A Wisconsin Fish Boil- September 2013

Another big event at our house to start wrapping up summertime.  Aaand... another event of which I only have a handful of pictures!  But the video is what really counts so it's all fine. 

A little history.... Matt's dad grew up in a little fishing town in Wisconsin so they had Wisconsin style fish boils there; Matt grew up experiencing these as well.  We have had a couple here at home but it's been a few years.

What, you are wondering, makes a Wisconsin Fish Boil so special?  I am glad you asked!  Parts of it are the same as any ol' fish boil.... you put some potatoes and such in a big pot over the fire pit.  Add your fish and let it all boil a while.... but then, you throw some kerosene on the fire and- standing back of course- watch the flames shoot about 25' into the air.  The purpose is that it causes the water to reach a really hard boil spilling over the pot and all the fish oils spill off into the fire.  So you don't get the "fishy" taste.  And it all taste sooooo good!

 

This started out as being mostly our Worship Team and their families.... then we added the Pastoral Staff.  And then since that group also included all but a couple of people who were going to Ukraine on a missions trip a few days later... we went ahead and had them come as well.

Joe Patanella, Dan Leach and his brother Dave

 

Caleb and Joe Bradway

Matt cooking some wonderful corn from Hall's farm-  honestly the best corn on the cob you will ever eat in your life.

Joshua and Caelan in the sandbox... of course.

Gil (in the green on the left) was the only person here who was familiar with Wisconsin Fish Boils and had not been to one since his childhood- so he was really excited about this!

Getting there....

Of course we had to have a little music going on too-  Joe and Fred

 

Sooo...... are you ready??  Heeere we goooo!!   

 

Fun stuff huh?

And just an FYI.... the fire truck sirens in the background are TOTALLY coincidental!!

Bayside Festival- Labor Day 2013

 

Aahh... The Bayside Festival...

Well to say that we spent a significant amount of time involved in this would be a major understatement.  It was a 3 day, totally free, family friendly event down in the Open Space (downtown on the water where they have the Cherry Festival).  They had concerts, food, jumping tent thingies, and a rock climbing wall.  It was really pretty cool. 

Our friend Dan was one of the major people in planning this- for months in advance.  Matt, Stan and Scott were also very involved and were down there for about 5 or 6 (very long) days straight setting up, helping to run things, then breaking down.

Danielle and I were down on Front Street, Clinch Park, and the beach areas handing out several hundred flyers and tickets.  It was a lot of work and a it all came together wonderfully.... it was a great time.  Tiring... but fun.

 

Tenth Avenue North

and

Jason Castro 

 

Scott and Stan... truly men of many hats during the weekend.  Or shirts.  Notice the shirts tucked on each side of Stan's shorts? The teal ones were general staff, black was Stage Crew, yellow was Security.  Matt, Scott and Stan were in each one of those colors at various times throughout the weekend! Mr. Dim had an orange (super important, special access) shirt.  No pictures of him- he was constantly on the move.

 

Mr. Scott in a rare moment of downtime- playing with Eli

 

 

oh... and it rained.  A lot.  We were umm.... just a little bit wet!  But the storm blew over and the show went on! 

 

This is Garrett and Caelan.  Garrett is the son of the principal at TC Christian and the very first time he ever saw Caelan, he came straight to him and said, "Hey Buddy! You want to come play with me?" and took him by the hand and went off on the playground.  It warmed my heart to say the least.  That was a year and a half ago and anytime he would see Caelan at school, he would play with him.  First of all, any child Garrett's age (5th grade at the time) who is willing to play with a child that much younger- impresses me.  It speaks volumes about Garrett's heart that he would spend as much time with Caelan as he has and how he interacts with him. 

So anyway... we ran into Garrett at the Bayside Festival and he came over to get Caelan and take him into the inflatable obstacle course and then into the jump house.  Caelan doesn't have the physical (core) strength or coordination to do the obstacle course- but Garrett went in with him and held his hand or helped him over and through the parts of it.  I didn't have the camera on me at that time.  But these are of them in the jumping house.  You can still see so much of how special this boy is!!

Garrett is genuinely happy to spend this time with Caelan... and of course Caelan loves it!

 

Here is a little video clip of Jason Castro- before the rain ran him off the stage-  this song's for you Mom :)

A Little Bit of Bruce

This cat.  And this boy.  Still totally in love with each other.  They have a very special connection!

This is the red pop up fire truck tent from his birthday.  He and Bruce are both in it (often).  Or on the couch under blankets and pillows.  Or in Caelan's room. 

Friday Night Live and Downtown TC (August 2013)

We usually try to hit this a couple of times each summer.... 

Matt working on a cool craft-  Caelan enjoyed the pounding of the nail initially, but then lost interest.  Which I realized as I glanced around us at other families, was a common occurrence.

Ice cream time, of course!  

Checking out the fire truck...

and the antique cars 

He even got to sit in one! 

 

then the fishing game... to get a toy.  This was actually what he talked about the most all night! 

Bonfire at Mr. Dim's (late August 2013)

This was in one of the last weeks of summer- before Danielle and crew moved to Hawaii but after Jeremy was home. 
Most of these are dark but still some cool pictures of the fire.  Just hanging out. 

sparklers 

some sky lanterns 

 

see what happens when you put sparklers in the fire?  It's pretty cool!

Sky lantern

The next two pictures-  I LOVE.  Dan is so awesome to Caelan.  Such a deep and genuine love for our son.  And the two of them were sitting side by side on buckets, deep in conversation.  And Dan is intently listening to everything Caelan is telling him.   

Catholic Human Services Picnic- August 2013

CHS has an annual picnic for the previous and current families in the program.  It's always neat to see the other kids and couples who were in the program the same time we were. 

This year was out on Elk Lake... like most of the water around here, this lake was really pretty.  We ate, chatted, played with bubbles...

I do not remember these two boys' names- they are both adopted to families in the program.  One is about 2 years younger than Caelan, the other one is about 3 years younger. 

These two pictures are so, so significant.  Caelan typically avoids swings because of his sensory problems.  His brain misinterprets the motion.  He has made a lot of progress but rarely gets on an actual swing like this... definitely not on his own!  So I was thrilled to tears as I saw him over there- not only on the swing- but lifting his feet off the ground so it would move!

Yes! 

Back to the bubbles 

NW Michigan Fair- 8/2013

We didn't spend as much time at the fair this year as we usually do-  there was a lot of miscommunication or poor advertising or something- so we didn't know what night was Family Night where kids ride for a dollar.  And they didn't have the rides open yet on the day we did go.  Not sure what was up with all that this year. 

But we did go- and had some food and saw animals.  And that made him happy- he had a good time!  As you will see- he was still pretty into the bunnies. And ducks.  And tractors.

This was a huge tractor that was right in the entrance 

Then he got super excited about the cement mixer... and he was pointing to the cylinder part telling us that's where it turns to mix the cement....

And then (going around to the back)... he comes out this chute! 

Above-  he was more interested in the water running through the grass than seeing whatever animal section we were in at the time.  He loves motion. 

We usually check out the sheep because the Ansorges have always had one there

Then.... into the Rabbit Barn!

He loves the bunnies 

and was very interested in watching the ducks for a long time

...... then of course we absolutely MUST have lemonade!  

and hot dogs.  And Gibby's fries! yumm! 

more big tractors and farm equipment... and yep, he was steadily telling us exactly what all the parts of each one are and what they do.  He knows his stuff! 

"driving" this one

 

Now he is driving it backwards- silly boy!