We had a very busy 4th of July this year. My parents invited us over to their house for lunch. They served us a great lunch and then we went to the water park in Gaylord to cool off. The girls enjoyed the pool. It has a little slide that is just right for them. Next we headed home to change out of our swimsuts and take a little rest. Our next stop was Nick's aunt Ruthie's house. Every 4th she has a great party with amazing fireworks. This year the girls actually made it to the fireworks.

 Faith posing next to Ruthie's garden. I'm not sure why she looks so serious.

 The girls got to play with their second cousins. All the little girls then watched fireworks from the upstairs porch.

 Grace has been taking a ballet class this July. This Thursday is her last day of class. She has really been enjoying it. This picture is her all ready on her first day of ballet. She was excited to go to ballet!

 Hard to believe, but my little girl is now 3 years old. We had family over to celebrate the day. Here she is blowing out the candles on her cake.

 Opening presents

 Nick playing, umm, I mean helping with the new barbie.

It was such a nice day on her birthday. We enjoyed some time outside with everyone before supper. 

Beating the Heat

We have been having a heat wave in MN lately. With the humidity it has been over 100 for a few days now. We haven't been getting much relief in the evenings either as it has only been cooling off to the 80s and 70s at night. I know I shouldn't complain. We could be like my parents and not have air conditioning or we could live in Arizona and have this heat all summer. Needless to say, we have been trying to find fun and cool things to do outside. The sprinkler and pool have been a big hit.

 Our first day using the sprinkler this summer. Grace doesn't mind the ice cold well water at all. Faith on the other hand still runs large circles around the very edge of the sprinkler. She is a little braver then last year.

 Getting a drink of water fromt the sprinkler. Maybe not he most pure drinking water, but certainly the coolest and best on a hot summer day.

 Faith having fun in her swimming suit.

 Gracie taking a rest in the shade.

 I have also been enjoying seeing my garden grow. I planted eight tomatoes this year and they all are doing well so far. Hoping to get lots of tomatoes to freeze again this year.

 Some of the plants haven't been liking the heat either. These are my wilting cucumber plants. Hopefully they do okay so we can make fridge pickles (one of my favorites).

 We continued our cooling off after the sprinkler with some strawberry ice cream. We even pulled out some "fancy" cups to have it in. I got a set of fancy dishes at the thrift store and we use them to make certain treats more special. I don't care if they get broken and the girls think it is great to use them.

I've been trying to do a little sewing again. I made an apron for Grace and am working on one for Faith. It seems that I always make at least one big mistake and a few small mistakes that can easily be fixed. As you will see, after cutting out the material I realized that I didn't get the material in the right direction. Grace was smiling when I tried to take this picture and apparently I missed the smile and got this very unhappy look.

The Adventure Continues

After our train ride we went on another hike to explore the old mine some more. Once again the girls did great! We are certainly looking forward to more hiking in the future.

 The old school house.



Our family on the hike. Not sure what this building was. My cousin Anna borrow us her homemade moby wrap for the hike. It was very comfy for me and Faith seemed to like it too. I'm now sold on them! 

Shelving inside an old building. 

Of course there were a few old cars. 

The girls had a great time playing with their second cousins. I didn't get a great picture of them together, but they had a blast. After this they started a very giggly game of ring around the rosy.

Black Hills

Last week our family joined some of my extended Holte family in the Black Hills for a family reunion. We stayed in a cabin at a resort. Our cabin had a playground near it and the first thing that the girls asked each morning was if they could play at the park. We had supper at night with everyone and also had some time to ourselves to explore the area.

 We arrived in SD a day early and met my parents in Deadwood. We had supper together the first night and then did some sightseeing the next morning. We went to a museum, a cemetary and toured a gold mine. This picture was taken at the cemetary overlooking the city.

 Our first day at the cabin a group of us took a hike up the hill near the resort. My parents watched the girls so Nick and I got to hike at our own pace. It was beautiful view and we could see Mount Rushmore.

 The next day we toured Bear Country. The girls were pretty excited to see all the animals.

 They even got to hug a bear! Faith was scared to touch it at first until we explained that it was not a real bear.

 A favorite for the girls was Storybook Island in Rapid City. Here they are walking on the castle bridge.

 That afternoon we joined some of the other Holtes for a hike. We were trying to find an old mining town in the woods, and in particular the old mine. We had hiked this same area when I was a kid at our last SD family reunion. Here the girls are at the top of the hill. You might not be able to tell, but we were pretty high up. The girls both did great. Neither one complained at all! We found some of the old town, but  not the mine. The view was worth the hike!

 Some of the hikers.

 Our next adventure was ride on the 1880s train.

We rode for an hour to Hill City and then back to Keystone again. It was a fun way to see more of the area.

To be continued...

Memorial Day

Memorial Day we had lunch at a park with my parents and Abby and Ben. The girls had a great time and there was a playground that was a big hit.

 Benjiman and Abby. What a little cutie he is!

 We visited some cemetaries in and near Gaylord where some of my Flantz relatives are burried. The girls picked some clover flowers that they put on the graves. They thought it was important for each grave to have at least one flower.

Checking out a frog with Abby and Ben.

 Faith enjoying a kayak ride around the pond with Nick.

 Grace in the Kayak with dad.

 Marta and Aliyah came for a visit a few weeks ago. It was so much fun to see them! The cousins had a great time together of course.

 Aliyah and Faith

 This was best picture I got of the Peters cousins:(

Nick and Marta ran a 10K in Mankato. They both did a great job. They inspired me to try to be more active. I haven't been very faithful, but I'm trying to run a few days a week. No where near a 10K yet.

Farm Life

As I write this blog Nick and I are sitting on our deck enjoying a beautiful Minnesota spring day. No mosquitoes and no humidity, yet. We had a windy day today and it is still blowing some. I love to hear the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves. It is one of the most relaxing sounds I know. We have been taking advantage of the great weather and getting outside as much as we can lately. Of course, Nick has been busy with planting. About one more day of planting yet!

 In between planting Nick helped get the old brooder house ready for the chicks. They are growing fast and are no longer little chicks. They seem to enjoy their new home and like to run outside when I open the door in the morning. The girls still enjoy going out to feed  them everyday, especially Faith. She threw a tantrum the first night when I tried to sneak out and close up the coop without her.

 Slowly venturing out. Nick put together a temporary run for them (made out of old hog gates). It looks rough, but they enjoy getting out. Someday we hope to have them free range and lock them up at night.

The girls got to be in charge of their own flower garden this year. They picked their own flowers, planted them and watered them (with a little help from mom). I didn't get a nice picture of them, but this is their garden. We call it the pig garden because of the pig decor. Grace apparently told her teacher something about the pig garden in school and the teacher was a bit confused by what she was talking about. They also helped me plant the veggie garden. They really got into this year. I wish I would have had my camera along to get a picture.

Faith enjoying time in the sandbox. They have spent hours in the sandbox the last few days. So far this and the playhouse are the big hits of the summer.

Grace "cooking" in the sandbox.

All the supplies.

We planted a raspberry bush a few years ago and this is the first year it has flowers. I'm excited to see what we get from it. I also have a strawberry plant flowering.

Of course we had to get a tractor ride, or a few, in with dad the past few days. We all rode with him yesterday. Here is Faith enjoying the ride.

She didn't last too long. Apparently planting is pretty relaxing.

New pots that I bought for the front of the house. I think I circled the garden center about 10 times before I finally decided which one to get.

Gracie really enjoyed the ride with Nick. She got to push the button to get the tractor on auto guidance. Walking home she said "I think we should go for a ride again, only longer next time." Today we brought Nick lunch and she asked if she could go for ride by herself with dad.

Hanging out while dad was fixing something.

I love lilacs. They are so beautiful and fragrant. We have one bush that is just gorgeous now.