More Baby Birds

This is the year for baby birds! There's a dove in our pine tree that took over the Robin's nest. Her first batch of eggs were blown out during a storm. The second batch made it and we now have two fuzzy baby doves. It will be fun to watch them grow.

Helper

While I was in MN, the garage door spring broke. JP bought a new one when I was in WI, and we installed it yesterday. CP was a big help for the two-person job. The door company wanted $200 for installation. We got it done in an hour.

Skate Queens

While checking out the garage roof and attic, we discovered a long lost treasure: Nana and her sister's old skates. 

Leather boots and wooden wheels. Classic!

The sizes were right, so S & J put on a show for us. Can't wait to go skating in the basement at B & S's house on Thanksgiving.

Nest Rescue

While we were cutting up Nana's fallen tree, the neighbor called J over to see something. It was a nestfull of baby birds that had fallen out of the tree. It looked like a cat or crow had removed the nest and its occupants from their perch. One of the babies had some big holes in him. The others were OK, so J put them back in, and we put the nest back in the tree with a little duct tape. (Yes, we made sure to double back the tape so that the little feathers wouldn't stick to it.)

After a few minutes, the mom returned to her flock and got on with feeding them. She looked like a female cardinal, but we weren't sure. One of the babies had a yellow stripe across his tail. Anyone know what sort of birds these are?

Honeydo List

While at Nana's, we were able to get thru her Honeydo list:

Speed up the kitchen faucet, replace a shutter on the garage, install two new windows in the garage, shore up a sagging beam in the garage, tighten the furnace fan belt, and remove the remnants of the big tree that fell down. It's nice having things to do while there.

The tree was blown over in a big storm. It landed on the garage and poked a hole in the roof. The roofer noted that the roof needed some support, so we put in a couple basement floor jacks to beef up the structure.

B came over with his pickup and a saw and we took care of all the big pieces of wood.

Lake Geneva and Woodstock

Saturday, we left Nana's in time to be the first to arrive at the beach in Fontana on Lake Geneva, WI. The freshly raked sand was a ginormous zen garden.

The boys and M's kids played in the water ALL day. They were able to dive off the swimming dock into clear deep water. I got reprimanded by the lifeguard for attempting a back flip. "Sir, No flips off the dock sir."

After the lake, we hit M's house in Woodstock for dinner. J the dog was excited to see J's face.

Galena

No trip to Nana's would be complete without the requisite day in Galena. We hit General Grant's home on the way into town.

We had a delicious lunch at the DeSoto House, Illinois' oldest operating hotel.

Nana's House

W the cat was happy to see us. He LOVES attention.

When we arrived, Nana had breadsticks and pizza waiting for us. The boys love breadsticks.

Summer Travels

Over the last two weeks, I went on two business trips and we made the annual summer trek to Nana's house. 

Day 1 - Mon - Drive Lincoln to Minneapolis (Toro Mothership)

Day 2 - Tues - Work @ Toro

Day 3 - Wed - Drive back to Lincoln

Day 4 - Thurs - Drive to Nana's house in IL

Day 5 - Fri - Galena!

Day 6 - Sat - Lake Geneva and Woodstock

Day 7 - Sun - Cookout @ Nana's

Day 8 - Mon - Drive home to Lincoln

Day 9 - Tues - Fly to Milwaukee via Chicago. Drive to Kohler, WI.

Day 10 - Wed - Drive all over Milwaukee, fly home via Minneapolis.

Flipping out in the Pool

Before we went to Beerfest, the neighborhood hit the G's pool for some fun and food. 

The boys practiced doing flips into the deep end. They both can get most of the way around going forward, but neither would attempt going over backwards. They had a blast.

Beerfest!

JP bought me a VIP ticket to the Lincoln Beerfest at Haymarket Park (home of the Saltdogs). C & B and I went and tasted from a selection of 100 beers from 25 brewers. On paper, it sounded like the perfect afternoon. However, there is only so much craft-brewed beer one can take in a jungle climate. All of the brews were heavy, hoppy, and perfect for a cool fall afternoon in, say, October. None were appropriate for staying cool on a steamy July afternoon. 

This gives us one of the most important axioms of engineering:

In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they aren't.

After Beerfest, JP and the boys showed up and we watched the Saltdogs baseball game.