Going Nuclear~a Walk in the Park

YIKES!! I just realized that summer will officially be over in 9 days and I have a couple summer activities I wanted to share. Since Grace is crazy busy with school and work she hasn't had time to post yet about Bolivia, I'll fill the space for now. In July when Randi's family came for a visit we drove 2 hours north to visit Jon's Mom(still working on tolerating travel since back surgery last fall). Jon also had to deliver ski's so I went with~I would not pass up any opportunity to spend time alone with Jon. We drove threw UMore Park along the way, Jon knowing(cuz where I go-so does the camera!) I would want to take pictures, pulled over(3-4 times) for me.

UMore Park is located by Rosemont MN in Dakota county. It was once farm land but during WWII it was turned in to a munitions area of about 11,000 acres designated to make smokeless powder. The web site above(is legnthy) has the most historical info that I found, so far. After the war it was then sold to The U of MN for $1. It is now used for ag research and development and other stuff.

Smoke stacks in the distance(I want a camera with a zoom lens). The barracks are visable from the road, but my pictures didn't turn out. Peole do explore the area, and I found a blog or two about that, the down side is if you get caught you could get a hefty fine.Jon told me these were to used for lauching nukes if needed, I found no evidence to prove or disprove that. He could have been pulling my leg, which he is very good at, but they do look like they were a back launch for something big. Then he took me here to Vermillion Falls in Hastings MN, we used to live in Hastings and would come here just for fun. The water is low this year, I have pictures with Jon and his brothers walking across that cement thing and the water was almost up to thier knees. The old mill is huge, it is now used in another capacity. I love the huge old gears, here again a zoom lens could give you some really neat artsy photo's. No more shameless plugs for a different camera. I did send my camera to The Boundary Waters with Avery a few weeks ago, he brought it back still in the zip lock bag~shucks!The view above the fallsThe view from a new platform. We once hiked down there and and took pictures of us right next to where the water hits the rocks. The view of my favorite part of the day.

Positive Negative

When you have kids you want them to take from you the good, when they are held up to the light you hope the area's where you have failed don't shine through.

You want them to be a bit like you but with their own personalities. You want them to do the things and to go places that you dream of while your raising them!

I love it when my kids love the things I love, when they have a heart for what breaks mine. I love missions, I enjoy missions Sundays when missionaries come and talk about life in distant places. One year I found a lady who brought her llamas to our Missions Sunday. My friend Cindy(she has since moved back to southern TX) and I were in charge of representing South America, we were going for the authentic look! Learning about the sacrifice's that missionaries make, how they have touched the lives of the people they are led to serve. And how their lives have been also touched by the people they went to serve, so much more than they ever dreamed of, this blesses my soul. I want one of those signs to hang above my back door that says "You are now entering the missions field!" It is a "grow where you are planted" frame of mind. Our Church library has a reality missions DVD series called Travel the Road that can take you around the world in your arm chair! If you have access to this resource I highly recommend it.

For me it is a blessing to see my love of missions rub off on my children. This was Grace all packed and ready to leave on a missions trip to Bolivia South America this summer. I'd tell you all about it, but I've asked her to do that herself! Stay tuned for some really neat stories and great pictures. She'll be here soon, right now she's off fishing!

Two Much Fun

Our grandson came for a visit,
he brought his Mama & Daddy with.

He is 2 and honestly "two much fun"!
You can see him here when he was one.
We can take a picture of him on the numbers until he turns 8, the highest number on the track.

A little bit of grocery shopping.
(This has to happen when they show up 2 days early!)

Baseball with his buddy.

Blue eyed boy in big blue boots!
(he loves shoes~here)
Pudgy pinkies plunking piano.

Farm fun.

Making memories.
Berries for BenjaminCrooked Cracker Jack smile!
in THE END...

...he is bucket's of fun!!!

Fair Chickens

The long awaited CHICKEN POST is here, and it is photo heavy! Probably as heavy as I felt after 2 suppers, the 1919 Root Beer at the fair, and then home for a bit of tradition that our family started 20+ years ago, before we moved here, with the fair as our back yard.

This has to be the Phillis Dillar of the chicken world...

...which makes this guy Don King!
Just seeing if your still with me!
Besides I now want chickens AND ducks!
I love it when they put the hen and rooster together, if your lookin' to expand say a dream book on chickens, you can see them both in one spot and not have to lay awake at night wondering what the the other might look like.

This Henny Penny was so personable~~well as personable as a chicken can be. She didn't mind having her picture taken like some of the others.

Then came this handsome couple, him kind of a strutter.

And her a bit shy, but oh so pretty. I love the green black! I have no clue what kind any of them are except for 1 because I totally lost my mind when I saw.......HIM!!!!
Man oh man is he something or what ! ? ! ? Well worth the wait wouldn't you say?
When his owner saw me taking, oh some where close to 15 photo's of him he came and told us all about him. He weighs about 15 lbs and couldn't free range for a few weeks so that he could be all spiffed up for the fair! They hadn't judged them yet when we were there on day 2 , and I have no clue how he did. I intend to find out though! THEN he let us hold him, he did, he was so tame. I didn't even get a picture of him and I together (drats!) or him and anyone else. It was like I was star struck, like I lost my mind for a bit. And let me tell you, he is......The John Wayne of the chicken world, a real Rooster Cogburn!!

I was able to think a bit clearer when I finally made it to this little honey! I got her name even! She is a Wyandotte Silver Lace, and I want one of her~alot! My brother Rock said they are not the best laying hens because they have been bred for the color to look just so, and when you breed them for that alot of times you breed the egg production out of them. Still I'm putting this one in my book.

This is our family fair tradition!! Yes, it is! Its funnel cakes! We usually come home and make them, but this year we waited to day 3 of the fair, which I never made it to. When we had the kids all in one spot, before A& W were off to the demo derby's and Grace and Ian were of to shop for a HUGE trip, we made them. And trust me they as good if not better than they look, they are also very affordable when you make them at home!! ...until next year at the fair!

Fair

2009 day 2 cont.
I never made it to day 3 or 4, bummer~I know. The good thing is, I have enough to share and finish from day 2 and those all way too much fun CHICKEN pictures.

What kid, or adult for that matter, would pass that up!?! This was inside the Agricultural Progress building.

I have no idea what this building is called~I call it "the free popcorn place" ~it also has some really fun stuff.

This is an old milk tester.Old photographs from around Trempealeau County.
A really neat old fair advertisement (Jon pointed out that even in 1915 advertisers used pretty women to attract a crowd).

The place is lined with old cream cans and a toy farm implement collection that would make any little tractor lover stand in awe with mouth dropped open as if tractor heaven had open and rained down. And how do I know this you may ask, when our boys were little we spent every trip to the fair (some times more than once a day) just standing, looking, drooling, and they didn't have to keep their hands in their pockets, because there is a fence all the way around and 3 feet from the display, some one had their thinking cap on!

This is just inside of the building that has the rabbits, chickens, ducks, and goats. Cute on many levels, it is planted with lettuces and pansies, weedin'/Eden thing (who wishes they had less weed and a bit more Eden!), although a bit off on his Biblical historical facts in 1886 Rev Van Slyke wrote a theory about Galesville being the literal Garden of Eden.
Can you guess which other bailing building we spent/still spend ALOT of time in? Not just because of the chickens, our Grace is a serious critter lover. No fence holding you back in here! If the animals owners are around they usually let you pet, and sometimes will take one out for you to hold. I'll say it again, I love small towns! Oh yea, that is a mini-rex and they are so soft! Our rabbit is a mini-rex. He's not show quality, we don't talk about it in front of him, we also don't talk about how when he tips over we are getting a show quality bunny, he is really soft but let me tell you the show quality ones are like bunny fur utopia!

This little girl was so friendly

I loved it how they all popped up to say hello, which Jon kindly did to each one as he walked by.
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I was a bit sad/frustrated that I did not make it the rest of they days. Here's what we all missed out on: Animal Auction( if you want a good laugh see my sisters blog), Dog Obedience Judging, hours of anything to do with the horses, The Merchants Building, The Little Red School House from the 189?'s, The DNR Log Cabin, 4-H drawing, painting, and photography entries, walking tacos at the 4-H food shack, 1919 Root Beer for 2 more days, and the midway(which I really don't give a rip about any way, so that's no heartbreak on my part). One more bit of fair sadness or un-FAIR-ness, there were no draft horses this year, I love the draft horses. Also there were less horse and dairy cow entries. My sister in law said the LaCrosse County Fair also had less. Small family farms are always hit so hard when the economic system is in a funk. They need our prayers.

County Fair

2009 Day 2
I know I left off 1/2 way through the chickens, we did go back and we got some amazing pictures, but I'm not going to post that just yet. You know how much I love chickens so I'm saving those for a post all on its own, trust me it will be so worth it!

We pause with the demo car spectators for our national anthem. Many of the fair goers hushed, paused, hushed children, hats off, I love small town patriotism, I love the USA!
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Next we stop at the Youth 4-H building, I think age 5 & 6, this is where the little's enter their stuff. I love it they have such a great sense of humor. This building is also used for 4-H promotin displays done by each club in Trempealeau county.

Zack if you were around I would've asked you for a turtle joke. I would have told you about how we hatched leather backs in a 5 gallon bucket and how when I was a kid my cousin Danny Jo ate a tiny little turtle, swallowed it whole!

Jon, ever the wood worker and Viking fan loved the book ends. I liked the photos.

This display was done by the Glasgow Hardies Creek Busy Bees 4-H club. I liked it best of all the displays, maybe I'm just partial to the Busy Bees, our kids were in this club.

Now that is so creative, I love how 4-H promotes not only the club but individual creativity!

Grace had just came home from a week of water ski camp and was hungry for real food. We dined in the Lions shack. Let me tell you The Lions Club does alot of really good stuff in this little town. They put on the 4th of July fireworks, and it is very very impressive.
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Stop for a 1919 Root Beer~do you see a pattern developing here!?!
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Now this next building is one of my favorites, it has quilt and antique entries. The quilt display has antique and modern quilts, you can guess which ones I like best.

Can you imagine the time that went into this??

This one is so fun, it was made in 1920. I have a soft spot for crazy quilts. This one is soft--you can tell just by looking at it, which is what the signs say, but it is oh so hard for me to keep my hands off! When my boys were little I would have them put their hands in their pockets when we were someplace that was a no touch zone. They would say I'm just looking" and I'd reply "look with your eye's not your hands" ~~I'm thinking I should make this a practice!

Antique Rosette irons!!! How cool is that!?! If I would have seen these in an antique store I would be fumbling to get my cash out! I posted about Grace and I making Rosettes at Christmas time.

I would love to see the pictures of the bride in this dress.

I loved the Rosette iron, and thought it would be my favorite antique this year~until I saw this!!! I can't believe it has no blue and big fancy gold ribbon on. I should be a judge! The picture is a German picture, it would look so so good in our dining room, where I have a few older pictures of children. I think I will go back and see if I can find out who the artist is.

This building is for open class entries, I keep thinking I am going to enter something...some year. This building was built in 1895 it is the oldest one in the fair grounds. The fair ground land was donated by a couple from this area. They placed one stipulation on their gift...

...that during the fair, no alcohol, they wanted the fair to be a family event. It also the same with The Apple Affair held in the fall. I appreciate the family focus...ALOT!

Fabric woven baskets~~I'm having a thought, but better finished some of the other thoughts I have in piles!

This was so well constructed.

Too bad these were in a glass display case, they looked so soft...I really wanted to touch them.

I love the soft pink color, I have a thing for African Violets. . Our Dr's office has African violets on about every check in desk. They do so well, they say its the florescent lighting.

There are so many good photos.
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Next its on to the 4-H building. Grace, A & W were in 4-H for about 5 years, until baseball and ski team became their main focus. We loved it, we all had fun and learned alot.

Pretty

Antique resteration. Did I ever tell you Jon went to school for this, studied under some really old french guy that was master. Jon even had his own business for a few years.

Wood working (see this woods post), we spend ALOT of time here!

Creative

Cute and well done, it deserves the gold fancy ribbon.

You really can learn alot at these displays. Grace read the whole back pack thing, she is in the process of packing for a HUGE trip.

Jon REALLY checks out any thing that is man handy work. When he is critiquing the wood working stuff I'm always hoping are no parents around listening to him go over something that their ($, time, & guidance) kid has entered.

This was an old bowling ball, some of the stuff theses kids (and their mama's ) come up with crack me up!

If we have any $$ (the 1919 Root Beer is only 50 cents) left I'll be heading for the fair again today!