Random and Rainy July

Our one adult cat on the farm, Fancy. Such a sweet cat!

The Ladies...they think they own the place,

little do they know.

Early in July we got a lot of rain!

As usual with a lot of rain, the back part of the farm turned into a lake and the boys enjoyed it!

Fresh, steaming potatoes.

And a funfetti cake! Because...why not?!

So much rain my flowers were drowning (note to self, drainage holes are actually very important).

Sparklers for the Fourth.

Then it was time for Levi to go to camp, for the first time!

He invited his buddy Koy to go along with him. When we dropped them off it was blazing hot outside. I was literally dripping with sweat just standing still. They were more than ready to go jump in the swimming pool!

Levi had a great time at camp, but a thunderstorm the first night scared him nearly to death. 

Then off to Noah's last baseball game!

He had a great game and I think he truly enjoys playing sports with his classmates.

Ah...the joys of summer. Cold pop after a baseball game!

Harvest Time

Wheat harvest is always a special time on the farm. The farm comes to life and the work day extends. The dust rolls on and on.

Just as harvest was starting, Noah went to Camp Mennoscah! He ate a green sno cone on the way and ended up with a VERY green tongue. :-)

Each year I try to get a photo of him outside his cabin...this was all he would let me get. He was putting sunscreen on and would.not.stop for a photo...

Back at the ranch, the wheat was drying and harvest rolled on.

I used some creative energy to send Noah 3 letters in one day this year...he said he had to join a group singing a song to get his mail that day at camp. :-)

Levi cared for this little Box Turtle for quite a while. He named him Tom and after he had to clean out the water several times, Levi decided it was time to let Tom go.

Levi kept up on taking care of his tadpoles...some of them grew to be frogs and were released.

This harvest photo was taken just before the heavens opened and rain POURED down and we maybe left my dad at the field in the storm.  Oops. Sorry dad!!

On Friday's in summer I'll often take the boys to the coffee shop in Goessel for a treat.

We harvested potatoes and onions from the garden. Digging potatoes is the only thing the boys will eagerly help with in the garden. Ben's truck bed proved to be an ideal drying location this year. He was busy harvesting wheat, never using his truck, and Wilbur couldn't bother the produce!

Harvest got delayed by another rain...

The mulberries were beautiful this year!

These three are amazing together, especially when they're getting along! :-)

Once harvest was about half done, Ben hopped in the tractor to plant soybeans.

And one night I rode along for a while, it was a lovely little tractor date.

The view from the top of our new grain bin! It's very handy (literally) that it has a stairway and railing all the way to the top.

Freaky, thankfully harmless, harvest accident...the door of the tractor shattered one day. The glass made for a pretty picture, but it certainly was a big mess to clean up.

Then Ben got to spend one evening in a door-less tractor. It was fixed the next morning.

Levi, in a very sweet moment, helped to cut flowers for our post-harvest celebration dinner table.

You mix all of that harvest action in with all the other activities that happened in June and it was a whopper of a month!

Summer fun!

Summer has flown by! In an effort to keep up on this blog...which feels more and more difficult these days...here is a peak at what kept us busy in June!

Noah went to a basketball camp at Bethel and was explaining some of the drills to me.

Each boy was on a baseball team so we had many evenings full of baseball games!

Before the weather had gotten hot enough to warm up the pool water, these boys decided to tough it out and give it a go. They were all shivering by the end.

A spin in the sunshine warmed them up, though.

Levi cared for a whole big bucket of tadpoles.

We managed to grow a bunch of veggies in the garden. I tried my hand at cabbage, and while it grew nicely and we ate it, I'm on the fence if it was worth it or not.

S'mores on the patio!

Seriously, soooo good!

We enjoyed an evening of golfing together.

The boys have small amounts of patience with the game, so one night here or there is about all we can handle at this point.

Same goes for me and Ben...it takes a ton of patience to play golf with two boys!

The flowers around the yard are doing well.

I was curious how the perennials would do in their second season and it's been interesting to watch them become fully established.

We kept an eye on a nest of Killdear eggs.

The landscape around the farm is always changing.

More baseball!

And swimming with friends and cousins!

June was fun, busy super-busy!