July Flies By

Sunday, July 1st

We usually go out for breakfast after church on Sunday,

but the kids thought the DQ was a better option.

(They did eat their "real food" first).

Monday was baking day:  Cecelia mixed up

the chocolate chip cookies.

Claire and Lydia worked on the cheesecake.

Made on July 2nd, all gone by the 4th!

Gramma hid some of these (cookies..not kids)

 in the freezer.

After the summer reading program at the library,

we went up to our camper at Lake Metigoshe.

The girls had some "lake time" before supper.

Then we went to the "Skinautiques" show

The girls jumped;

And the guys jumped.  It was a great show.

On the 4th, we were in the Lake Metigoshe parade!

I think there were more in the parade than watching!

Then we drove to Rugby and ate at the Coffee Cottage.

And watched the Rugby parade 

while filling our bags with candy. :-)

The pool was cool when we got home,

and so were the freezie pops at the after-pool party.
(They had pops after every pool party; this pic,
taken on the 2nd, was the best.)

Grampa was breaking down a swallow nest under the barn eave.

(Don't try this at home)

The girls, of course, had their ups and downs on the loader.

They also "helped" put the tractor away. :-)

After playing some tennis/pickleball in Rugby,
the girls decided to be "catty," so they
painted their faces. :-)

The girls had never been to Medora, ND,
so we called Jimmy and Kelly who
live only an hour or so from Medora,
and they met us there on July 8th.

We saw this pretty cool truck en route to Medora.

The plan was to meet Kelly at the Trapper's Kettle in Belfield
for lunch, but we arrived just after their electrical fire.  
So, we drove to Medora and ate at the Cowboy Cafe.
Andrew, Matthew, Kelly & Luke, Grace, 
Lydia, Cecelia, Claire, and half of Bob.

After checking in at the campground, Kelly took
the younger kids swimming. Andrew taught Diane
how to play "Texas Hold-em" before we
went to the museum to learn about Harold Schafer,
the creator of the Medora tourist town, 
the pitchfork fondue, and the musical.
Schafer made his money with Gold Seal products:
Glass wax, Snowy Bleach, and Mister Bubble among others.

The kids enjoyed the camp playground before supper.

Matthew and Luke swinging.  You can see the cabin
we had behind them.  Jimmy and Kelly and all seven kids
stayed there.  Bob and Diane (wisely) slept in the camper.

The cabin had two bedrooms, a loft, a double futon,

a bathroom with a shower, and an eating space plus a 

small deck with a table and a picnic table off the deck.

The girls slept (sort of) in the loft.

After the pitchfork fondue and hot dog dinner,
the kids climbed rocks before the musical at the
amphitheater behind them.

 Matthew (blue shirt), Claire, Cecelia, and Lydia
went onstage and received their own (plastic) 
microphones after learning some clog steps.

 Taking a bow....

 "Entertainment" during intermission

 Jimmy entertains himself....

Closing scene of the musical

Andrew, Matthew, Claire, Lydia, Cecelia, and Grace
"met" Sheriff Bear after the show.

July 9th..the morning after the night before...

 Just outside New Salem, ND, is the world's largest cow.

 Salem Sue got bigger as we got closer!

 Bob helped the kids "milk" the cow.

 "Udder nonsense"

 Bob and the girls decided to "go over the mountain" behind "Sue"

 But all that they could see was the other side of the mountain...

 Salem Sue's view of the kids and camper.
After lunch at the bottom of the hill,
we met Grandma and Papa Martin
and the kids went to spend some time with them.

Tuesday, July 17th, we drove to Pierre, South Dakota,
for the Germans from Russia Convention.

We discovered historic Pierre Street

 and attended a preview showing
of "Guys and Dolls" at the 
Community Theater (for $5.00)!

Bob wanted to see the Oahe Dam which was the largest
earth-filled dam in the US when it was constructed
in the fifties.  It is used to control the flow of the
Missouri River downstream.

 Cactus outside the Visitor Center at the dam

 Part of the dam's power and storage station

 We had a tour of the Cultural Center 
on Wednesday afternoon.

 The border between North and South Dakota
is marked by Quartzite posts every half mile.

 Before we left the Cultural Center, a storm blew through.

 While Bob attended meetings, Diane explored the city.
The State Capitol building was beautiful and is 
situated on 115 acres of developed park land.

 

The interior was all marble.  Downstairs was a display
honoring the wives of all the Governors and each 
had a small replica of the gown she wore for inauguration.

 Dueling horse memorial to the Governor and
seven others who  died in a plane crash.
The memorial was created by Korczak Zilkowski
who designed the Crazy Horse monument
in the Black Hills.

 Around Capitol Lake were memorials
to all the men and women who died in 
service to our country.

 Each step is dedicated to a particular 
branch of the military

 This memorial was for the police, firefighters,
and others who died serving the state of South Dakota.

 Memorial fountain

 The Governor's home along the lake

View of the Capitol from across the lake

On the way back from Pierre, we stopped to see the 
Lawrence Welk homestead.  Since we were there a
couple of  years ago, the family has sold the home to the state.

 I forgot to take a pic of the house, but this is a view from the yard.

One of the buildings was used to tell the history
of the Germans from Russia

 After playing pickleball in Maddock on Monday morning,
I attacked my garden.  

These are the "first fruits of the harvest." :-)

For Bob's birthday, we went to see the musical,
"Route 66" at the Frostfire theater.

I didn't make a cake, so I put a candle
in his piece of rhubarb pie and sang
"Happy Birthday" 

Bob--far court--closing out the month 
playing pickleball at Lake Metigoshe.

Jun(e) fun(e)

On Monday, June 4th, Bob headed to Killdeer to help Jimmy.

On Monday night, this tree fell down in our yard.

On the 9th, Diane flew to Cleveland

to surprise Cousin Mary Anne for her birthday.

David and Susie met Diane at the airport and 

they went to Aladdin's to eat before heading

to Donna's new condo.

On Sunday, Diane surprised Mary Anne after church,

and that evening Leanne, Chris, Tim, Susie, David,

Mary Anne, and Diane went to Michael's for dinner.

We forgot to take pictures!!

 Cousins Leanne, Chuck, and Diane had lunch at Frank's on Monday.

Later, cousins Najwa, Chuck, and Robbie came 

to sort out some "stuff" that Uncle George and Aunt Mary

had saved for many years!

 Irene and Diane reminisced about St. Mary's 

over lunch at Donna's condo on Tuesday.

 Wednesday was lunch at Nate's with cousins 

Bev (on right), and friend Angie (on left) who bought

Mother's condo, Marcia, Chuck, and Fran. 

 Later, Angie took us to the condo to see some renovations.

 Leanne hosted a picnic on Wednesday evening

with Tim and Chris, Ellen, Kira and Mark, Mary Anne,

Katie, Madison, and Macie, Susie and David, and Diane.

 Mary Anne and Katie celebrated birthdays!

A lot of hot air :-)

 Sweetly cutting the sweet cake together :-)

 Opening gifts?

Maddie has her cake and eats it, too,

while Macie, and David play chess.

 The condo is on the 16th floor, 

so I took some pics.  This is one West view.

 Another view to the West--hoping to convert 

one of the tennis courts for pickle ball!

 Leanne on the balcony that faces East

Lake Erie :-)

David and Susie treated us to dinner

at Mahle's on Friday night.

After an ev-eat-ful week, 

Diane flew back to ND on Saturday, June 16th.

On Thursday, June 28th, 

Ana and the girls came to the farm. 

That night the lightning hit one of our trees,

and burned off a branch! 

Ana left on Friday morning so that she and Corey

could head to Spain. Later that

day, we took the girls to the Pierce County Fair.

The booster seats fit in the back of the pickup.

The first thing we saw at the fair was "Farmer" Claire,

two "dogs" (Cecelia and Lydia), 

and the "hired man" (Bob)! :-)

We saw these "cows" "moo-ving" around!

Can you guess who they are?

Cecelia, Claire, and Lydia (l to r) 

The girls enjoyed the 4-H livestock show

 and posed with another "kid" that they met :-)

 This lizard was part of a traveling zoo,

 and so was the T-Rex we saw later.

 The bracelets were a bargain...

 because the girls

 went on most of the rides at least

 three times! (before and after our steak supper).

 The "Frog" was Claire's favorite...

 Lydia liked the "Fun Slide" the best,

 they all loved the "Dragon,"

and Cecelia's favorite was the "Wacky Cowboy."

We could feed the animals at the "petting zoo,"

including the friendly Alpaca.

The "kids" loved the "kids"

and the food shared by the

other

kids.  The girls said the liked the bunnies the best.

 These "pirates" (Cecelia)

 tried (Claire)

(Lydia) to scare Gramma Diane. :-)

On Saturday, the 30th, we went 

to the kids' musical in Cando.

May Days

 Well, we "opened" the camper door,

but didn't really "open" the camper on May 6th. 

Raked some leaves because the leaf blower didn't work!

The sun was shining, but, as you can see,

Spring hasn't really "sprung."

Not even one bud on the trees! :-)
p.s. note the unpainted deck...


Well, if you can tell by the picture above which is "before"
I painted the deck, you will be able to see that this
one is "after".

 Amazing what two weeks and a half-inch of rain will do....

 Looks lopsided from this angle, but OK from the road!

The wind came with the rain and blew down our half-dead tree

Great use for old pallets :-)

Last week I painted the deck; this week, the bench.