Pool-time Fun

As we have moved from early-summer to mid-summer we have moved in to the season of 95-100 degree days, dry winds, and afternoon thunderstorms that don't produce rain but just lightening that starts forest fires. To the kids it means begging to be in the pools as much as possible and Mom giving it a lot. We have two small kiddie pools and, as you can see, one is for sliding into and the other for splashing. I'm thinking that if this hot weather keeps up I"m going to join them pretty soon. :)

Happy Picnicers

This is actually from Father's Day and I meant to include it in the last post. Somehow (this may be hard to believe) I must have been distracted while blogging that day. Just thought I'd share. :)

Happy Father's Day

During the late afternoon of Father's Day we headed to a small lake in the Hills (I can't spell or pronounce it correctly) for a paddle and a picnic supper. As we loaded kids and gear into the car and the canoe on top a cold front pushed through Rapid and our temperature dropped about 25 degrees in less than an hour. We decided to go anyway. It was cold for summertime but as a result the lake was deserted. We paddled around, grilled pork/beef burgers, and the kids "needed" to play in the water. They all ended up soaked and chilled but despite that, loving it. It was just really nice to be in the Hills, on the water, and yet be pretty much just us. On the way home we stopped off for ice cream cones and ended the day with three happy kids and one happy Dad. Hopefully the rest of you Dads had just as wonderful of a day. :)

Kids

Evan is 4

Somehow time has flown by and Evan is already 4. On his actual birthday we went to Story Book Island (SBI)with the Maertzes and Mylers. Since he got to celebrate with his cousins and my side of the family the week earlier I attempted to have a lower key day on his actual birthday. I'm not sure I succeeded.

Upon arriving at SBI the Game, Fish, and Parks were dumping fish in the trout pond there and Evan got to help, then we watched a play at the SBI Theatre, had a pizza picnic (we love Little Caesars), ate crocodile cake (Evan requested it.), were treated to Cold Stone by Mrs. Maertz, went and got a bike for me at a used bike place which mean he got to try out the tag-a-long bike we got this spring, then the GPS (aka:UPS) man came with a package from Grandma and Grandpa Smith, then Grandma and Grandpa Davis called, then he got to open the gift from Kristi and Matthew while talking to them on the phone, and then he got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa Smith on the web cam. Then bedtime came about an hour late. Woo-whoo! Four is great!!

As his parents we can actually say, Evan is an inquisitive little sweetheart who we love getting to know better and watching grow everyday. Happy Birthday Evan Jon! We love you.

can't get enough camping

Evan and Hans received their birthday gifts from my side of the family while home. One of the gifts from my parents was a tent for them to share. They also got sleeping bags from Brian and Katy. When we got home Monday night the tent "needed" to be set up in the living room, they "needed" their sleeping bags, and they "needed" to sleep in the tent. Living room camping is fun too. :)

Heading Home

Heading into the setting sun

our final trip had begun.

For two weeks we gladly did roam

And then, at last, we made it home.

Hiking the St. Croix River

Interstate Park is located on the St. Croix River. I grew up hiking around these trails and the trails in the MN Interstate Park. A few years removed I notice a lot more beauty. It is a lush, dense forest that covers the hills and bluffs above the river. The river twists and turns below begging for someone to take a trip down her in a boat, canoe, or kayak.

The kids just think the all the potholes are fun to play in and that it's neat to try to throw rocks all the way down to the river. (Note to hikers below us: Watch for tossed rocks.)

If you have any place to take a hike in the heart of nature or even just on a peripheral limb of nature, GO OUT AND ENJOY IT!!

Fishin' with Grandma

Since no camping trip in WI would be complete without a little time spent dropping a line in the water, the three older boys got to go fishing with Grandma. They fished from shore on Lake of the Dalles and the fish didn't dissapoint. Each of the boys caught a mess of "bait-stealers." They also saw a huge snapping turtle and Hans managed to fall in head first. Other than that, it was a plain old afternoon of fishin'.

Dad is 50

A few posts back I mentioned that you never know who we might sneak up on and attack for a 50th birthday. My Dad officially turns 50 July 2nd but since we were all around and he was expecting nothing, we surprised him while camping. The most amazing thing is that we actually managed to pull one over on my Dad-he always guesses things!

My brothers James and Brian, bother-in-law Bill, Uncle Rob, cousin Kyle, and Nathan stole Dad away for a "men's only" hike and geocache after lunch on Saturday. This allowed the guests to arrive undetected. When the hikers returned there was an entire party waiting and a lovely cake greeting Dad. It was fun afternoon complete with the gifts of a cane, "elderly" products, some beer, and, of course, a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.

Now we're all nervously awaiting Dad getting back at us for having a party when we were told he wanted "no attention" on his birthday. Hee-hee. :0

Mmm, S'mores

Over the first full weekend in June my whole family camped at Interstate Park in WI. We had three pop-up campers and a tent spread around four sites. Most of the activity centered around my parent's camper and site.

Friday evening we settled in to roast some marshmallows before bed. This was the first time Lydia got her own s'more. Since it was plenty warm James took off her shirt to prevent a total mess. She wasn't really sure what to make of the sticky gooey mess. Hans, on the other hand, knows the pure love of a perfectly roasted marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers with a chunk of Hershey's chocolate. Am I making you crave one yet? Mmm, S'mores! :)

Fawn-Doe-Rosa

Near where we were camping there is an animal park known as Fawn-Doe-Rosa. There are 100s of animals that are all very tame and can be hand fed. Some are just wandering free while others are in pens but can lean out to snack on the feed provided. We took about 50 pictures of the kids feeding the animals. Between our three and my nephews Joey and Jesse there was much jubilation.

The pictures are as follows:

1: Hans feeding a donkey. The woolly yak just stepped out of the picture.

2: Lydia feeding a Llama. She would still be feeding animals there if we'd let her stay as long as she'd wanted.

3: Jesse feeding a deer. He was so amazed that it didn't run away from him.

4: My parents, Jeff & Carol, enjoying watching their grand kids play with the animals while a friendly deer awaits more food.

Sadie

All three of our kids are afraid of dogs at one level or another. We've been working on it and they're getting better about it. At my parents' they all made friends with Sadie. One thing they all love it getting her to play catch. Sadie with catch anything you throw and bring it back to the throwers feet. Here are shots of Lydia throwing a tennis ball and Hans throwing a Frisbee.

Arriving at Grandma and Grandpa Davis' House

We got up to my parent's house on Wednesday evening and just had a low key dinner with the seven of us. We spent the day on Thursday getting ready for camping over the weekend. That evening, however, the troops arrived. The pictures show some of the general goofiness that came about that evening.

#1: Uncle James with Lydie.

#2: Piggy pack on Grandpa.

#3: Uncle Brian and I playing catch with Hans.

#4: Evan-copter.

MOA

Heading from Smith's up to my Mom and Dad's we stopped in the Cities to visit with our good friends the Caauwes. Currently they live in CA but were in MN for a graduation, concert, and flock of weddings. We also had included the Kassulkes and Boettchers. We planned on meeting at a park with a playground so the 10+ kids could play while we visited. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate. We ended up at Mall of America and went to Lego Land and the amusement park.

The first picture is Evan and Hans playing with Hannah.

The second is Lydia Kay and Lydia Jane cruising together.

Next is Hans playing Lydia Jane.

And the last is Andrew taking a turn riding in the car with Lydia Jane.

We would have loved to have had more time with everyone and miss them greatly but are happy we at least got to see them for a little while.