August 2019

 Sara and the kids arrived on July 27th.

 It was the last day of the State Fair,

so we went to see the horses...

and make discoveries in the Kid Space,

 an introduction to the Discovery Center

that will be built in Minot.

 Julia liked the robots, 

 making cookies, 

 and helping RJ pick beans in my garden.

Sara showed them that 

bean leaves stick to your shirt.

RJ learned that all tillers do not have engines
like the one his other grandpa has.  Our
swimming pool and camper are in the background.

 Ana and the girls arrived on the 28th, 

so we celebrated Grampa's birthday

a day early.

 Our school closed for good at the end

of this school year. We were preparing

for the August 10th rummage sale,

so the kids came up to look around

and make some purchases.

 One night they decided they would all 

sleep in our pickup camper.  Within an hour,

they were all back in the house! :-)

Ana and the girls left on Wednesday morning.

Bob left, too, and headed to Fargo

for the Germans from Russia Convention.

So the rest of us learned to play pickleball.

RJ and Julia had lots of practice 

before Doug arrived on Wednesday night.

Sara spotted this log and "flowers"
across the road from our farm.

(It's actually Russian thistle...a terrible weed)

 We attempted a family photo 

with the kids who are growing like weeds.

 
Bob returned on Friday, so we all headed 
to Jimmy and Kelly's in Killdeer. 
We explored Medora for a couple of days.

Looks like Bob was climbing the walls...

He was winning the card game

and learned to "balance" a chair.

A big crowd at the Musical had to leave

before intermission because of a lightning

storm moving in, but they offered us refunds

or tickets for another night.  Doug, Sara, and kids

went back on Monday.

The theme was centered around 

Teddy Roosevelt's time in Medora.

We all tried our talents at mini golf

and then had root beer floats at the Cowboy Cafe.

The "kids" went hiking, and we went back to Jimmy's

to experience 4H Achievement Days.

Andrew's Child Development project

about Luke was a winner.

We learned a lot from Matthew's shooting display.

Grace's photography earned a special ribbon, too.

Luke washed his toys and practiced pouring water :-)

Not bad for a 4-year-old.

Jimmy's hired man from South Africa

attempted to bury a water hose so we could

have water in the camper inside the shop.

(It didn't work)

Domino was not my favorite chicken

because she liked to peck moles on people's legs.

They have 30 chickens laying eggs 

all over the yard!  Finding the eggs is

an adventure for the kids (and Kelly).

We set up the pickleball net in Grampa Dan's shop.

All the kids and Gramma Nancy learned to play

and keep score.

On the 9th, the kids flew back to DC,

and Diane came back to the farm.

Bob stayed to help Jimmy harvest.

Diane helped at the school rummage sale
and caught up with Frans and his family.  
Frans is from South Africa,  worked for one 
of our friends, and married one of my students.