What happens at the end of the dock, stays at the end of the dock...

The dock on our beach up in MN that is quite long (roughly 200 feet according to the Google Map distances). We have all the boats stashed in hoists at the end of it to get them as far out into the "deep" as possible, making it easy to get them in and out. The yellow line below shows the dock and the hoists clustered at the end of the dock.


However, the water at the end of the doc is not deep. It is shallow. You can see in the fancy Google shot that the water drop off, in dark blue on the right, quickly moves away from shore right at our property highlighted in red. (Note that the white dot out by the drop off in the red box is our floating raft that is frequented by children and seagulls alike.) The drop off, as we call it, is where the depth transitions to about 6-8 feet and the seaweed starts to grow. This is where it is safe to dive in and for boats to take off fast when you yell "hit it!"

For the boating enthusiast, this is a pain in the a$$. People can't get onto the boat until it's pulled off the hoist and putted around to the side of the dock with 1/2 the motor sticking up out of the water while it digs in the sand, or we just walk it over with the motor off. Repeat to bring the boat back in. This is especially painful getting Nana/Grand Nana on/off the pontoon on any given night. Sometimes the water is so shallow that we literally have 4 people lift each edge of the hoist and drag it out into deeper water. Then, when someone wants to ride on the boat, they need to walk through the water to the boat on the hoist some 100 feet out in the water. They may/not be able to drive back to the dock to pick up people who want to take a ride.

For the swimming enthusiast, however, having shallow water at the end of the dock is awesome. It allows kids of all ages play and jump around in the water without worry or concern.

At an early age, we were able to loose the kids from their life preservers at the end of the doc b/c, if they could stand up, then they could "swim". This freedom helped them build comfort in the water quickly and gave them the confindence to do more. They swim under the doc and play commando or super spies. They can run off the doc and jump in (feet first of course). It's been a source of great joy for the kids, and the parents who are "forced" to watch their kids using their creative minds and having great fun.

Remember Brady's singing? That was right there at the steps down into the water at the end of the dock, too.

Anything and everything can happen at the end of the dock. And back in my day, it did... but that's another story that we won't be blogging about. ;-)

Keep trying Squirt!!!

It's a right of passage for kids who grow up summering at the lake. It is scary, and often dreaded. However, once you get it, you have opened the door to an exciting and exhilerating experience few get to enjoy in their lives.

Brady (or Squirt as he has asked to be called), is very close to getting up on two skis. Not the fancy Airhead "easy ski trainer" that we bought and took to the lake for just that purpose. He's almost getting up and skiing on 2 real skis. Here's the Airhead. Looks easy, right?

Learning to ski is hard. You have to sit in the water with these 2 long very boyant things attached to your feet by a little bit of rubber. You need to keep those bouys under your body, facing up and down until the boat pulls you out of the water. The waves make it difficult to keep those skis under control while you prepare to get up. A ski, and leg, will go this way, or that way. You'll fall on your side before you know it, submerging your head in the water. And that's before you get the rope from the boat. As is customary, there's always someone willing to help the young upstart in the water to help keep everything together for you.

Then, once you have the rope, you let the boat tug you very slowly so that you can feel the pressure against the skis and build some confidence that you can do this. Then you yell... "hit it!" and...

You could fall for any of a number of reasons. The boat goes too fast and pulls you forward and out of your skis. Maybe you have your skis underneath you, but too far and you end up with a little too much water entering your bathing suit. If your skis start to plane out, maybe you lean to one side or the other and fall to the side. Or maybe, just maybe, you can get up on the skis, but forget to stand up. Success is hard, and that makes the process difficult for a kid who could easily just hop around at the end of the dock with Aunt Patty (but that's another story).

Now, it takes a good many tries to get up and feel comfortable. This was Brady's, I mean Squirt's, 12th try. He's almost got it!!!

The team up there, Aunt Patty, Amy, Mom/Dad, and the rest of the crew have agreed/decided Brady needs to try 6 times a day. If he is able to stay up on 2 skis, and then cross the wake 2 times, and some other criteria, then Brady will be the "youngest kid to ski" in Pansing/Plummer history. His helpful great Aunt Patty, his father, and a couple others are log jammed at 7 years old.

Regardless, if they keep trying, he will get up and then everything will change. Once you are up on skis, it feels like you are going 1,000,000 miles an hour, or as fast as the boat can go. The wind is pushing against you, and the fun starts. Go hop the wake. See if you can cut really hard and jump the whole thing. If you slalom, or ski on one ski, see how hard you can cut. See how parallel to the water you can make your body. See how fast you can shoot across the wake without tumbling out of the ski at 60 mph on your head, hip, shoulder, or anything else that happens to hit the water. You get to go fast, and that experience for a little boy or girl is a game changer.

Growing up in Minnesota during the summers, the 3 Plummer and 2 Pansing boys (each 1 year younger or older than the last) would spend hours and hours skiing every day. We would take off first thing in the morning (maybe between 10-1PM), and we would only come home when we needed more gas for the boat, for our bodies, or to pick up the next implement of speed and thrillseeking. There were always new tubes, kneeboards, and other boating gimmics, but skiing was the staple. You went faster, could jump things, and could ski all over the lake; and we did. When we were young, you literally could ski for 30 minutes without thinking about it. Now, the driver and other anxious/excited skiers wouldn't let that happen, but it could go on forever. For perspective, I can now ski for about 5 minutes before my body gives up and rebels. This leads to letting go of the rope (a good outcome) or an ass-over-tin-cups fall that I will feel for months.

Anyway, keep it up Squirt! One day you'll be rockin' the turns and spraying the pontoon boat with a rooster tail making your mom and dad very angry, and proud, just like I did. You can do it!!

The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat...

Every Wednesday at 2PM in Nisswa, Minnesota, a great adventure takes place. What is it, you may ask. It is a race that defies speed, grace and common sense. It's the infamous turtle race!

Now, if you have been breeding your own speedy terrapins, you can byot. Most people, however, race turtles provided by the event. They go in heats of 10-15 and cycle through 20 or so in about an hour. If you win your heat, you go to the winners rounds, and so on and so forth. It's usually very hot, and somewhat slow, if you know what I mean.

So, there's an announcer with a microphone who calls each round, keeps the peace, and officially announces the winner. Of course, Brady couldn't let this opportunity slip through his hands. He had to help out. He needs to work on a catch phrase, like "let's get ready to turtlllllllllleeeee" or something like that.

Well, this year, Avary won a heat!! That's always fun for everyone to rally around the winner and cheer for their turtle. You can see the winning speedster below.

Because this is such a crucial component of many people's lives up in Nisswa, it often times crushes the hearts of those who lose, rendering them incapable of moving on in their lives.

Well now, all was not lost. Avary let Parker hold here ribbon and all was forgotten. Way to go Avary!!!

Pansing's night out...

They never knew what was coming... You get a call for a reservation for 12 - 20 people... You think you have heard of that name before... Hmmmmm.... why does that name sound familiar.....

You accept the reservation and the next thing you know, the flower arrangements are being re-arranged, you have been told 12 different ways to do your job, and this happens. You can't take that Pansing/Plummer/Brooks clan anywhere!!!!

Hello ladies!!!

Watch out Justin Beiber, here come 'Da Boyz!!!

(This post is sponsored by Daddy!)
Hot on the tail of their world-wide smash hit, "Pull my Finger" with a cameo by Usher, Brady and Parker are back! Even though they are on hiatus in Minnesota, you just can't stop them from being creative, even while swimming in the lake. So here's a leak of their upcoming projects.

"Ants in ma pants"


"I'm breakin' ma nose" - special cameo by Mommy with some good advice!


"The germ dance"

Yeah for Patty Pansing Brooks, and, uh, Jay and Karen Young!!!

(This post is sponsored by Daddy!)
Well, it happens every year. A boat dies with no warning. The gas is checked, the engine is started over and over again, but to no avail. Then, the question is, who do I know who can come save me.

This time, it happened on the way to the July 4th parade of boats. Everyone in the cabin was on the pontoon boat, so there was nobody to call back home. So, Patty called our long time friends, Jay and Karen Young, down at the Cheque-mates (4 docks down from us) to come salvage the boat.

Now, you may think that stopping what you were doing, getting in a boat, heading out into the water and towing the Pansing/Plummer clan back to dry land would be enough to ask of anyone. However, the pontoon was so festively decorated, and everyone aboard wanted to get their parade on, so Patty asked Jay and Karen to tow them for the whole parade route. Mind you, the parade was long over. Only PPB could get away with that!

Everyone had a great time and were able to enjoy all the efforts to decorate the pontoon boat.

On a side note, I was on the phone with Amy when the boat conked out, and I told Brady he was going to have to swim home and pull the boat in. He said, "No way Daddy, I don't have my suit on. So Loel, Jay, or Avary will need to do that. They have there bathing suits on." Now, that argument may hold water if you are not found swimming around in your underwear later that afternoon pretending to be Avatar. So, Brady, next time, that excuse may not work!

Another great story in the history of the Minnesota cabin.

They made it!!!!

(This post is sponsored by Daddy!)
Well, after 2 days, 1200 miles, and 1.5 hours of stop/go traffic in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Amy, the boys, and Nana made it to the lake last night. Life is good!