Another week flies by!

We enjoyed opening an MRE that was a gift from one of Mean Ol' Mama's college students. What's inside? Wow! Look at all of this food and extras packed in such a small container!

The taste? Well, it's a good thing that a small hot sauce was included for the vegetarian burger...

Branch showed us his [not-too-pretty] baby pigeon. He's really excited about possibly racing this new generation.

Mean Ol' Mama's friend came for a visit. She follows a macrobiotic diet and thought to share her "wealth" with M.O.M. She's a gutsy, brave, beautiful lady.

She brought a gift of split pea, real corn bread from freshly grated corn and tofu, and seaweed (that's now half gone! Yummy!), and a pressed salad of collards with butternut squash.

Three young friends joined us for prayer time next door last Friday night. We really enjoyed the music together.

The Senior 4H Team placed third in Land Judging. This was the first time the three members competed in this category, so we're really proud of them.

Poppins took the boys to a firing range to try out their big guns. It was loud out there!

Josiah enjoyed his 13th birthday and received many special gifts, including this .22 to add to his collection. He's really looking forward to hunting this year.

Another gift? Who's M.O.M.'s favorite kid now? Is that a bag of chocolates?

Sunday evening we cooked hot dogs in a migrant camp. It was sooooo hot! The boys found a convenient place to rest and eat.

Another busy week a'coming...

Monday and Tuesday

Wow! What a fish! Anders did a great job landing this big fellow!

Josiah bought a new gun to add to his collection, a Savage 308.

The boys are preparing for Forestry competition coming up next month. Lots to know and memorize...

And we have a new member in our family...

Isn't she lovely? A much-needed purchase...

Vacation Memories

We started out early Saturday morning. Poppins began to feel a bit drowsy, so Stennes shared an "Extreme Sour" candy to help him wake up. Poppins got tickled at what a sour taste it had. He even began to sweat a bit. We met up in Birmingham with Uncle Brent, shared lunch together, and sent him on down south to spend the weekend at our empty house! Quite the ironic situation!

Staying in the camper at a KOA was a fun, cool-weather experience after Georgia's awful heat.

We were excited to arrive safely to Minnesota. Grandpa was glad to watch the family just "be".

Farming cousins...

Are your feet dirty enough, Branch?

We visited some friends during our stay at Long Lake, and ChubChub enjoyed scaling "The Wall".

Lots of swim time...

Lots of fishing time...

Lots of giggling cousin time...

And family and friends time...

Lots of philosophy/Asian cooking/Federalism/decorating/chore charts/music practice thoughts/homeschooling/"new" vs. "old"/cast iron cooking/wok frying/states' rights/Civil War/ etc. time...

Sunday worship at Long Lake...Lots of "We're-Hiding-From-Mosquitoes" time...

The Girl managed to get bubblegum in her hair. Peanut butter does the trick every time!

Lots of "We-Look-Like-Hoodlums-but-We're-Actually-Quite-Educated-and-Talented" time...Branch helped Grandma by cutting her lawn.

Over at Uncle John's, the guys talked dirt bikes... The cousins decorated the garage floor... And the adults and older gals talked about many things...

New hair-do, ChubChub?

Well, well. Here's Paul Bunyan and Babe! Those folks in front? Hmmm, must be some silly tourists...

This fine fellow was just hanging around outside one of the hotels we visited.We really enjoyed this little stop on the cool shores of Lake Michigan.

Looks like we picked up another rider on one of our stops...

Crossing Mackinaw Bridge...

What a fun stop in Battle Creek with Uncle Oral and Aunt Judy! Hey, if you happen to drop in on them sometime, hint around for some of their waffles for breakfast...

And this gaping hole in the ground with cold air blasting out?

The entrance of Mammoth Cave...

We arrived back home at 3:30 a.m. last Sunday. This was one of our best vacations. We unloaded, had 2 classes, sold the camper on Wednesday, and did a whole bunch of "life stuff" the rest of the week. Back in the saddle again...