City Boy

Only in the city would Eric know instinctively what the purpose of a plastic bag was at the dog park. Completely unprompted, I swear! Doug and I almost died laughing on Sunday when he started walking around the park trying to pick up things using the plastic bag!

Luckily, no dog poop was in sight.

Giddyup!

Eric may be trying the patience of our angel Pokey. She is so patient with him and actually prefers to lay in the middle of his play area, probably to snag any falling Cheerios!

Pokey and the Pokey look-alike after a hard day's work.

I love the fishes because they are so delicious!

We have all gotten into fishing when we go up north. It is relaxing, doesn't require alot of energy, tends to involve drinking beer, and creates a little bit of a competitive environment. This year, the fishing started off a bit slower, as the fish must have been scared away by the Sparnfarkel. However, towards the end of the week, Doug was back to catching lots of the smallest fish ever (I think he caught one smaller than a gold fish this year!) Dena took the prize this year with a 14 inch Walleye...too bad she told everyone that she was reading when she "caught" it and thought she was stuck on a log!


Eric got into the swing of things pretty quickly as well. We started him off with his own rod that Grandpa and Grandma picked up at a local yard sale. With the help of his daddy, he caught a few small fish that way. But what he was really excited about was catching fish from the minnow bucket. Like everything else at this point, it is all about taking things out and then putting them back. I was impressed at how well he held on to the fish.





Once he got a taste for the fishing life, Eric decided to go to his Uncle Matty for some advice on how to catch the big ones...






As you can see, we had a fantastic week in Wisconsin. Until next year!

Fun at the Biergarten

One of Doug's favorite things to do with Eric is take him to bars. When him and Eric are on their own without momma, I can always count on finding them at Boston Beer Works. So, the one thing we had to do when we were in Wisconsin was take Eric to Doug's favorite Biergarten, Ottos!

Eric had a great time playing bar games and re-landscaping their outdoor patio. In fact, that is one of his new favorite past times...moving rocks and sticks from one place to another.

Looks like Eric might enjoy the much hated chore of picking rocks from the fields! Maybe we are Wisconsin bound afterall?!?

NO WAY! ;O)

Through the Generations

4 generations of Lohses....


Eric met his Great-Grandma Lohse for the first time during this last trip to Wisconsin. These pictures of all 4 generations are special no doubt and pictures we will cherish for a lifetime.

I love this picture...you can see just how much she adores him.

Eric is lucky to have 2 other great-grandparents that think he is pretty awesome as well...

4 Generations of Edmonds

4 Generations of Wischs

Crazy Grandpa!

Eric has been blessed with two crazy grandpas, both into their toys and and both looking for any way to make people laugh.

We got plenty of both last week with Grandpa Lohse.

On the toy front, Eric got to sample many different types of vehicles. ATVs, kids bikes, and grown-up bikes with the kid carrier. While the ATV produced the biggest grin from Eric (especially when we went fast!! He made his mommy proud!), he was the most into the kids bike, especially the bell.

On the laughs front, we had plenty. Two worth mentioning were captured on film (thank goodness or no one would believe us!)

The first...So, kinda like the Sparnfarkel concept, I can't really explain this. And in this case, I am not going to try. But let me tell you that I am still having nightmares.

The second...this one comes with a story. We were stuck in a thunder and lightening storm on the boat (don't worry, our lightening expert Doug SWORE we were in the safest place possible) and Darwin got bored. So, he decided to figure out how we could pull the inner tube behind the boat. He pulled out this giant rope that he bought at a yard sale for $.99, went to his truck and somehow found 2 massive carabiners, and got to work. Of course, once it was all set, he needed someone to test it out. Now, given the weather conditions, no one was really jumping at the chance, so he volunteered to go out. Here is what happened from there.

Just remember, he was tied to a boat that was NOT moving....

However, even with all of these toys and laughs, Eric was a bit suspicious of Grandpa Lohse. As you can see by the look in his eye, he only had one thing to say:

"I will be watching you and if I find that you are trying to corrupt your son's first born child, I will bring you down, baby. I will bring you down to Chinatown. "

I only have two things to say...I am glad Eric is on my side, but I am also glad that Eric has such a loving grandpa that will hopefully teach him how to enjoy every second of every day.

Water Fun

The weather only allowed us a few days on the boat this year, but even with the short time, Eric seems to be a natural and enjoyed life cruising around on the boat.

Mid-way through, we stopped a beach and got out for a swim. We tried swimmies for the first time, and after the initial shock of having something big on his arms, he seemed to like it. It may have helped that the water was about 30 degrees warmer than the ocean in the Northeast and the fact that his Auntie Dena was QUITE entertaining.

We even tried him out in the tube, which he wasn't sure if he trusted.

After warming up a little, he was back on the go. You will notice he was a little disappointed that we didn't save him any wine. ;o)

Another fantastic day....I think next summer Eric will be even more excited to go boating and hopefully his upcoming week at the NC beaches will deepen his love for the water.

The Lohse Sparnfarkel

- Raising 2 wonderful children and tens of thousands of pigs

- Hundreds of hours putting those "old folks" to work crafting

- Answering the calls of farmers everywhere, anytime of the day

- Delivering bags and bags of seed to keep the corn jacket industry flourishing

- Embracing the hard work of being grandparents (including hours of searching garage sales for roller skates, bikes for all ages, Fisher Price toys, fishing rods, and anything else that would make their grandchildren smile)

These are only a few of the many accomplishments of Doug's parents, Dianne and Darwin. So, you can see why a Sparnfarkel was ABSOLUTELY necessary.

For those of you don't know what a Sparnfarkel is, well, don't feel like you are alone. Even Wikipedia doesn't have a clue, which says alot. It is hard to explain really since it is more about the experience, but I will give it a shot.

- It always requires roasting a pig which in this case started packed in ice in the back of an Expedition.

- And requires lots of people ready for a good time....usually packed into a garage (the Wisconsin Way!)

- Of course you need ways (besides food and beer) to keep them entertained

- And there are usually always crazy gifts to keep everyone laughing

- And in this case also featured a classy congratulatory cake that had been dropped by yours truly on the top of the stove, scooped back up, and then put out for everyone to eat (which I have to say, amazingly enough, there wasn't a crumb left. I guess it REALLY is just about how it tastes, because it looked like it had been run over by an ATV!)

So, next time you get invited to a Sparnfarkel, expecially a Lohse Sparnfarkel, make sure you go because you will meet lots of great people and laugh until your stomach hurts.

Congrats Dianne and Darwin on your Retirement!!

Annual Labor Day trip to Wisconsin

Over the past 6-7 years, we have established a tradition of sorts to spend at least 4 or 5 days up North in Wisconsin, enjoying the quiet of the northwoods, fishing, boating, and playing with whatever other new toys Darwin has purchased over the year.

This year was no different. We headed out on Saturday the 30th with the entire family (yes, Pokey gets to come too. She would disown us if we left her home...she absolutely LOVES it up there!) We had a fabulous time, probably the best trip yet mostly due to how much fun it was to have Eric there.

I was looking through all of the pictures this morning trying to determine what to post and found myself saving ALOT of pictures to share on the blog. So, instead of trying to cram them into one post, I have decided to have daily installments this week with the highlights from our trip. It was just THAT much fun!

So, as a preview for what is to come this week, below are a few teasers:

- Lohse Retirement Party

- Boating and Swimming

- Crazy Grandpa!

- Through the generations...

- Fun at the Biergarten (Gotta Love Ottos!)

- Fishing (How big was that fish really??!)

Stay Tuned!