Braving it!

My parents came for a visit yesterday to watch Walter play soccer and wouldn't you know it was miserably cold and rainy so the game was cancelled. We however, braved the cold and went to the fair anyway, yes indeed we are wearing WINTER JACKETS IN AUGUST!

The kids however did have fun regardless.





A favorite part of the fair is always seeing all of the cute animals, we timed it just right and actually got to see a baby chicken hatch in an incubator which was cool.

Off the subject of the fair here... We have been making a few desserts lately with mini M and M's and it just cracks me up because Rose E calls them "Emmey M's" Walter could never say M and M as a toddler either and would always say NM and NM. Anyway, here Walter made a "three eyed spider."

And speaking of spiders, Walter needed a new helmet for the Ranger so he went with Daddy to the four wheeling shop and boy did I have a shock when he walked in the door wearing the scariest looking spider helmet I ever did see! He has been into spiders lately (since we read Charlotte's web and also into scary things).

He sure had fun though today cruising from Mining building to Mining building (another one of his favorite things) all decked out with his new purchase.

Tracks ahead!

This past week Jeff's Aunt and Uncle and family came to the U.P, two of their sons will be attending college here in the fall.

Also, on another note Happy Belated Birthday to Emily (my sister-in -law)

A couple of days ago we drove to Lanse to walk the tracks from Herman to Summit and to do some train watching. Our little boy of ours was in his glory of course pointing out everything from railroad spikes to signs. Oh and never in my life have I ever seen anybody get so excited about seeing "switch track" (where the track goes off into two directions).
Here is Rose E waiting for a train to come.

I was so glad that we spotted a train as was the rest of the family.

And Finally, the same train crossing a beautiful bridge.

Riding the shores of Lake Superior

This weekend was a scorcher, weather wise, so we spent some time out at Jeff's family's camp (cabin). We took out my Grandpa's old row boat, I'm sure when my Grandpa used to fish out of it in the little lakes of Wisconsin that never in his wildest dreams would he have guessed that some day it would be riding the waves of Lake Superior!
On our little adventure we saw two eagles; one bald headed and one brown headed one (if you look closely the brown headed eagle is soaring above the trees in the picture). We also saw a family of loons as well as lots of the ever so popular sea gulls.
Here we are pulling into the camp. We took the kids swimming and Walter has a new fear of "sharks and whales" when I tried to explain to him that this isn't the ocean he said "you mean they won't come here because this is the sea?" I also chuckled because while we where sitting on the deck Rose E dropped her necklace between the cracks and after I fished it out with a stick Walter said "Mama you are an ingenious."

Last but not least, we got some new retro coca cola stools for our kitchen. I couldn't resist this picture of Rose E sitting on them all decked out ready for church, I actually thought she looked ready for a good old fashioned malt and some french fries myself though.
She just loves to dress-up now and is always wearing some kind of jewelry.

Salutations!

One day Walter discovered this book in our collection (I bought a whole bunch of these types of books when he was a baby because I would read them out loud to him while feeding him) so anyway the curiosity got the best of him and we had to plunge ourselves into it. The kids absolutely loved it and I was surprised at how much Walter understood and remembered every night. So of course when we where all done we had to rent the movie and make popcorn to go with. Oh and they now have a greater appreciation for spiders. Yesterday they found one in the house and said "mama can you take it outside" then Walter had to follow me closely as to make sure I didn't harm it at all.

My new wheels

We picked up this bike at a garage sale. It's been fun because just about every night lately we have been biking as a family. In fact Rose E is getting to expect a ride every night too, the other night we hadn't even talked about going yet and she said to Jeff "I think I'm going for a bike ride."

The itsy bitsy spider went on a ranger ride

Lately if we are sitting in the living room when Walter is "supposed" to be in bed this spider suddenly appears in the doorway! What a goof!
Yesterday we met my Mom in Watersmeet, Michigan and she joined us on a ranger ride. I chuckle to myself whenever the kids say her name as for Walter calls her "Grandma Bookey and Rose E calls her "Grandma Booty." Anyway, we went all the way to Iron Wood Michigan.
Of course we saw lots of beautiful scenery, here's Rose E as cool as can be.

One of Walter's favorite parts about Ranger rides is seeing all of the bridges, we saw/ drove over quiet a few of them.

And of course anything that has to do with a train (or mining building). Here we are in front of the depot in Iron Wood. This depot is now a visitors center and museum.

Speaking of trains, if the boys of this household where fisherman this ice shanty would be right-up their alley, oops I mean track!

Last but not least this picture doesn't give the full affect but if you look closely you can see how dirty Walter and Rose E got. It was all in fun though. We got to see a lot of wildflowers, some neat birds ; one of them being a crane, some beaver dams and a rabbit on this trip. The fun thing about it is that we never know what we are going to come across!

An early morning crisis

This morning little Miss Rose E was the early bird of the house. Anyway, as I was trying to ever so quietly get her dressed she started to scream. I frantically asked what was wrong and she said "there's a hole in mine belly, Mama get something to fix it!" A few minutes later I had two early bird children talking about belly buttons. Oh the mysteries of childhood.

Happy Birthday "Papa"

From all of us!

We'll it's official, I can now say that I have joined the soccer mom club!

Walter had his first practice and game today. The poor boy drowned in his uniform as we dressed him at home, Rose E looked at him and said "Walter you a princess" she now has learned a new word to describe him, "athlete," thank goodness.
Anyway, it was cute to watch as Walter aimed to please the coach. Here he is during a practice drill. I had to smile though because the coach told him where to stand on the field and then once the game started he stayed their until he realized he was suppose to run after the ball too.
Lastly, this picture was taken right after his first big kick during a real game. He is standing in front of the goal. Oh and little Miss Rose E can't wait until she is big enough to play, we had a few crocodile tears when she realized she wouldn't be joining him on the field, so rough to be two.

Yesterday I was thinking wow I can't believe it is August already where has the summer gone and then I thought about it and realized that we have something going on six days a week now between church, story hours, playgroups, and now soccer. No wonder it's going by so fast, oh well it's all good fun.