whatever pretty darn good! 

Mr. Curly on the right was phenomenal. Can't believe he's not playing guitar in some major rock band. Other than the fact, there's not a lot out there. His voice was crazy good, too. We all had a blast.

Went out a bit in Appleton on the way back to the hotel, but were all asleep by 1 a.m. because we're old that way. This morning, we had breakfast in a restaurant sitting right in the heart of the enormous Appleton Farmers' Market. Then headed home.

Got home after noon and didn't have much time to relax before dressing up for a wedding. Carter's friend and high school classmate Katelyn was getting married up at Eron's Event Barn near Rudolph. Since Carter and Mamie didn't come home, we represented them – and ourselves, of course.

Game time, er wedding time, temp was 88 degrees. Uff da. It was a short ceremony, thankfully, and Katelyn looked beautiful as ever. Very pretty venue, too!

And definitely the perfect day to give out can coooooozies. No idea how to spell that. But it was nice to have!

Came home after a delicious reception dinner there. Hubby stayed home in the A/C with Sylvester. And I went to one of the two grad parties we had today. It was still going strong. And my promise to be home in "an hour-ish" was more like 2 hours-ISH. But hey, it was fun to see people – especially softball moms and dad excited to go to state!

Speaking of Royals sports... Assumption soccer took the Regional Championship today and one of our freshman track runners claimed first in the 100M and second in the 200M (with a school record) at state. WOW. What a day!

Hitting the hay now and looking forward to life in the Slow Lane on Sunday! 

Expiration Date

 It's June 30th so that means my "I get a mulligan because it's my birthday month" pass is expiring. It didn't do me much good tonight anyway. 

I thought the golf gods were smiling on me because it rained much of the day and cleared up for golf. Party cloudy and mostly syrupy air. But still, dry enough for golf league. Then I realized there was an evil face in the clouds... not a happy golf god...

See? Scroll back up and you can't un-see it now, can you?

Anyway, it was still a fun evening with 3 of my co-workers and I had the best score from the women's tees.

Oh, yes, I was the only female. You got me there! And I did have one par dance. Which must have resembled a rain dance because it started to rain – as soon as we were done, thankfully. Maybe the golf gods were smiling in their own way.

I wonder if they'll let me do get a "I get a mulligan because it's my anniversary month" pass for July. Doesn't hurt to try.

The Thing That Bugs Me in June

Ping! Ping! Ping! You can just hear this guys and his buddies pinging against your screen door, can't you? Ew. I know. The worst thing about June.

After the mosquitoes, that is.

Oh wait, after the mosquitoes AND snakes! Of course.

Anyway, since I had a free night (hubby's golf league night), I was going to sit out on my swing and relax. Then I saw these guys. And remembered Freddie and Frankie and Fernando's friend had been hanging out in that exact spot last week as well. Not going to chance it just yet.

So I got a few things done around the house – including making part of Jim's birthday gift. Or anniversary. I haven't decided. One's Friday and one's Sunday so I suppose it doesn't matter. Two other things that were supposed to arrived today are "running behind." Glad I pay for Prime and its 2-day shipping when they can just change to 3, 4, not sure how many, days. 

Oh well. It'll work out. It's just one Birth & Ball and Chain Palooza around here this week! Late gifts won't take away from the fun.

But June bugs might.

Be careful out there!

Friday Night Lights

With how late the sun sets these days, you'd think I wouldn't need to burn the midnight oil. But it's getting close to that on this lovely Friday night.

We actually had no plans after work, so hubby and I went to the Legion baseball game. The 17U team is hosting a tournament this weekend. So we went and watched.

Just watched. Seriously my first ballgame I've just watched this year. No camera. Just sitting there cheering and chit-chatting with friends. Our boys ended up losing to Plover 3-2. But there's a whole lotta of games left to play this weekend. Good luck!

On the way home, it dawned on me that I hadn't gotten a birthday gift for my twin yet. I know. How could I possibly forget it's coming right up?! So I went to the store to get some top-secret supplies to craft together her top-secret gift. I'm a little out of practice so it took a minute. Just got done and can't wait to show you.

Next week.

I'll ship it tomorrow and hope it arrives Tuesday. I finished another project today, too, but will have to wait for that reveal too. There's a due date in July so just remind me. Ha. For now, I'm turning off the Friday night lights and will but my creative juices to bed.

Have a great weekend. Be careful out there!

Hello, Summer

Nothing says "Hello, Summer" like memories of beach volleyball... replaced with new memories of beach football. Yup. Talking about Top Gun and the new Maverick sequel.

Since our hubbies had no interest in seeing it, my friend Jenny and I planned weeks ago that we'd go see it. Finally got it on the calendar and went tonight for $5 movie night. Very much worth it! How long have I liked Top Gun? Here's a clue...

This long! For you kids, that's called a cassette tape. And no, I don't have anything to play it on, but I can't part with it. 

The original movie came out in 1986. That fall, I believe the first weekend of college, a bunch of us from Angell Hall took the city bus out to the theater at the mall on the north side of La Crosse and saw the movie. 

And fell in love. With Tom Cruise and, frankly, all the guys playing beach volleyball! Even got a free movie poster that hung in my dorm room all year!

Tom Cruise has since turned into a bit of whack job, but I didn't hold that against him when contemplating going to see Top Gun :: Maverick. I didn't hear any negative reviews from the dozens of people I know who saw it. 

And we concur. Both Jenny and I gave it two thumbs up. I was crying 10 minutes into it. Good mix of emotion, humor, and action. Loved it! 

So now instead of snakes, I can have sweat, er sweet dreams of beach "anything" with Kenny Loggins singing Playing with the Boys in my head! 

Roger that. I'm out! 

Green Sky at Night, Something's Not Right

Red sky at night, sailors' delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. 

We didn't have the red skies tonight. Just red warning signs on the TV and a greenish sky right before the storm hit. Right before the storm that COULD HAVE BEEN a tornado hit.

Everyone knew as early as yesterday that we could be in for some wicked storms in Wisconsin today. And those darn weather dudes were right. Since the severe stuff was going to hit around 5 p.m., we all left work in time to get safely to our homes.

I wasn't home long and I turned on the Weather Channel and they were showing tornadoes in Wisconsin with one of those TORNADO WARNING lines on the bottom of the screen. Say what? So I change to local channels and it's tornado talk everywhere.

We're in the middle of the state and the line of storms were not going to miss us. A tornado touched down in Tomah, which is southwest of us and, of course, it was heading northeast. It's not too often we're in a tornado warning so even though we saw it on TV, we jumped when our phones alerted us LOUDLY to "Get in the basement!"

Nothing reveals your priorities like a tornado warning. Like knowing it was a real possibility you could lose everything. So what did I do?

First of all, I brought Mr. Deck Chair safely into the garage so he wouldn't blow away. Well, duh. Then I grabbed my phone, camera and laptop and headed into the basement. Jim just grabbed his phone. Now that we have our "beverage fridge" in the basement, he was set for the long haul. We both just left kitty asleep on her heated bathroom floor. She slept through everything. Per usual.

I'll admit it was freaky seeing Wisconsin Rapids and the Town of Grand Rapids in the direct line. Apparently the funnel dissipated right before it got to Rapids. Well praise be! We also didn't get hail here (it melted on the way down) and the strong winds didn't do damage except for a few branches. 

I saw just a few downed trees in town on my way to my hair appointment. Yup, that was my main concern. Let's get this tornado over with so I can get to my hair artist on time! 

The Lord sure looks out for drunks and ne'er-do-wells because it all timed out perfectly!

Be careful out there!