Chilly weather

Jamie and Kaden kayaking

What a great picture of Parker!

Sadie and Mason were laying in the chairs warming up in the sun while Jamie and Kaden kayaked

 The next morning was quite chilly and it didn't look like it would be warming up anytime soon, so we broke out the fishing gear (Stormy isn't exactly a good lake for fishing which we actually like because it keeps the fishermen off the lake and leaves more room for us skiers, but on cooler days when all you can do is fish, it'd be nice to get a nibble or two!)

They didn't even get a nibble (the water is just too clear!) but boy did they have fun!

Jamie enjoyed a bit of coffee and reading in between untangling lines and baiting hooks!

Sadie's favorite part is playing with the leeches...she even has a maternal instinct towards the bait! She likes when they suck on to her hands and she can pick them up!

Parker drawing some cartoons while the boys looked on..

It finally warmed up enough for the boys to do some tubing...

..and for some reason we didn't take any pictures of them tubing but you can tell by this picture how chilly poor Mason was by the time it was over!

More fun with the Statemas

We did some kayaking (Parker and Wyatt)

I love this picture of Wyatt helping Mason get his skis on at sunset

Mason skiing off the boom

a pic from my phone taken one morning when the boys were playing up in the bunk room

This was actually some wrestling in the water between Mason, Wyatt and Parker while Blake played his own game 

On a side note: Sadie was such a trooper with all the testosterone around that week but she knew her good friend Elle was coming the day after Statemas left, so that helped get her through! She really is such a girlie girl!

The next day when we went back to my in-laws beach, the duck families started coming back for more food. This was the 'nice' family with the youngest ducklings....

..and then the 'bully' family of older ducklings tried to muscle their way in and take the food from the little ducklings...so Mason and Wyatt took it upon themselves to give those bully ducks a taste of their own medicine (Disclaimer: No ducks were harmed in the making of these photos)

Wyatt and Mason had laser-like focus on getting these ducks while Sadie and Parker were focused on feeding and nurturing the babies---love the different personalities each of these kids has.

It ended up being a cooler day so we headed into town to show the Statemas the candy store....

and the fudge shop, Tremblays

..where we got to watch some milk chocolate fudge being made and learn how they do it.

This lady pours all the warm ingredients on a cooled marble slab and stirs them together while they are cooling...it's amazing to see how close it gets to the edge yet it never goes over...she's been doing this for over 10 years and said it took her awhile to get the hang of it but of course, now it looks so easy!

This made my day! There have been rumors for YEARS that Eagle River was going to get a Starbucks. There are a few coffee shops in town but they open at like 8am and randomly close at odd times (classic small town businesses--which is mostly endearing but NOT when you are really looking forward to a cup of Joe!)

This new place isn't an official Starbucks but does brew Starbucks and even makes all the espresso and frappuccino drinks, just like many of the places in hotel lobbies. And thankfully it tasted the same too!

Then we headed to Soda Pops for an early dinner....and Mason chose Zombie Brain Juice for his drink!

One happy crew!

A seriously crazy bunch!

And then, thanks to Jamie, when we got home he broke out the candy cigarettes that he had bought at the candy store. It was actually quite hilarious because the candy store has every kind of candy you can think of (from our childhoods) and this is the one that I always tell the kids I won't get. But of course Jamie went there--and thought it would be hilarious to get a picture of he and all the kids 'smoking' them. 

Julie and I were cracking up....they all look a bit too natural at it and seemed to enjoy it too much...hmmmmm.

(Look closely at each kids' face)

More visitors!!

On Thursday of that week, our good friends the Statemas came up for 5 days. We had been planning to have them up all winter, but when they decided to move and their house sold, we weren't sure it would work out. But thankfully they ended up having a 5-day gap between the closing of their house in Hudson and the completion of their new house in Nashville. Yes, that's right....another friend moving out of state! Seriously, what's the deal?! But instead of thinking about them moving, we just tried to enjoy our time together before they left. 

We spent a good amount of time over at my in-laws beach....it's shallow for a LONG time and the sand-bottom beach makes for great playing for the kids. Plus, it was a bit cooler so the kids could play in the shallower, warmer water rather than having to jump all the way in!

The ducks didn't take long to warm up to the kids...

Seriously, have you ever seen a mother duck let her ducklings get so close? The kids were petting them while they were feeding them!!

Parker and Sadie are the two animal lovers and they couldn't get enough!

I love Sadie's face after she got to pet one of them!

Parker even picked one of them up but we quickly told him to put it back down as we didn't want to make the mama too nervous....we clearly had her trust already and didn't want to lose it. 

(P.S. Check out all the bites on Sadie's legs--the mosquitoes love that girl and she hardly complains about them!)

I love Kaden's face in this picture!

I was so engrossed in taking pictures that I almost didn't notice why our bread was disappearing so quickly!

Sadie stuck with these little guys long after everyone else 

Wyatt and Parker on a mission to find treasure

And Blake doing what he loves most

Now showing Kaden how it's done...

Parker's attempt at becoming the duck whisperer 

(this was a different family of ducks with slightly older ducklings that, the next day, proved to be not so friendly!)

There were three different duck families that we got to know and the kids became slightly obsessed

Blake wasn't the slight bit interested...

Sadie and I made some drip castles

And the classic Julie pose---"Don't you dare!"

Blake got tired after a long morning out in the sun and curled up in a towel--he actually fell asleep! Seriously this kid is so easy going when it comes to sleep....he'll just sleep whenever he is tired, wherever he is...and thankfully he is my most sound sleeper!

Wyatt seeking solace in the peacefulness of the water.....or just figuring out how things sound under water!