Father/Son Plane Camping

Well, Quinn went up in the airplane for the first time, on a camping trip with Dad.  They flew into Grand Marais, and the weather was perfect.  Apparently, it was quite the "guys weekend", with taboo activities like shooting a .22 and using a knife for whittling.  You know - those things that the overprotective Mommy doesn't like her 9 year old doing.  And yes, I have to do a little "I told you so".... Quinn did cut his finger with that knife.  Not all the way off, but it is a pretty deep cut.  I'm just not up to taking him in for stitches unless I absolutely HAVE to, so I cleaned and bandaged it really well and we'll all just hope for the best.    Good mom.  I know.  SHEESH.  Dad just says "Hey - it wasn't a gunshot wound, so he's fine."

Apparently, the first night they were there, Quinn was in the tent sleeping, and Dad was wandering the runway in the moonlight, when he got a distinct sensation of  being watched.    That feeling of being watched turned in to a feeling of being stalked, and Rob was getting more than a tad freaked out.  Dad and son, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night.  Talk about sitting ducks.  Great.  The .22 was in the tent with his sleeping son - it wasn't of any use at the moment.  There was definitely SOMEONE at the edge of the runway - he could see a silhouette as it passed in front of the moon's reflection.  Well, long dramatic story short, it appears that Rob WAS being stalked... by a US Border Patrol agent with an automatic weapon and night vision goggles.  Rob was in the cross-hairs for a good long while before the Border Patrol agent made himself known.    Comforting, eh?  See - this was a remote strip that hardly ever got any traffic, and when the border patrol agent saw a plane fly in, he had suspicions of drug-running, so went to investigate.  Quinn, who woke up when he heard the two men talking,  had the situation all worked out in his head... Dad being attacked outside by a madman with a gun, Quinn coming to rescue with the .22 (even though he reportedly can't hit a can from 10 feet away with said gun).  Regardless, it makes for a good story, and I have a feeling that Quinn won't forget THIS camping trip any time soon.

Father and son fished, hiked, read books, went target shooting, whittled (slicing finger, see above), and ate like kings for 2 days.  There was reportedly a plague of grasshoppers of Biblical proportions that ate through the tent, but other that that, I'd say the trip was a success!!

 

 

Summer. At last.

Today.... felt like summer.  At last.  I'm guessing we got to 80 or so today, although I haven't heard the official stats.  Dad and Quinn are camping, so it was Colby, Reagan and I holding down the fort.  Soccer was the order of the day.  Both kids did great!  Colby had his first "header" during his game, and did awesome as goalie.  Reagan actually participated in her game... running after and kicking the ball!  Multiple times!  Every single time, the wrong way ~ but who cares! 

We brainstormed how we wanted to spend the rest of the day, but ended up just staying home and enjoying the yard.  Napping on the swing outside on a warm summer day just really can't be beat.  The kids started out wanting to sleep outside, but the mosquitos drove them indoors within an hour.  Oh well.  We tried.

So here's something I've noticed.  Changing the number of children in the house throws off the dynamics in such a pleasant way.  Colby and Reagan, who are normally at each other's throats, played like best friends for hours.  Reagan was in HEAVEN, being included instead of always the "pesky little sister".  I love having all three of my kids home, but it is certainly more PEACEFUL when it's only a combination of any two!

This is a fuzzy picture, but we suddenly have a whole SLEW of bumble bees in our yard.  My sis and brother-in-law live about 2 miles away, and they just ordered thousands of honey bees and a hive.... I'm wondering if we have them to thank for the buzzing around our lavender??  It's been years since we've seen any honey bees around....

Apples are abundant, but not quite ripe yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adventure Day

I had a horrific realization today: there are only two weeks left of "summer".  Fall has made its looming presence known for the last several weeks (REALLY?  47 degrees in July?  Changing leaves???), and so we have to take advantage of every nice day.  79 and sun today, so laundry and housework are taking a back seat, my friends.  Time to play.

Grandma LaVerne invited Reagan over for a "girl's day" with cousin Becky.  They reportedly had a fabulous time roasting hot-dogs over a fire, blowing bubbles, jumping rope, picking flowers, and sewing miniature pillows out of horse-decorated fabric.  Sounds like fun to me!!

 

While the girls did their thing, the boys and I created our own fun.  Stop #1 was to the old Quincy Smelter to go rock hunting/slag pile climbing.  For those of you who don't live in mining towns, here's a little hint... slag is SHARP.  There was blood spilled by multiple members of the expedition today.

 

Afterwards, we went geocaching at a local park and had a picnic.  (For fellow local Geocachers - SPOILER ALERT!!! Look no further!) (Finkpeople, I know you're okay, because you already found this one :)  ).

 

 

We finished the day by grilling steaks at Grandma and Grandpa's house, while visiting with cousin Chuck!  WE NEED MORE SUMMER!!  It can't leave, when it never even really started!!

 

Mega Play Date

The neighbor kids came to visit today, and before we knew it, there were 13 kids in the yard.  That's not a typo.  They played so well together, I was amazed!!