Rugby & Fillmore

After driving halfway across ND, we stopped in Rugby to visit Greg and Deb. The kids played with cousin Addi on the backyard playset, then swam in the local pool in the evening.

Before that, we followed Papa Ken to Fillmore, visiting Uncles Red and Davey. The highlight for the kids was going for rides on the quad.

Back in ND

The kids ended their day in North Dakota watching a show in Auntie Karen's little cottage that is about 50 yards from their house.

Earlier, we had stopped at Rod and Carol's to visit, and the kids jumped with Cara on the new trampoline.

Then, we had dinner at Julie and Jay's, and the kids played on the swingset, where Tor learned to pump.

Granny's Pantry

Doug took the kids and their cousins (Mariah, Briar and Ariel) to the most popular spot in Battle Lake ... Granny's Pantry, an ice cream and candy shop. It was surrounded by dozens of people when we got there. All the kids (and adults) got ice cream. It was delicious!

More Afternoon Fun at the Lake

The kids spent almost the entire day in the water, getting out only to eat and go to a parade in the evening.

Water Fun at Battle Lake

It was a beautiful, sunny day, so the kids got right into their swim suits. The water is really shallow out over 50 feet from shore. All of the kids went out on the ski boat, and only Bridget dared the tube (though even that was short-lived).

Minnesota at Last

It took a while to get here, but we finally arrived at Doug and Doreen's cabin at Battle Lake for the Peterson family reunion. We are staying in the large loft above the garage. It didn't take long for the kids to stake out their beds.


Amtrak ended up being 9 hours delayed, so we didn't arrive in Minot until 5:30 am. With so little sleep, we had to take naps at cousin Jenny's before driving the rental car across North Dakota.

Getting There

Here's a pic of the kids in Havre, Montana. It's been a long train ride, and it's ended up about 6 hours behind schedule.

The kids occupied themselves with playing games in the tablet, reading, or exploring the different cars.

Heading to North Dakota

The train was 2 hours delayed, so we had some wait time at the train station. The kids occupied themselves with playing The Game of Life on the tablet, and monkeying around on the landscape rocks.

Movie & Museum

The kids have been going to the $1 movies this summer. Today, we saw Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel.

Afterwards, we found our way to the Children's Dicovery Museum in the mall. The kids got to try out lots of cool, new things that they hadn't seen before.

Our Little Gardener

When asked in pre-school what he wanted to be, Tor said gardener.  Here he is putting some vines up the trellis where the pole beans will eventually grow.  Then he put ornamental grass in the dirt to grow around the trellis.  He worked on it for a long time and had the trellis and raised garden looking good. Bridget was concerned that he might have pulled up the roots and all, but I explained there are so many grasses that we wouldn't miss a couple. Also he arranged two vases of flowers with vines and unusual shapes-our little gardener.

How long did they last?

 Earlier that day they had a lot of fun going up to Aunt's and playing with Rielee, Ava, and Harper.  Then they all came down here to do some slip and sliding.  Then they went home, except Ava who stayed to play Squinkies with Bridget. They are the big thing lately.

 We all guessed how long they would last trying to sleep in the tent. We put it outside close to the house and they stocked it with all kinds of things they thought they'd need.

It's a good tent and zips up tight against any bugs or flying insects.  I guessed 30 minutes and Papa went for less than that.  Maybe because they were watching a video on my phone, they made it over and hour until I took back the phone and said "Lights out.".  Then it was a short time for them all to be back in the house.  Today they're reading in the tent that is in the shade.

Fair Ribbons

Each of the kids entered their crafts in the Castle Rock Fair. Bridget's snowman painting earned her a Superintendant's Award ribbon.

Jillian submitted a lot of projects, including nature photographs and coasters. This photo shows her sewing projects, including the fox placemat that earned her the Best of Division (Youth Sewing).

Tor also had some preschool art projects that he submitted.

Parade & Fair Time!

 This is a picture while they're waiting for the parade to start.  They all dressed to represent a time period (Aunt Robin's idea) and had a game popular for that time period.  Bridget was the 60's with tye-dyed shirt and peace symbol, Tor was the 70's with Star Wars, and Jillian was the 2000's when scooters became popular.  She rode behind the float and occasionally around it. Tierney was 2010's with her cell phone, Rielee was the 50's with a hula hoop, and Ava and Harper were the 90's with Beanie Babies.  The 80's was represented with a Rubik cube.

 Gabe drove the tractor and the rest threw out lots of candy.

It was hard to hold their sign and throw candy at the same time. Afterwards they went to the fair and saw all the ribbons their entries had received. They did very well.  Then the last thing was the quarter games where they won a prize every time. Tor's favorite game was to throw the toilet paper rolls into a toilet.

Float Building



 Everyone decided it was time to build another float for the Castle Rock Fair parade, since it was four years ago since the last one. Now there is a new generation so it might go back to being a yearly thing..  We met on Monday to decide what to build.  Tuesday was getting everything rounded up and then Wednesday was building day.  The kids, Rielee, Jillian, Bridget, and Tor made lots of paper flowers to go on the cake.  There was one break to have barbecued hot dogs supplied by Uncle Dan.

About 2 1/2 hours later the float was ready to go.  They are all excited to throw candy at the spectators and ride on the float. There were lots of talented people working on it.

Slip-n-slide



Rick brought them all up around 2 o'clock and set up the slip and slide.  It proved very popular and there was a pool at the bottom where they would get a good splashing.  They would slide for about an hour and then I would make them take a break to build up the water supply (our well) and then they would come back for more.  They invented all kinds of ways to go down, fronts, backs, backwards, piggy-back etc. Then later I got a couple of snow saucers and then they would use those to go down. They had a break for dinner and then they were back at it until dark.  Boy, were they easy to get to bed and sleep.  Then this morning they were out there again at 10:30AM as it was plenty warm and played until lunch and time to go home.

Cale & Erika's Wedding

It was a beautiful evening to watch cousin Cale get married to Erika in Silver Lake.

The kids had fun at the reception, with Tor providing the entertainment on the dance floor. He learned lots of new moves from cousin Ty and was dancing nearly the entire time. Bridget danced a little, though she wanted to be out of sight. Jillian refused to go anywhere near the dance floor.

Bridget and Tor also danced with Cale and Erika, respectively, during the dollar dance.

There was a selfie station that the kids were all over.



We did manage to also take a family picture. By 11 pm, the kids were so tired they were asking to go home so they could go to bed.

Baking and Crafts

 It seems like if one gets going on a craft or baking, all three start projects. Here Bridget is making brownies. She frosted them with peanut butter frosting and everyone had one or more. Of course, all this is happening simultaneously.

 Jillian is making coasters from some of the great pictures she's been taking. She learned how to Mod Podge them and they turned out very nice.

Tor, not to be left out got all the supplies together to work on a house for his rock person. He made him sunning outside on a mat with umbrellas. Pretty cute.
    

Adam's B-day at Black Bears Game

The kids joined cousins Parker, Jace and Meagan at a Black Bears baseball game to celebrate Adam's 14th birthday. We sat in some box seats that Auntie Greta had won, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. The kids had fun hanging out with each other (not much game-watching going on).