A Relaxing Holiday Weekend

I’m just now sitting to write about the holiday weekend, because it was busy, but relaxing.

When we ordered our new dryer, we all assumed that the 220 plug was hot and ready to work. It wasn’t. You may remember last week I mentioned that the people who put our air conditioning unit in, used the 220 wire that at the time was not being used to give it power.

So I went to the store and bought 50 feet of wire and a breaker so we could get it up and working. On Saturday my brother-in-law and father-in-law came to help me get it set up. When my brother-in-law opened the breaker box, he noticed that despite it being big enough to hold 16 breakers, whoever wired the house only used a 12 breaker bus bar.

At my house, every breaker slot is in use, so there was no where to add a breaker. This meant we 1) had to find a 16 breaker bus bar, 2) add some sort of sub box off the one we have, or 3) send back the electric dryer and swap it for a gas dryer (which only needs a 110v plug instead of a 220v).

I made some calls to the people we bought it from and found out that there was no restocking charge and they’d have someone come out and pick up the old one. Once it was returned, they could refund the money back on the card we used and then we could buy the gas dryer. Either way, it was going to cost a couple hundred bucks to get us a dryer that worked.

Naturally, we noticed that when they removed the gas line from the old dryer, it had cracked near the connector. Thankfully, that was an easy fix and we’ll anxiously await the new dryer. In the meantime, I will continue to do what I did Saturday….

…sit in the laundromat to dry our clothes!

Sunday was pretty low key and we were outside in the yard. I grilled up some chicken and we threw it on salads. Sam worked Sunday night, so it was just me and the kids watching Disney channel at night.

On Memorial Day, I woke up and opened my Facebook and started to get angry. This happens every year, but it is a pet peeve of mine. Perhaps it is because my dad served in the army and I have many friends who also served in the Armed Forces, but nothing grinds my gears more than when someone says, “Happy Memorial Day!”

Those people obviously don’t understand what the holiday is about.

Anyway, the kids played outside and I worked a bit outside. My lawn hadn’t been mowed in a while because of the rain we’d been having. I had to raise the deck on my mower and will no doubt have to go back out again to cut it. It was cut, but it already looks like it hasn’t been mowed in 2 weeks.

We got a call from one of my daughter’s preschool friend’s mom. They were heading up to a park near us and wanted to know if we wanted to go. My daughter was excited to see her friend, so we went.

We’d never been to this park before. It had a playground for the kids, but it also had these boat/kayak launches. The park is right on a lake. They have a wooden deck area where people can fish from, too.

My daughter’s friend’s brother brought a fishing pole with him and he was having trouble casting it. It was an open face reel, and he was only like 6 or 7. So I was out on the wooden deck teaching him how to cast it. He didn’t have any live bait, so he was using lures. We didn’t catch anything, but he loved it. I asked my kids if they would like to fish with me and they both gave a resounding NO. LOL

My wife, my daughter’s friend’s mom, and all the kids were up under a pavilion. They had brought goldfish crackers and juice for all the kids. The food must have caught the eye of a winged friend. There was this chicken that kept jumping up on the table! I was by the lake and my wife sent the kids to come get me when the chicken started trying to eat my daughter’s dress!

When I got there, the chicken was still there. My wife said to “get rid of it.” I asked her how I was supposed to do that. She said, “I think you just pick it up and take it somewhere.” Now, I’ve never held a chicken before. I had no idea if this thing was going to peck at me. I had no idea if it was going to squawk when I picked it up. I also had no idea where I was supposed to take it!

This thing was a pretty big chicken. I walked up behind the thing and was able to grab it with both hands. I picked it up and it started trying to move its feet, I walked quickly to a wooded area that was on the other side of the park. I set the thing down and walked away. I turned around and that dumb thing was following me!

It stopped a couple times to peck at grass or whatever, but eventually the thing came back. I picked it up again and carried it a lot further than I had the first time. It started to follow again, but got distracted. As we were packing up to leave there was some girl who was holding the dumb thing like a cat or something!

As we walked to our cars, lo and behold, that chicken was right by our car! I had to shoo the thing away just to get in the car. What a crazy bird!

When we got home we grilled up some hot dogs and my wife started a fire in the firepit. It was our first one of the year. The kids sat out and relaxed with us – anxious to make smores!

When we made up the smores, they each took a bite and asked if they could just eat the chocolate (Which they did!). My wife and I even got the chance to make one.

It was a perfect night. It wasn’t too hot and cool enough where the fire kept us warm. It was so nice to just sit by the fire. The kids didn’t sit long, but I expected that. My wife and I enjoyed just relaxing there. We were all exhausted by the end of the night. We let the kids stay up much later than usual and we went inside earlier than we wanted, but we also were all asleep very quickly.

This is toward the end of the night. I hope we get to have more bonfires this summer.

I hope that you enjoyed your holiday weekend, too.

“Finding a good way to spend it…”

My Facebook feed has been full of pictures of the “last day of school.” Many of those photos are of high school seniors who are celebrating their FINAL “last” day of school, while others are of students in kindergarten through 11th grade who are just excited for summer break!

The theme song to the cartoon Phineas and Ferb (created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh) states:

“There’s 104 days of summer vacation till school comes along just to end it. So the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it.“

The song then goes on to list things that they are going to do. If you are unfamiliar with this cartoon (which is as entertaining for adults as it is for children), it is about two step brothers who make the most out of every day of their summer vacation. Phineas is often heard to say, “Ferb! I know what we’re going to do today!” They then proceed to work on their big idea while their sister tries to get them in trouble.

Some of the big ideas they had include: building a rollercoaster, building a beach in their back yard, becoming a “one hit wonder” band, become movie directors, carve their sister’s face into Mount Rushmore, build robots, go on a cattle drive, create a new season, become secret agents, build the world’s biggest ice cream maker, create a hot new toy, turn their car into a monster truck, build a shrinking submarine, fix a time machine – and time travel, reunite a rock band, build the ultimate treehouse, transform a dinghy into a pirate ship, have a chariot race through their town, build a Ferris wheel, build a roller derby rink, discover a caveman, hold a medieval tournament, build an escalator to the moon, created the biggest bowling game, build a miniature golf course, build a real working teleporter after seeing one in a movie, build a haunted house, paint the unpainted desert, make a cartoon about themselves and their friends, created a rainbow-inator because their friend has never seen one, build a rocket and go to space, build a flying car, AND create a portal to the planet Mars. THAT is all from the first season!!

Let me say that I NEVER had a summer quite like Phineas and Ferb, but I certainly looked forward to summer vacation. As I have mentioned in the past, many of my summer days were spent playing baseball with the guys from my neighborhood. When we weren’t playing ball, we were usually riding bikes, playing cops and robbers, running through the sprinkler, or playing with Star Wars figures.

I believe that kids today are missing out. They are glued to their phones, tablets and video games. I know trying to get my older son outside to do anything is a chore. My daughter loves to be outside! I hope she always stays that way! There are SO many things to do outside. This summer, I plan to spend lots of time outside.

During our summer breaks as kids, one thing my brother and I always looked forward to was a weekend or two up in Caseville. When my grandparents bought their place up there, we went often. Many times we’d be their with my aunt and uncle and my grandparents, too. On those weekends, it wasn’t odd to have a tent pitched outside because there were so many of us.

Highlights of Caseville included fishing at the back lake, swimming at the beach, horseback rides from the folks at the end of our street, and tooling around on the mini-bike. In town, we could stop at the IGA for groceries, play Putt Putt Golf, or shop at many of the souvenir shops. Occasionally, we’d drive over to Port Austin or drive down to Pigeon to walk around.

The only other real trip I remember was when I was 11. We went up to Mackinac for a week. I remember we visited the Grand Hotel (where the movie Somewhere in Time was filmed) and because we were in shorts and tank tops, we didn’t stay long. I remember posing next to a cannon and I was wearing a cowboy hat and those awful tube socks! We also got to go on the boat ride over to Mackinac Island. There were no cars on the island and there were many horses. We visited the Fort, which was full of wonderful artifacts. One of my favorite pictures is of my mother standing over my brother and I while we are locked in the stocks.

As summer vacation approaches, I hope that we will be able to do something nice with the kids. They are both still very young and may not remember it all, but I really want to take them somewhere. I just need to sit down with my wife and talk things over. The two of us will “find a good way to spend” time together as a family!

Gone Fishing

One of my favorite fishing jokes comes from Soupy Sales:

Two guys are out on a boat fishing and one guy is pulling in all the fish. His fishing buddy hasn’t had even a nibble the whole time they’ve been on the lake. So, he asks his buddy what his secret is.

“Well, when I wake up in the morning I look at my wife. If she is sleeping on her left side, then I fish off the left side of the boat. If she is sleeping on her right side, I fish off the right side of the boat.”

His buddy asks, “Well, what if she’s sleeping on her back?” The guy says, “Then brother, I certainly don’t go fishing!!”

First Fishing Memory

Before my grandparents bought their trailer in Caseville, we would occasionally go up and stay at the trailer owned by my great aunt. I remember my dad and my grandpa took me out to a small lake (pictured above) where I first was grossed out by putting a worm on a hook. That lake would eventually be right behind the lot where my grandparents trailer would be.

I remember my grandpa helping me with the bobber that would float in the water. I also remember my dad putting a bell on the end of my fishing rod. There was no way a 7 or 8 year old kid could miss a fish if the bell rang and the bobber was pulled under the surface of the lake. Sure enough the bell rang and the bobber went under and I started reeling in.

What was on the end of the line was the ugliest catfish you have ever seen! There was no way I was touching that thing and my grandpa grabbed it, pulled it off the hook, and tossed it back in the lake. The lake was stocked by the guy who lived across the street from my grandparents as I recall. There were perch, bluegill, catfish, and pike in the lake.

Anyway, when we got back to the trailer, I was so excited. I told my mom, my grandma, and everyone else who would listen that I caught a fish. I don’t think there was a phone at my aunt’s place, and I asked my dad how I could let my other grandparents know about my fishing expedition. He suggested I write a letter, which I did. I am sure we never mailed it, but I did tell him about it when we saw them.

Uglier than the catfish? Yes.

When we weren’t fishing at the back lake, we would go and fish of the pier in Caseville. I remember going to the store and my dad buying us some cheap plastic tackle boxes for when we went fishing. I don’t remember for sure, but I am almost positive that it was my brother who knocked my grandpa’s tackle box off the pier and into the water. One of my favorite pictures of my brother and I was taken on the pier. As you can see, I obviously dressed myself … what the hell am I wearing in this picture?!

One day while fishing off the pier, my mother got a bite. She fought and fought whatever fish was on the end of the line. I remember the excitement of wanting to know what it was. When she pulled it out of the water, it was a huge sheephead. I remember my grandpa saying that those were great fighters, but that was about all they were good for.

A few years later, I caught a fish off the pier and brought the dumb, smelly thing home with me, so I could get a picture with it. I used to love this silly “fishing” hat I am wearing in the picture.

Skidway Lake

There was another fishing trip that I took with some friends from school. We all went up to my pal Steve’s mom and dad’s place. I believe that the fishing trip only consisted of one trip to the lake to fish. The rest of the time was spent by campfires drinking beer and telling stories.

My best friend had quite a few that night and when we all went to bed I could hear him getting sick. I chuckled about this at the time, but when I woke up in the morning and found that he had puked in my shoes, it wasn’t so funny.

The actual fishing was fairly disappointing. These fish were fairly tiny. I think Jeff pulled in the biggest fish of the day, and it was nothing to write home about!

Fishing with my boys

I’m not sure why, but I only went fishing once with my sons. We went to a small lake near the house.

They were excited to go, but once they got there, they got bored quickly. I instantly remembered feeling that way as a kid. I would cast into the lake and want a fish immediately! I didn’t want to just sit there waiting.

When a fish finally did bite, they were so tiny, they could have been used as bait!!

It has been forever since I went fishing. As a matter of fact, that fishing trip with the boys was the last time I went. I’m sure that if I opened up my tackle box, it is probably a mess. I don’t even know if I still have my fishing pole. I may have to go out the garage to see if my pole is still out there.

All I need now is a few friends (one of them hopefully with a boat) and a day off to go fishing….I’m long over due to drop a line in the water. Where’s my bobber?