More Summertime Fun

While in Texas we visited a living history farm. The kids had a blast even though it was 230 degrees outside (okay, that might be a little bit of an exaggeration...a very little bit).

Cicada boy!

My pioneer girl!

Doing the laundry

Two pretty ladies!

"Sitting in the parlor"

Texas or Bust

We lived in Texas for 7 years! 7 years, and yet we still made the journey down there in August. It was as hot as we remember it, but was so great seeing our friends. It's a good thing it was so hot or I would have been trying to convince Brett that we need to move closer. Dear friends are a rare find, and we have some very dear friends in Texas.





Brett usually drives, but he needed a break on our second day so I took over. With a little help from our friend "The Furby".

My super-crafty friend helping the kids with their "feltwork". I have a long list of craft supplies that I will need to be purchasing after visiting the "ultimate craft house". Our friends have a sweet house with lots of room to play and as always with this particular friend, it was sweetly decorated and very welcoming.

While us women-folk were crafting, Brett was taking his "goddaddy" status very seriously. It's rough.

We made a trek down to Houston while we were in Texas to meet another godchild whom we had yet to meet, and hang with some great friends. The kids had plenty of Star Wars action, can you tell?

Guess what we saw?

Yep! That's a wolf alright!

Okay, so we were on the other side of a glass wall.

Pretty amazing animals!

We went to the International Wolf Center up in Ely, MN on Wednesday. We have plenty of wolves in the woods up here, but I would much rather seem them this way.

Fr.Daniel

We have been so blessed to have our dear friend Fr.Daniel spend his vacation with us for the past two summers. We've had a absolute blast. The kids have a great time playing and being goofy, and Brett and I love his company!

(I put the pictures in the wrong order, again.)

Here we are right before we took Fr.Daniel back to the airport. Gianna was very sad to see her goddaddy go.

Maintaining the status of "Priest of Cool"

Hiking in one of our beautiful state parks!

Okay, so Fr.Daniel isn't in this picture. He did shoot though. And I have a picture of it. But, for the record, I impressed my 8-year-old son by shooting target (a can) all 5 times.

Blueberry picking. We didn't run into any bears which is always good, but we did run into plenty of mosquitoes.

More summertime fun!

These pics are not in order, but I couldn't figure out how to switch them around.

The kids are demonstrating a song they learned while attending "Totus Tuus" at our parish this June. Nica was very helpful.

Like grandfather, like grandson.

Too sweet to not post!

Nica is hoping she didn't gain too much "vacation poundage".

Cousins!

And more...

While in South Dakota we hiked to the very top of Mt.Moriah where Seth Bullock is buried. We weren't sure if we were all going to make it or if we'd be joining good 'ole Mr.Bullock at the top.

Brett's great-grandfather is also buried in this famous Deadwood cemetery. He didn't have a big sign or anything, but we think he's pretty special.

Old MacDonald's Farm is a favorite with the kids. (Get it, kids...goats...kids) Anyway, this little guy was sure fun!

We had a nice family reunion towards the end of our trip, and all summer we've been eating a lot of this red juicy stuff. Shortly after the reunion was over, all but one (me!) of our family members was struck down with a horrible stomach bug. We'll just say that we won't be eating much of this fruit for a very long time.

A little out of order, but here we are on our 10 year anniversary!

Summertime!

We've had a busy summer, and it's not over yet. We still have one huge adventure to go on, but before I get too behind I thought I would share some of the adventures we've had.

Here's Aidan, demonstrating how to use his "Christmas hatchet". Brett's parents were in town and we were having a bonfire. The girls were smart and admired their brother's technique from a distance.

Bill had plenty of practice pouring the perfect "Black and Tan".

Who needs stacking cups, when you can stack, well, cups!

We've done plenty of hiking this summer. Veronica doesn't like being left out of the "tick checks".