October Still Feels Like Summer

On Wednesday, October 1st, George and I

kept busy while the other kids were

in school (and pre-school). He is pretty

good at pairing up and lining up shoes!

We played outside for a while, then went

into the machinery building and found

the trampoline.

Time for a rest after all that bouncing...

but he got up and jumped around again!

We picked up Mary Kate at preschool, had lunch

at Mama Lil's, and then went to dance class.

The UPS driver left some packages for Kelly,

and she found a surprise inside!

We headed home on Thursday, and Trina sent

these pictures from Homecoming Week at Alburnett.

Recognize anyone?

Caiden was in the Homecoming Court!

And he was crowned King on Friday night.

Oct. 4th..First hockey game of the season: UND 7-Manitoba-0

Tailgating, music, and food before the game. I signed up

at the Buffalo Wild Wings booth...

and won a year's worth of wings!!!!!

Back home to reality...I picked my acorn squash,

baked them all on the 6th, and froze the baked

squash for future use.

My dehydrator has been working full-time

for the past month...taking care 

of some of the 600 apples I processed. We now have

a year's worth of apple juice, applesauce, apple pie mix,

apple cider, frozen sliced apples, and dehydrated apple

 snacks. I hope all those apples keep the doctor away!

Hockey season in Virginia! RJ plays; Julia watches.

Iowa gang is ready for Halloween. There's that

stupid 67 again attacking the pumpkins.

Donna sent these pics from her barge cruise

somewhere in Alsace on the Rhine river.

Sunset en route to the concert on the 21st in Rugby

This Aria Nouveau couple sang music

from operas and pop songs using

their operatic voices.

I painted the old vanity we had in the basement,

and Bob found a sink top. We plan to put

it in the laundry room in townhouse #2.

Made it to the Alburnett football game on the 24th 

to watch Annika in her poms group.

No game score at halftime, so we stayed

for the nail-biter second half. Alburnett

won 13-6 in their first playoff round!

Everyone was home for Annika's

Confirmation on Sunday, the 26th.

On our way to Ana's, we stopped in Clear Lake.

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper

are memorialized in a new interactive museum

in Clear Lake, Iowa, site of their last show.

Guitars displayed in every room, many of which

were donated by performers and fans.

A creative artist donated this History of Rock and Roll.

The original ballroom is next door to the museum.

We did a little dance

just to say that we were there. We stayed with

Ana and the girls that night and got

back to the farm on the 28th.

Never too old for Halloween..Matthew,

Kelly, Luke, Mary Kate, and George

RJ

and Julia loaded up with candy...

Cecelia and Lydia

and Santa who got his 

holidays mixed up! (Caiden)

 

A September to Remember

 

L to R: Lydia, Claire, and Cecelia finally started

school after Labor Day!

My apple gizmo has seen almost 300 apples so far

this year. The tree in the duplex we are trying to sell

has gone wild again! We have apple pies, applesauce,

apple juice, and dehydrated apples...and the tree

is not done yet, but I am " done in"  :-)
Before some wise person invented this machine,

Bob's mother would come to the farm 

with a bushel of apples and peel, slice,

and core them using a paring knife!

She had unlimited patience!

Bob found these wild plums west of the yard!

Sunset on September 6th.

After a couple of cool nights, Bob decided

to close up the camper on September 7th.

September 11th in Devils Lake:

The Sidekicks did all 80's music. I took cousin Renee

and we met Brenda S. for the first 

Concert of the season. They knew every song..

said it was their high school music. 

September 12th, I hopped on Amtrak in Rugby

and Ana picked me up in St. Cloud the next morning.

We drove to Iowa to surprise Trina for an

early birthday party.

Trina thought Bob and I were coming, 

but she figured it out when she saw

Ana's vehicle drive into the yard!

Surprise! (sort of) Ana even baked

her a gluten-free cake.

On the way back from Trina's, Ana dropped me off

at the airport and I flew to Cleveland for a week!

The view from the Pier W deck the day after I got there.

Sky view from the Pier W deck on the 17th

after Bud and I ate at Sittoo's restaurant. Had

supper with cousins every night, a few lunches, too,

and a family picnic at Leanne's. 

On Saturday, the 20th, I drove to Texas friend Jane's

in Chagrin Falls for a fun day! I visited her home

and learned about all her flowerbeds! 

 Then we went to the falls,

and had a late lunch at the restaurant above the falls.

I forgot to take a pic of the famous Popcorn Shop in town!

I flew back to Minot on the 23rd and

after Bob picked me up at the airport, 

we drove to Bottineau for The Originals concert.

They did a variety of oldies and goodies. :-)

Sunday, the 28th, we went to Towner 

for their annual church supper. The sun

was setting as we arrived back home at 7 p.m.

Jerry and Doug flew to DC on the 

Vets Honor Flight on the 28th.  

Sara and kids met them at the Veterans' 

Memorial on the 29th. Sara wanted to surprise them,

but Jerry saw Sara sitting on the bench 

before they got off the bus!

On Tuesday, the 30th, we drove to Jimmy's

to get our pickup and camper. This video

is of his bin site and mobile homes where

his South African workers live near

Dodge, North Dakota.

 

August Already!

Where's Waldo (Doug)?

Life is just peachy for Julia. Sara said they have

picked 200 peaches so far!

Garden on August 11th

Second fruits of the harvest :-)

Blooming beds....

Too bad the theme for Thanksmas

isn't the letter "p"

Laura, Susie, Sara, Julia, RJ, and Johnny

The "gang" of family members at the Cleveland

Guardians baseball game. Donna treated everyone. 

Sister Judy is wearing an Indians shirt

with "Feller" on the back. Bob Feller pitched

for Cleveland from 1936 to 1956.

and even had Chris's birthday on the big screen!

There was lots of food, and, of course, cake.

After the game (Cleveland lost), 

the kids were allowed to run around the bases!

Julia's batting "lefty" here with RJ and Ian

She must be a switch-hitter--she's batting right-handed

in the family pic: Doug, Julia, RJ, and Sara

I asked Donna why there was no 

full-length mirror in the condo,

so, of course she had Doug put up

the mirror squares!

Back to school: Matthew, Junior; Luke, grade 5;

George, troublemaker; Grace, Freshman;

Mary Kate, preschool.

Selfie group at Iowa State. Tom, Annika,

Caiden, Jett (and friend), Trina 

Jett's dorm room looks bigger than his bedroom at home!

Caiden...looks like he's on a roof?..

Yes, Trina said. The roof of a parking 

garage taking Senior pictures!!!

He is our next high school graduate. :-)

Last Music in the Park...hamburger picnic

and "Simon and Garfunkel" singing

a variety of songs on Wednesday night.

On Saturday, the 23rd, Bob decided that we should

take our pickup camper to Jimmy who needed

an extra bed for another hired man.  So, we went

to church in Rugby on Saturday, then to

the Eagles for the Meatball Supper. We left 

at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, and I followed him, 

again, in another pickup. 

Bob had spent the last couple weeks working on our

old Fix Or Repair Daily pickup, so we could

put the camper on it to take to Jimmy's.

En route, he stopped to check for an oil leak.

Jimmy and Bob at Jim's Bin site, discussing

the condition of the old pickup (among other things).

Jimmy has all his machinery marked!

We stopped at Jimmy and Kelly's farm 

to see the kids, and then headed to Medora

for the pitchfork steak fondue and Musical.

When all the kids in the audience went 

on stage, the cast taught them to sing,

"This Little Light of Mine".

And of course, part of the show was,

"Coming Home to Medora".  A lot of new

songs for the 60th year anniversary,

and new dances, too.

After breakfast at the Cowboy Café on Sunday,

 we headed home but first stopped

at the Painted Canyon, a part of Theodore 

Roosevelt National Park. Then we drove to one 

of Jimmy's fields and helped move two semis

across a field. I drove the pickup and got stuck,

but put it in 4-wheel-drive and got out. 

From there we went to the DQ in Killdeer

for lunch and then went through 

the mountains to get to Highway 2.

En route to the farm, we stopped 

in Minot at Schatz's truck stop to eat.

Finally got home around 9 p.m.

Caiden and Annika are back to school

at Alburnett high school.

Ariana is a senior at Loras College.

She plans to graduate in December!

Saw this cloud en route to the lake on August 29th.

Thought it looked like George Washington with a beard.

Labor Day weekend at Lake Metigoshe.

The mini-golf course was new this year,

so we decided to try it on the 31st.

We weren't really seriously trying to make par

which is obvious by our scores.  A fun way,

however, to end the month of August. :-)