Family Day

We took a little trip to, drum roll please......

 BONANZAVILLE!!

http://www.bonanzaville.org/

Taken from their website:

Located in West Fargo, North Dakota Bonanzaville is a pioneer village with 12 acres, 43 historic buildings, 400,000 artifacts, and millions of memories. Bonanzaville is operated by the Cass County Historical Society, with a mission to collect, display and interpret artifacts relevant to the history and cultural heritage of the Red River Valley. It is the region’s largest historical attraction with something for everyone to see. 

Our first stop on our adventure was the grain elevator.  It smelled great in there.  It was a mix between old barn and grain.  Two of the best smells in my book.

 The next stop was the train station.  

 Cormac took a little break in the Pullman car while

 Rex did some light reading.

 This was a caboose with bunk beds and a cute little stove.

 Blase stopped off for a trim in the barber shop - lucky for him there was no one on duty.  The equipment was a bit dated and probably would have done more damage than good.

 The sign says it all.

 This was the "sleeping loft" accessed by a ladder.

This was basically the rest of the house, period.

 This was a variety (?) store with odds and ends.  I enjoyed seeing the already made clothes and the fabric for sale.  The toys and food items were also interesting.

 Another early log cabin.  (Not sure who is posing in the doorway.) This one you had to duck or you would hit your head as you were going in.  Even I was almost too tall.

 Simple, but functional kitchen/everything else room.

 This house was a bit more fancy, if that is the term for a log cabin.

 This was the upstairs sleeping room.

 General Custer tried to enlist four new recruits to go to the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  Only Stephen was willing to join up.  Doesn't surprise me, how about you??

 This was the bank's offices.

 I loved the vintage-looking map (unless it truly was vintage!) so I had to take a picture of it.

 Considering this "guy" didn't have all his fingers - I don't suppose he was going to hand over any money to Stephen.  The boys enjoyed the money display.  Each of the boys were given a pressed penny key chain with the Bonanazaville logo, while Gianna received a necklace with her pressed penny on it.

 This is probably as close as Stephen, Cormac, and Rex came to a government-ran school ever.

 They were commenting how we needed a school room that huge - from their lips to their father's mind!!

 A super cute train that we did NOT ride on.....Ahhhh Mom, you ruin everything!

This was by far the fanciest house in the town. 

The attention to detail was amazing.  I think you could have gotten lost with all the doorways.

 BEAUTIFUL library - loved it!

 Sitting room downstairs

 Yah, the boys' favorite part.

 One of the many bedrooms.

 Sitting room upstairs - yes they loved the polar bear too.

 That doorway went into the bedroom pictured above.  There were more rooms but I limited my picture taking so I could just drool.

Waiting in line for a ticket - no one was there so we just went in. 

 Awesome movie theatre with stained-glass windows.

 Here are some pictures of our favorite cars and tractors during the parade.

 This guy went backwards and forward and this way and that.  Too funny.

 The blacksmith shop in the town.

 The boys wanted a picture of my by the Moline.

 Rex's favorite one.

 "It's me," says Gianna.

 The post office display in the general store.

  

 Hotel rates....

 2 people room

 Bridal suite

 Single room

 Some of the planes on display in the hanger.

 Close-up of above plane.

It was about now that my feet, my belly, and my tolerance for heat gave up.  We headed home without see a few of the displays.  We have a family pass for a year so we promised the boys we'd return to finish the browsing.  Poor kids...I felt sorry for them, but there was nothing we could about the poor feet and hot, hot day!

Whatta Guy

Blase is into saying "Swings, they all win in the end."

Blase hanging out in his splint.

On the first Friday of August Blase was swinging.  Did I mention that was the day of the company picnic at OUR house?  We hosted roughly 60 people who were mostly still there while Blase was swinging.  All of a sudden he just let go and fell off.  Well, the swing won and Blase lost.  After a 2 hour visit to the ER it was determined he had broken his arm with a type of fracture called a Colles Fracture that was somewhat close to his wrist.

We took him to see an orthopedic doctor the following Monday.  We found out that technically he has a Distal Radius Metaphyseal Fracture.  That's a fancy way of saying he broke his radius bone.  In Blase's case he broke it close to growth plate, but far enough away it is safe from problems.  The good thing is that since he is so young his arm will remodel itself and he won't require surgery unless he does something to it again.  At this appointment and based on the X-rays from the ER it was determined that he had an 18 degree fracture.  His arm was still too swollen for a cast so another appointment was made for the following Friday.

At the Friday appointment they took new X-rays and determined that it was a 13 degree fracture (better pictures).  His hand and arm was also ready for a cast.  He will have to come in every 2 weeks for a check up and possibly a new cast.  They expect he will be in a cast for 4-6 weeks.  This is exactly what we needed in our last 6 weeks before the babies come.  Always something exciting here!

 He chose green, but was disappointed he couldn't have a camo cast.

Whatta guy!!

The Day in August

This is the day in August that can either make or break me.  This is the day that Mark died and this year marks the fifth year.  Looking back - I guess the five year anniversary was not on my mind, but if I had thought about I would have probably painted a very different picture of myself at this point.  I suppose I would have expected me to be a wreck, dreading the day, wishing for things that could never be.  Boy would I have proven myself wrong.  Today was an ok, normal, just your average work load kind of day.

Today started out with me reading my posts about Mark on the blog and shedding a few tears.  That was followed by answering the questions of a 7-year old about Mark and his death.  I expect that at least one child will ask every year.  Then the day started and I really didn't dwell on Mark again until this evening's rosary.

The hardest part of today was watching my 10-year old grief, tears and all, for his uncle.  He was so young, so innocent when it happened that now he must come to terms with it in his own time.  I cried for him.  Oh to be in those shoes and take away his pain.  I would do it in a heartbeat.  I know that wouldn't help him become the man he will be.  This is part of our family no different than a birth.  He must accept it, grief for Mark, and grow up missing him as the rest of us have.  I can't take those steps from him, but I wish I could.

I thank God for His many blessings on our family since last year.  I ask for His continued graces to be given to all of us who grief for Mark, either today or any other day.

Garden Fun

Cormac's "biggest" berry from our yard. 

 Stephen picked the first big carrot.  Since then Cormac has picked a bigger one since.

Our sunflowers are getting TALL!

The garden looks great.  We are getting lots of tomatoes and cucumbers at the moment.  The rest of the garden is keeping us busy with weeding and such.

As the Belly Grows....Part 5

This picture was taken about 29 Weeks.

The babies are looking good.  Heart rates have been in their normal range. I am weighing in at a healthy 163 and measuring 35 cm.  I am almost through Week 31 at this point.  Getting closer....

This was my only complaint prior to today.  My feet have never looked and felt worse.  Some nights I can hardly walk.  I think that is a small price to pay for these twins.  Very early in the AM I started with some intense itching on the soles of my feet and hands.  It continued most of the day.  I did go in for a blood test and it says my liver enzymes are fine.  We will have to wait 7-10 days for the other test result.  If this continues I will probably end up losing a lot of sleep.  Both are such minor issues in themselves, but with other symptoms they can be serious enough to cause harm to the babies.  I am sure the doctors will watch me carefully.

A Lifetime of Love in Nine Minutes

Memories saved and put together just for my dad and his family today.  I will remember all of you in my thoughts and prayers today.

I miss Grandma, too.

Slippery Fun

We tried Blase's birthday present out a couple of Sundays ago.

 At first everyone just did a belly crawl across the slide.

 Well, almost everyone.

Then I explained the proper way to slip and slide.  No personal examples were executed.

 Some weren't listening obviously.

 She's cute enough she can get away with anything.

 After awhile we turned up the water and just ran through the "sprinkler."

 On your mark, get set......

 GO!!

 UMMMM....GO!!!!  Gooooo!!!!!!  Go???

I wonder what she thinks she's gonna do with that? 

This is what happens when you sit by the water and your very mean mommy turns the water towards your face.  There is a mad scramble for safety.