Happy Birthday, dear Liesel!

Today (Monday), we celebrate my beautiful wife's birthday! I am so blessed to have been a part of her last 10 birthday's, and I pray that this year is her best yet! Happy birthday Liesel! Looking forward to celebrating many, many more together.

This time last week, I was blogging from a luxuriously appointed wooden lodge on the shores of Lake Manitowish! We had a fantastic time there with the Edgar family. In fact, we changed our plans and extended our stay by one more day. That extra day meant more tubing (Nathan's second time!), more tennis, more swimming and more relaxing! It was hard to pull ourselves away from that beautiful Eden, but we reluctantly drove back to Green Bay where the McCarthy's boarded the planes and made our way back home to Cleveland. Take a look at the slideshow at the end of this blog to get a taste of this beautiful resort!

Nathan was all ready to start First Grade on Thursday, until he complained of a sore throat on Wednesday. Liesel listened to her maternal instincts and took him to be tested for Strep throat, which came back positive. This news devastated Nathan, since he was so looking forward to going back to school. Fortunately, after taking anti-biotics for 24 hours, his throat returned to normal, and at 7:45am on Friday morning, he excitedly climbed into the big yellow school bus.
To celebrate Nathan's first day of First Grade, we went to eat at Moe's on Friday night.
On Saturday morning, Liesel and I took our bodies to another exercise class at our gym. Later that night (and all day Sunday), we began to feel exactly which muscle groups were worked out during the 50 minute class.
Sunday morning, we tried another local church, Grace Baptist, which Liesel and I really enjoyed. Unfortunately there is no children's ministry during the month of August, so Nathan had to spend the entire time with us in the sanctuary. We are eager to return next week, so that Nathan can get a feel for their Sunday School classes. After nap time, the family took a drive to the Westlake Recreation Center, where Liesel and Nathan went to hit a few tennis balls, while I burned off calories following Josh around the three playgrounds. It was a fun afternoon, and weekend, all round.

Just another day in paradise.....

Tonight's sunset over the lake

This vacation is also special because of the number of first's that we experienced! On Thursday, it was the FIRST time that Nathan and I traveled separately to Liesel and Josh. Nath and I were flying from Pittsburgh, PA to Green Bay, WI with a stopover in Detroit, MI, while Liesel and josh flew directly from Cleveland to Green Bay. This was also Josh's FIRST time in an airplane, and he did so well!

Early on Saturday day, Nathan went with Uncle Terence and his "cousins" on a fishing expedition on the rented boat. With a little coaching, he caught his FIRST and SECOND fishes!

That afternoon, all twelve of us boarded the rented pontoon boat and headed across Lake Manitowish. Once we found a good spot, we threw two large tubes into the water and most of us had a turn to go tubing! Nathan and I went on the one tube together, and had an exhilarating ride! Of course, this was Nathan's FIRST tubing experience! Even though he fell off right at the very end - he did so well, and we were very proud of him! Not to be out done by her six year old son, Liesel also joined in the fun, and she too, had a fantastic time on her FIRST tube ride! 

Some of the other activities we've been enjoying include: tennis, volleyball, kayaking, relaxing around the fireplace by the pool, and just relaxing on the deck and taking in the stunning scenery!

This week's blog come to you from the Northwoods of Wisconsin, at the stunningly beautiful Chippewa Lodge overlooking the magnificent Lake Manitowish! Our family was blessed to be able to join Liesel's uncle, aunt and cousins on the final summer vacation before the start of a new school year. We are staying in this luxuriously furnished, 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom wooden lodge that comfortably sleeps 11. The lodge is right on the water's edge of the lake, and one can hear the waves tapping gently against the concrete foundations.

So far, we have had an awesome time here, relaxing and renewing family bonds! The good news is that we still have another 1.5 days left in paradise, before we make our way back to Green Bay to board our flights back home!

Wish you were all here with us!!!!

Kayaking around the lake

Snuggling on the boat

Nathan's catching fish

Our lodge

Nathan's first tube ride

Liesel's first tubing experience

Rainy end to relaxing weekend

This week's heading sums up the weekend very well. Liesel was not feeling 100% so we declined the weekly muscle torture offered by our gym. Instead, I took the boys shopping while Liesel relaxed at home. A while later we returned home, but before going inside, Nathan asked to play some baseball outside. He got his bat out while I put on my baseball glove. Nathan's eye-hand co-ordination has improved greatly, and with his new confidence, it only took about 3 pitches before he blasted the ball back at my head! The ball traveled so fast I didn't even have time to raise my glove, but instead took evasive action to prevent serious injury!! For those who thought it was just a lucky shot, a few balls later and he sent another ball into my chest! Thankfully, it was only a tennis ball and not an actual baseball, which is similar in size and weight to a cricket ball!

That afternoon, I took Nathan to the local library to take part in the Lego Brick Builder's club again! He ha not been to one for several months due to his various broken bones, so he was excited to return to the club. He let his imagination run wild, while I relaxed in the library and caught up on the latest news on my Google tablet!

The sun was shining brightly the entire day, which meant that when it came time for me to mow the lawn, it was still uncomfortably hot! Beads of sweat rolled down my face and off my nose as I carried out my weekly home-owner's chore. Fortunately we have the pool for me to seek some relief from the summer heat. This time I had both boys in the pool with me, as we had cut their hair a little earlier and the pool provided them with a way to get rid of those itchy follicles!

Waking up on Sunday, we were greeted with the pitter patter of raindrops. The rain stopped for a while as we headed out to the store before Church. We tried another new church today, and afterward we can honestly say that we can strike this one off our list. It was a smaller church, slightly disorganized in the childcare department. After dropping off the Josh in his childcare, we went into the church sanctuary. Fortunately because of the slightly cooler weather from the rain, I was wearing my khaki work pants and a golf shirt (I usually wear jeans or even shorts), because it seemed like everyone else had dressed up for the occasion. I even felt under-dressed when I saw teenage boys in front of me with waist coats, and most men had jackets and ties! The service seemed to drag on, and it didn't help that the senior's pastor's sermon ran over 15 minutes late! So we only got out of there after 12:30pm! The boys were starving, since they usually get lunch between 11:30 and 12 :(

Because of the rain, we spent the rest of the day indoors. The boy's previous babysitter stopped by to show us her 6 month old son! It was a sweet "reunion" and Nathan and Josh just loved little Hayden! After their visit, Liesel caught up on some ATP tennis action, while the boys and I sang VeggieTales worship songs at the tops of our voices!  Overall, it was a fun, yet relaxing Sunday!

As for this coming work week, I will only be working for 3 days, before we all fly up to Green Bay for our last getaway of the summer! This be Josh's first ever flight, and Nathan's first flight in about 4 years! They are both so excited and can't wait for Thursday!!

Surprise downpours and dinner dates!

Another awesome summer-time weekend draws to a close. It was  a great weekend for me, with a few surprises thrown in for fun! Saturday morning started off with Liesel and I voluntarily heading back to the place that inflicts pain to our under-utilized muscles. After dropping the boys off in the gym's child-care, we headed upstairs for the workout class. The instructor was very creative and found ways to increase resistance to some mundane exercises, and let's just say, that it worked! Today, Liesel and I are both experiencing severe stiffness in certain muscle groups, that solicit grimaces and wincing every time we stand up, sit down or cross our legs.....
After the gym, we headed to a few stores with the boys before heading home for the afternoon. Later that afternoon, in the upper 80 degree (30C +) heat, I took out my mower to cut the grass before our friends arrived later that evening for dinner. After getting through about 75% of the task, I heard thunder starting to rumble in the distant. Then, a few minutes later, the heavens opened and unleashed a torrent over our house. I was determined not to stop, as the end was in sight for me. So I pushed on through the heavy raindrops and became soaked in the process. It was actually refreshing, since five minutes earlier, perspiration was dripping off my face in the heat!

That evening, we had some friends come over for a pre-birthday dinner with us. I grilled some lamb and salmon and Liesel made the salads and desserts! We all had a great time together, enjoying the delicious food, and company! It was a wonderful time with friends, and even Nathan and Joshua loved hanging out with their friends too!

On Sunday, we headed to another church in the morning. After a great sermon, we stopped at the local mall to go price some cell phones, and give Josh a chance to play in the child area. Afterward, it was lunch time, so we headed back home. That afternoon Nathan, Josh and I played in the pool for a while. Around 5 o' clock, Liesel stuck her head out and said we need to get out since the babysitter is arriving in half an hour... BABYSITTER?? This was news to me! So I came inside and got dressed, only to be told, that I needed to dress up a little nicer... The babysitter showed up on schedule, and then Liesel drove me over to one of my favorite restaurants, the Melting Pot! It was a wonderful surprise! The food was fantastic! We started off with a cheese fondue, where I dipped bread into the cheddar and garlic sauce, while Liesel enjoyed the fresh vegetables. Then for the main course we had shrimp, sirloin, chicken and tuna, which we cooked ourselves in the red wine broth. Finally the dessert came out witha chocolate fondue pot containing both white and milk chocolate. They even put a candle into a slice of cheesecake for me! The dessert tray included pound cake, cheesecake, brownies, marshmallows, rice crispie treats, strawberries and bananas. Decadent, but oh so good! It was a wonderful end to a great weekend! Thanks Liesel!!!

The dessert platter!

The white/milk chocolate fondue!