St. Germain - Day 4

It was windy and cool today, and I am training for a 1/2 marathon, so I picked today to do my long run of the week. I mapped out a route before we left that took me around the entire lake. While I was supposed to run only 10 miles, the prospect and symmetry of running around the entire lake was too good to pass up, so Tim Z. and I ended up running a little over 11.5 miles. It took us a long time, and it was hilly, but we did it. I now feel I’m ready for the 1/2 in a little over a week.

Because it was so windy, we started a fire early. We also decided to roast hot dogs on the fire for lunch, which are always more delicious than hot dogs on the grill or in the microwave. Ethan even went so far as to say they tasted as good as Uncle Brett’s hot dogs, which is not faint praise.

After lunch, it was time for a shower and to dress warmer. After my shower, I went to put my wedding ring back on which I had taken off for my run, only to find that I could not find it. I’m still not sure what happened to it - I think Quin must have taken it off the table and thrown it on the floor. Hopefully it turns up somewhere.

On the topic of naughty Quin, he has developed a new, interesting routine while up here. He has been doing things that he knows are naughty, which really isn’t all that different. Where his behavior is changing is that he will look at us after the deed is done and say “Sorry daddy, hug!” followed by a nice hug and kiss on the cheek. Hard to be mad at him when he does that, but if thinks we don’t see through him, he’s crazy!

It was too cold to hang out outside, and our cabin a little too small to hang out there for too long, so we took a journey into Minoqua for some shopping and to make our daily pilgrimage to the grocery store. It was largely uneventful, though the weather did seem to improve a lot while we were there.

When we got back, the weather had, indeed improved, so we quickly ate some supper and hung out by the water while we waited for rest of the families to eat. The kids started playing with the sand toys and being generally loud and annoying, as they tend to do. Somewhere in the mix, Ethan went back to the cabin, put a towel in his shirt and a sweatshirt on his head and paraded around telling everybody that he was a woman…

We finished the day on a nice pontoon boat ride, courtesy of Micky’s parents who came up for a few days and were nice enough to bring their boat. Tim A. drove the boat and was nice enough to let several of the kids to drive. Ethan was one of them, and it was the highlight of his day!

Now it’s time to head out to the fire to enjoy some beers and quiet as the kids go to bed. This is my personal favorite part of the day.