July 2021 is Lots of Fun

 

We flew to DC to visit the kids and

celebrate Ariana's graduation.

Found these robin eggs in the shrub by Sara's garage

on the first day of July.

Then we all headed to their home at Whitetail, Pennsylvania,

and went to play pickleball at the tennis court.

Grampa is giving some instructions here.

.

But RJ didn't need any help!  The swimming pool

is in the background and we spent time there, too.

Tom, Trina, and family arrived on the 2nd,

and the next day we all drove to Front Royal, Virginia,

for Ari's graduation from Seton Academy.

Getting ready to process into  the gym...

with the other 130+ graduates from

all over the USA. The international

students could not enter the country

because of COVID, but this year's ceremony

included the grads from 2020 and 2021.

Ari had her own "fan club" to cheer for her,

including Pope Francis, but we were relieved 

when the two-hour ceremony ended.

Had to do our photo ops before attacking

the buffet provided by the school.

We had sandwiches, veggies, barbecued meat, shrimp,

fruit, and choices of all kinds of treats

Smiles after filling our tummies

The guys all got some pickleball action 

while the girls went to the pool.

The kids spent a lot of time biking up the trails,

and there was, of course,  need for bike repairs.

Relaxing after too much food

and even more exercise.

Tom "crashed" and didn't know he had a "friend".

On the way back home after a busy week,

we took a driving tour through the Antietam

Battleground and found answers to the 

 

scavenger hunt questions. Here we are sitting

by the Burnside Bridge. If you look up General

Burnside, you will discover the source of the 

term "side burns".

Before we flew back to North Dakota,

we had a challenging game of mini-golf

on a hot, humid morning. 

Sara discovered that the robins had hatched

during the week that we were on the mountain!

These are very hungry birdies.

The garden was actually muddy when we got home,

thanks to a half inch of rain when we were gone.

Bob needed to work on his combine header, 

so we drove to Jimmy's for a couple of days.

Kelly gave me a tour of the addition to their house.

Andrew's bedroom was the best one for photos.

The photo above shows the "rec room."  A bathroom

and four bedrooms are also in the added space.

Mary Kate's first impression fell apart,

so Bob had her do another one.

Grandma, Luke, and Grace try to teach

Mary Kate how to play "ring around the rosie."

Jimmy is having some grain bins built 

 on his land near Dodge. Kristian (from South Africa), 

Jimmy, and Bob discuss what needs to be done.

This is what happens when you don't pick

your lettuce for twelve days!!! 

Moose and babies en route to Lake Metigoshe

Grampa and Claire went 

to the Germans from Russia Convention

Meanwhile, I made a quilt from old t-shirts,

washed the pillows and covers for the couch

and the living room chairs

Can you tell what's missing?

got the hose out to get these clean,

and get the dust off the car.  Tonight I'm going 

to eat the beans and peas I picked from the garden.

Went with Rhonda and Brenda to see "9 to 5"

at the Minot summer theater. Chuck and Jan's 

daughter Lydia was in the cast. Larry and Deb

also came that night. (all teachers from Wolford.)

Headed to the lake to celebrate the next day

and took the cake with us.

View on my morning walk, the sun was bright red.