Nuggets from summertime

Just a few fun photos from my phone from the month of July. We spent a lot of time with friends and biking because of the mild weather that we had.

 A friend gave us a HUGE blowup water slide. We couldn't believe how large and fun it was- trust me we have all taken many trips down the slide- and we have hauled it out for many events.

 

 The kids have also realized that an easy way to get an extra ten minutes is to ask whatever guest is over to read a few bedtime stories. A few of our regular guests have now started to ASK the kids to get them bedtime stories which they are all too willing to do!

 Peter also got a fishing pole this summer, we have taken it a few times to the lake to fish with grandpa, but occassionally I find him fishing off of the deck, with Emi and one time hoping to catch a chicken with it!

Bike Trail Day

Mondays have turned into Grandma and Grappa Days. There have been very few all summer that we haven't seen them and the plans seem to be that we will continue to see them for the rest of them!

We took one Monday to drive to Wilton and "camp out" there for the day. There is a nice city park that has a shelter, picnic tables, playground as well as a pool that are all within biking distance of the trail. So we met, had lunch, went biking on the trail to Tunnel #2, walked through the tunnel, climbed on the rocks and then biked downhill the whole way home.

Peter rode his pedal bike on his own and Emelia rode on the trail-a-bike for the first time for a long distance like that! We had tossed around the idea of staying overnight, but it ended up that there was a huge storm and tornado warnings... good thing we got out of there!

Farm-a-palooza

We saw a flier at the grocery store for a farm show that wasn't far from our house. After Joan (our neighbor) gave us free butons to get in, we called grandpa Dan, made a date and headed up to see some tractors!

Peter surprised us all and got to/wanted to participate in a kiddie pedal-pull. He did a great job and had a lot of fun pulling!

 They also had a little bakery there with homemade cinnamon rolls, cookies and milk. That, along with watching the polka band and the polka dancers- might have been Emi's favorite part!!!

 Petey, of course, loved walking up and down the rows and rows of tractors- looking at the old and new, orange and GREEN ones.

 The kids got to go for a tractor ride that lasted well over 5 minutes! They went all over the grounds and loved every minute of it!

 This also might have been Emelia's favorite- there was a little petting zoo with pygmy goats, a donkey and a little horse. Before she would leave, she had to go back and give each animal one last pet.

Peter's Garden

We have been working hard in the garden this year. Peter helped me plant most of it in the spring and picked out the things he would like in it. He picked tomatoes, green beans, peas, pickles and sunflowers. And then I made a few additions to his choices- and we had to remember that we make pickles- not grow them...

He has been a big help in the garden this year- running out to pick tomatoes whenever I ask. He always grabs a basket and then takes off. I just have to remember to go out once in a while and pick the back sides of the plants.

We also are in a friendly yearly competition with grandpa dan. I'm pretty sure that for the first time in a LONG time-- that we have won! Must have been my good help.

 

That's not a FORT....

That's what Peter said when we went to LaValle to my dad's garage/workshop, or as we call it, his "Fort." Peter thought it was more like a HOUSE. We had a few days that we spent swimming, playing trains and going to see Kim in Milwaukee and then ended the trip with a visit to LaValle. The kids loved exploring the fort, playing in the creek, having a picnic and playing in the dirt. The grass was so tall that it was up to their heads which made it a little hard to walk in the field.

Strawberry Picking

Then we went strawberry picking. It has been such a cool spring and summer that it wasn't until the end of June that there were strawberries available to pick! We headed out early one morning to go before school- the kids were good helpers and got to each take a basket that they picked to share with their friends at school. Our berries were pretty small, but we were told that at the far end of the patch there were better berries, but Shana and I didn't think the hike over would be worth it with the 6 kids!

As we were leaving an old man got out of his car and told me how much he enjoyed watching the kids play in the rows- he said he was 90 and his 88 year old wife was out picking that morning!