How 'Bout Dem Apples

 Some of our friends took us apple picking on Thursday.  All the apples you could pick for free.

 It was a blessing sent from God.  All the boys had a great time picking apples.

 Brech mostly picked an apple and ate it, then picked another apple and ate it.  His bag was not very full by the end of the afternoon.

 Poor Gianna was not feeling well.  I think she must have caught a cold in Michigan.  She has since past it on to Stephen and Blase.  We are feed our bodies with apples and elderberry syrup.

 Apples, apples, and MORE apples.

We didn't pick enough apples to first day, according to the boys.  They convinced Darren to take us back on Friday to pick more apples.  This time we were smart and brought buckets and boxes and an apple picker.

 Stephen was a bit too short to reach those apples.

So how many pounds of apples did we pick??

30??

good guess - try again

60?

another good guess - try again

100?

try again

HOW MANY???

225 pounds of big apples and 23 pounds of crab apples

How 'bout dem apples!

Off to make applesauce, apple pie filling, apple jam, apple this, apple that, apple every stinkin' thing I can come up with.  The boys are asking to pick more tomorrow.  Sigh.

A Quick Michigan Trip

So in the last month I have made two trips to South Dakota and one trip to the beautiful U.P. of Michigan.  I am not going anywhere next week.  Seriously.  I want to stay home for one week.  Better yet - TWO weeks.  Then I will consider taking another trip out of state.

It was great to visit our friends in Michigan.  The first night we stayed in Wisconsin about half way there.  Then the first full day we visited our friend, Anne for a bit.  Then we had a wonderful evening, complete with great food and wine, with Cormac's Godparents and their family.  We stayed there that night.

We made a quick trip to MI to see our new Goddaughter and attend her baptism.  Visiting with everyone else was just a bonus.  We attended the baptism on Saturday morning and spent part of the afternoon with her parents and siblings.

 She's a cutie and a keeper.

 We had a great view of the Menominee River from our hotel room.

 Way over there on the other side of the river is Michigan.  We stayed in Wisconsin since that was the only hotel rooms we could find.  It was it worth it for the view of the river.

 Gianna was watching her daddy and brothers walk to the river.

 Daaa dad

 All in a row....

 We saw them coming back and they saw us.  Gianna was super excited.

 We went swimming in the hotel pool with Darren's sister and her daughter Saturday evening.

 Brech and Emma were splashing the others.  After swimming we had pizza.  I stayed in the room and watched the kids while Darren visited with a friend of ours and his sister.  It was a great ending to a fun day.

 On Sunday we visited Gianna's Godparents and their family.  Ummm, weight limit??  NO WAY!!

 THEY'RE OFF!!!

 I can't remember how many they fit on there, but it was a ton.

 Gianna had a nice ride with her friend, Joseph.  

 Rex borrowed my camera to take a picture of "Paul Bunyan's ring".

 Rex had to show me the forts in the woods.

I just LOVE this boy's smiles. 

 This is a cannon - in case you didn't know that.

This was fort #2 and his favorite I think. 

This was fort #3.  He had a great time playing in their woods.  I think all of the kids are ready to go back again.  We must have been asked 20 times by Blase if we could move back again.  I'm sure that would make all of our friends out there super happy.

The ride home was long and painful.  Well, at least the first hour was painful.  Poor Cormac threw up 4 or 5 times.  I lost count.  We literally had to stop every 4 miles or so for him there for a bit.  He threw up the most near a town called Ralph.  How ironic.  After that he seemed to be ok.  We drove up through Duluth and by Lake Superior again.  We had such a fun time.  I wish we had been able to stay longer.  There is already talk about our next trip.  Thank you to all our friends who allowed us to invade their homes.  Please come visit us if you ever feel the urge.  I am more than happy to find a sleepy place for you and feed you too!!

It is good to be home.  As I was saying...I don't want to go anywhere for 2 weeks....or three....or four.

SD Labor Day Trip

We spent a WINDY Saturday at the Mark Park playing in the water, sand, and grass.  Sunday evening we watched a movie at the Park under the stars projected onto two white sheets.  TOO COOL!  Monday we dropped our bull off at the ranch and headed home.  Quick trip, but lots of memories!

 Can you see how windy it is?

 Getting ready for a spin around the pond.  Before this I tried to put on a life jacket because I do NOT know how to swim.  We couldn't find one my size so I jokingly put on a little girl's jacket that had Barbie on it.  As it turned out I couldn't get it off without someone's help.  Yikes.

 Trying to get away from the shore.

 STILL trying to get away from the shore.

 There they go for their first spin around the water fountain.

 We are STILL trying to get away from the shore.

 We are getting desperate now so we put down the canopy. 

We are still trying to get away from the shore by the way.

 On their second trip around the fountain.

We are getting fairly frustrated as we are STILL not away from the shore and now we are getting out makeshift paddles (broken shovel handles)! 

 REALLY stuck on the shore.  Nasty feeling slime between my toes, water up to my waist, and STILL getting no where.

 "Women drivers!"

 We might make it, we might make it....NOPE!

 This was their THIRD spin around the fountain.

They are coming to our rescue.

 I'm trying to push us off the shore.  Now here is where it gets funny.  (As if it wasn't already?) I am pushing on the boat and walking along with it.  Blase is paddling and starts pulling away from the shore.  Remember I can't swim.  SOO, as the water is starting to get up to my armpits and the ground is getting lower and lower I start freaking out.  I had to have Blase paddle backwards to push ME back up on the shore.  So in the end we were back where we started and I was completely wet, muddy, and my mouth hurt from gritting my teeth in a grand panic.  Sigh....

 Juliana to the rescue.

 She even pulled the boat over to the other side of the pond.  She's such a good sister/aunt.

Later in the day I took the "good" boat out for a spin by myself.  Juliana said that if I started to drown just wave my hand.  I waved my hand while I was sitting in the boat to see if she would notice.  She said I couldn't drown at the moment because she was getting a text message.  Can you tell we had a great day at the Mark Park??  Next time I claim the "good" boat and I'm bringing a life jacket that fits!

 Eating snow cones in a cup!!  YUMMY!

 Upside down Tory.

 Gianna all ready for church on Sunday.

I just love her cute little handkerchief that matches the dress.

From Here to There

We are doing a fast trip to South Dakota to move a bull and have some fun at the Mark Park.  I decided to keep track of the events like I did on the trip home from Grandma's funeral.

ND mile marker 33 - Rex asks "Are we in SD yet?"

ND mile marker 1 - Rolling window down.....wait for it...wait for it.....SOUTH DAKOTA AIR!!

SD mile marker 242 - Saw a sign that said "Abortion stops a beating heart."  I love all the pro-life signs on our route!!

SD mile marker 239 - Darren says I need a new blog post focus - this one is old and tired.

SD mile marker 234 - Continental Divide - "It is all down hill from here." Darren

SD mile marker 213 - cop

SD mile marker 201 -  Brech Earl says "I think I'm gonna throw up." 

At this point I decided this blog post was old and tired........