Fun on the water

The kids got a special treat this year on vacation.  Thursday evening,  our neighbor in the cottage next door had just come back from taking their little granddaughters out tubing behind his speedboat.  That is when Ray called out to our boys to get their suits on, it was now their turn!  So Will and Alex got to go tubing, a new experience for them.

Here are Will (yellow and black life vest) and Taylor, our neighbors granddaughter, getting into the tubes for their first go-around.  Alex in the gray life vest patiently waits his turn.

And they are off!!!

Now it is Alex’s turn.  Next to him are Avery and Kennedy.

Things went really good for everyone on this trip, until Ray ran out of gas!  “Ok, remember the hand signals…. thumbs up means go faster, thumbs down means go slower, and arms waving back and forth frantically means I ran out of gas.”

    

I tried to rescue them in the pontoon boat, but I could not get it started, and lets face it, where engines are concerned, I am an idiot.  Wendy rowed out to them to make sure they were ok.  They got back fine, and we all had a good laugh over it.

That actually happened on Thursday.  Friday after lunch they all got another chance to go out, before we headed home.  A very big Thank You to our new friends, Ray, Gina and Nicki, and the little girls.

Vacation Adventures

Hello again my friends!! I am back from a week long respite with my family, enjoying a relaxing time on a small lake near Hale, MI. An old cottage, a quiet lake; who could ask for more.

When we arrived, everything was not good. The cottage had not been left in a clean condition. The screen porch was not swept, the fire pit was full of trash, and I won’t even mention what the rug was covered with. That rug has since been trashed (suffice it to say, a previous renter had a dog with intestinal problems.

But a bit of cleaning, and we were all set to enjoy ourselves. Saturday, our first full day, dawned gray and rainy. The lake and sky were dark and misty, but it was still a treat to wake up and watch the lake come to life while enjoying my morning coffee.

Here is the cottage, as seen from the lake…

But soon, the weather had cleared, and the weekend crowd were out in full force, enjoying the water and enjoying life.

Personally, I prefer quieter recreational pursuits. Some quiet fishing, if only from the end of the dock. Here is yours truly, showing what was up to then the largest fish I had caught on that lake (Ok, I am not much of a fisherman. I am of the opinion that nothing ruins a relaxing fishing trip more than catching a fish). Thanks to my wife Wendy for taking this picture.

Monday brought beautiful weather, clear skies and a calm lake.

By now the weekenders had gone home, and the lake was quiet. My family all enjoyed themselves. Alex spent a lot of time catching frogs…

And he and his brother Will even took time out to play chess (who are you, and what did you do with my children?)

Even Psychodog loves the cottage. Hey, who wants to play ball???

On Sunday, we woke up to quite a surprise. A picnic table had floated across the lake, and wedged itself against our dock.

Apparently, some partiers across the lake had thrown it in the water, and the wind pushed it all the way to our dock. The owners eventually cruised by in a pontoon boat and found it (Will and I had pulled it out of the water, and set it by the lake). They returned with a truck and took it home, grateful we had found it.

Shelby (aka Psychodog), our wire haired fox terrier, loves the cottage. After playing hard, she likes to cool off in the lake…

She loves the water, as long as it is not over her head. She is the only dog I know that cannot swim. But after a hard day of playing, she is ready to relax….

And as the day ends, the rest of us relax around a small campfire. At least until the mosquitoes get too thick…

Our lake is also home to many birds, including Loons and Eagles. I have much more to share with you. Stay tuned! And thanks for visiting.

Vacation

Hello there friends!!  I have been awful busy the last few days, so I have not been able to post anything lately.  We are heading out for a weeklong vacation at the lake, so I will not be able to tend my humble site here for a while.  But I promise to have lots to share when I get back. 

Thanks for visiting, and I will see you in a few days.

Tall Ships, part 2

I went to Wenonah Park yesterday to see the tall ships.  They are now tied up along the river, and a whole festival is taking place around them.  I arrived at 10, right at opening, and already there were a couple thousand people there.  You  can see the crowd lined up to get in.

Some folks really get into the spirit of the event.

One of my favorites is the HMS Bounty

The Roseway

All the pretty ships in a row…

    

The Europa, with other ships lined up behind it.

I think I like the figurehead on the Europa better than the HMS Bounty’s.

Some of the ships were on the other side of the river.   Here is the Denis Sullivan…..

  

And the Playfair.

   

Here is a panorama of the far side of the river, showing several ships on that side.

The Eagle Has Landed

While waiting for the tall ships to arrive yesterday afternoon, my son and his friends came riding up on their bikes, telling me a hawk was sitting on the trail, and do I want to get a picture.  Hmmmmm.  A hawk, just sitting on the ground.  I thought about it, and the fact that there is an eagle next nearby with 2 young eagles, and decided this warrants investigation.  So we walked down the trail and sure enough, the “hawk” was one of the young fledgling eagles.  It was sitting on the back of a bench at the edge of the trial. I call it a fledgling, but don’t let that fool you.  It was nearly the size of an adult, with fully functioning bill and talons.

 

I am sure this bird will have no trouble defending itself.  Just check out these talons.

Even this young, this has to be one of the most wonderful and majestic sights you can see.

As great as it was to see this, after a few moments I told the kids to move away, and not to get close.  I am sure that Mom and Dad Eagle were nearby, watching.  And I am sure they were not happy about our presence.  Besides, what this young bird needs is to be left alone, so it can grow up and soar in our skies.

Tall Ship Celebration – Bay City, Michigan

Today was the first day of the 2010 Tall Ship Celebration in Bay City, Michigan.  Almost a dozen tall sailing ships from around the world came to Bay City today, for a three day festival (for more information on this festival, go to http://tallshipcelebration.com/ ).  We spent over three hours this afternoon, with a large crowd of people, watching the ships come up the Saginaw River into Bay City.  I would like to share few highlights with you here today.

An eager crowd is gathering on a very hot, muggy day.  You can see just how hazy it was in some of the pictures.

About an hour before the ships arrived, we were treated to a brief but heavy downpour, with thunder rumbling all around.  The eager crowd stuck it out, but became a bit more condensed during the rain.

The Roald Amundsen, brig from Eckernförde, Germany.

The HMS Bounty sailing up the river.

The HMS Bounty was commissioned by MGM Studios for the movie Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando.  This ship has appeared in many additional movies as well.

The Europa, a Barque from The Hague, Netherlands.

  

Hey, shouldn’t they be going upstream?  The Roseway, a schooner from the US Virgin Islands, takes a load of passengers out for a cruise.

The Denis Sullivan, a three-masted schooner out of Milwaukee, WI.

Arrrrrrg, there be pirates among us! 

My personal favorite, the Pride of Baltimore II, out of, you guessed it, Baltimore, MD.  This ship has been to town several times, and I was able to get on board for a tour its last trip to Bay City.

There were more ships, and a special surprise, this afternoon.  Those pictures will be posted tomorrow, but I think this is enough for today.  Thanks for visiting!

Camping – again

Here are a few snapshots from our weekend camping trip.  Nothing special, just some random pictures I took.  We camped at the Outdoor Adventure’s Saginaw Bay Resort.  A very nice campground.

Our site was along the edge of the campground.  Shelby wondered what was making that noise in the trees.  I did not have the heart to tell her it was me.

 

The best part of camping – Breakfast!

Here is the obligatory campfire shot

This resort has a nice swimming and fishing pond, complete with fountain.

I took a walk along a trail that circles the campground.  I got a nice shot of a mushroom…

And this remnant of a tree stump, sitting in a spotlight of sunshine filtering through the trees.

On Saturday evening, a number of thunderstorms rumbled all around us.  Fortunately, they all missed us. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to get out on a real photo safari soon.  When I do, you know i will share them with you!