Barefoot Hotdog

What the heck is a "barefoot hotdog"? Well that would be a talented teenager who can waterski barefoot and be a hotdog (aka one-handed hot shot) while doing it!

Love this kid! 

This is Baby Aiden ... aka One of My Waterski Boys ... aka About to Start His Senior Year!

Had such a fun photo shoot tonight for senior portraits. Obviously senior pictures have moved way beyond the traditional one pose in a studio! I had the pleasure of capturing his brothers' photos and his sister's. And now it's his turn.

Of course I took some nice "portraits" but we also needed some action shots.

Beautiful night for a boat ride! Had to make sure we were facing away from the "backlit" sun while going over waves and holding my camera steady enough to capture some action shots of flips and other tricks. Looks relaxing but it was challenging that way. Can't wait to look at all the images, but I knew I for sure got that good barefooting one!

Afterward, on the way home, the sunset colors off the lake continued to be amazing in the woods, too. Just a treat for sunrise/sunset-loving me! Absolutely no filter or photo editing here! Additionally, I will not disclose if I trespassed to find a good angle. Sorry, town of Rome!

May we all find delight in childhood/teenager enthusiasm and the beautiful colors, textures, and waves in nature!

 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed!

This morning I sang with the choir at both of our church services. Hubby had his service last night so this morning and he our brother-in-law helped clean up some of the fallen branches (from that ice storm) in my father-in-law's backyard.

There's still so much wreckage everywhere around here!

This afternoon we drove down to Lake Wisconsin in the Lodi area to meet Carter and Mamie for a late lunch. It was a good halfway point for us both.

Food was great but how did they know from my simple order of chicken tenders that I am a Picky Eater?!? They are not wrong. But what?! Crazy. And the source of a good laugh amongst us all.

So great to deliver Easter "baskets" and visit with the kiddos! They had a positive time in Duluth despite the wicked weather. They're pretty excited about the possibilities so we, in turn, are excited for them! Just a nice lunch!

I don't think we've been in that exact area of Wisconsin before. It was a nice sunny drive with some pretty views, too.

And some unusual ones. Yup pelicans in Wisconsin! You can see the white cap wave there. It was quite windy out but for some reason they'd rather fly here than a beach in Florida?? That's where the phrase "bird brain" must come from!

Anyway, despite not having a full family gathering, it was a blessed Easter. Hope you all can say the same!

Sisters' Getaway

 

Our 27th annual sister weekend was more like a sister Sunday-Tuesday getwaway. We had an AIRBNB up in Eau Galle, Wisconsin, which must be an incredible spot in the summer. And was still amazing for us with the post-fall colors.

The house itself was amazing with plenty of room for all of us to have sleeping space – some on our own and some of us sleeping with our twin.

Naturally, Raylene and I did our annual opening act. This time we quickly transitioned from Bette Davis Eyes to she's got Tiny Hedberg Eyes. Only spooky at first!

Monday late lunch/early supper we were in nearby Durand along the Chippewa River. Had to get a group picture courtesy of our waitress! 

And today, when we were about to part ways, one sister (OK, me) insisted we try for another group picture without sun and shadows...

And today before we parted ways, here we are!

Right before we promised to love each other and keep in touch with each other!

My "Adoptive" Daughter Weds

Today was a glorious day for my friend Becky's daughter Sierra to wed. The relatively new Pike Lake venue was amazing – and just across the lake from where I've spent time at their family cabin.

Mother of the bride Becky looked great and I was thrilled to share this moment with her for the girl I'd known for decades. It seems.

Father of the bride was smiling as he escorted his "hurricane" of a daughter down the aisle.

I'd say the amazing moments we realize as parents is that our children are capable of making smart decisions. Thank goodness, right?

I'm so happy the girl I consider an "adopted daughter" had the best day ever with her new husband and father to her daughter. Congrats Taylor and Sierra!!

Friday FORE! Some Fun

We had our annual summer golf round with our friends Scott and Sandy. They come from the Green Bay area so we often find a new course to try that's somewhere between us. Today we took the day off and traveled down to the boujee town of Green Lake to golf Tuscumbia.

It was a gorgeous day with temps in the low 80s. A tad sticky at times, but when the clouds were out or there was a breeze, we did OK.

This was a pretty straightforward course. And I mean straight! Pretty much a back-and-forth hole layout. You might not see it in this photo but this is the middle of many parallel fairways. 

There were a lot of huge, old trees. This one gave shade to two little fawns. You have to look close. Ha.

And look at the size of this trunk!

Sandy and I took our usual selfie. I need to find all the ones we taken the last 15 summers!

On the way home, hubby and I stopped at Two Lakes Supper Club. There's water in both lakes this summer! That isn't always the case.

So we had dinner with a view.

That was topped only by our meal. We both had our favorites. Jim had their shrimp pizza and I had their delicious coconut shrimp with cranberry-apricot dipping sauce. So good!

Did not have room for dessert but had another treat on the drive home with this unusually wispy sunset. I see a bird in there. And the whole view is like a rising phoenix. Love it!

All in all, a great day out of the office! Which is usually the case, isn't it?

Have a good weekend, everyone. Hydrate and be careful!

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!

Cheers to TGIF

It's been quite a busy week at work while we "work" to have fun for our United Way campaign. One of the fundraisers was "Send a beer and a smile" so people could give someone a Point Rootbeer and smiley cookie.

Two very nice people sent me beers and smiles. So I got a tasty cookie for breakfast yesterday! Feeling the love.

Speaking of love... after worked I raced down to Rapids so I shoot some pictures of our Lady Royals tennis team. It was Senior Night so I got there in time for that anyway, and the first love-love serve! 

From there I headed down to the Lake Camelot area to take some senior pictures. This handsome young man also happens to be on the Shermalot Waterski Show Team I photograph. So it was no surprise that after a few "land shots," we were in the boat!

That was so fun to see him show off his bare-footing skills! Fun. 

I even got a bare-footing father-son duo photo!

I think ON THE WATER is my favorite new photo shoot location. Just sayin'!

Maybe we all be in for some this weekend!

Sports Illustrated Retro Swimsuit Edition

As I'm going through pictures to scan in for my mother's memorial service, I'm naturally coming across childhood pictures. Some I'd want to share and some I'd prefer were buried in that ark Indiana Jones allegedly found.

The reason I like the one above is because there was a certain time in my life (I'm at left) when chubby thighs and knees were cute with no judgment!

I would love that right now!

But it's also a cute picture with my twin and our next oldest sister Rachel. And without asking them, I'm sure they'd agree it would be amazing to feel those care-free things we felt at that age.

Something I'm sure anyone can identify with!

Here's my Wednesday Wish.... May we all remember a non-judgmental time in our lives (no matter how far back) and realize we were awesome and deserve to pay our amazing selves forward!

The next generation will thank you.  

Wild Things in the 'Hood

Today was a free day. As in no definite plans but a few things we wanted to do. First off was a pre-wedding shopping for Casey's wedding. The dad and step-mom of the groom have to look good after all – without stealing the spotlight off of Em, of course. So we found ourselves in Point and Wausau. And I just thought these clouds looked wild and cool on the way home. Feel free to continue scrolling if you don't agree.

The next wild thing was a family of 3 deer. Only the young buck with emerging horns dared to stare me down in my car. Glad the momma and fawn crossed to safety before I got close!

Then there was the mail I got. Allegedly from my famous fox I photographed during the U.S. Senior Open. But...

I recognized my momma's handwriting. Sly as a fox, she is! And obviously you know where I get my clever tongue from!

The other wildlife today was freaking bees. Again! This time, hubby spotted them in the back patio, building a pretty large home on the patio chairs we obviously haven't used this summer. Maybe I should've been spending more time out there but after last summer's snake-a-palooza, I have refrained from setting foot back there. So another trip to Ace Hardware for the good stuff... and the brave next-door neighbor sprayed it to oblivion this evening.

I was busy watching the fun and wild excitement of the Shermalot Water Ski Show Team exhibition. I'll have to sort through pictures and share later. Due to those cool clouds I mentioned earlier, it got dark pretty quick. I'm sure I got a few good shots before the gorgeous sunset.

Hope you're enjoy the beauty – and wild things – this weekend!