Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Time Warp...(catch up part 1)

Not sure if it has been our lack of spring or what, but the last 2 months have been a virtual time warp for me.  All of a sudden, the end of school is nearing & things are wrapping up... I am so not ready for summer & school to be over!  So in the meantime, here is a quick recap of April & some of May...
We finished getting our screen porch furniture set up & arranged.  We literally had about 2-3 days in the past 1.5 months that were nice enough to use it but we are loving it & looking forward to a summer out in the screened porch!

On the couple nice days we had in April, I started working on front yard prep.  Since our house sits in what used to be a hayfield, there is some "grass" (aka hay) coming up in the unexcavated areas but I had lots of clod busting & dirt raking to do before I could put seed down & the kids were eager to help.  And yes, just about every time we put seed down, the rains came & washed it all away... so I'd go move more dirt & start all over... sigh! 

Melanie has a "reading" station set up on the front porch... she likes to load up her little bench with her friends & do storytime for them.  Not a bad spot with some afternoon sun!

While I was away on my spring scrapbooking weekend, Mike took the kids to the Rollingstone Easter party.  They had fun doing some crafts, gathering eggs & seeing the Easter bunny.

In most of Minnesota, fishing opener is Mother's Day weekend & is when walleye fishing starts... but in southern Minnesota where there are more streams than lakes, the big opener is trout season & that happens in mid-April.  Mike is an avid trout fisherman... we were even engaged on a trout stream not far from the farm (seriously... I was in my waders, had my fly vest on & it was cold & drizzly... & I got a ring in a little tackle box for my vest.)  So come rain or shine, Mike is ready to hit the local creeks...
 ... & this time it was not only cold but also even a little snowy!  I have to admit that I'm a fair-weather fishergal, so I wasn't so eager to join.  Call me crazy, but I like to feel my fingers.  Brandon was eager to go despite the cold & they boys had some success!

 The next day as a little nicer, so Mike was able to take Melanie fishing for a few hours.  These are Melanie's fish... "can you believe I caught 3 & Dad caught none?"  She was quite excited!
And later that day Mike, Grandpa & Brandon walked a section of the creek to try a little more.  It was a good opener!  Mmmm... trout cakes are on the menu!

 We thought we were going to be able to get by without dying Easter Eggs... but the kids remembered last minute.  Do they sell pre-dyed eggs?  I'd be good with that!


 Thankfully I found the Easter baskets in the the disheveled basement... I'm still waiting for the elves to come sort through & organize what remains down there from the move!  The kids were a little concerned as to whether that bunny would know we moved...
... not only did he find us, but he actually hid eggs outside! Thankfully it was a mild morning, compared to what we'd been having!



  

We hosted the Easter meal, so later we were joined by our neighbors (Mike's folks), his sister Natalie & family from the cities, & his Aunt & Uncle from Rochester.
 Natalie, Lora & Nora

The kids are always eager to see thier cousin Allison!

It was a beautiful day & we had a wonderful time with family!
 We even got to take a walk up the hill road afterwards.


(to be continued...)

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Fun with Friends.... Part 2

Next up to visit the farm was the Ver Meer Family!
Our snow was gone, the sun was shining & we had just gotten our screen porch furniture, so Brad & Mike got to work putting it together so we could hopefully break it in a little later!

Brenda & Vanessa were more that happy to give it the first try!  Cheers!

 The kids were very excited to see each other... Melanie took Lexie out exploring & they seemed to have lots to talk about as well as went on a rock hunt.  They came back with pockets full of prized rocks (from our gravel road nonetheless) & wanted to wash them up.

Brandon & Lauren had fun playing & exploring too

Once the guys were done with the furniture, the neighbors (Mike's folks) came over for a little happy hour action on the porch...
...appetizers & drinks for all! It was a gorgeous afternoon for it... our first like it this spring!




The kids had a fun dinner later followed up by movie night (allowing the adults to do our own kid-free dinner)!

Melanie was super excited to have Lexie sleep in her room! 

 It wasn't sunny the next day, but the kids still had fun playing outside.  Brenda & Vanessa took a walk back in the valley.  Brandon & Lauren came along with us... reminds us of when they were little & used to pretend to be Diego & Dora & go exploring!

The little girls didn't come along as they had more rocks to hunt down... both their jacket pockets were stuffed as full as could be with rocks!

The Butenhoff firing range was again opened up...
... & Brenda even tried out the little .22 pistol!

A quick grill pizza lunch was good after all that fresh air... and then it was time for them to head back to the cities.  It was another fun-filled friend weekend!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Fun with Friends... Part 1

In March, the Gadients came for a weekend visit... & as soon as they 'FINALLY' got here (the kids could barely stand the wait), they were wanting to hit the slopes with what was left of our snow!
 Ross is ready for a run!

Then the boys decided to try a little snow boarding with a different twist... guess it goes faster than a sled!

The kids had a ball racing each other down the hill...with screams of thrill from Melanie the whole way!

After a little dinner...

... the big boys had fun playing XBox, while Jack & Melanie "hooked" up the DSes & played their own games!

 We had fun adult time too & Vino Mommy was in her zone!

Ross was pretty excited to try out Brandon's BB gun with a little target practice... 
& then the big boys got out the big toys did a little trap shooting back in the valley.  Brian is a really good shot... despite the wild throws of Mike!
Jen & her Ross-man!
  
Jen even gave the old shotgun a try... first time ever!  It was fun to see how excited she got!

Ross, Brandon, Jack & Melanie... the fun was over too soon & the kids were bummed to see them head back to the cities!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Granddad's Visit!

In early March, Granddad hopped a plane from Abq & came out for a visit.  The kids were super excited to see him!
Bright & early, the first thing on the agenda was a little Jedi Fighting... they are lucky he's a good sport!  Brandon also enjoyed showing Granddad how well he can read.

We still had some snow left, so Brandon was quite eager to get out with the snowboards... & even got Granddad to try it out! 
Brandon (left) & Granddad (right)--- on your mark, get set, GO! 
My dad used to teach cross-country skiing but had never been on a snowboard before... not bad for a 72 year old! 
Gram & Melanie's cat, Pearly May, even came out to check on the snowboarding action!

The National Eagle Center is in Wabasha, MN (about 30 min. from us) & we've never been... so I was pretty sure both the kids & my dad would enjoy checking it out, so we ventured up one day for an excursion.
It looks fake, but that is a live bird behind them!
They have 5 resident Eagles, 4 Bald & 1 Golden.  All were injured & cannot be released back into the wild, so now they live at the Eagle Center. 
Granddad got to help demonstrate what it would be like to have eagle eyes...  

Again, real bird... but looks like it is part of the background.
We got to watch this eagle eat its lunch... it was quite fascinating!

 Brandon & Melanie tried out being future eagle center workers!

We walked next door afterwards to grab lunch at the Flour Mill Cafe... we had some amazing pizzas!
They had some fun bottled pops, so Melanie thought she was pretty cool with her cream soda...
 We took the alternate route back (i.e. followed the Mississippi back on the Wisconsin side) & went through Nelson, WI.  When in Nelson, you have to stop at the Nelson Creamery for ice cream... YUM!

Brandon had Cub Scouts while Granddad was here, so he got to go with Mike & Brandon & help make some bird treats to hang outside.

Grouse was on the menu one night as we had some in the freezer courtesy of Mike... tried a new recipe that was a hit with all! 
 The Grandpas with the kids!

We had a really nice visit with Granddad... as always, it was sad to see him go!