We got back this afternoon from our “Make A Wish” parade in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Friday was a good day.  The ride to Sioux Falls was great and I was soooo glad to see Marilyn and Steve again.  Once I got re-acquainted with my cousins we had a great time.  We spent Friday night in the gnome house for our sleep over.  That was fun.  I’ve never had a sleep over before.  We stayed up much later than Mum and Pop, laughing, telling stories and munching on snacks.  We got up early and everyone got back into positions before Mum and Pop and Marilyn and Steve were even up.

Then it was off to the Grody’s house.  It was pretty fun to watch all of the other bikers ride up on their bikes.  The motorcycle ride in the afternoon was to raise money to send Veterans to Washington DC to see the Memorial Wall.  This year there was about 70 bikes in the motorcycle ride and when it was all over we raised enough money to send 5 Veterans.  How cool is that!  Before we left on our ride, the Grody’s had a group of people come and play the bagpipes to send us on our way.  That was pretty neat.  I never saw anyone play bagpipes before.  I think I’d like to get one to play but Mum probably won’t let me play it in the house.  I still maybe am going to buy one.

It was a hot ride but we got to stop lots of time and have something cool to drink and even enjoyed some food along the way.  Just as we were riding to our last stop for the day, things took a turn for bad.  Pop’s bike was following my cousin Don’s bike and my new friend Wally’s bike when suddenly BANG!, the two bikes crashed into each other.  Pop had quickly swerved to the left and was able to get around their accident but it was so scary.  I’d never seen a motorcycle accident before and I NEVER want to see one again.  Everyone quickly stopped their bikes and we all ran over to see if anyone was hurt.  Don and Wally were lucky and only had some minor bruises and scratches on them but the bikes didn’t look so good as you can see.

After the bikes were loaded onto a trailer and hauled away we went on our way to be in the parade but it wasn’t as much fun as the other years.  We all felt so bad for Don and Wally.

After the parade we rode to Don and Teresa’s house to see how the guys were doing and to look once again at their bikes.  By the time we noticed how late it was getting, Pop said it’s time to go.  BUT now it was raining and raining really hard.  I was so hoping Pop would decide that we couldn’t ride back to Marilyn and Steve’s house and luckily Teresa said “leave your bikes here and take my car home and then come back in the morning and get your bikes” so that is what we did.  I was glad.  I HATE riding in the rain!!!

This morning the sun was shining when we got up and so we brought Teresa’s car back and after saying good-by and having one last look at the crashed bikes we were on our way home. 

Saturday was definitely a “Day to Remember”, but I was so glad nobody was hurt bad.  I did notice Don was walking pretty slow this morning and he said he had a really big bruise on his butt. I wonder if he’ll put a picture on that on Facebook.  Probably not!

Once again we’re on our way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the “Make a Wish” motorcycle parade.  I’ve only been in the parade for two years but Mum and Pop have done it for 8 years.  They said I can go again this year.

This is so cool.  We’re going to leave this afternoon and do some extra riding to get there.  The temperature is very warm and the sun is shining.  How much better than this can it get for motorcycling.  We’re going to stay by my Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Steve house tonight and tomorrow night.  I like staying at their house.  She has gnomes kinda like me and I get to play with my cousins.  She has a real gnome house so tonight we’ll get to have a sleepover in the house.  I’ll bring my sleeping bag and some snacks and we’ll stay up late and tell scary stories.

Tomorrow we’ll ride the motorcycles all day and then be in the parade tomorrow night.  That is the best part.  Everybody takes their lawn chairs outside and watches us ride by.  They wave their flags and I wave back.  After that we’ll have a party and then Sunday morning we will ride back home.  It will be a short trip but oh so much fun.  I’ll tell you more about it when I get back.

Roulf, wish you were coming along but you’re probably having your own kind of fun.  Don’t forget about me and let me know what you’ve been doing.

OK people, this isn’t funny at all!  It’s one thing to kidnap me, but leave my cousin Roulf alone.  This is the first year his Mum let him go to the lake and what happens?  Someone has to kidnap him.

I’d like to know why it is that whenever someone see’s a gnome, they think they have to kidnap us.  Roulf, if you are reading this, wherever you may be, don’t worry.  I will rescue you.

Look closely at this picture.  If you’ve seen him, please let me know as soon as possible.  I don’t have a lot of money because I only get a small weekly allowance, but somehow I’ll find enough money to pay you if that that is the only way his Mum can get him back.

You may be laughing now, but you won’t be laughing when I find out who took him!  Don’t mess with my friends.

We got back on Saturday from our annual family get together at the lake.  What a blast we had!  I just love spending time with all my cousins and I think they really like me because we played together a lot.

Of course as usually happens every time we get together, the first thing someone has to do is kidnap me.  I don’t know what’s so funny about that but I just secretly smile and let them have their way with me.  This year they had to sneak into Mum and Pop’s cabin, kidnap me and duck tape me to a tree.  (Where is the humor in that?)  Then they take a picture and demand a ransom which Mum and Pop ignore.  To make them feel good, I beg and plead for freedom and they start to feel bad and finally let me go.  Same old thing every year.  You’d think it would get old but NOOOOOO!!!  Once we get that behind us we can finally get down to having fun.

My cousin Roulf’s Mum let him come to the lake this year.  If was fun to have someone my size to play with especially in the sand.  Roulf weighs a lot so he can’t swim without a life jacket on so mostly we played on the beach.  Roulf and I played a lot with Maverick.  We let him cover us up with sand.  Sometimes he’d try to cover up our heads with sand but when I told him we couldn’t breathe, he stopped doing that.

In the water they had this really big water slide and everyone climbed up it and slid down it.  I wanted to go down to but Mum said I better not because I’m little and it was really big.  My Mum went down the slide.  She was scared the first time but after that she wasn’t scared any more. 

This picture is of my Uncle Lloyd.  He’s getting old like Mum but still went down it and didn’t even hurt himself.  Just look at that landing.  I laughed so hard when he did that.

Today was a totally awesome day.  Our first stop was in Grand Marais,Minnesota.  We had breakfast at a quaint little restaurant near the water.  It was a great breakfast.  French toast, pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. 

Next we walked around the town, stopping in shops and even taking in the “Farmers Market”.  At the further most part of the town directly on Lake Superior we overlooked the water and saw this duck and ducklings swim by.

Once again we were on our way but had to back track about 50 miles to get to the scenic drive Pop wanted to take.  Along that drive we came upon this spot and Mum said it was time to get out and just enjoy the scenery.  How peaceful is this?  Mum and I sat on this stone and she said that this helps put the problems in life back in perspective.  I think she’s right about that.

I wanted to leave a memory of myself being here so Pop helped me built this little pile of rocks.  We put them in a special place where they won’t get disturbed.  Now when we’re gone, I’ll remember that way up north there still is a little mark of me left behind.

After about an hour of just relaxing we were on the way again.  After that it was a long drive.  Don’t tell Mum I told you but her and Pop stopped in at a casino along the way.  Since they don’t let gnomes in, Grace and I stayed in the car and waited.  That was OK.  They left the windows down and we caught up on some sleep.  They were happy when they came back.  Guess that means they had good luck.

Pop said it was time to stop for a treat so McDonalds it was.  I had that shake I was hoping for.  At first I had wanted a chocolate shake but then decided on Strawberry instead.  That was a good choice.  It was delicious.

By the way the scenic drive was awesome!

Another great day.  I love vacation.