It's Summer!

It's summer; school is out. A couple of weeks ago, we decided it was time for an outing.  Naturally, the first place we head for a day-trip is to my grandparents' acreage. I "borrowed" my friend Sarah's son Thomas, and so brought a grand total of six children that day. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story!

My Grandpa took the kids on a hike around the pond, first thing.

My grandma said she'd watch Maria in the house, so I hustled to catch up with them.

Noah gets lost in time when he's in the pasture and around the pond.  He loves his time here.

Grandpa stopped to show the children the cotton fluff that was floating everywhere (from Cottonwood trees).

Thomas and Isaiah scared frogs into the pond.

Thomas was excited when he found out that children are allowed to throw nearly anything into the pond.

The boys disappeared together ... and ended up in Grandpa's shop (he is a carpenter) with scrap wood and sawdust.

Oh, and antlers.

Grandpa nailed scrapwood together to make swords for the boys.

Thomas and Noah then disappeared together to swordfight.

It wasn't long before they were pretending to be St. George and St. Michael the Archangel.

My Grandpa sat to monitor children who wanted to play on the dock.

I followed Isaiah around the pond and into the "tunnel" of cedar trees.  My Grandpa had cleared a path between them.

And Grandpa had laid scrapwood against the trees to make a resting spot for the children.  He even made a campfire there, in the morning, before we came!

The boys ended up on the dock and were poking sticks into the water, convinced that there was a snapping turtle hiding beneath the surface of the water.  There wasn't.  But Grandpa figured out the mystery ... a wheel filled with cement--which had previously been used to anchor a shade-umbrella--had slid off the dock and into the water.

It wasn't long before the shoes came off and feet were put into the water.

Then there were hot dogs to grill.

Noah

All the while, this little baby princess played inside on the carpet, venturing out only a few times with Grandma or me, and she even took a three hour nap in the afternoon!

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My grandma made lunch and supper for us and had things to eat that the children love.  The kids came home with swords, scrap wood, mussel shells, were dirty and tired, and had a great day!  Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!