It Just Wouldn't Be Summer

Without piling on the jumping dock and contemplating. 

And then giving in. 

And doing it again. 

And Again. 

And Again. 

And Again.

It also is not a trip to the lake without attempting to fling a child off a raft. 

Noah is almost taunting with his smile and wave. 

Uncle Brian was determined to get Nicholas. 

He was there. 

And then he wasn't. 

Piling all the children onto Big Momma for a ride is not as relaxing as it may look as well. 

Evidence. 

Evidence 2. 

Nick nearly let go and somehow drug himself out of the air and back onto the thing from the way I hear the story told. And, I cannot lie, I have no idea which sister is there with him. 

Uncle Brian and Nick--frenemies

Fresh Air Up There

Ben and Alida giving the tandem bike a go before each choosing their own. 

Alida was not as keen as the rest for the now annual Itasca State Park ride.  We did opt for the 6 mile trail instead of the 17 mile trail this year. 

And we started at the mouth of the Mississippi our course. 

And we were pretty alone on the trails this year, which was excellent since we tend to spread out from treating it as a race to questioning why we are there at all. 

And then it was off for a vehicle of a different sort. 

The girls are unquestionably tall enough this year for the first time, and Elaine took no time to master the race.

Nicholas's car was a little slower than the rest, so he kind of looked like a man out for a Sunday drive. 

And we had an entire run at the bumper boats to ourselves. 

Arriving at opening time before any other people still serves us well. 

And now that they are all tall enough to fit this, it seems not nearly as cute. 

All of them together on the swing--heart melts. 

Helpful

We like to pretend we are super helpful while we are there, so we'll ask for some tasks. 

Grandma got the boys to move her screened porch platform. 

So we could clean out under it.

Ben found an old action figure weapon under there and a pile of crayons. 

Cooking bacon outside is about the best way to perform that task. 

And men watching boys transplant a tree seems about right. 

We'll even call feeding the chipmunks work, since grandpa didn't like the brand of popcorn he had and needed to get rid of it. 

Family

But the long trip was so worth it to see all of these guys. 

And to see grandma and grandpa with 6 of 8 grandkids at once. 

They even let us sit in for a picture or two. 

And these guys didn't miss a beat of being cousins after not seeing each other for a very long time. 

And, of course, the other reason to make that trip is to fish. 

Perspective may make that one look bigger than the about three inches he really was. 

And even though there weren't a lot of bites in the heat of the summer, the quiet of morning could usually kick up a fight with a Northern. 

Even the girl caught a little one. 

But just riding in the boat and spending time together is good too. 

Roadtrip

In order to implement some interior social distancing for our own sanity, we loaded up a 15 passenger van for a long road-trip recently.  After a two week pre-quarantine, grabbing our masks, Lysol, and hand wash, and packing up, we hit the road with our own row of seats each. 

And navigating that big thing through a hail storm on the way was not on my list of relaxing vacation ideas. 

We stopped one night at a hotel after waiting patiently for Patric to go in first and hit the whole place with Lysol before settling in. 

Drive-through dinner in the North!

On the way back, on the road trip list of not interested in--early morning fog in Indianapolis. 

And driving around the over-turned tractor trailer, seeing the 40 foot RV in a ditch, and various secondary accidents was certainly not in the plans.  After screaming at our on-the-brink-of-becoming-drivers to wake up and witness what can happen, we said a prayer for everyone that morning. 

Nick did not have a hard time falling back asleep. 

This has been my posture for many years now. 

(Current)

Although my hair has turned a touch more grey over the years.  

(a decade ago)

Roadside attraction on the way home. 

The Mothman Museum in West Virginia.  

Ben was super excited, the mask just hides it. 

Mothman: the Big Foot of West Virginia

Adorable--my girls had to hold hands with the statue for the picture.