Tooth Removal

Yesterday Anna lost her front tooth. She was thrilled since she has been waiting for this to happen for the last two weeks. Every morning she'd ask me to pull it and when I got close to doing it she'd chicken out. This reminded me of dad's remedy for loose teeth. He'd always tell us that he was going to tie a string to the tooth and tie the other end of the string to a door knob. He'd threaten to slam the door and we'd run away! I don't think he ever tried this with any of us but we all feared the tooth pulling treatment.

Whoopie Cushion!

Let's face it. Farts are universally funny. Our family went years where we always celebrated a holiday with a whoopie cushion. It's October and the leaves are falling...we must need a jack o' lantern whoopie cushion. It's December...what better way to celebrate the birth of Christ than a whoopie cushion with a manger scene. It's the fourth of July...nothing more patriotic than a red, white and blue whoopie cushion. Dad should rest easy knowing that this tradition is alive and well in the next generation. Stella's big purchase in the Dells was a whoopie cushion.

Blu Hollow Resort

Mom has been spending the week in the Dells with Myndy's family and her mind must be on past family vacations. When she called today she thought I needed to write something in the blog about Blu Hollow Resort and our family memories there. We started going to Blu Hollow when I was in about fifth grade. Dad loved fishing on Blue Lake and so we started to rent a cabin there each summer. Bob and Candy Peters owned this resort for a few years and dad made a lifelong friend in Bob. One of the most vivid memories from Blu Hollow was when the power went out. Dad always wanted to help out in situations like this so he got out his climbers, climbed the electric pole and tried to fix the wiring. Can't you just picture him up there tinkering!

Squeakers

Myndy, Jason, Stella, Mylee and Grandma Susie are enjoying the week at the Wisconsin Dells. They spent part of today at the cheese factory and now are enjoying fresh cheese curds. These were dad's favorite treat. Stella was excited and said, "Mom, they really do squeak in my mouth."

Snow Fort!

As I did my walk/run around the block yesterday I had to smile at a family I saw making a snow fort. The mom was cutting out bricks and the dad was working on a tunnel through the snow. The three year old was sitting contentedly watching mom and dad work. This made me think of the amazing snow fort my cousins Jenny and Heidi and I made at our house. Dad helped us cut the bricks and the fanciest feature was a tunnel you could slide through to get to the bottom. This was all great until Cousin Jenny got stuck and dad had to shovel her out. Great memories!

Up North at the Cabin

Erik is pining away for a little cabin time. Every day he wakes up and says, "Let's go see Grandma Susie at the cabin." Tonight we read his favorite "Up North at the Cabin". He looked at the picture of the grandpa in the boat and said, "There's grandpa Myles." Here's my own version of Up North at the Cabin. Up North at the Cabin the walleye are always biting and my dad is always with me in the rumble of the Coon Truck, the sweetness of the pure maple syrup and in the middle boat seat my dad is always with me Up North at the Cabin the walleye are always biting and my dad is always with me in the "Folsom Prison Blues" sung round the camp fire, the neon lights from the juke box, and the Scrabble dice box my dad is always with me.

DQ

It's just about the time of year when Dairy Queen opens up again which means spring is just around the corner. Today I was reminded of my dad's favorite...a hot fudge, marshmallow sundae. I have great memories of sitting at the Lover's Lane Park enjoying our ice cream and shooting the breeze.