Dunn deal

Lathered in sunscreen and bug dope, topped with her white sun hat and sporting new water shoes, Elise was guided slowly from the dock into the shallow water of Dunn Lake.

As palm-sized sunfish lingered, gentle waves rolled into the cove and her parents stood by hoping for a positive reaction, Elise wanted only one thing: to go farther into the lake.

We took that to mean her introduction to Dunn Lake was a success.

We spent last weekend at Anni's grandparents' lake cabin near Spooner, Wis. With the exception of the past few years, Anni and I have visited the cabin nearly every year we've been together. Of course, I showed up very late in the game; her grandparents built the current cabin when Anni was crawling. 

It's a comfortable cabin, on a nice lake where you see boaters but usually from a distance. The water is clean, the views from the cabin windows peaceful. It's quiet there, except for when the loons call.

So you can understand our desire to get Elise there, even if she doesn't remember a darned thing from her inaugural cabin weekend.

She may not remember anything from the trip, but she enjoyed it at the time. She made herself comfortable, learning that the two recliner chairs are great to stand on (until the buzzkill parents tell you to sit down), the $4.99 alarm clock in the bedroom is the best toy you could have and there are worse ways to eat your meals than to look outside at a lake.

We left the cabin once during the weekend, in pursuit of fruit. We were drawn to a farm just outside Spooner that grows organic blueberries and raspberries -- and you pick 'em. 

Well, Elise certainly had no trouble hanging out there. We picked about four or five pounds of blueberries -- not counting the pound or so she inhaled when we were not trying to teach her to drop them in the bucket.

The berries that haven't been eaten yet will be used for a homemade blueberry pie.

This being July in the upper Midwest, the weather can be uncertain. It could be windy and cloudy, making swimming less desirable to some of us (me), or it could be stifling and humid, making anything other than swimming undesirable. For the most part, the weather cooperated for us. We got Elise into the water early Saturday afternoon, just before a storm rolled in. The timing was good. She'd been in the water for an hour and her lips were turning blue. I guess that is fairly common for little kids, but it still will cut short one's lollygagging in the lake.

Besides swimming and eating, there are two things Anni and I do well when we visit the cabin: reading and sleeping. Our efforts in those areas were impressive during this trip, especially considering we were sharing the cabin with a 16-month-old not prone to sedentary activity.

We hit the water with Elise a second time on Sunday morning, when the air was a bit cooler but the lake still was warm enough to lure even a water wuss like myself. Again, Elise seemed to enjoy the water. Anni and I took turns holding her, each of us noticing that, hey, she doesn't get heavy when you're standing in water.

We packed up for home relaxed, recharged and thankful the first family cabin trip went off without a hitch. It was easier to leave this time, too, knowing that we already booked a second weekend at the cabin, about a month from now.

Bench warmer

She's not big on family pictures lately.

Berries for dessert

We're playing catch-up

Give me a big, fat 'F' for my recent blogging efforts, but we've been pretty busy. We've had out-of-town guests and a squatter for at least 10 of the past 14 days. I like visitors, and frankly would take more if people want to crash here, but it leaves little time for blogging.
So, time to catch up. But before I start, I'm reminded of something somebody told me recently: "You know, that blog. Sometimes I start reading and wonder: When is he going to be done? Some of the blogs go on forever. I just stop reading."
It's a shame people are so passive these days. 
Anyway, seeing as I've probably already lost that person, let's get into it. To the update!
Trucks. Water. Crowds.
Since I last posted, we had family in town to help boost attendance at the "first-annual" Stillwater Fire Muster, organized by my Dad, who for the first time I can remember held a clipboard and had to worry about being on time because police escorts don't dilly dally when they close intersections. He pulled it off without a hitch. As it turned out, he didn't need family to fill empty spots in the park because a healthy crowd of a few hundred people showed up to watch 10 or 12 antique, retired fire trucks pump river water and blast it into the air on a steamy summer afternoon. We had a good time. It was a success for many reasons. Next year's muster already is on our calendar. It should be on yours. 

The trucks lined the street near the levee in Lowell Park.

That's Dad, in case you didn't recognize him with a clipboard. Those other guys own fire trucks and were nice enough to take orders from somebody doing this for the first time. 

Elise, who as you can see doesn't just give smiles away for nothing, didn't know quite what to think of the fire engines, but did point to them and say "truck." Oh, and my red shirt? I was assigned muster staff duties -- I'm still not sure what my actual duties were -- and proved to be the least knowledgeable person in a "staff" shirt. Everything went fine until I started having flashbacks to my days working for the Bull's Eye.

A post-muster nap.

Hot in the heat
So the muster was good fun, but Anni and I dropped the ball that day. Elise had slept unusual hours and was a bit sluggish for part of the day. We didn't think much of it -- until later that day when we (OK, Anni) realized that Elise was roastin'. We checked her temperature and the thermometer hit 101 degrees with no sign of stopping. Yikes. She kicked whatever bug she had after a good night's sleep and a day home from school.
He's back

One of our recent visitors has been my brother, Bryan, who's in town from Vegas. Elise had not seen him since Christmas, but they reconnected pretty quick. Of course, he leaves soon and somehow has once again avoided diaper duty.

She seems chipper, right? Funny, because this photo was taken right about the time her temperature was climbing past 101. Go figure.

Fireworks, no photos

Last weekend we celebrated July 4th by having family and friends over to our house. Good times, but Anni and I decided we need to add an element of excitement to next year's gathering. She suggested three-legged races or a pinata. I think we're doing both unless I come up with something better. Please, send suggestions.
I would have posted a photo of Elise on July 4th, or even a picture of her with our friends Petra and Lee, who were visiting from New York for the weekend, but as the weekend ended I realized that I had taken no photos.
Free, but busy
This weekend is the first since before Memorial Day that we had nothing scheduled -- thankfully. Time to relax, pick backyard raspberries with our pint-sized berry addict and enjoy a summer weekend.