August: End of Summer? Harvest? Maybe

Not sure where Donna finds these funny shirts,

but these arrived for Bob's birthday! Thanks, Donna.

Went up to our camper on Lake Metigoshe 

on Friday, and headed to Bottineau 

for Crazy Days on Saturday. There are several

murals around town, painted by local artists.

Tom, Jett, Caiden, and Annika's ski team 

won the Division 2 Regional tournament last week,

and this weekend won the National Championship!!!!

Tom is holding the trophy; Jett and Caiden are

to his right; Annika is in the circle up front!

Wow! What an accomplishment!

Congratulations, Tom and kids!

You are awesome! XO :-)

On the 15th we went up to 

Tommy Turtle Park in Bottineau

to see the new pickleball courts.

Tommy Turtle in the background...

The city had two tennis courts but resurfaced

and made four pickleball courts from one 

of the tennis courts. The tennis court is the

furthest one back.

Twenty two members of the pickleball club

showed up to test the new courts in town.

Bob is in the blue shirt on the far side of the court.

We have been working on the "Rugby house"

and had our first garbage pickup on the 17th.

The truck driver probably thought I was

a bit crazy taking movies. Tee hee.

August 23rd, First day of school in Iowa.

Trina and her friend Hannah celebrate 

while their kids don't look so joyful!

Ariana started college at Loras

College in Dubuque this week. 

She is a sophomore.

Jett is a Junior and Caiden a Sophomore

at Alburnett high school.

Annika is an eighth grader at St. Joseph's.

Doesn't she look soooo excited. :-)

School began in North Dakota today, too.

Andrew is a senior homeschooling through

Seton Academy. Matthew is a freshman

at Killdeer high school. Grace is in 7th grade

at Killdeer middle school, and Luke is

in third grade at the elementary school.

Mary Kate and George are playing. LOL

Went to Medora this weekend and tried to find 

the petrified forest.  Bob made the two-mile walk

down through the trees. I made it one mile, found

 a shade tree, and waited for him to come back.

On Friday we went to the Teddy

Roosevelt show--a great history

lesson by Joe Weigand who must

have a photographic memory. Later,

we had steak fondue and went to the

Musical in the Amphitheater.

Saturday morning we enjoyed "Legendary,"

a performance for the kids written and 

portrayed by two of the musical singers.

Then we drove to Jimmy and Kelly's 

to see the kids and give Bob his "harvest fix"

while he rode in the combine with Jimmy. 

Did you know that there's a monster

at the end of this book? Mary Kate and

George weren't surprised!

"Gimme five," said George....or

was it "Hello, Kitty"?    

 

We took a different route back home,

and crossed Lake Sakakawea on the New Town bridge.

Stopped in Minot to see "Oppenheimer"

before driving back to the farm.

On the 28th, RJ and Julia went

back to school.  Sara said Julia got up

early to make the sign! 

July....heading into the second half of 2023

On the way to Killdeer, we stopped in Minot

to see "Doolittle the Musical"...Instead 

of real animals like the movie, the kids

carried stuffed animals and imitated the sounds.

Luke's 4-H garden project

"New" playground at Jimmy & Kelly's.

Kelly put together a sandbox kit--to fill with corn, 

not sand! Grace and Luke moved the picnic table

and packed a "lunch" of snacks.  Bob and Jimmy

put together the jungle gym and blew up the pool.

Luke, Mary Kate, and Grace spent a lot of time

in the pool...the temp was 90 degrees on Saturday.

The "Obstacle Course" had a splash pad, 

a high jump (fell over), and hurdles!

George made a great impression

for our brick collection.

We will add it to our "deck-orations"

(see pic below)

Luke and George are ready for the birthday party!

George turned 1 on July 2nd.

Jimmy and George shared a party, 

but each had his own cake. Here they are

checking out the frosting on George's cake.

Can you tell how old Jimmy became on July 3rd?

Check out his candles! :-) Kelly got creative

because she didn't have a "4"

The Birthday Boys

 

George isn't walking yet, but he doesn't have to

because he got a "car" for his birthday. :-)

Oil well,  sunset, and Killdeer Mountain.

We headed to the lake on July 3rd to watch the fireworks.

They didn't start until 11 p.m. because it was

too light outside!

On the 4th we watched the "kiddie parade" at the lake,

and set up the bricks around the deck

of our camper...had to move all of them 

to make room for George.

Back to the farm...took me three mornings

to pull the weeds in the garden. We need a nice, 

slow rain even though I watered with Miracle-Gro.

We bought the side with the windows in the garage.

One floor, no steps, no basement. (the no basement

thing concerns me. If the weather is bad out here 

on the farm, I head downstairs!)

Kitchen, dining room with Bob, room in back I am

calling the man cave. Bob wants to put a barn door

between the dining room and the man cave.

Living room view from the kitchen.  The entire

house needs to be painted after we complete

our "destruction" projects.

Bathroom 1--I want to remove the glass doors

from the tub and we plan to replace the stools

with 17" high ones.

Bedroom 1

Closet in Bedroom 1. Both bedrooms and bathrooms

have wallpaper trim around the top of the wall.

That will be coming off soon. 

Kitchen...plan is to switch the fridge and stove around 

and knock out half the wall above the stove 

for a more open view when you walk in the front door..

I would like to remove the "peninsula" between

the kitchen and dining room.

Master bath...hope to replace the shower 

with one that has a circular shape.

Laundry room has a large sink and an 80 gallon

water heater....that may get replaced with a

smaller one.

Man cave...Bob wants to put corrugated metal

on the bottom half of the blue wall. We don't like the

ugly ceiling fans with the lights, either.

Doors from the man cave to the patio

Bob is removing the carpet in the whole house.

Plan to replace with a waterproof vinyl laminate floor, 

like we did in Texas, after everything else is done.

On Saturday, the 8th, we took a break 

from our house project to attend the Pierce 

County Fair.  This pig was not "racing" but 

shooting a shower of water from its perch.

On the 9th we drove to Minot for my "no sleep" test.

I was hooked up to 35 wires from my legs 

to the 14 on my head.  Honestly didn't sleep

more than three hours all night. I am curious

to find out what they discovered!  On Monday, we

bought tickets for the "Norsk Hostfest"

at the Scandinavian Heritage Center, and 

visited the exhibits from Norway (inside of 

the Stave Church above),

Denmark, Finland, and Sweden (the Dala horse above). 

Next, we found the disc golf course at Polaris Park

and played nine holes.

Then, we went to see the newly finished pickleball courts

at Roosevelt Park next to the swimming pool.

Opted out of playing, though.

On Monday night, we went to the Minot State University

summer amphitheater production of  "Calendar Girls,"

a hysterical comedy about a bunch of British church

ladies who decided to pose for a calendar 

to earn money for a memorial for one of the husbands.

The theater was recently remodeled with a $100,000

donation from Josh Duhamel who is a graduate 

of Minot State. The stage is named for him.

Wow! Nine of us showed up for pickleball

yesterday morning....ranging in age from 82 to 51! :-)

Steam and scrape

At the Germans from Russia convention in Mandan, ND, 

Andrew, Matthew, and Ana enjoy pizza by the pool

on Friday, July 21st.

with Claire and Cecelia, 

Grace and Kelly, 

Jimmy and George,

Luke, 

Diane and Mary Kate in the hot tub,

and Mary Kate, and Lydia.

On Saturday, we had a birthday party

by the pool for Grace, now a teenager!

Saturday night was the "oompah dance"--

Claire and Bob (with matching footwear)

are starting to polka! :-)

July 29th: Happy Birthday, Bob!

Well, I planted the garden on June 1st,

and today is July 31st, so you know how long

it takes to even get something to grow.

The weatherman prediscted hail and 

heavy rain north of us, so I ran out to

the garden after supper....

and picked everything that was ready!