Stories

Stories

	June 28, 2006 Zoe, Dylan, and Zoe's friend Sierra went swimming and then fishing with Grampa. They caught several fish. Gus's team lost their baseball game by a score of 11 to 8. Gus went 0-4 with two strike outs. In the field, he played left field, center field, and second base three times. He fielded a ball at second, stepped on the bag to get the lead runner and then fired to first to complete the double play.

	June 28, 2006 The day was spent at Valleyfair with Gramma and Grampa Scoblic, Dylan, and Aunt Deb. Gus's friend Spencer came with, too, and the boys spent most of the day at the waterpark. Zoe and Dylan split much of their time between the Hydroblaster and the Mad Mouse, which is also Cindy's favorite ride. Zoe also braved the Corkscrew and liked it. Nick was sure that the last ice cube had melted minutes before they went on The Wave. Time was taken to go out to the car for the lunch of focaccia sandwiches and fruit kabobs that Cindy and Deb had made. Grampa and Gramma then watched the kids in the waterpark area and let Nick, Cindy, and Deb go back to Rochester. They later ended up staying at Aunt Janny's house because it was too dark for Grampa to drive. He was probably just worn out from watching the kids!

	June 27, 2006 Gus and Spencer wanted to go to the movie. Cindy said, "But you have baseball tonight." "It's the 10:45 movie, mom," explained Gus. "I don't think so," said Cindy. "I have a friend who can drive us," added Spencer helpfully. Cindy laughed uproariously. Nick did, too, when mom told him the story after picking him up from work. Gus's team won their baseball game by a score of 22 to 10. Gus had a triple and a single and was happy that all his team's pitchers were present so he didn't have to pitch. Nick and Spencer sat in lawnchairs, watching the game and working on their sunflower seed spitting skills. There was a lot of work to do.

	June 22, 2006 Gus's team lost their baseball game by a score of 13 to 12. See the baseball page for a summary of the heartbreaking loss.

	June 20, 2006 Gus's team lost their baseball game by a lot. The game was sharp for the first five innings, but Gus's team fell apart in the field in the top of the sixth. The other team batted around twice. Between walks and errors, the other team must have scored close to 20 runs in that inning alone. Gus's team finally put two runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth, but, by that time, everyone was just happy to get the game over with. Gus played shortstop for three innings and pitched for two and a third innings. He pitched two scoreless innings in the third and fourth, although he had the bases loaded in the fourth. He was brought in off the bench to get the third out in the sixth inning. He allowed the three runners he inherited to score, and he loaded the bases with his own runners, but he finally got that elusive third out. Gus went 0-3. He struck out and hit into a fielder's choice. Both times he hit the ball, it was on a 3-0 count; one was for sure a ball, and the other looked like it probably was. He could've been on base twice. Nick went over to the dugout to tell Gus that he needs to take a pitch when he's got a 3-0 count and got the impression that it didn't even dawn on Gus to take the pitch on 3-0. Oh, well, live and learn.... After all, as Gus said on the ride to Burger King for a Texas Double Whopper, it's only a game. (By the way, there are "mouth watering jalapenos" on that Texas Double Whopper. Nick would change that to "eye watering jalapenos." Otherwise, it's not a bad burger.)

	June 17, 2006 A pair of mallards has taken to hanging out in our back yard. Zoe named them Dexter and Dexterina. Then she changed Dexterina to Doris. Zoe and Daddy were sitting in the back yard watching them this evening when Zoe called out, "Doris!" Doris turned toward Zoe, and Zoe said, "Maybe Doris really is her name!"

	June 15, 2006 Gus's team won their baseball game by a score of 30 to 7. Gus went four for seven with a double and three runs scored. He also reached base twice on errors. In the field, he played center field, left field, and shortstop. He also pitched a one-two-three inning with two strike outs. Zoe watched the game with Nick. She also had three freeze pops, a pixie stick, sunflower seeds, and nachos from the concession stand. All this cost about $3.

	June 13, 2006 Gus's team won their baseball game by a lot. Gus went two for five with a triple, a single, and two strike outs. He also reached on a fielder's choice. He scored three runs. Nick missed his triple by about 30 seconds; he arrived just as Gus was trotting home after the next batter singled. In the field, Gus played second base, center field twice, right field, and shortstop. He had an error in center field when a ball got by him. After the game, the whole family went to see Cars. All enjoyed the film.

	June 6, 2006 Gus's team lost their baseball game by a score of 4 to 10. The other team hit about three balls to the outfield gaps that rolled to the fence, providing most of the difference in the score. Otherwise, it was a pretty tight game. Gus struck out looking in the first inning. In the third, he singled over the second baseman's head, driving in his team's first run. He took second on the throw to the plate and was stranded there. In the fifth, he hit into a fielder's choice and was also stranded on second base. He played center field, right field, second base, and shortstop. He didn't make any plays, but he hit the cut-off man and covered his bases well. Zoe swam for her new swimming coach at Med-City Aquatics. She won't have to compete in swimming meets like she had to with the YMCA, and that brings the fun back into swimming for her. Then she went to Girl Scouts in Wanamingo, where they worked on their Main Street benches project and then roasted hot dogs and made s'mores.

	June 4, 2006 We went mini-golfing at Lark Toys in Kellogg, Minnesota. Nick won by a stroke with 54. Gus shot 55, Cindy shot 72, and Zoe shot 81. Zoe had the only hole-in-one, though.

	June 1, 2006 Gus's team won their baseball game by a score of 16 to 4. Gus had three hits, including a double. He played center field, left field, right field, and second base. Interestingly, Gus's team recorded the first nine outs on strike outs. In fact, Gus gobbled up a grounder and tossed to the shortstop for the first out that wasn't a strike out. In the first inning, their pitcher threw 6 balls and 9 strikes to strike out the side.

	May 30, 2006 Gus's team won their baseball game by a score of lots to very few. Gus didn't know the score--he said he never asks at the end of the game. Dad marvels that he can be incurious enough to not even check! Gus had a hit and played center field, left field, and shortstop.

	May 29, 2006 Zoe stayed overnight at her friend Katie's house in Wanamingo. At 6:00 in the morning, the girls worked at a pancake feed with their Girl Scout troop. Then they were in a Memorial Day parade. After that, they went swimming. Mom, Dad, and Gus went to get her in the evening and drove through a big thunderstorm. The temperature dropped from 94 to 69, and Gus was predicting their violent deaths by tornado. It was very windy, and it hailed a bit. Darin, Katie's dad, recently put in a huge wood burning stove to heat water for their hot water heat. Plans for Darin and Lisa to come and cut down the half-dead tree in the back yard to use for fuel next winter were discussed. Ironically, the storm had blown the tree down. Carpenter ants had been at work on the tree for quite a while and had finally weakened it enough for the wind to bring it down.

	May 25, 2006 Gus's team won their baseball game by a score of 16-4. Gus had two hits and played his favorite position, third base. Zoe had Girl Scouts. Her scout leader, Lisa, is also Mom's friend and boss. Lisa picked Zoe up and took her to Wanamingo, which is where her troop is based. They began refurbishing the benches along Wanamingo's Main Street. These were originally provided by the Girl Scouts and are in need of some repairs. Zoe really enjoyed taking them apart, and she is looking forward to painting the benches at the next meeting. Zoe will be staying overnight in Wanamingo on Sunday night in order to get up early to work at a pancake feed. She can hardly wait!

	May 23, 2006 Gus's baseball team had practice because their game was cancelled. The other team was missing about seven players. Gus pitched again and reported that he didn't do so well this time. He hit the ball pretty well, though, so that made up for the poor pitching.

	May 18, 2006 Gus pitched at baseball practice. Dad saw him pitching when he went to pick him up, and he looked pretty good. The coach is making sure he has enough pitchers this year; in the championship game last year, Gus's team was without two of their pitchers and had to press a couple kids who hadn't pitched before into service. Gus reported that pitching was the only thing that went well at this practice.

	May 11, 2006 Gus had baseball practice. Zoe and Dad played some catch while Gus and his team practiced. Zoe is pretty good at catching short pop-ups! After baseball practice, it was time for a Girl Scout meeting at the Zumbrota Food Bank. Zoe's troop dropped off 200+ pounds of food and learned a little bit about how the food bank operates.

	April 23, 2006 We went bowling. Dad won both games, the first in an amazing come-from-behind effort. Gus entered our names into the computer, and he put himself down as "CKY BOWLER" because CKY is one of his favorite bands. Dad thinks he just left the "I" off at the beginning.

	March 28-31, 2006 Nick had planned on taking Gus and Zoe to Fallingwater over spring break, but they both came down with the flu the day before the trip was to start. Nick took a shorter trip to Pere Marquette State Park in Illinois, the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Powell Gardens near Kansas City, and the Overland Park Arboretum in Overland Park, Kansas. He left his suitcase at home, which was fine except for the fact that his Mirapex was in the suitcase. He didn't get much sleep, since his legs bothered him quite a lot. Cindy thinks that's a good example of poetic justice--she had to stay home with the sick kids and ended up getting the flu herself.

	March 2006 One day, Zoe was trying to persuade Dad to do something, so she was bargaining up a storm. She said, "I'll even watch *The Silent Man* with you!" She, of course, was referring to that great John Wayne-Maureen O'Hara movie that was set in Ireland.

	January 12-15, 2006 Nick and Cindy flew to San Diego for the wedding of Nick's friend Darvin. Nick didn't want to come back, but Cindy made him.

	November 24, 2005 Grampa Wager came for Thanksgiving. We had a great meal: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, pickles, green and black olives, cranberry sauce, and orange jello. Zoe would still be eating if she hadn't been forcibly stopped in concern that she might explode. Later in the evening, we went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Gus and John sat down in the front row. Nick, Cindy, and Zoe sat a little farther back. Not far enough for Nick, but farther back. Zoe went down to sit by the boys at one point and came back by Mom and Dad when it was a little too scary to be that close. All liked the film, but Mom and Dad thought there could've been another half hour to provide background and explanation.

	November 17, 2005 Nick feels old. He helped Gus with his Christmas list this evening, and found that Gus wants a CD by a band Nick has never heard of. And this isn't some new, fly by night band--they've been around for about 15 years.

	October 16, 2005 It was another beautiful fall day, and Zoe, Gus, and Daddy went hiking at Quarry Hill Park. On the way to the park, Zoe told Daddy that she had learned in school that pretty soon there wouldn't be any more trees. When they got to the Nature Center, Daddy pointed out a picture of the site of the Nature Center from 100 years ago that showed very few trees. Thus it is with much of the Midwest--there are many more trees now than before the region was settled. Gus and Zoe climbed a bit on the old brick retaining wall that has been turned into a climbing wall. Then they led Daddy up a steep path to look at a precarious-looking slab of concrete that is making its way (hopefully slowly, although Daddy wouldn't want to be near it in a downpour) down the hill. The slab is part of the old dynamite shack from when Quarry Hill was an operating quarry. They walked around the quarry, across the bridge where recent legend has it a man hung himself, and down the hill toward the cemetery. A State Hospital used to be located just south of Quarry Hill Park, and this was the cemetery for the patients. At the bottom of the hill at this spot is a cave that was used to store bodies of patients who died in the winter until they could be buried in the spring. It's small and not very spooky, and since it was midafternoon, the sun shone right into the opening to light up the cave. Then it was up and down the hill and around to the two bricked-up entrances to the State Hospital's storage caves. They stored the produce that was grown on the Hospital grounds in this cave, and there is only one opening left open, although it's blocked by locked iron gates. Tours are given periodically. It's amazing that the cave mouths were controlled only in the 1990s; up to then, they were left open. Zoe's class had had a tour of the cave last year, and she was full of information. On the way back to the car, Daddy took Gus and Zoe on a side trip down by Silver Creek, which winds its way past the south edge of Quarry Hill Park. It's the same creek that goes past the Silver Lake Pool. There was a huge tree down across the creek, and Gus climbed across and back. They sat on the foot bridge and looked down into the water. Then they went over the old car bridge that's now blocked off. Then they went home.

	October 15, 2005 Zoe and Daddy went hiking at Quarry Hill Park. Zoe lasted approximately 45 seconds into the hike before needing a rest stop because her legs were tired. In all fairness, the hike did begin steeply. The hike wound through the trees, and they had a nice view from the top of the hill, 70 or 80 feet above where they'd started. Then they set off into the woods to see where the trail took them. Daddy tried to slip in a little lesson about the directions, and Zoe taught Daddy to "Never Eat Shredded Wheat" (North East South West). Then she asked, "What's shredded wheat?" After about 15 minutes of hiking, Zoe was sure they had become lost and thought they should yell for help. "We'll never get out of here," she said. "We'll be hiking forever. We'll die here. First you'll die, then I'll die." Daddy did finally convince Zoe that he knew where he was going, and pretty soon they were on the path back toward the parking lot. Along the way, they stopped to watch a brown and black wooly caterpiller cross the path. While watching the caterpillar, they were overtaken by a family also out for a hike. Zoe wanted to follow them to civilization, but Daddy let them get out of sight. It's just not the same when you can see someone else. Finally, they made it back to the Quarry Hill Nature Center and went inside. The Nature Center is really a neat little place, and they spent half an hour or so looking at the fish, birds, and turtles. The Nature Center has a bee hive that's arranged sort of like an ant farm, with glass on each side so you can see the bees, and Zoe asked Daddy if he could find the queen bee. The search didn't last long before she had Daddy look through the binoculars at the birds outside. Near the pond, they saw another brown and black wooly caterpillar. Zoe petted this one and said it felt kind of bristly. The way home went past the prison, and Zoe asked, "Daddy, did you ever go to that school?" Evidently, the place looked like a school to her. She must've missed the barbed wire fence around the place. "No," Daddy replied. "I never did get to that school."

	More Stories Current page: Stories of Gus and Zoe Spring Break 2005 Trip to Mississippi Stories From Summer 2004 Stories From The 2003-2004 School Year Stories From Summer 2003 Stories From May 2003 Stories From Early 2003 Stories From Late 2002 Stories From Early 2002 Stories From 2001

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