Door County Image Wrap-up

The colored chairs of Ephraim looking out onto Sturgeon Bay

Another view of Sturgeon Bay

A Catholic town in the middle of the cornfields

Me, Joni, Tom and Terri

My lovely and me

Photo shoot on the beach

Geese on a pier

The same picture Instagrammed (it's an iPhone app no one should be without)

The babes and I

Tom, Terri and The Bean

There's devilment brewing in Ryan's eyes that Terri is unaware of

Ryan, squinting at my brilliance no doubt

Erin on the pier

Erin instagrammed

Up Here at The Rushes

Another beautiful day on the lake

What we mostly do up here  at The Rushes in the daytime is bob around the lake in one type of watercraft or another, such as the Hobie Cats . . .

A mellow sail on the Hobie Cat

C'est Moi

Maggie

Tom

Kayaks . . .

Erin targeting Echo Island

Erin chillin'

Me headed toward the clouds

And the new rage, paddle boards . . .

Tom gives Joni a few pointers

Scuffle on the high seas between Ryan and Noah (Nate wisely remains neutral)

It's a pretty simple equation really: you take a placid body of water rimmed with trees on a gorgeous day and throw any manner of floatable craft on top and the possibilities for fun and relaxation are limitless. One of my favorite things to do is watch the clouds. Garrison Keillor calls them "prairie mountains" and I think this says it all. They're the one thing we have here in the vertically challenged Midwest that can make us tilt our heads back in awe and reverence.

Cloud watching on a lazy day

Also, Derek and Bella, after two-and-a-half months in Sweden, will be flying into O'Hare tomorrow -- we'll see them on Friday. Välkommen hem!

Bella and Derek

Our 13th Wedding Anniversary

Erin & Russ’ Wedding Vows

~ August 15, 1999 ~

Russ, with this ring                                              Erin, with this ring

I give you my promise                                          I give you my promise

That from this day forward                                   That from this day forward

You shall not walk alone.                                      You shall not walk alone.

May my heart be your shelter                                May my heart be your shelter

And may my arms be your home.                          And may my arms be your home.

May God bless you always.                                   May God bless you always.

May we walk together through                               May we walk together through

all things,                                                             all things,

May you feel deeply loved,                                     May you feel deeply loved,

For indeed you are.                                                For indeed you are.

May you always see your innocence                        May you always see your innocence

in my eyes.                                                            in my eyes.

With this ring,                                                        With this ring,

I give you my heart.                                                I give you my heart.

I have no greater gift to give.                                   I have no greater gift to give.

I promise I shall do my best.                                    I promise I shall do my best.

I shall always try.                                                   I shall always try.

I feel so honored to call you my husband.                 I feel so honored to call you my wife.

I feel so blessed to call you mine.                             I feel so blessed to call you mine.         

May we feel this joy forever.                                   May we feel this joy forever.

I thank God                                                           I thank God

I thank you.                                                           I thank you.

Amen.                                                                   Amen.

Week 32 at Kangaroo Lake

There's something a little different up here on the lake -- maybe it's the water

I don't quite know how to explain the magic that happens up here at The Rushes on Kangaroo Lake in Door County, Wisconsin. The playful and welcoming environment that Russ and Nan Clark have created and fostered up here is something that's kept their children and friends returning year after year since the mid-80s. And now there's plenty of grandchildren as well. I've joined the Clarks up here myself for 25 of the 27 years (that's a quarter century, kids). For my entire adult life, Week 32 at the Rushes has been my Brigadoon, an enchanting place that seems to only exist for a brief seven days a year.  Maybe it's easiest to describe what goes on up here in pictures . . .

Russ and Nan Clark, the King and Queen of Week 32 (at the 50th Anniversary party we had for them in 2005)

The lake . . .

More of the lake . . .

The wackiness: Steve and I practicing to be pirates

Erin and Steve Aaaarging as well

And yet more zaniness -- Russ and I on Mexican (Margarita) Night

Kayaking (Tom and Maggie in 2004) . . .

Erin kayaking yesterday . . .

Erin, Steve and Tom on kayaks a few years ago

A group shot from 2004

Cary, Chris and the girls

Patrick, Terri and Ryan in 2005

All the kids (except Mira) at their nightly performance on Sunday

Kangaroo Lake

I'll post some more pictures later in the week. I also wanted to express my condolences to all the Urquhart family on the passing of Collin (AKA, Collie-Wobbles). I only met him a few times, but I enjoyed his intelligence, wit and spirit of playfulness. He must have been pretty special to spirit Nan's sister, Suzie, away from Milwaukee and over to South Africa so many years ago. You will be missed, Collin.

Collin with Nan in 2005

Peace

It's Breakfast in a Cup!

If loving maple bacon flavored coffee is wrong, I don't want to be right. It smells like a griddle full of sizzling rashers while it's brewing. Seriously good stuff. 'Nuff said.

Milwaukee Brewers

Miller Park

Went to a baseball game with Erin's Brother, Pete, his wife, Audrey, and their two kids John and Jack. Audrey works for Miller Brewing in some sort of executive environmental compliance capacity (sorry for my ignorance about your exact title, Audrey). Suffice it to say that she's high enough up the Miller corporate ladder to get us into the Founder's Suite, to watch the Brewers play (and whoop) the Cincinnati Reds. Thank you Audrey and thank you Miller Brewing.

Incredible seats or what? I guess I'd expect the Miller boxes in Miller Park to be exceptional.

Erin, Audrey, Pete and the blurry kids

A study in contrasts:

The roaring crowds and . . .

. . . camping five nights ago in the middle of nowhere.

What a fun evening. Our gracious hosts at Miller Brewing provided enough beverage and food to eat and drink for a week, yet somehow I managed to consume it all in three hours. And, best of all -- the Brewers won! Good times.

From the left: John, Pete, Audrey, Jack, me and Erin

Random picture alert:

Stay tuned: Week 32 at Door County is coming (and Kendra is waiting).