Grahams Island State Park

Camping!  What a great weekend! I grew up camping (tents and a popup camper) in state parks and this weekend brought back so many great memories!  

Matt and Andy left late Thursday to go meet Jan and Luther at the campground.

By the time we pulled out of town on Friday after school there were already fish in the cooler for us to admire when we arrived.  And by "us" I mostly mean John Paul, who has decided that fishing is HIS THING.  He loves to eat fish, he loves to catch fish, he loves to talk about fishing, and he loves to follow his Uncle Andy around :) 

This is a sport fishing hotspot.  The boat launch was the largest I've ever seen - side by side ramps for four trucks to launch simultaneously.  The lake is huge!  And the parking lot was truck heaven.  After a three day weekend watching trucks launch boats and pull fifth wheels Isaac has changed his dream car to a Ford F350.  

So Saturday morning a boatload of cousins headed out to see what they could catch.  

Kristi and I went for a long walk around the campground while Lydia and Kaelynn explored the rocky shoreline.  And when the boat stayed out, and stayed out, and stayed out even longer we knew it must be a fruitful trip. 

Yep!  Everybody was catching walleye.

Connor and Isaac brought these in at the same time! 

and then.... 

John Paul caught this 32" northern.  Y'all.  That fish was huge!  Andy helped him keep his rod up while he reeled it in, and Matt got him into the boat with the net.  This might be the highlight of John Paul's fishing career!  

Back at the campground to show off their loot!  

that afternoon this gang wandered until they found the perfect spot to sit and make mudpies.  Must run in the family, because Grandma was a mudpie maker as a child, and she even made "dirt" (pudding, crushed Oreos and gummy worms served in a flower pot!!) for dessert one night!  

Sunset Saturday night - amazing!  This photo could be a camper advertisement!  

backyard afternoons

Well I just got soccer schedules for our three boys - and our lazy backyard afternoons are getting ready for some big changes!  We knew it would be a little wild and wooly to put all three of them in soccer, but when opportunities like these are limited, well.... you go for it!  

For six weeks there is going to be a LOT of soccer around here, but that doesn't start till tomorrow, and this afternoon was lazy long (sweaty) summer perfection.

The garden continues to produce buckets of cherry tomatoes.  And we eat buckets of cherry tomatoes.  win-win

There are also some really big pumpkins out there, and one that grows in girth by at least an inch a day.  It's a giant, and it just keeps growing!

Yum!

Luke (in borrowed shin guards that make his heart race with excitement!)... catching frisbee.

And Isaac, who is our most committed soccer player and on a team roster with 10 players he already knows 6 of them.  Add in a daddy for a coach and you've got yourself a happy 3rd grader!

Sunday afternoon at the lake

I cooked up this idea earlier in the week, and at noon on Sunday you probably could have nominated me for the crazy train.  The weather was overcast and the temperature hadn't hit 70.  Seriously? We should go to the lake?

But we started driving, and the forecast said it would clear by 5pm?!?!  That's not so good.  But we had some fishing gear packed, and water is usually a recipe for fun, so ....

And we invited friends - another family in the States from overseas, and connecting with them was one of the things we were eagerly anticipating, and it hasn't disappointed!  So many things in common, despite so many differences in our overseas locations.  We could talk for thousands of hours, I'm sure.

And the sun came out and it was just beautiful!  And we loaded the boat and the kids knew what to do from there :)

See my little Luke tucked in there with the bigger guys?  There is just so much to see at the lake!

So after a sweet weekend we are off to another week of school -

first day of school!

Here's how Matt and I spent the first day of school!  Lunch picnic date at the park!  

This whole "all the kids are in school" is a brand new thing for us, but so far the lunch date seems pretty perfect!  On the whole though, it's a huge adjustment for everyone, well, maybe not so much Matt, but definitely me and the kids.  I really love schooling them, and I enjoy having them home with me, so while I'm confident this is a great plan for our fall semester, it's not like I've been counting down the days till they leave the house.  I feel a little unsure about how to use all my time, and I miss knowing the details of their days.

They all had a great first week!  Three days was just about perfect for them to start, and I'm glad for a weekend too.

{Dollar Tree is definitely one of my favorite American stores.... I'm trying to cut back and only go twice a week! ha!  Wednesday afternoon I was there loading up on helium balloons as a "welcome home from the first day" front porch surprise!}

And here they are - first day of school posing with their teachers!

Sixth grade is a huge adjustment, especially as the new kid.  So far, so good, but she did say, "It's way different for me, the others have been at this school and watched the middle schoolers down the hall, I'm learning everything new, everything."  I'm so thankful these classmates remember her (from 2nd grade) and so many of the parents too have said "welcome back" and "it's good to have you again".  Of Julianna's 11 classmates, all but one of them were with her in 2nd grade too.

I was expecting the adjustment to be hardest for my Lydia, who loves consistency and loves to be home with me.  Our lifestyle is a little more high change than she prefers!  But I can see God's good provision in so many ways.  Lydia's teacher goes to our church so they had several opportunities to visit before the first day, and Lydia's class is the smallest - Lydia is one of 9 students, only two other girls (who are glad to welcome a little extra female presence to the 5th grade classroom!).

Isaac is thrilled to be at school and prayed on Thursday morning that "all the days would be as good as the first one".  They are studying American history (probably his fave topic) and he's learning names of his classmates and is full of gym and recess stories.  His "not so great" part of day #2 was that "my teacher didn't pass out our books yet"!   He loves his student planner where he records his homework and it's going to be a good fall for my 3rd grade boy!

John Paul's first shot at formal schooling - and he is ready!  I'm wondering how well he will do at sitting still but this isn't his teacher's first go-round with 6 year old boys, so I'm thinking she is ready for him.  She sent a postcard to her students before the first day and told them they would be studying bugs, and they were welcome to bring one along to school.  John Paul could definitely win the "most likely to have a bug in his pocket" award most any day of the week, but his teacher specified the bugs should be transported in a closed container.  On Tuesday John Paul caught and container-ed his bugs and went to school prepared :)

and my baby, Luke.  He's actually my first kindergartener because I've chosen to delay homeschool and start my people in first grade.  But there's a first time for everything, and here I've got a kindergartener and he is doing great!  He is also exhausted!  It's a long day for a 5 year old and he sleeps long at night to make up for it!  We've been seeing his teacher around town since we arrived, and she's got so much experience and only 12 little ones, so I'm thinking this is going to be a great fall for Luke!

and the first week is in the books!  so thankful for this season and this school!

the beginning of the end of summer...

School starts tomorrow!  As much as we need to add a little routine to our days, I'm still sad to see the summer come to an end.  The weather is gorgeous and there is so much fun to be had -

The garden in the backyard continues to thrill everyone - I've been amazed at how it's really held their attention and everyone is motivated to get out there and see what's growing.  But John Paul is definitely the most energized by gardening, and the one most likely to be traipsing around, peeking under vines and hollering out his discoveries.

Sunday afternoon we had a little pool out in the front yard, and washed cars, and did some bike riding, and worked in the garden.  and that's how John Paul ended up in his bathing suit wearing a bike helmet and gardening gloves.  Not a bad day for a six year old boy :)

Monday we went to the library to see the solar eclipse.  They were passing out free eclipse glasses -

It was an overcast day, so the sunlight change wasn't very dramatic, but the eclipse was still pretty fun to watch.  "I see it, I see it" was definitely the most heard phrase of the hour!

I called Matt and said "you better come up here, it's really cool" and - perk of these months with more freedom in his schedule - he came!

and he agreed it was pretty neat.

and that's that.  No more solar eclipses for however many years, and no more free days of summer for 2017.  Back to school picnic tonight and we are off to the races tomorrow!

boys camping weekend

Matt and I literally passed in the driveway on Friday - Lydia and I arriving home from our overnight get-away and Matt heading out of town with the boys and Grandma and Grandpa for a camping trip/triathlon competition.

It was a different weekend, for sure!  I missed my boys and I love camping, but it was restful for me to stay back with the girls too.  Lydia and Julianna had two friends here for most of the time and a house of 10 and 11 year old ladies is pretty fun stuff :)  As you might imagine I got more than a few things crossed of my list of to-dos while they bounced happily from one activity to the next.

Meanwhile, Grandpa was busy setting up the camper with more help than he ever needed and Matt was off to pick up his race packet for Saturday morning.

Matt found this triathlon while we were still in China and was excited to race with a good friend of his too.  He actually raced this exact tri 7 years ago too, maybe we've got a little tradition going!

As I started getting pictures from the race morning I was really bummed I wasn't there.  I love the atmosphere surrounding a race.

But Matt had a great cheering section -

although they sometimes got a bit distracted from watching the race course?!

Proud to be finished! And he should be!

That afternoon the boys went to the lake with Grandma and Grandpa

and Matt went dirt biking with his friend Steve.

Not a bad weekend, huh?

We've got another camping trip on the calendar too!

Lydia's 10th birthday!

Lydia is my only American-born baby.  And she's back in the land of her birth to celebrate a full decade (we were also here in North Dakota for her 3rd birthday!).

She woke up to a house full of brothers (always!) and her cousin Kaelynn too.  We did a few presents that morning, but decided to save the rest for the next day lunch celebration (when Julianna, and Grandma and Grandpa would join us).

A breakfast date with Daddy, and taco-lunch were her meal picks :)

She and Kaelynn baked a beautiful tie-dye cake (after I showed them a youtube how-to video) - the girls had such fun and the cake was gorgeous.  These three ladies are just a treat to have around!

Another family birthday pic -

and a few presents to enjoy!

We said goodbye to Kaelynn Wednesday afternoon (but not before we made a quick stop at the bowling alley!)

and Thursday morning Lydia and I set out on a little mom-daughter adventure.  I did this with Julianna when she turned 10, and we headed deep into downtown of our multi-million person city for a night away.  Here was pretty much the exact opposite :)

We had a blast at Maple Lake and Lydia beat me at most every single game we played. argh.  She has a sharp analytical mind and loves logic games, and she's not afraid to win either.

So thankful for this precious daughter of ours!  And so glad to set aside some special times to celebrate hitting double digits!

heritage tour ND-style

One highlight from our time in NC was visiting the places that both of my parents grew up.  So we were eagerly anticipating this day too!  We were missing Julianna (on a youth group trip), but added my niece Kaelynn, and she fits in perfectly!

Jan and Luther grew up on farmsteads just a short drive from one another, and the farmland is still there, and still farmed... but neither of the homes that Luther lived in are still standing.  It was really cool to stand here and listen to the stories and imagine their worlds -

This is in the church graveyard at Perry.  The earliest stones were written in Norwegian, immigrants born in Norway in the 1860s and settling here before North Dakota achieved statehood.

We stopped by a farm near where Luther grew up, and visited briefly with an old friend of his and Jan's who was just starting his wheat harvest.  We watched the combine harvesting, and the grain cart dump a load into this truck.

When full this truck holds almost 10,000 dollars worth of wheat (wheat prices are really high right now)!

We also visited Grandpa's one room school house where he attended elementary school along with 9 other students. And then drove a few miles to Grandma's childhood home church.  Luke Joseph is named for Grandma Claudine Josephine (Jan's mom) who died when Lydia was an infant.

Then we stopped at Golden Lake for dinner :).

A really great day!