Monica and Kayleen enjoy a cool dip in Lake Superior. It’s getting late, but the light is awesome and it’s very calm. Little Gordy prefers to wander along the shore and leave the swimming to the girls. Meanwhile the rest of the boys work hard at getting the bonfire going. There’s something about boys and fire. Valri and Gordy just hang out and enjoy the day.
Gordy sent out the call for all kids to head for Houghton. We were heading for the surplus store for an unspecified mission. Charlie was to captain our trustworthy vessel under the watchful eye of master seaman Gordy. I’m not sure what’s behind Gabe’s expression, maybe he had his mouth open and a big mosquito flew in unexpectedly. There were plenty of fun things to check out at the store. I had a load of fun in the hats section. Time to stock up on the fur hats before winter comes. ...
Gabe’s been fishing off the dock pretty much every day since we got here. First thing in the morning, he runs to the dock. Whenever he has time during the day, off to the dock for more fishing. Late at night trying to get him to bed, he wants to fish just a little longer. Most of the time he’s catching small rock bass. Occasionally he catches a sucker and has to find someone to get it off the hook. ...
We decided to spend the day doing a road trip. Our first stop was the Delaware copper mine. We’ve been to the Quincy mine before, but we had heard great things about this one. The tour was excellent and quite a bit different in style from the Quincy. Our tour guide was full of humorous anecdotes. We even got buzzed by a bunch of bats while we were down there. An old style drill was on display, and I’m not quite sure what that blurry picture was. ...
Probably one of the kids favorite pastimes is catching frogs. I’m sure we had some collection of frogs and toads in the sauna pretty much every night. They caught so many of them that they stopped giving them names. Of course I’m sure we saw the same frogs quite a few times. Gabe is showing off his frog in his new frog facts shirt. Can you tell what little boy loves frogs? ...
The big drama this year was Gordon’s leg. He got some kind of infection near his ankle from some mysterious source. Unfortunately his regular doctor was not available, and the first diagnosis was some skin infection. He took medicine for a long time without a lot of success. He made quite a few visits including this trip to the hospital to pump him full of antibiotics and make sure he rested. We all stopped by to raise his spirits. ...
The past few years we’ve seen an increasing number of bald eagles up north. There’s a pair of adults with a whole pile of adolescents. They appear to hang out in a specific tree just a bit south of us. Here are a few shots of one of the young eagles. He let us look for a little while before he decided we were a bit too close for comfort. ...
here’s a place in Houghton called Chutes and Ladders. It’s an awesome playground we take the kids to sometimes. It has a nice little beach where the you can see Gabe enjoying himself. Charlie looks like he’s ready to leave though. That’s the Ranger in the background coming back from a trip to Isle Royale. What you can’t see unfortunately is the huge slide structure that is the basis for the place’s name. It’s a huge towering set of ladders climbing to the top of 3 or 4 long slides. It’s well worth the climb. The beach is a good cooling off break after sliding for a while on a hot day. ...
Another favorite trip when we’re up in Bootjack, is driving somewhere on the northern shore. There are lots of great rock beaches for agate picking. The black flies tend to be much worse, but you just have to stay alert. Those suckers will take a pint of blood without you even knowing. Here Gabe is having some fun by the waterfalls. Walking up and down the beaches is always fun. Everyone tries to find agates, or at least very cool looking rocks. It’s hard to resist the impulse to do the Yooper jig, and Valri is no exception. ...
Well it’s that time of year to be in Bootjack again. It sure is a welcome site to see Charlotte (senior) in her black outfit and colorful hat. There’s always a bunch of new things around camp that you have to be briefed on. I suppose Valri is getting the latest scoop on one of the many gardens. I guess this family of geese has yet to learn that the Multer and Peyser kids are in town. For their own safety, it’s best for them to find a new location to lounge around for the next month. I’m sure Joey is admiring the beauty of these living creatures, or maybe something else. ...