Fun with Grandchildren and Canoeing in July

This year's Father's Day was very special for Rusty!  He spent the day with his two daughters and granddaughter at the Children's Zoo.

Celeste and Papaw.

Daughter, Lindsay

Daughter, Anna

The Zoo offers many hands-on experiences for children.

Celeste got to pet many critters, including a bunny.

She stood in a replica of an eagle's nest.

She rode a pony.

The all-time favorite is the train ride!

We attended a political rally for Chuck Hassebrook, a man we'd very much like to see as Nebraska's next governor.

Chuck announces Raybold as running mate.

Our summer adventure in the Boundary Waters wilderness began with my close encounter with wildlife.

Di and a friendly moose.

This trip to the BWCAW we took solo canoes.  That means we each had to paddle and portage our own canoes.  (We hoisted nearly 40 pounds over our heads and then portaged.)

We entered on South Kawishiwi River.  This is the end of the portage and beginning of the paddling.

We had a lovely campsite for four nights.

Each night we were serenaded by bullfrogs, leopard frogs and green frogs.  The Green frogs were the funniest.  They sounded a lot like rubber-band guitars.  Go to this website and listen to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0uGjsM_gh4

Rusty fished...

...and caught a nice Northern

...and cleaned the fish

(I tied faggots for fire starters.)

...and chopped wood

...and searched for a frying pan

...and built the fire to cook our dinner.

I mostly relaxed!

We had some unusual bugs...

...and a really cool-looking fungus.

We put the fish scraps on a nearby rock.  First the seagull had lunch, then the eagle came in for the rest.

I  LOVE paddling my canoe!  I went up one rapids and down two rapids!

Beautiful view from our campsite.

Pierce came to visit GiGi and Papaw for three days and two nights.  It was a big adventure for all three of us!

Pierce brought his bicycle and we rode the trail to a nearby park.  Total mileage: 1.75 miles.

Our tandem canoe is in MN, and our solo canoes are not made for two people.  However, I really wanted to give Pierce a ride in the canoe, so Rusty helped to make it happen.  Loading all of the gear and tying on two canoes is a big deal; it takes the better part of an hour for loading and then again for unloading.

Rusty did most of the hard work.

Pierce sat on a pad on the floor of the canoe right behind my seat.  He had to sit very still so that we didn't tip over.  We put a 5-gallon jug of water in the front of the canoe to help counter-balance Pierce's weight.

It was windy, but Pierce did an excellent job of sitting still so we didn't fall in the water.

I think he actually liked throwing rocks into the water more than the canoe ride.

Pierce woke up early and went to the St. Francis Garden with me.

He picked peppers, carrots, beats, and beans.

One day we explored the piano.

Pierce had to swim a long distance to prove to the lifeguards that he was ready to use the diving board.

He had a great time!  I was worn out just watching him.

Pierce and Papaw both liked the slide.

We played lawn darts, bocci, Monopoly and Battle Ship.  Pierce read to us from Captain Underpants.  We were very impressed at his reading!  We don't think either of us read that well at such a young age!

Every night ended in story time.

Rusty loves to tease and he has been teasing Pierce and Reese about the elephants in the field behind our back yard for several years.  When the boys were really young, he took them out back and had them bang sticks together to chase off the elephants.  It was totally delightful to see that during this visit, Pierce now understands how to "play" the elephant joke.

Pierce was a very polite and kind young man.  We can't wait to have him visit again!

On our way to Mound City, MO to deliver Pierce back to Mom, we observed solar cars driving in the opposite direction.  We assume they were participating in some type of competition.

While these cars of the future were speeding in one direction, we saw about 8 Model-T-era cars being trucked in the opposite direction.

We were a week late, but finally we had time to celebrate Rusty's 66th birthday.

Birthday dinner at Billy's Restaurant.