Tom & Brenda's Family Journal

We took the kids to my sister's house on Lake Superior this weekend. Although the wind was blowing and the temperature was in the high 60's, they loved the water. Sherry took this picture later in the day as the sun was going down over the lake. After the kids would swim for a while, they would come out and wrap up in towels to warm up. Once they were all dry, they headed back into the water. It must have been fun but that didn't seem fun to me. Back at the cabin, the kids have been swimming, fishing and even water skiing. Jack, Jay and Madelynn were all successful getting up on skis . We've spend time in the kitchen whipping up meals. Sherry brought several with her and we have enjoyed them. Here Anna and I are making cupcakes for lunch.

I'm copying parts of this post from my blog at saultboatwatcher.com. Time is short with Tommy, Sherry and the family here. Jen has been here since Monday and left this morning to return to Alto. She leaves for North Carolina on Friday. Everything is more fun when it's done with grandchildren. That has been the story of my week. This morning, we got up early and colored, played golf ball toss, flew kites, blew big bubbles, went out on the paddle boat and also went swimming all before 11 AM. The weather was sunny and promised to be a warm day but since noon it clouded over and the temperature has been falling. The kids are now in long sleeves with sweatshirts- once they come out of the water. This afternoon there was water skiing and tubing. They get out of the water, warm up and then head back in. Today Jay got up on water skis for the first time. Jack and Madelynn also got up too but they both succeeded last summer. This picture was taken yesterday at Birch Point near ...

Tommy, Sherry and the kids arrived at the Cabin on Sunday afternoon. We were ready with bikes for all the kids and Grandpa took them riding for lots of fun. We played games, had hot chocolate and finished the day watching Hannah Montana on television. Today the guys got right to work getting a load of metal to take in for scrap. Tommy, Jay and Jack took apart an old picnic table. Jack is helping Grandpa here load an old tank onto the trailer. When they took the load in, they got $75 and Grandpa promised some to each of the kids. Madelynn rode along to deliver the load. Grandpa suggested that Anna come in the house to help Grandma instead of the heavy work outdoors. So Anna and I made lunch-soup, pumpkin bread and carrot cupcakes. The work crew was very happy with our work too. Here are the guys bringing wood down to our bonfire pile. We're hoping to have a big bonfire for Tommy's birthday on Friday. The water was wonderful today. The kids all took turns at fishing but...

Let me start out by saying that our cabin was built approximately 60 years ago by my grandparents. They had the logs cut from tamarack trees which are known for their hardiness. For many years the cabin was used only in the summer but at some point they decided to winterize it and add running water, electricity etc. We bought the cabin in 1999 after my grandmother passed away. We known all along that it needed major work to survive. It was built as a cabin and as things break, it has become increasingly difficult to fix them. So here begins the story of the hot water heater. Each year we get the heater going and are thankful that it lasted through another year. But when we returned up here last week, our good luck ran out. The first night Tom put the fuses in to start it and it went well but the next morning, we had boiling hot water. The thermostat was broken and then it let loose and we had water all over the kitchen where the heater is. This is what it looked like when Tom s...

I returned to Caledonia last Friday with Jen, Madelynn and Jay. We had a great time at the Cabin even though is was too cold for swimming. Madelynn and Jay waded into the water and Jay even got to find some crayfish bones. He put them in plastic cups which is exactly what I did as a kid and my kids did too. What I didn't know as a kid was that they become smelly very quickly, so I disposed of Jay's after bedtime and he didn't remember them in the morning. On Sunday we were invited over to Sherry's parent's house for swimming in their pool. Al and Pam are in the UP, but we enjoyed the time there with Tom & Sherry and Sherry's sisters and families. Here is our Anna jumping into the pool. All our grandchildren are confident in the pool and like doing fancy jumps and dives into the water. I'm sure they get that from their mother but Grandpa Benedict was swimming and doing fancy dives too. This picture is Madelynn. I'm not sure which dive this i...

We woke up to a very foggy river yesterday and that causes everything in our yard to be covered in fog too. Our spiders are very busy every night but it made for a spooky looking anchor out front. The fog quickly lifted and we had a perfect day. There was a stiff breeze off the water which kept it cool enough to work hard in the yard. Both kids and Jen helped out with the raking and weeding. The weeds grow so tall and strong here that we take them out of the yard and flower beds by the wheelbarrow full. The kids were a big help. As a reward and for their last night, we went to Clyde's Restaurant for dinner. It is a drive-in that is right on the best boat watching spot in the Soo . We watched the ferry carry people back and forth to Sugar Island and wondered about what it must be like to live on an island. While eating our dinner, the American Integrity passed by. The captain waved back to Jay but who could resist such an enthusiastic boat watcher? There were several othe...

The crowd at the Cascade Parade on the 4th Tom's birthday was last Saturday on the 4th, so we had an old-fashioned picnic at Cascade Park. I reserved the gazebo and it was a wonderful place for a picnic. After watching the Cascade Parade with Mom in the Sunrise bus in the parade, we went to Blimpie to pick up the sub that Kristen had ordered for her dad's big day. After eating the we played frisbee. All the running and jumping warmed us up on a cool day. Yesterday, I returned to the Cabin without Tom. He stayed home to work on projects to get ready for our open house next Sunday. Jennifer, Madelynn and Jay came with me and we're having a great time. The weather is wonderful but a little too cool for swimming. We will return to Caledonia on Friday to help tom finish up before the open house on Sunday.