Rainy Day

We thoroughly enjoyed a couple rainy days over the weekend. 

I think the garden enjoyed the long drink. The pumpkins are taking over the garden...hopefully the squash bugs won't take over the pumpkins.

 The boys and I had a great time walking around the farm on Saturday morning as the rain dripped from the sky.  We fed the calves.

 We played in the muddy water.

 We played with the kittens.

 We walked around the yard, visited grandma and grandpa's house and took a walk out in the pasture. The boys were just sure that the creek would be running after an inch of rain.  Sadly, they weren't right.

Thank you Lord for sending rain!

Two firsts today

The first day of First Grade!

He was actually OK with me taking photos of him this morning so I took full advantage! 

 Cowlico is his kitten so he wanted a few photos with it (I don't know if Cowlico's a boy or girl). When Noah named his kitten he said it was black and white like a cow, so it should be called Cowlico - hence the spelling. Little Gracie wanted in the photos too.

 Noah admitted to feeling nervous last night, but this morning he seemed pretty relaxed, confident and excited to go back to school.

 His backpack has two key chains on it from my parents' recent trip to Ecuador.  The cowboy boot is by far the favorite.

 When we got to the school he was really slow to get out of the car. He wouldn't admit to feeling nervous, but I know he was.  After I gave him a hug and kiss and he yawned and stretched for a bit (something he did every day before being dropped off last year) then he opened the door and went for it!

 His report to me this evening was that his teacher was actually very nice (like he was surprised), that he'll have homework, that he gets two recesses, he can have his own water bottle at his desk and that the toilet in their bathroom won't flush on its own before he wants it to. Apparently, this was a big problem for him last year in the Kindergarten bathroom. :-)
I feel proud of him and am continually amazed at how big and grown up he is.

Fishing at the Marina

I know very little about fishing. I do know that my father in-law enjoys it and knows a lot about it. It's wonderful that he shares fishing with our boys, too.  We lucked out during our camping trip when Tim found out we could fish in a particular area of the marina where a bunch of huge carp reside.  

 Tim fished with canned corn as his bait and the guy from the marina let Levi throw dog food in the water to lure the fish to where we were.

 Before we knew it, BINGO!

 And it wasn't just one fish.....they caught more than 10 fish in less than two hours!

 Since I don't know how to fish and have little inclination to start now, I busied myself with taking photos of the action.

 Grandma and Levi made fish faces to each other.

 Levi did help reel in this fish.  It took a long time but he pretty much stuck with it.

 All the fish got thrown back into the water.  Our fishing was more for the fun and adventure then for a meal.  And once those of that were not fishing got restless, we spent a whopping $5 on an hour-long paddle boat rental.  It's been years since I last paddle boated and it was just as much fun as I remembered!  Noah tried peddling for a bit but his legs weren't long enough and it was frustrating for him.  Levi declined a ride because he was afraid he'd fall in the water. We tried over and over to assure him that there was nothing to be afraid of, but he wouldn't leave the shore.

 Fishing and paddle boating, what a lovely way to spend an afternoon.

Mmmmm paddle boatin.....Come on, you know the Little Big Town song, "Pontoon" right? During our paddle boat ride I kept singing the song to Ben. :-)

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve

A short drive from the campgrounds was the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.  After years of saying that I wanted to go here, I finally made it!  It was a really interesting place and I can imagine that hiking the trails would also be lovely.  

Our first stop was their brand new visitors center. We watched a video about the farmstead and the Flint Hills and then we explored the items they had on display in the center.

 Levi did some tremendous weight lifting.

 Then we headed outside!  Thankfully it was a cool morning so we could really enjoy being out and about.  The three story barn was incredible.

 The ingenuity and craftsmanship were remarkable.

 There was a crew working on rebuilding the limestone walls around the property. Watching them work was fascinating.

 The boys were inspired to do their own building with rocks they found on the ground. Then it turned into a fort or shrine or something for a (dead) cicada.

The house was also three stories and also full of amazing craftsmanship. 

 There were several outbuildings almost all of which were made of limestone.  The chicken house and the outhouse were the most impressive.  The ice house seemed like a luxury item to me, but maybe they were more common in the 1880s then I think. 

 The prairie was mostly different shades of brown, but we could pick out a few bright spots.

 Just up the road a bit from the farmstead is this school, built by the same family that owned the farmstead. The doors were locked but it was still interesting to look around outside and imagine what recess might have been like for kids back then.

 You should go check all this out in person - it's great and only about an hour and half from our house.  It might be worth a trip in spring time to see the prairie blooming!

Camping

Last week we spent a few days with Ben's mom and dad camping at Council Grove.  We lucked out with beautiful weather and had a wonderful time. 

 It turns out that the boys LOVE to wash dishes when camping!

 Our campsite was near the beach and we did our best to take advantage.

The temperatures outside were relatively cool and the beach was very rocky so the boys did more playing outside the water with their shoes on than in the water.

 This goofy guy lost a front tooth last week!

 Campfires are always amazing, but a campfire is especially amazing when the temps are cool and the warm fire actually FEELS good.  Hot weather and hot fire just don't seem like a good combination.

 We had a great campsite and for the first night we had relatively few neighbors.  You can see the lake in the background of this photo.  However, by the time we left on Saturday morning the place was so full that I don't think we could see the lake much at all anymore. Having lots of camping neighbors makes camping feel less like a quaint adventure outside and more like trying to figure out how this spontaneous community is supposed to get along.

 The boys kept busy at the playground near our campsite, playing with water and riding their bikes.

 There were also several games of hide-and-seek and we played catch with the football some, too.

 Riding bikes was fun for the older boys as well.

The boys struggled with their allergies while we camped.  We were prepared for it so thankfully we kept them somewhat comfortable.  The first night in the tent was a bit rocky with all the sniffling, snorting, coughing, tossing, turning, bathroom runs (thank goodness they're boys!), and covering up to keep warm.  But we made it and then all slept much better the next night.  We couldn't camp without Tim and Sue - they know what they're doing and they have a camp stove and all the other cooking equipment.  We do however, have enough gear to comfortably sleep in a tent - all four of us, and that's my favorite part of camping.