And One More...

If Mom and Dad had moved into the Age of Technology I know they would have wanted to wish you an electronic Merry Christmas also. 

Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you!

Happy (Hour) Christmas!

We opened a bottle of wine last night and thought we should send a Holiday toast to the readers of my blog. I guess it packed a punch! Had a little trouble getting the selfies right.

Not really. We kid you! We hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus!

And may I just say thank you for another Christmas with my mom and dad? At 61 I feel pretty lucky! Thank you, also, for the rest of my (ever expanding!) family and friends! Merry Christmas to all!

A Big Day For SOMEbody!

Besides Baby Jesus there's one more birthday we need to celebrate this year. Missy Cate!

Happy 7th birthday, Cate! Have fun at your friend's party!

Still On The Face Of The Earth!

Let's face it. My blogging leaves a lot to be desired! But it's not for lack of things to post. Maybe just the opposite. Here we are in December and it's almost over. There have been visits to Santa...

...horse drawn wagon rides...

...piano recitals...

(Natalie, I LOVE that dress!)

...mornings with the girls...

...Monkey Junction with Charlie where we also ran into our 2 year old twin neighbor girls and their 6 month old sister...

...Christmas concerts at Shorewood with a local TV personality at one of them...

...a Christmas lunch with the Bogies...

...and, oh yes! Did I forget to mention?...A NEW BABY! 

Tony, Tricia and Charlie welcomed Sweet William into the world in the early morning hours of December 16th!

A beautiful family of four!

So we haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Just trying to hang in there for the rest of 2015!

Fun At The Grocery Store

Who likes going to the grocery store?!

I DO! I DO!

Nothing wrong with going to the grocery store when you meet Salvation Army Bell Ringers like this...

...you get to have a martini with deliciously grilled steak and vegetables in the restaurant and you run into relatives, seriously, just seconds after talking about them! I forgot I had my camera and didn't take a picture of Charlie "driving" his taxi cart with Tony and Tricia. But we looked up and there they were!

Movie And Lunch

We got a text invitation to join Tony, Tricia and Charlie for The Peanuts Movie this morning. At first I thought we should be doing chores but Jill talked me into it. Conveniently, McDonald's is right across the road from the movie theatre and Charlie loves McDonald's!

Jill said he was saying "cheese" but he's more enthralled with his ketchup!

Farther Up Than Usual

We took a little run up to Beaver Bay last night for supper and along the way I realized it's been awhile since I've been farther than Two Harbors. So it was a treat to swing in to the overlook spot and get a view of Split Rock.

Good opportunity for a selfie but you have to look hard for the lighthouse in the background!

We ate at a cafe called Lemon Wolf. I got to thinking I've only ever had herring in the creamed form out of a jar. There was fresh caught on the menu and I was thinking I should be daring and try something different. Fortunately, the waitress came to take our order before I could change my mind. The baked herring was de-LISH-ous!

The ship total is going up only slowly. We have to remind ourselves what one looks like when it comes by. I think these almost matched! ;)

Incoming this morning...

...and there's another on the horizon as we speak! But nothing else on the schedule for the rest of today. Guess I'll have to do my other vacation projects!

A Little Update

I forgot to mention we ate at The Duluth Grille on the way up. I'd never been there before but I'd go back in a minute! Jill had a great looking breakfast skillet and Cher and I had the Wednesday special which was a Wrenshall Pasty.

We've got this brand new spotting scope but not much to spot except the boat in the "painting".

Cher likes to go for a walk down Stoney Point way and she's darn sure she's going to be safe in case the hunters are out. 

A couple ships did finally come ambling by.

With the afternoon sun shining on the white of the ship's back, this is the image I have in my mind if I'm ever practicing a relaxation technique.

We'd noticed Dan, the manager, had Christmas lights up on the cabins so we asked if he'd light them before we have to leave. Time to get festive!

I'd gone out in my shirt sleeves to do a little after dark photoing and I thought it was a little cool but I didn't check 'til I went in to see that the temp had dropped to 23! The sky was a beautiful clear with the moon and stars popping out like crazy!

These are our nighttime windows. 

It's so cozy inside. Favorite vacation of the year!

Taking A Little Spin Just To Get Away

Our buddy, James, was just coming down to Duluth as we were going up the Shore!

The waves are a little riled up as they come in. There's enough of a chop that the surfers are out down the line. 

From our cabin we could see these little black things bobbing around in the water and finally figured what it was! There were some good crashers coming in.

And over my shoulder was a ship coming from Duluth to Two Harbors so Jill and I buzzed up there to watch him dock. He was SLOWWWW!

But it was one we'd never seen before and his 500 and some feet sidled in there right beside his 1004 foot lake buddy!

Happy Halloween!

I've got a lot of Halloween faces from this year! Natalie and Harvey...

...Charlie...

...Mom, Dad, Jill and me...

...Claire, Cate, their dad and grandpa...

...a couple of our neighbor girls (one didn't want to wear her pink monster costume!).

We seemed to be into painting pumpkins this year!

Happy Halloween from us all!

Four Years!

Happy Anniversary to Tony and Tricia!