Summer Update

July 11 was the annual Waterbrooke Youth Canoe Trip down the Cannon River. We met at the church at 8:30 in the morning for devotions and to car pool. There were about 25 of us eventually. Prayer for safety is a must, since there are always beginners on the trip!

We start at the Welch Village Mill and rent canoes. They shuttle us to Cannon Falls and we put our canoes into the river. Wouldn't you know, that part of the river is the fastest! The novices have to learn real quick!


Hey, no fair, Alyssa gets a free ride!

We stop at the same island every year for lunch. Why this particular island? You'll see as you scroll down.


The kids enjoy a nice swim to the other side of the river.

The water was a mite cold, but we got plenty of sunburn, too!


The other side of the island has a set of rapids. Evan is giving some of the newbies a quick lesson in body surfing the rapids on your life vest - what a rush!


Hold on!

We paddle another 6 miles back to Welch - encountering many hazards along the way. It's a good thing we have 6 miles of smooth sailing in order to practice our steering techiniques, because the last half of the journey has big rocks, and MANY tubers to avoid before we arrive back at the cars.

You'd think this rock would be easy to steer clear of, but a few years ago our pastor and his wife managed to get stuck right on top of it (of course, the river WAS a bit higher that year!). We call this Maureen's Rock and made sure she knew when it was coming coming close this year. We actually had no flipped canoes at all, however, a few of our group thought it was an adventure to paddle backwards after getting caught up on the frequent sandbars and low, rocky rapids!

It was a beautiful day, and a great way to enjoy God's creation.

More Casey Travels!

Wow, it seems like we've been all around the USA this year! How lucky we are to be able to travel, see new things, and hang out with relatives we wish we could see more often. (And ... play a few holes of golf on the way!) We began our trip this summer by heading to Michigan to see my aunt Anne, and got to go out for dinner with my cousin Barb and her husband Greg, plus have lunch with my cousin Willie and his kids Jenica and Billy.

Anne took us to the Meier Sculpture Gardens and we had a field day taking pictures of cool things.

Wish we had more time, but we made the most of a few hours.

These pictures don't do it justice.
We thought this sculpture was especially apt, since we love to listen to books on CD as we drive. This sculpture is called "Listening to History" and we listened to 10 CD's with the John Adams story last year, and 8 CD's for another book by the same author this year called "1776."
Watch out, Paulee!
We headed to Hershey, PA on Thursday morning and really enjoyed a museum about Milton Hershey's life - but, sorry, no pictures. (Gasp!)

We arrived in New York on Saturday and spent the night at Christie's. After church on Sunday we were able to connect with Alison for lunch, do the tourist thing in Lake Placid, get dinner where Alison works, and do some hiking around the lake to wear off the dinner! We headed to Vermont on Monday morning to spend the week in the Green Mountains. Christie was able to get a few days off to join us there.
To get to Vermont, you have to take a ferry across Lake Champlain!
We had a very smooth crossing.

This is the condo we rented at Smuggler's Notch, a really well-known ski area near Stowe.
It was really a great place, with several restaurants, pools, tennis, disc golf, hiking, canoeing, and ... you could rent Segways! I really regret not taking the lessons and scooting around the complex or into the trails on one of those things. Maybe next year!



Signs on the roads promised moose or bear, but all we saw were friendly groundhogs in the hills around our place.
The chairlift went right past our place. This one wasn't running during the summer, but over in Stowe we could have paid to ride to the top. Nah. We had much more interesting things to do!

There IS a road over Smuggler's Notch, but it won't allow trucks, and it is closed during the winter. We went over the Notch several times over the next few days, and kind of got used to it. The first time is a bit scary, since it is a one lane road around big boulders and has lots of switchbacks where you have no idea what is coming at you!

It is very scenic in Vermont - this is one of the only surviving covered railroad bridges left in the country.
We experienced a Cider Mill, glass blowing artists, Ben and Jerry's Factory (yum...), Cabot's Cheese (World's Best Cheddar) ... see all the cheese curds? The man in the picture has a hairnet on his BEARD!
Then we took a tour of the Rock of Ages Granite quarry. It was amazing - they've been working this quarry since the 1830's and provided the rock tfor the Vermont Sate buildings.
I wanted a piece of granite to take home, but this one wouldn't fit in the car.

We stopped for a few pictures of the Trap Family Lodge - the hills were alive with the sound of music (So Okay - I had to hum a few bars)

Back at the ranch there was a beautiful sunset that I was able to capture as we took a stroll down to the Ben and Jerry's at the main lodge.
On Wednesday we played 18 holes of disc golf on the mountain course. It was a bit muddy, as Christie can testify to.
We had a bit of trouble throwing our frisbees straight. It seemed like there was a ravine with a magnet that pulled my disc off course on a regular basis! The course was laid out on the cross country ski trail - plenty of hills, and all woods... but beautiful.
I found it!
Actually, you rent three discs - a driver, mid-range, and putter!
See, aren't the mountain flowers pretty? We really appreciated God's creation every day.
After the disc golf, we drove Christie back to the ferry because she had to work on Thursday back in New York. We stopped for a late lunch in Burlington and ate outside on the Church Street Mall. Lot's of good people-watching there, and the food was really great.

Paul and I golfed the next two days at two different mountain courses. I was able to pick up my first ever case of poison ivy on Friday while hunting for Paul's ball in the woods (OK, it MIGHT have been my ball, I'm not really sure.)

This beautiful sky was back in New York at Christie's favorite ice cream place - Donnelly's on Sunday night after spending Father's Day with Christie at church and then at a very funny play about American History that had a cast of only 3 guys. They really brought those founding fathers to life in a new way!

We didn't get to spend as much time with Alison, since she had to work a lot, but ... she will be home in August for good!
Finally, on the way home we got to meet Tom and Kim's new little one - Amariah - for the first time. She is only 3 weeks old and a real sweetie. I, of course, couldn't hold her because of the poison ivy all over my right arm, but I could take pictures!
Here's the whole family, including the dog and one of the cats. I think Griffin was on his way to get the other one as I snapped the picture. Amariah was taking a snooze - finally - after a cranky, hot day. We really had a fun time - the kids gave me a tour of all their rooms and hideouts, then we went out for dinner while Amariah continued to sleep!

Well, that's it ... the short version. I wonder where we'll go next????

Spring Busy-ness

The first Saturday in May the Waterbrooke youth had a busy day - we went bowling, out for pizza, and wound up at Feed My Starving Children to pack food for two hours.

First they give you instructions and demonstrate how to make each package the right weight and combination of ingredients.

Then we picked out jobs. Some are warehouse workers who replenish the ingredients when the packers run out of product.

Some stick instruction stickers on the plastic bags that hold enough food for six meals. We got to taste the food - it reminds me of a chicken rice casserole, with no chicken! It's really not bad, and a great improvement on grass, rocks, and dirt that some children eat around the world.

We packed enough food to feed over 7,000 children. I wonder where they will send it this time?

The second Saturday in May was Waterbrooke Spring Cleanup Day. Joe (in the golf cart) is the boss and put us all to work at various tasks. Paul is getting his assignment.

You've got to be kidding me - move these rocks?

Oh ... RAKE the rocks that the snow plow pushed into the grass back into the parking lot. Hopefully by next summer that will be an obsolete task. Raising $20,000 to pay for tarring the lot is a bit of a challenge.

Of course, there are plenty of weeds in the gardens to dig out as well as hostas and things to plant.

Everyone pitched in, from four year olds to senior citizens!

Okay, Anna mostly watched, but she was a big encouragement.


Carl wielded a mean weed whipper, so the younger ones had better stay out of his way.

A popular choice in jobs for the older boys was cutting dead wood for the fire pit, and manning the fire to get rid of dead branches.

The little guys would have preferred making s'mores.


The third Saturday in May Paul and I played and sang at a wedding. Would you believe the bride and her sister were named Jane and Joyce????

Today (another Saturday) I am blogging, exercising, and cleaning to get ready for a Casey invasion on Monday - Memorial Day. The brothers (plus me) will hit the links at 8:00 am.m and then were having a brat bonanza back at the ranch. I'd better go get to work.

Easter Update

I am a little behind in the family blogging entries - you've probably already seen the Catlin/Bracken/Casey/Perry pictures on Jane and Heidi's blogs, but I have to add my two cents worth, you know! We had a great day at Ted and Pat's after a wonderful morning at church. Spending time with family is the best way to celebrate, and we are thankful to have so many close by. We do miss Christie and Alison, Tom, Kim ,Katie and Griffin - but just think of it this way - we have a great excuse to go on another vacation!Here's Matthew, Phebe, and Maddox getting ready to hunt for their own special colored eggs out in the back yard. I think we had just as much fun following them around and snapping the pictures!

Maddox has quite a collection there.
Phebe and I had fun playing ball after the hunt was over. She is going to be quite the athlete - she hit it over my head and made me run! Nothing like a little exercise to wear off those jelly beans!
Matthew prefers to push the 4 wheeler this spring. Maybe by fall he will let the engine do the work.
It was a nice day out on the deck, but the guys soon moved into the basement to watch the Masters. OK, OK ... a few of us gals were interested, too.
I know you're wondering - who is watching the kids???
The little kids had a ball with Summer - Pat's sister Pam's granddaughter. It is great to have extended family, the more the merrier! The kids make every gathering a entertaining event. They are a joy to watch grow and develop their own special personalities.

Well, that's all for now, folks. We stay busy with church activities - yesterday we organized a youth group outing - bowling (Paul took top honors with a 147), pizza at Joey Nova's, and then spent two hours at the Feed My Starving Children organization in Chanhassen packing a food product specially designed for kids dying of malnutrition. We packed 7,344 meals that will save the lives of 20 children! If you ever get a chance to participate in a day there, you will be blessed! Golf season is upon us, only one month of school left, and then ...?