An Iowa Summer night

tanned kids fresh from the pool, grilling out steak, lemonade, mosquitoes everywhere, thick humidity in the air, temps in upper 80's, locusts singing, matt playing tennis in the driveway, kids squirting each other with the hose, the smell of fresh cut grass, and of course lightening bugs!!!! Grace was chasing them all over the backyard tonight...she caught 4 and put them in her bug box. She was very proud!

Sniff

Tyler took off Sunday for 2 weeks at YMCA camp with his friend Andy. They are workers this year, which means camp is free. I think they'll have fun, but don't they look OLD? How is it possible I have an almost 10th grader??

Grace's first aid

Grace and Ben were playing on the swingset tonight and he decided to "help" her flip herself over on the rings. 10 minutes of sobbing and her convincing herself her arms were broken later, this is how she came out of the house:In case you can't tell, she has toilet paper wrapped around her arm and scotch taped to her shirt. She did NOT want me taking her picture because she thought I was making fun of her (WHA? Me?).

Sparklers in the yard

Matt and his requisite dork face:

So since we decided to lay low this 4th, we got a big box of sparklers and some of those disgusting snake things that smoke up like crazy and look like something Lucy left behind when they are done. I guess all that matters is that the kids had fun!

After sparklers, we popped popcorn and watched the fireworks on tv. First from DC, then NYC, and finally the Boston Pops. We all decided that one day it would be really fun to go to that and watch the fireworks in Boston. Maybe someday!

Happy 4th of July!

No big plans here...we don't have fireworks until next weekend, so I think we'll be watching them on TV and doing a few sparklers. Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend!

Phyllis and Dick's 50th wedding anniversary

Saturday we got back from North Dakota at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 7:00 am we took off for Phyllis and Dick's 50th anniversary celebration in Galesburg. We made it just in time for church at 10:30 am, then after a few pictures we all ate at The Packing House and celebrated with cake and presents. It was so nice to see everyone! John is the only one who didn't make it, as he was playing in the finals of his baseball tournament. Ana and Randy and the kids left the next day for Peru! It was great to see the big girls too....Melissa was back from California and Tabitha came over from Bloomington, they are both so nice and so pretty! Thanks for a fun day Grandmother and Grandpa, and Happy 50th!

Knife River Indian Village

One day Rich and I took the kids for a drive north of Bismarck to see the remnants of the Knife River Indian Villages. They are depressed mounds where the Indians built their huts. It was a State Historical Site, so Ben and Grace got to fill out a workbook and become Junior Rangers. Very cool to see....and amazing that something 150-200 years old is still visible.

In front of the recreated hut:

Inside:

The depressions in the ground are where the huts were:

Ben getting his Junior Ranger badge from the Ranger: