Copperfest and Father's Day preparations

This past weekend, our little town of Oconto had a fun festival called Copperfest.  The many events were full of family fun, with a parade, contests, live music, games, rides and a multitude of happenings.

We went into town to watch the parade, joining up with the grandkids near Erin and Mark's house, just one block off Main Street.   Heather brought Jameson (Jesse had to work)  but we were missing Dan and Heather and Allegra as they had other plans for the day.    We loaded Chelsea and Jameson into the strollers....

The parade was wonderful with lots of candy being thrown, and the kids all sat out on the brightly woven blankets we brought them back from Mexico last winter.  So glad to see them being used in the manner they were intended for--- picnics, parades and in the car for emergency use!

All the fun stuff like fire engines, candy, clowns and horses...   

Chelsea was so excited to see a marching band and loud music

 After an hour, the parade was done, 

and we walked back to Erin and Mark's house for a cookout. 

This photo Heather took brings joy to my heart---  

Steve had entered the local horseshoe contest with a co-worker, Bill.  They threw quite a few games while we wandered the grounds, listening to the bands and enjoying some funnel cakes, cheesecake on a stick and other delectable delights.

Look at that form... that style... that grace... that finesse!   (but they didn't win) 

We shopped the vendors of junk, Heather bought some beaded jewelry, Erin found a cute sundress, and I bought magic markers and paint brushes.  The grandkids watched a comedy act while sitting on some bleachers.

 At one point, Jameson reached over and impulsively hugged his little cousin, and I happened to have the camera ready!  How cute is that?

Later on in the evening, we took the grandkiddos back to our house for an overnight, letting the parents do their band listening and drinking and partying all within walking distance back to their house.  We are getting too old for that, so we opted to be the babysitters instead.  LOL 

The grandkids zonked out quickly after all that fresh air, excitement and festivities.   We had a lovely morning with monkeys jumping on our bed and having an all around Good Grandchild Snuggle! 

(not a very good quality shot with a cell phone camera, but you get the idea....)

After returning the grandkids to their parents on Sunday, it was time to start clearing out my things from the motorhome.  I felt like I was MOVING!   I was clearing out all my "girlie things" to make room for more "guy things" .  Out went the knitting baskets, the spinning wheel,  the basket of curling irons, hair spray, jewelry box and silky bathrobe hanging on the hook.  

Steveio will be using the motorhome for his annual Father/Son fishing trip this week.  They will be gone Thursday through Sunday and use our motorhome to travel, cook, play cards and maybe do a little fishing?   His dad and two brothers come along to do this every year as a Father's Day present to their father.  We then loaded the motorhome up with groceries and fishing gear, and Pete is bringing the beer and the boat.

I will have four days of weaving, spinning, knitting and maybe a gal pal coming up from Tennessee if all works out in the planning.   Then next week, some RV friends from St. Louis are coming up to spend time in our driveway to tour the Green Bay area, and later in the week we will all go camping together somewhere further north!

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Oh, speaking of Father's Day .....  Steveio RUINED the surprise of what I was getting him:

See..... Steveio has wanted this thing called an "Extend-a-Stay" device for our motorhome. It enables you to add an extra propane tank if your main big built-in tank on a motorhome is running down.  If you are staying in one spot, you don't have to move the whole motorhome to go fill the tank up.  You can use an external tank to extend your stay. Thus the name...     

It runs in the $80-90 range

But I saw one on Ebay, new in the box. Seems that the seller erroneously bought it thinking it was the "Extend-a-Flow" for travel trailers, so it didn't work for his purpose and he was selling it.    I bid on it 20 minutes before the auction ended for $18.  I was the top bidder.  I was doing this bidding from my laptop down in the loom room. 

Little did I know, but Steve was on HIS laptop up in the livingroom.  He also saw it on Ebay and logged in under my account (he doesn't have one and usually logs in as GUEST)  and he places a bid on it too!!!!  Luckily, Ebay doesn't up the bid when you are already the highest bidder...   he didn't even realize that I was ALREADY bidding on it!   LOL    

And I had NO idea he was even on the computer, much less on Ebay, much less using MY account instead of GUEST.  He has never, ever bid on Ebay before and this was his very first time, and he was using MY account to boot!  (Nor does he have a Paypal account to pay for it?)

Ten minutes before the auction is up, I try to check on my status while down on my laptop in the loom room.  Strangely,  Ebay won't let me in......   (I didn't know it was because he was logged in upstairs)  and I fiddled and fiddled with Ebay and could not get logged in...    But then in 5 more minutes I get an email from Ebay in my inbox saying I won the auction for $18.    Good... nobody outbid me.  Wheeeee

I come upstairs and Steveio says to me:   "Guess what?  I just won an Extend-a-Stay on Ebay just now for $18!!!"  

ARRGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

So I had to explain that no, he didn't win it.   

I did.

And it was supposed to be saved for his Father's Day Present! 

And~~~~ he got a lecture about buying something on Ebay using my account

without even knowing if I had enough money in my Paypal account to even pay for it.

I guess it's time to change my Ebay password, huh?

No Camping Weekend- instead a Copperfest Celebration with family

 

 

Our tiny town of Oconto, Wisconsin,  hosts a big celebration every year, called Copperfest.  I took this excerpt from the Chamber of Commerce website:

 

Oconto has a rich historical past, mainly because of its location along the west shore of the waters of Green Bay.

Approximately 5000 years ago an archaic people, later called the Copper Culture, hunted, fished, and buried their dead on the banks of the Oconto River near the bay. The French Canadians came here in the 1600's to trade for the fur of beaver, muskrat and fox, canoeing by way of Mackinac and down the bay.

Early settlers arrived by steam powered boats traveling on the Great Lakes. Of those, a Norwegian community grew on the bay shore and began fishing commercially, sending barrels of salted herring, whitefish, and trout to eastern markets.

Beginning in the 1850's lumbering was the primary focus. Logs were floated down the Oconto River where they were sawed into lumber at one of seven mills in Oconto and shipped out by boat to large growing cities on Lake Michigan.

Today we tend to rely on highway vehicles to carry passengers and cargo. The rivers, lakes, and bay fulfill the recreational needs of fishing boats, canoes, pontoons, kayaks, sail and pleasure boats. We still hunt, fish, snowshoe and ski just as people did long ago.

The city of Oconto has thirty-three structures on the National Register of Historic Places. A visitor can take a self-guided tour of the city, walk the Historic West Main Street District, and in the summer tour the 1890's home of wealthy George Beyer located on Park Avenue.

 

 

Sooooo any excuse for a celebration, the whole town gets into Party Mode and has a great time!  Some of the years in the past, we had family come down from up north and park multiple travel trailers, tents and fifthwheels in our yard.  We combined the Copperfest party along with each of our graduating teens parties.  Whew those were some long nights and full houses!

In town, there is always a lot going on:

Featured Events were Amateur Lumberjack Competition, Truck Pulls, Adult Horseshoe Tournament, Mens, Womens and Youth Flag Football Tournament. Hamburger Eating and Pie Eating Contests.  Regional Wrist Wrestling Competition.  Pie and Ice Cream Social.  Fireworks.  Childrens Inflatables games, Trout Pond, Street Market. Poker Paddle Run, Duck Races and more.  Entertainment featuring Kenny Ahern, T. Texas Terry, Randy Petersen, Mr. Billy, Jay Merline.  Music performed by Ravyn, Vic Ferrari, Gringos, Rivertown, Sonic Circus, Rocker, Midpoint and Aaron Socha

 

For more information on the Copper Culture People:

Copper Culture State Park, Oconto, Wisconsin

 

This year, our daughter, Erin and her husband Mark (along with little Chelsea)  live in a huge Victorian home, just one block off Main Street in a Historical District.  So they hosted our family gathering at their lovely home.   I whipped up a pot of Calico Beans for a dish to pass, plus we brought along burgers and wine and a pan of gooey brownies that didn’t bake right.  My kids will eat anything, so I brought them along.  LOL

I have given this recipe before in my blog, but I will repeat it here:

*warning** I am a dumper kind of cook, not a precise recipe person!!!
first brown up some ground beef, bout half a pound, and chopped onion, and drain.
then fry up about 4 strips of bacon, and cut or break into small pieces
now dump that and all this into a crock pot:
1 can kidney beans
1 can baked beans
1 can butter beans
a big squirt of ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
dollop of molasses
squirt of steak sauce
double squirt of BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Rays)
season to taste
let it go a few hours on the slow cooker
yummmmmmmmm
some folks add grape jelly...
some folks add mustard...
some folks add vinegar...

 

 

Our other daughter Heather, with Jesse and Jameson made it in time for the parade, but we were still waiting for our son Dan, his Heather and Allegra.  They were not sure they could leave their house in Green Bay in time, because there was a big event there, called the Bellin Run, which blocked off all their surrounding streets of their home to traffic, and they were not sure what time they could cross the lines to get out in their vehicle to come on up.   They hadn’t shown by the time the parade was to start, so we figured they would just come later.

We got ready and headed down the block to the parade… 

 

(YOU CAN CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO MAKE THEM LARGER)

 

 

 

Our parade was wonderful, with hometown businesses and the local high school band, some horses, tractors, dogs and fancy cars…  plenty of candy was thrown, and Jameson collected a full bag of treats!

 

 

 

 

 

Jameson seemed particularly interested in the cheerleaders….

 

 

Even little Chelsea had a great time at the parade, her very first one!

 

At the very end of the parade, whoooo so we see?   But a green Saturn SUV following the fire trucks?  None other than our son Dan and his family!!!  LOL  It was so funny, the seemed to be in the parade and carrying up the rear!  

 

Back to  Erin and Marks house…. we got busy with food, family and fun… the kids got lots of cuddling!    Mark made brats and burgers on the grill, Erin had the kitchen under control and we hung out for the rest of the day.

 

 

 

Mark’s dad Tim, and Mark’s niece Kylee came for a visit too.

 

 

 

 

The little grandchildren found lots of things to do or look at….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jameson has never gone on a slide before, so this was quite a process to learn about!

 

 

 

and.. he … did it!!!

 

At dark, we watched the fireworks that were exploding over the Copperfest grounds at Ner-Park, which was only a few blocks from Erin and Mark’s home.  So we could sit right out on their deck with the kids and watch in comfort and beat the crowds!

Later on,  the young parents all wanted to go out to the live music, attend the street dance and hit the bars.  Well, what else are grandparents for???  We babysat the three sleeping tots while the grownups went out on the town till midnight.  Glad they were up to it, we sure weren’t.   

So we did our thing, diaper-changing, pajama-ing and bottling the babies, and Jameson konked out on the couch with a story from Granfaddah.  The kids fell asleep fast after a day of fresh air and excitement.

 

 

And I went to bed after midnight, with Visions of Granmuddahood dancing in my head!

 

 

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