Bay Beach

So - we found something we should have found a long time ago. On Wednesday (my last day of summer) the kids and I went up to Bay Beach amusement park in Green Bay with Jacob's friend Dominic, his mom, and his brother Evan. It's free to get in, and then the rides are either $0.25 or $0.50 each (almost all the little kids rides were a quarter. Three hours and ice cream cones for all - less than $10 total.

Here's Allison - not having any resemblance to the ride itself.....


Most of the little kid rides were variations on a theme. Central pivot point, circular motion, arm attached to .... ladybug, car, fire engine, bomber, caterpillar, boat, etc.



The big kid rides we avoided because they were things that spun (teacups and the like). There was a giant slide, Allison and I went together and she didn't like it that much. There were also bumper cars, but Allison and Jacob were not interested. Next year (?) there will be a roller coaster.



We waited a LONG time to ride the train, which was very anticlimactic. There was also a Merry-Go-Round, which Allison loved. Since I bought $15 in tickets, and we spent less than $10 - I guess we'll just have to go back.

One more paddle

We went kayaking again today. It was a beautiful day, and the lake water seemed even clearer than it usually is. We paddled to the public dock - went swimming and had a picnic - then paddled back. The kids were great until the car ride home. Too much sun... too tired... I don't know.

When we got home - we attended to a few yard issues. I cleaned out the pool (my newest plan involves draining the gross stuff to the yard rather than through the filter). It's better but still needs work. Brian also tackled the apple issue. The back of our yard is one solid layer of apples. We don't know what to do with them because there are too many for the compost bin and we don't have any hunting ground to use them to bait deer.

Love / Hate

Generally, I love calendars (they are like "To Do" lists for time). However, right now, I'm in a love/hate relationship with my Google calendar. I'm inescapably drawn to it - and yet at the same time it creates an incredible amount of panic.

My new online courses go live in 1 week - my face-to-face classes start in 2 weeks. The remaining August days are filled with all those things I wanted to get done this summer but didn't - and not the fun stuff either... the "take-the-car-in-for-that-recall" kind of stuff. You'd think that the looming deadlines and the "No, I have NOT finished that syllabus" would provide some motivation. Instead, I'm like a deer caught in the headlights with my heart racing but my legs locked. This should be a fun year.

Other fun vacation pictures

Keep the trees or not?

We have 5 large (LARGE - like 60-80 ft) cottonwoods in a strand between our house and our neighbors. Some people around the block happened to have some guys out to cut down 15 comparably large cottonwood trees today from their yard because they got concerned following the large storms that we've had this summer. So, I asked the guy to come around and give us an estimate for taking down our cottonwood trees. It was very reasonable.

So, I'm pro-ing and con-ing the trees. Pro - shade, privacy. Con - cotton, sticky pods, branches (see pic from earlier), the potential to fall on the house, the need to disassemble the pool filter twice a summer, the fouling of the air conditioner, and the moss on the roof. And one is rotting at the base.

Conscience - can I really take down 5 trees that have been there longer than we have? Then, what do we put in their place? Finally - would I rather have granite countertops? I don't like spending money on landscaping. This explains a lot about our yard.

Hailstorm picture - July 2010

New roof

We finally got an insurance adjuster out to assess the hail damage. Apparently we need new:
roof
deck box
sunroom roof
screen door
window screens
playset canopy
pool suncover
2 downspouts
and new waterproofing on the deck

The siding was in excellent condition, however. Weird, eh?