Crazy Camping Trips

So we have been on three camping trips this summer and all of them ended with rain...lots of rain! The first was in May for Cole's gotcha day; just one heavy rainstorm then during our special dinner with Boomie and Papa. Cole and I hung out in his grandparents tent working on his Jr. Ranger book (he can earn a badge for completing several state park activities and logging them in his book). Thank goodness for the distraction! We did have a great deal of fun! Cole lead the pack on a geo-caching adventure, we lit sparklers on his special day, saw a naturalist show on reptiles and another one on bird watching.

The second trip was to Blue Mounds State Park in the SW corner of Minnesota. The boys loved climbing on the rocks and trying out the new hammock...still working on their Jr. Ranger Badges. The last night of our trip we were just about to have our last campfire and the ranger told us to go to the showers for shelter in 4 minutes! As we waited with the automatic flusher going off and complete (but thankfully nice) strangers, a vortex of wind and rain went right over our heads! It landed just south of us. We left that night feeling soggy but happy to be safe.

The last and final trip of the summer was closer to home at Bunker Hills Regional Park. 80 mph straight line winds greeted us a couple of hours after we arrived. We found shelter in the Archery Building amongst the John Deere gators and ranger equipment. Our tent made it through still dry when we came back to it. We stayed the night and had our campfire in the morning. Through it all Noah said, "I don't care about the camping, I just like being with my friends."

Little Boy Wisdom #61: Enjoy the company you are blessed to have and don't worry about the details!

Garden: Part 2

Here Cole is really taking pride in his pea pods. He has a mission to try a new recipe. So he cut them, pulled off the stems, washed them, and made his own stir fry! It was amazing to see them grow from seeds and then bring them to our dinner table to eat! Boy were they fresh and good!!

Now that we have eaten them once, he can hardly wait for more to grow!

Little Boy Wisdom #60: Try growing your own food. At least learn how to make something from scratch. It gives pride a whole new meaning.

Garden: Part 1

This summer we decided to plant a veggie garden.
Here are the boys planting seeds on May 15th, 2010. We had no idea what we were doing. But with a little faith and love we forged ahead.

Now the sunflowers are over Kevin's 6 foot body! We still have yet to see the flowers though.

Noah and Cole are very good at weeding and watering and they watch for every change as it happens.

Squeals of delight came from Noah as he discovered a gourd growing under the large leaves and yellow-orange flowers. "Oh... I LOVE my little gourdy!"

Little Boy Wisdom #59: Adopt a plant and find joy as it thrives on your attention.