Last Day of Vacation

​Today was some visiting with cousin Deb in Rugby, shopping at cousin Ashley’s boutique, and a whole lot of driving across North Dakota to return to Battle Lake. The kids went for a run, then jumped into the lake one last time:

Fillmore

​Fillmore was just as we left it, with just few trees out back cut down.

Everyone who had been working at Leeds on the bins had returned to Fillmore for the night. Papa Ken got the kids on Mark’s tractor and drove it around the town square:

Tor found Lee’s new quad in the garage and wanted to take it for a spin:

The kids enjoyed looking at all of the old pictures in the Fillmore house, including this one of Papa Ken’s family:

Visiting Greg & Deb

​Our overnight stay would be at cousins Greg & Deb’s house in Rugby, ND. We visited for a little bit:

Tor found a basketball and went outside and shot some hoops.

Knox Cemetary

​On our way to Rugby, we stopped by the Knox Lutheran Cemetary to visit the resting place of Grandma Karlene:

Of course, the kids rang the bell:

Mom walked us around the Peterson headstones and explained the family tree.

Dismantling Bins

​Papa Ken was joined by Aunt Karen and cousins Lee, Curt, Rod and Doug (and friend Mark) in taking apart some old grain bins on Doug’s farm just northeast of Leeds.

We visited for a bit, and Tor even got to help a little:

But the biting horseflies eventually drove us back to the car.

Old Main Street Cafe

​We left Battle Lake at 8:30 am to drive to Leeds, North Dakota to meet up with Papa Ken. We stopped at the Old Main Street Cafe in Devils Lake to have lunch:

World Cup

​Tor and Dad have been catching a World Cup soccer game here and there, but on Dad’s iPhone. Tonight, Blake brought out his computer and projector for everyone to watch the Portugal vs. Colombia match.

Surfing

​Cousins Blake and Jen showed up and got all of the kids out on the boat to go surfing. It was incredibly windy, and the boat ride to the other side of Battle Lake was quite the adventure of crashing waves and spray. Jen and Gwen showed us how it’s done, then Jillian, Bridget and Tor all tried … they all got up for at least a couple seconds:

Slower Gear

​This was more of a rest day at Battle Lake, after starting fast - we slowed down and took it a bit easier. Everyone slept in, then had crepes for breakfast, and since it was kind of windy, we didn’t bother going out on the water at all. Instead, the kids hung out on the dock and played card games:

After a pasta and chicken lunch, we had a bike ride to the pickleball courts, and made the incentive of the winningest player getting two scoops of ice cream (Jillian won):

Dinner was hamburgers and hot dogs, and the fire pit was started up. Cousin Mariah showed up and played some Spikeball:

As it got late, we all dashed to Granny’s Pantry for some ice cream before it closed at 10 pm:

Train Game

​The nightly game for Thursday evening was Mexican Train:

Granny’s Pantry, Part II

​After the evening bike loop, Dad offered to buy ice cream if we biked to Granny’s Pantry … there was a small bit of hesitation, but the pull of ice cream was too much. All the (available) kids went along:

Glendalough Bike Trail

​Cousin Doreen had some activities lined up for us during our trip, including a 7.1 mile bicycling loop around Annie Battle Lake that we did tonight. It was mostly flat with some rolling hills.

Tubing, Part II

​We had originally planned to go canoeing and kayaking today, but the weather was sunny and warm enough to head back to the boat for some more tubing. Doug was at the helm this time, and everybody ended up wiping out at some point. Here’s some of the big jumps caught on camera.

Tor with Ariel and Gwen:

Jillian, Bridget and Tor:

In this pic, when the tube landed, Bridget fell off (again).

Pickleball

​Battle Lake built new pickleball courts nearby, so we drove over and managed to find them. They were very nice, and empty at the time we showed up. We played quite a few games before getting too hot and tired:

Backyard Baseball

​A baseball game showed up in the lot next to the house.

There was a rain delay as the sky opened up and dumped buckets, but we resumed later on.

Water Adventure

​Jillian and Bridget took the canoe, and Tor and Dad each got a kayak, and we paddled to the public park:

We beached our rigs and spent the time finding flat rocks to skip:

It started pouring rain, so we made a run for a small shelter and waited it out, and the kids rapped a song:

Then we started paddling back, and still got caught in a little rainstorm.

Shopping Downtown

Cousin ​Nadia and Spencer showed up and joined us for a shopping trip / tour of downtown Battle Lake.

We grabbed a coffee at an espresso shop, where the kids found some sunglasses to model:

Of course, we grabbed some ice cream at Granny’s Pantry before heading back to the lake house.

Canoe-ing

​Tor and Dad went for a long 1-1/2 hour canoe trip along the coastline of West Battle Lake this morning. It took a little bit before we got it under control, but then we were cruising pretty well. Doreen caught up to us quickly in her kayak.

Spoons

​The evening ended with a game of spoons with Blake, Doreen and Gwen:

Granny’s Pantry

​While we were on the lake, Doug and Doreen made a hamburger, hot dog and salad dinner for us. Then for dessert, we all biked to Granny’s Pantry for ice cream:

And for a historical perspective, this is the pic from 8 years ago:

Tubing on Battle Lake

​Everything was as we remembered from 8 years ago when we came here for a Peterson Family reunion. After a spaghetti lunch, we got in our swimsuits and waded out in the shallow waters to the boat. Older cousins Blake and Lexi rode along, and younger cousins Ariel and Gwen went for rides on the tubes:

There were some new tubes to ride on, such as this lay-down one:

Along with this sitting one:

Unfortunately for Bridget, she got tossed off this tube when it hit a big wave and went flying - but she got right back on and kept tubing:

The kids also joined the cousins for some rides - Jillian and Bridget with Gwen:

Jillian with Gwen and Ariel:

And Tor with Gwen and Ariel:

The Swing (+ Spikeball)

​One of the first things the kids did when we arrived at Doug & Doreen’s Battle Lake house was ride on the rope swing, something they played on constantly 8 years ago:

Some new additions were found, including this Spikeball net that the kids joined Briar for a game: