The kids always get wonderful gifts for their birthdays and Christmas but I thought I'd send a special acknowledgement for this one. Since Andrea is in Paraguay and can't see (or hear) Hans in person here is a peek at him enjoying his gift. It was an instant hit and the letters now spell out his name above his bed. Thank you Aunt Andrea. BIG HUGS! :)
On Hans' actual birthday we visited a few more of the free family attractions here in town. Little Oshkosh is a community playground very near Lake Winnebago. In picture one you can see the kids getting ready for our picnic lunch in the foreground and the playground in the back. It's a huge area and will be visited again soon. After lunch we headed across the parking lot to the Menominee Park Zoo (pic 2, another freebie) to see the animals. The zoo circles a pond and actually has more animals than I expected for a free zoo. The last stop of the day was a train ride on a city park train. (This one isn't free but is only $1/person.) The kids are all excited for people to visit so we can show them the "new cool places." After supper Hans had "cake" number two (pic. 4). It was actually a jello dessert that is supposed to look like a pudding island in the jello ocean complete with gummy sharks, octopus, and palm tree. Use your imagination. :)
Part of moving means finding new free family activities. One that the kids and I checked out this week is only about nine block from our house. The splash pad is a giant sprinkler area at a city park. There are about a dozen different places that water squirts and sprays. The kids can turn on the different sprinklers that run on a timer for about five minutes so it's an on demand play area. The kids think we should go back daily. I can't promise that, but we will hit the splash pad a few more times this summer. Anybody want to come splash with us?
For quite awhile Hans has known that his birthday would be the first one in Oshkosh and he's been very eager. So while Kevin and Mary were here we started the celebration. He'd liked the cake Mary had made for Evan so she had brought him his own special Care Bear cake, too. I couldn't remember which box had the birthday candles so we used toothpicks but what mattered most to Hans was that it was finally birthday time. Happy Birthday Little Man. We all love you.
1. Lucky Hans.2. Blowing out the toothpicks.
3. Showing Grandpa how to use his new presents.
After we left Rapid City my parents and the kids went back to their house after an overnight at the Maertzes along the way. Nate, Jo, and I met his parents in Worthington and, leaving the truck parked, went to Omaha for our friend Sarah's wedding. Sunday after the wedding we made it back to Zumbrota and Monday we finally made it to Oshkosh. Once there Nate's brother Michael, sister-in-law Tammy, Aunt Karen, cousins Bekah and Christi, and kind-hearted neighbors helped us unload. To start it seemed like there were boxes everywhere but even that first night some things had already found their spot. These pictures were taken on day two. Nathan's parents were kind enough to go up my parents', pick up the kids, and bring them down to us in Oshkosh that day. It let us get the big things put in place before the kids arrived. A lot of our things have been adjusted since these pictures were taken and there are pictures on the walls, but at least it gives you can idea of how things are here. 1. All three kids share the big bedroom upstairs.
2. The little room upstairs is their playroom.
3. Our living room. Behind the camera is the dining room which is about a mirror image.
4. The kitchen. Out the door you see leads to the basement and backdoor.
July 5 was the day. By 8am Nate had picked up the truck, by 9am we were hard at work filling it, by about 11am everything was in, and by 12:30pm we were on the road. It sounds so easy in that one sentence but really what made it so was, again, the generosity of the friends who helped us load. Many hands make work light. I'm grateful it went so well considering it was a roller coaster of emotions. It was the last goodbye to many special people. The thing that helps soften the blow of leaving them is the joy in having had them as friends in the first place. It was also farewell to so many firsts: the first place we lived married, the first home we bought, the place we had our children. There will always be happy memories of Rapid City and the seven years we spent serving St.Paul's. Thanks to everyone who helped make those memories. You are missed but always in our hearts. 1. The BIG truck.
2. What's our stuff doing in here?
3. To fit or not to fit? That is the question.
4. Let's hit the road. My kind parents took the kids with them so Nathan, Joanna, and I rode to southern MN together in the moving truck. The truck wasn't the most fun way to travel but the company was laugh-out-loud funny (or maybe that was the extreme lack of sleep). :)
In case you need something to make you smile, here you go. Nathan took this one of Lyd at the fireworks and I found it when I was sorting though photo files. Say cheese!
1. Mom and Dad chatting with Pastor Free. 2. Free, Busch, and Smith kids on a rock.
3. Lydia found her favorite viewing place.
4. Let the show begin.
5. The grand finale! WOW!
This was the third year we went to the Mount Rushmore fireworks with the Free family (pic. 1). Each year we've had such a great time we keep adding more people to the guest list. The group shot we took
(pic.4) is actually short seven people which made this years head count 30 up from 13 the first year. We find our spot about 6pm, make "camp"(pics. 2&3), hike around, eat some supper, chat, chase kids, eat Mary's homemade popcorn, eagerly await the military flyovers, enjoy adult beverages, laugh, apply mosquito spray, wait for dark, ..... and enjoy one of the top firework displays in the country. There has been rumor that this tradition isn't allowed to die and that we're required to make yearly visits to uphold it; we'll see what next year brings, it'd be fun to have some more Free time. :)
1. Most of the creek crossings had to be waded across since there weren't any bridges, and the higher than usual rainfall means the stepping stones aren't an option. Here Joanna grins as she gaits across the creek.
2. On a previous creek crossing Lydia had insisted on attempting the crossing alone and ended up on her hands and knees wet to the neck. Here she wisely let Grandma help her.
3. As you can probably imagine since the lovers could leap the summit drops off considerably. Grandpa was Evan's safety cord as he reached the top.
home. We'd try almost any hike once but definitely had favorites that we hit repeatedly and we loved to share them with all who'd consider hiking with us. If you visited us when the weather permitted we took you hiking. Saying good bye to the Hills meant finding one last hike that we'd always remember. On July 3 we hiked Lover's Leap Trail in Custer State Park for just that hike. It's a beautiful three mile hike with the first being a bit like climbing stairs, the second one rolling easily while ending at the summit (where the lovers leapt), and the third crossing a creek ten times (really, 10). It was the perfect hike. The gentle breeze, smell of pine in the air, and grand Hills as far as one can see made it like a piece of heaven.
1. The Smith Family Hikers.
2. No one knows who put the sign there, but it's stayed for a long time since it just seems right.
3. Evan at the summit sign. The actual summit is up and to the right of Evan as seen in picture one.
4. Here we go a-crossing the creek. We walked barefoot for the last 1/2 mile since it just didn't pay to put shoes back on and off repeatedly. And since you're wondering, Lydia was the only one to fall in and get soaked.
