July 4th

 I finally remembered to post photos of our 4th of July!

The girls decided to decorate bikes this year and ride in the Barton parade. The preparations began a day or so prior with some intense decorating in Joanie's garage.

 Here's  Heather just before we head out for the parade. We had done some patriotic face painting.

 At the parade, Heather, Estelle, and Lena were joined by Heather's friends.  On the far right is Kelby, Heather's classmate. Standing next to Kelby is her sister,  Dayna.  She is 11 and the three of them are softball teammates. The little girl in front with the cowboy boots and horse is their younger sister, Rylee, who will be going into 1st grade this fall.

 It was quite a hot, sunny day, but all the girls did great. They each had candy to throw to the crowd.  We tried very hard to save some for Wayne and Cole who were watching near the end of the route with Wes, Joanie, and Grammie.

 Afterwards, resting in a shady spot on someone's lawn.

 Later there was a quick dip in the lake and a barbecue at Joanie's. Wayne made his signature chocolate covered strawberries. 

 The decorated bikes rest after a good day's work.

 The girls get out their cardboard structures and play until dark.

Hope everyone had a great July 4th.

Summer Is Well Underway!

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago. My little strawberry patch, after a lot of research and work, is finally starting to produce some fruit.

Fresh picked strawberries are sooooo much better than store-bought.

We have recently returned from our week at Stuart and Emilie's camp on Shadow Lake.

Wayne, who will be a 9th grader in the fall, is taking a summer 10th grade honors level geometry class. He has to be at Lake Region at 8:00 a.m. three days a week. It really cut into that early morning fishing he likes to do, but we did manage to get out in the canoe for one early morning fishing expedition.

He also had a couple of baseball games while we were staying at the lake.

Playing 3rd base.

When Wayne was in the minor and major leagues, he liked to do some pitching. In this older, Babe Ruth League, he hasn't been able to get as much experience. In Saturday morning's game he was given a chance to pitch once again. After warming up, his teammates with approach with some good luck "fist bumps."

He did a great job and threw a lot of strikes. The next day, he said his arm was sore.

It was a hot day for a baseball game. Afterwards, Heather and I went canoeing and fishing.

It wasn't long before we saw Edwin and Elijah paddle up in the new paddle boat.

And Cole came out in the kayak.

A couple of Wayne's teammates came over after the game. That's Mitchel in the canoe with Wayne, below.

Asom caught a fish that was too little to keep.

Heather and Chantel. Chantel is Mitchel's sister. She is a couple years ahead of Heather in school, but they are softball teammates, so they know each other fairly well.

Roasting marshmallows.

One day, Heather's friend, Kelby, came over.

A dove nesting on the porch kept a nervous and watchful eye on our comings and goings.

Cole went for a run almost every day.

Wayne did a lot of fishing.

And remember those strawberries? At one point we had plenty to make strawberry shortcake.

Cole even got interested in fishing.

He is wearing contacts now and is very handsome.

I'm not sure anyone has ever done homework on this picnic table before.

Cole tried a new recipe called Chocolate Lasagna. It was very good!

We saw a loon on a few rare moments, but this little family of geese was always around.

Heather did some fishing of the A-frame's dock.

Estelle and Lena came over. Wes took them for a ride.

They did a lot of exploring...

...catching tadpoles and bullfrogs.

One evening Julie, the girls, Joanie, and Martha came over for smores.

Cole's friend Zephyr came over.

Skipping rocks in the long evenings.