We had Basil, who just turned six, and Levi, nearly four, visit
for a week. This was their longest stay
away from home without Mommy, so it was a very big deal.
Gramps had bought the boys a book in a national park on their favorite subject.
They fished with Gramps, took pontoon boat
rides, swam at the Long Lake State Park, scrubbed a playhouse we had acquired
for free, played in it, played with all the toys, went for a walk and read
books—and that was just the first day.
We visited Gram Gram in Fond du Lac, played in the park
there, and climbed the lighthouse.
Chute Pond is an Oconto county park in northeast Wisconsin
that was a favorite for picnics, swimming, and hiking on the rocks for my family
when I was a kid. Later we went with our
children Troy and Tara and my brother’s family along with Grandma and Grandpa.
We all had wonderful times there. Now it
was time for the third generation to experience it, so we took the camper up
for a couple days.
The boys could not get enough of climbing on the big hills
of granite. I was afraid Levi might be
too young, but he scrambled everywhere too.
He said , “We are going to look for deer tracks and deer poop. Follow me.”
And he marched off across the rock hill.
Some stretches of rock are 100 feet long. Some places we had to climb up and over. Both boys did it. They would run, fall on the rock and get
right up and keep going. We got a little
lost a few times. That didn’t even
perturb them.
Of course when we camp we try to cook most meals over the
fire. Aunt Carol Petty gave them sporks
and matching bandana napkins for camping which they loved.
On the way home we stopped at Bay Beach old-time amusement
park in Green Bay. Most rides cost a
quarter, so the boys scampered from one ride to the next, having a ball. The most exciting was the giant slide where
you go down on burlap sacks over some steep drops. After three times, I said Jeammma can not
walk up those steps again. They
left saying, “Next time we come here . . .”
Basil is growing up.
He was such a helper, even vacuuming the back seat of the truck where
they had scattered a few crumbs. The
last night at our house he caught four fish from the dock.
We hope this was the first of many summer trips to Wisconsin
for the boys.
