Busy September: A Day on the Farm

In the corn maze.

Look out! Lydia is at the wheel!

Farmer Evan and Farmer Lyd

Farmer Hans and Farmer Lyd

Busy September: Quarry Quest on September 18

Time flies! I know it's been almost two months since I've added pictures and updated the blog. What can I say? We've been busy. For six of the last seven weekends we've had plans that involved some kind of event or trip out of town or both.  I'll try to get caught up with things here since there is a lot to share. 


This video clip is from Quarry Quest which is a fundraiser for children's charities/open house for the quarry in Neenah.  The boys attnded with Nathan last year and had a great time. Lydia was eager to join the fun this year. It was a great fall family day.

Camp Croix 2010 In Pictures

The sunset on the drive north. Red at night promising a great tomorrow.

Look what Lydia found in the boat house.

Ready to canoe with Uncle James.

Here we go a paddling.

Evan's big bass, also the only fish caught.

Around the campfire. The camper in the background is the one I grew up camping in as a child. Lots of memories.

The cousins drinking apple cider in the morning to keep warm.

What did Grandpa so to Jesse, Joe, and Evan?

Building a giant castle.

The boys canoeing on their own. Nathan and Bill rescued/coached them along.

Frog races. Which frog will hop out of the circle fastest?

Tucked in and cozy in the tent.

That's not your bottle, Hannah.

A day at Kohler Andrae

One Saturday in August we found our way to Kohler Andrae State Park on the shores of Lake Michigan for a day at the beach. We picnicked, swam, rode waves on tubes, explored the nature center, played in the sand, walked on the boardwalk through the marsh, found a geocache, & made the most of  a wonderful summer day.

Back to School

Lydia and Mrs.Berg

Hans and Mrs.Strusz

Evan and Mrs.Busse

Left around the table: Melanie w/Cole, Ellen. Paula, Laura, Kris, Annie, Jenny, Stephanie, Stephanie, Joanna w/Ginny, Amy w/ Lucy

After dropping the kids off with each of their capable teachers a group of Martin Luther Moms headed to a local restaurant for breakfast. We all had a great start to our day.

First Day of School: 2010-2011

Back on August 25th all four students in our family headed back to school.
Nathan headed to class before I got out the camera. His classes are only part time this year. Currently he's only in class two hours a day so he's continuing to work full time as a mechanic for a small company here in Oshkosh.
Evan headed to second grade this fall. I was a little worried since he'd said, "School ruins summer vacation." just a few days before school started. Despite this he continues to impress his teacher with his work ethic, to quote her, "Even if he doesn't like it he buckles down and works hard."
Hans is happily in first grade. I say happily because he nearly always is. His teacher even remarked that he smiles all the time in class and he's such a joy to have.
Lydia is only in school three morning a week but don't let that fool you, she's a big girl. All the doubts she had about preschool last year have been replaced with confidence. She eagerly heads to school ready for anything the teacher brings.
I hope all of the rest of the students out there have had just as wonderful of a start to the school year.


ps: Often I let the kids take silly pictures after their good pictures but I never actually do anything with the silly ones.  Here I decided to let a little personality shine through.  

hitting the road

Our last stop in Rapid was Dinosaur Park. We spent about ten minutes there on our way out of town letting the kids climb before we strapped them in the van for the trip back east.  This was one of our favorite places to bring visitors, it offers a great view of town with the flat lands to the east and then the beautiful Hills to the west.  Our last look until our next visit.  What a wonderful vacation!  Thank you to all of our SD family who made it such a joy.

The Last Day of Vacation

Part of our South Dakota family.

On the last day of vacation it was time to say thank you. With the exception of the two nights camping, we'd spent our vacation at the home of our dear friends the Frees. We'd been spoiled with breakfast bakes, coffee cakes, parties hosted in our honor, nightly chats with Pastor and Mary, a guest room for us and another for the kids, laundry service, beer and wine, meal after meal of homemade goodness, and even more memories made. This was a huge part of what made our vacation so very wonderful. Thank you Free family. We're savoring the memories until our next visit.

Our kids with "Grandpa & Grandma Free" and "Uncle Jason."

The Fifth Fabulous Day

Day five brought more fun. We started the day at Reptile Gardens.  This place is impressive for any visitor but for kids who love animals, especially the creep type, it's amazing. We used to get the annual pass (which costs the same as a one day pass) and visited often. If anything being a few years older made this stop even better because the kids understand even more about the animals.

Next we headed for Story Book Island for lunch. This too was a popular place for me to take the kids on sunny summer days. We met up with our friend Paula and her six kiddos. It took about two seconds for the kids to make fast friends and enjoy playing together. It was good to catch up with what's new in each others lives.

Later this afternoon we visited one of the teachers Nate taught with, Pat. Pat was suffering from cancer and nearing the end so we wanted to see her while we could.  She was weak but at peace. 

Our next stop was Armadillo's for ice cream. This place is a RC tradition. Every local knows Armadillo's.  We took Mary and Jason along with us for a mid afternoon cool down.

Then we headed back to Reptile Garden because the kids wanted to see a few more things.  We had the chance to visit with Maddy, a former student, who works there and catch up with what's new with her and her family. 

Our final stop of the night was the Busches' house.  Here I brought the camera in but didn't take a single picture. We were too busy enjoying each other. The kids (all 8 of them) entertained each other upstairs, down stairs, outside, and in the pool.  The grown-ups laughed, shared, and caught up. I got to see the work of two former art students. Our goddaughter is growing up so quickly.  The night moved too swiftly and we stayed out way past the kids bedtime.  Thank you Busch family, for the wonderful evening together. We look forward to the next time we can spend time together.

On the Fourth Day of Vacation

As our vacation continued we packed up camp and headed back to town and our hosts, the Frees. We took a rather meandering route making several stops along the way.  First we did a little hiking at camp. Then we headed to Prairie Berry Winery to taste some new vintages and some old favorites.  We did, of course, bring some home with us as well.  Then, since SD has had more rain than it ever did while we lived there, we wanted to see the Pactola Reservoir full instead of 30 feet below full.  After arriving back in town and doing a few loads of laundry we had supper with our friend Cynthia at our old house.  Cynthia taught with Nate and then bought our house when we moved.  She's made it her own with lots of vibrant colors and cats but it was fun to visit the place we called home for so long.  Cynthia made a great supper and her foster daughter made an apple crisp for dessert.  Later in the evening Nate put the kids to bed back at Frees while I headed out for drinks with two gal pals, Dayna and Erin. We caught up, laughed, and I found out Erin is expecting again! It was another great vacation day.

Day 3

On our third day we made it to the most popular destination in SD, Mount Rushmore.  In the years we lived in SD we visited often enough to have favorite parts in the informational movies.  The boys had vague memories that visiting refreshed, but for Lydia it was like seeing everything for the first time.  She was wowed by the vastness of the monument and for the first time the boys started to understand the history of it.  It was a great, great visit. 

Our day came to a close with dinner with our friends the Larson's at Alpine Inn in Hill City.  Nathan and I've dined there before with friends and on our last SD anniversary, but this was the kids' first visit.  For dinner the menu is limited to two sizes of fillet mignon or a hot dog for the kids.  The boys picked the steak so at ages 6 & 7 they dined on fillet mignon.  Crazy fun.  Thanks, Larson's for taking the time to treat us to dinner. It was unforgettable. 

Day 2

On our second day in SD we headed to the Hills to hike with our friend Denise. This was a hike we'd done several times before and were eager to do again.  It was AWESOME.  We also set up our tent at Sheridan Lake campground and made our home away from home for the next two days. For supper that night we dined with our friends the Smiths.  It was an evening of catching up and memory making. Thanks for everything Smiths.

ps. I took lots of hiking pictures and only one at Smiths. I guess I was too busy enjoying the evening. :o)

Day 1 in Pictures

We spent the afternoon hiking Boulder Hill with Pastor & Mary.

Our family on top of Boulder Hill with the glorious Hills in the background.

My three little mountain goats.  They loved climbing around the rocks.  Lydia even declared, "I AM a mountain girl!"

Evan wanted to venture off the path on the way down. He was with a college age friend so I let him give it a try. The satisfied look on his face after making it down was enough to know it was the right hike for our adventurous son.

Home. Sweet. Home. Or perhaps, Hills. Sweet. Hills.

Just breathe.

On the Road

Check out all the wind turbines in southern Minnesota along I-90.

Those are fields of ripe sunflowers. It was such a beautiful drive.

Sunflowers with a Wall Drug sign seemed a little iconic.

We were traveling at the close of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. There were literally 100s of bikes rumbling down the road with us

.

Summer vacation is comming to an end and what better way to celebrate that end than with a family vacation. Last week we enjoyed just that. Friday, after Nathan was finished with work we headed to his parents, from there we left Saturday morning for Rapid City, SD. Since we called Rapid home for seven years it was a familiar drive as we eagerly headed west.

Discovery World

Last Saturday we got together with my college roommate Bekah and her family for a day of discovery. We met up at the Discovery World museum in Milwaukee. It was a beautiful day filled with seven kids exploring, playing, laughing, and learning while the adults used them as an excuse to do the same.  As we headed our separate ways the kids were very disappointed our time together had gone so quickly. The adults agreed.  Here is a peak at what we saw and did.

Frees!

From l to r: Lydia, Jon, Pastor, Hans, James, Evan, Mary

We had some fun company a few weeks back. Four of the six Frees stopped over for an evening since they were in the neighborhood. Really they had a family wedding to attend and a son to visit but we'll take a visit for any reason. Our boys lapped up the attention from their boys. Lydia took a little warming up but eventually made friends with everyone. Of course time moved too quickly as we visited, caught up on each others lives, and shared the evening. Thankfully we'll be in their neck of the woods soon so we'll have more time together. Thanks for stopping Frees. Please come again.

EAA Airventure 2010: Take Two

A big highlight at AirVenture is daily airshow. There is such a variety of show planes from military to civilian, jets to sail planes, helicopters to triplanes, deafeningly loud to nearly silent. This year EAA added another piece of variety, a night airshow. It was amazing. The first acts were very well lit planes with special effects lighting on a variety of places.  Then, as the night grew darker, some planes added pyrotechnic effects.  These were even more impressive. Finally the evening ended with fireworks.  In this video you can see a brief piece of the daytime show and then several highlights of the night show.  Enjoy.  As mentioned earlier, we're looking forward to next year.

EAA Airventure 2010: Take One

One of the joys of Oshkosh is the annual EAA Airventure. Each July approximately 600,000 people and 10,000 airplanes gather for the greatest aviation gathering in the Unites States. Like any trade show type event one can find everything from casual observers to dedicated enthusiasts.  Here are a few of our still pictures from the week. We watched many of the daily airshows, wandered the grounds on foot and in a jeep, and took advantage of some perks of Nathan's new job being on the airport property. It was a great week and we're looking forward to next year.

Visiting the Trailer

Smile! Or at least sit still for just a second please.

Evan, Grace, and Hans in the splash pool.

Just a swingin'.

On a sunny summer we were invited to go with some school friends to their trailer (permanently parked large camper) to play, swim, picnic, and visit. We had a great time! The kids loved playing on the deck, catching minnows in the pond, swimming in the two pools, jumping on the jumping pillow (giant inflatable pillow), wading in the lake, swinging on the tire swing, and visiting with friends. Dee Ann and I visited and played right along with the kids. It was a beautiful, relaxing day just right for summer. Thanks for a great day Dee Ann, Grace, and Cooper!

Summer Activity: Read to a Dog

This activity isn't just a summer activity but a program at the library that happens several times a year. It is, however, a great excuse for me to keep the boys reading during the summer. We all signed up for the summer reading program and read 20 minutes a day and for eight Mondays the boys 20 minutes was to a variety of dogs. This picture was taken the last day of the summer session when they were short a dog so the boys got to share the dog.