Christmas by the Lake in Clear Lake, Iowa

Christmas by the Lake in Clear Lake, Iowa

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for December 7, 2014

On Monday night, we went to a ceremony at the high school where Avery was recognized for being a Board Scholar student.  This honor is given to the kids who achieve at least an overall 3.8 GPA after their first year of high school.  I guess all that screaming his mother and I do at him to do his homework is really starting to pay off.

Luke just missed the cut this year to also receive the honor.  He was absolutely thrilled to sit through the ceremony while his brother and his friends received their awards.  Absolutely thrilled.

On Saturday morning, the boys woke up bright and early to perform their duty of selling Christmas trees at the Boy Scout tree lot.

It seems like every year it's getting easier and easier for them to haul trees around.  Not sure why that is.

Miss Sheri stayed there to help them but insisted I bring the Windex because the dirty windows on the office building were driving her crazy!

On Saturday night, I drove to Clear Lake, Iowa to visit some old friends and enjoy the 20th annual Christmas by the Lake celebration the town puts on every year.

My buddy, Ron Myers, came also and brought his beautiful family.  It was hard to pull him away from the singalong he was hosting, but we had to get down town!

It was an absolutely beautiful night with the temperatures a balmy 38 degrees.  A perfect evening for a parade.

I hung out with Krazy Kory all night and we had the pleasure of hooking up with his parents, Gene and Bobbe, for awhile.  They are like the ambassadors for Clear Lake and were able to get us a front row seat for the main event of the evening.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a winter fireworks display, but was absolutely blown away by the show.  They had plenty of red and green fireworks and ended the show with two incredible fireball explosions.  Definitely worth the trip just to see these.

  

We then went to our old buddy Jason Bradshaw's birthday party and saw a bunch of old friends.  And we got leid!

  

I haven't hung out with Dancing Dave Hansen, Jason A, and Krazy Kory all at the same time since high school.  It was plenty of fun seeing these guys.

We ended the night at Elly's Lakefront Tap and danced the night away to some of that good old rock and roll.  Always a good time going home to Clear Lake!

On Sunday morning I drove home just in time to join my wife and mother for a Pancake breakfast to support the high school band at the local VFW.  Mmmmm, pancakes!