Part Three

Eating watermelon with a bowl for spittin' seeds into close by.

Wearing a swim suit all day.

Grilling most every night. This night my mom manned the grill and I got a massage. Doesn't get much better than that.

The kids lived under or near the willow tree these past few months. One of their favorite past-times was making whips out of the branches & then pretending to sell them!

Summing Up Our Summer Part Two

Free concerts at the Heritage Center.

Laying a beloved pet to rest.

Reading, reading and more reading.

Swimming with Lexie. I'm amazed at how much use we got out of this little pool. I think it's time to start budgeting for a bigger one!

Saying Goodbye To Gramps

Grandpa Pat was cremated and wished to have his ashes scattered at the golf course he had been a member of. That day was fun and sad. Very surreal. However, we all felt like it turned out exactly the way Gramps wished.

The grand kids sang the Star Spangled Banner to start off his memorial service. Also very fitting. The last time we saw him alive was on the fourth of July. That afternoon the kids sang America The Beautiful and the Star Spangled Banner. Gramps sang right along with them. I'm so glad our last memories with him were special ones. So glad that he had a good day that day. (This was the kids' practice version before the service started. So you'll have to listen to me & Auntie Jo chatting a bit)!

Here we are at Fort Snelling with Gramps' one remaining brother and his nieces and nephews.

Summing Up Our Summer Part One

Popsicles and.......

Parades

Summer Blogging Break

After gramps died in July I just didn't feel up to blogging. I really didn't mean to pause for this long, but here we are. One day soon (really) I plan to do a bit of updating. My future goal is to blog at least twice a week. Yesterday my dear hubby surprised me with a new camera and I'm thinking that was the kick in the butt I needed to get my hobby back on track. Now, I just need to find the time to learn how to use the thing!

Staycation

I've been hearing that term everywhere lately. It seems staycations are all the rage these days. People must be looking at the economy & their pocketbooks & deciding that there are plenty of fun things to do a bit closer to home.

Last year we were exploring North Carolina at this time. This year we decided to explore our own backyard.

We spent a couple of days working on our honey-do lists and a couple of days camping. We already live in the country and like to hike and barbecue and have campfires. And yet, this camping trip was so wonderful & relaxing even though we didn't do anything out of the ordinary. It's just nice to be able to relax & have fun without noticing the weeds that need to be pulled & the lawn that must be mowed. It was well worth the $100 we spent on camping.

Shhh, don't you know we're trying to relax here?!

Missing Tooth

Missing in more ways than one. Apparently it got thrown in to the school garbage at lunch time. I guess it was on her lunch tray. I really don't understand this as she pulled it out while waiting for the bus that morning. I gather that it was quite traumatic as both the school principal and the custodian offered to look through the garbage for her at the end of the day. Hmmm.....maybe her not exactly quiet crying had something to do with that promise. It's been over 2 weeks and the tooth fairy seems to have been forgotten this time....