Katie and Zane's shower

We went to Katie and Zane's shower on Sunday afternoon.  None of us were sure we could sit outside in 100 degree heat but God is good and it was cloudy and cooler and we were able to be outside .  They had some good food but we didn't know it was a lunch so I had already eaten.  Did have some snacks and lemonade.  There were a lot of people there but no introductions were made so not sure who they all were.

And of course we were segregated.  Her family on one side and Zane's on the other.   Her side outnumbered ours!

She got a lot of nice things and seamed very appreciative of every thing she got.  Glad to be home before it got too hot.  Next is the wedding.

4 H Horse Show 2012

Our first 4-H horse show.  She had practiced long and hard and it paid off. Here she is before it started.

Katlin and Belle in the halter class.  She got a blue ribbon for this class.

Here she is riding Belle.  Blue ribbon.

 Driving a team.   Blue ribbon.

Goat tying was hilarious.   Katlin got to the goat and got it down and tied but it didn't stay tied for the 5 seconds.

Here she is tying it.  

She got to drive a team of Clydesdales. 

But the funniest part of the day was the costume contest.    We had decided since Belle was kind of blue colored Katlin would be Paul Bunyan and Belle would be Babe his blue ox.   So while Katlin was at fiddle camp I made some horns for Belle.  the problem was time was so short they didn't have time to try them out.  Couldn't figure a good way to make them stay put.  Poor Belle!  She din't know what to think.  I thought this picture was tooo funny!

As you can see the horns didn't stay too well but they made it around the arena.    Katlin ended up with 1 purple ribbon (the best you can get) for pole trot (that Belle is a good trotter), 10 blue ribbons, 1 red and 1 white.   Pretty good for her first time out.  We are very proud of our little cowgirl.

Bethel Fiddle Camp

After we celebrated Father's Day we took Katlin to Bethel to fiddle camp.  I don't know if I have ever posted a picture of her room there.  but this is it.  We always have to go early so she can get the same room,  She is on the bottom bunk on the left.  The room holds 6 girls but this year camp was down and they only had two in her room .  Her and Sybil. so she was happy.  Only two of them had to share a bathroom.  She got some hot water for a change.

And here she is 2012 Jr. Bethel Fiddler.  Second year in a row!  I am going to try to post the video on you tube. She was a tired but happy camper.  I didn't get to go watch the program this year because I had had surgery on Monday but Dan taped it for me so I got to see it any way.    Way to go Katlin!

Father's Day 2012

 We celebrated Father's Day before we took Katlin to Fiddle Camp this year.  Katlin had gotten him a shirt and socks but the really funny thing was  she gave him one hour of work (I can't see that ever happening).  He had given me 2 hours of honey do for my birthday at my request and she thought that was a pretty good idea.

The Big 65

I started my big birthday, the one I've been waiting years for,  with coffee and donuts with my siblings.  We had good conversation and good donuts and lots of laughs.   After we were done Connie took me garage saleing  and that was lots of fun.    Saturday Dan, Katlin and I met Cindy Shane and Kyann in Washington for lunch and to celebrate.  We met at their really nice park.  I can't think of the name of it right now.  But had a family picture taken and  let Kyann play a little while.

 She was not in the best of moods but did manage to get a cute picture of her.  Then we headed up town to the Frontier restaurant for lunch.  On our way in we saw a flier for the circus and Dan talked Kyann into wanting to go.  So after lunch we stopped at HyVee to see if they had any discount tickets and headed to the Big Top.

They had a petting zoo.  Here is Katlin with the camel.

They had some kind of a Brahma bull who slobbered all over Katlin's hand   Here are some cute goats everybody liked to feed.   There was even a hippo but he was under water (lucky him) and didn't want to be petted I guess.

It was pretty hot that day and I thought I would probably die inside the tent.  But there was a really nice breeze blowing through and I had my PCD (personal cooling device) with me and that helped.  I didn't think I could sit for 2 1/2 hours with out something to lean on so we opted to pay a little extra and sit in chairs.  We had really good front row seats.  

The elephants were awesome.

The Motorcycle high wire act was right over our heads and very loud and stinky too.  

I thought it was a really good circus for a small town with good acrobats and tight rope walkers

Doesn't everyone want to go to the circus on their birthday?    I only had to wait 65 years to make it happen!  It was worth the wait!

Mall of America Days 3 & 4

Day three started out with a good breakfast at the hotel.  Some of us had lucky charms and peanut butter toast.  Some of us didn't.  We left to go to the aquarium thinking it would be most of the day but Kyann wasn't really interested.  She wasn't bad or whiny she just wasn't interested.   

These are chocolate chip star fish.  Really cool!  We got to touch them .  Kyann wasn't interested in them either.  

The jellyfish and the sea horses were my favorites.  They were pretty awesome.  They had a really good display of both.

The sharks were pretty scary.

But the "Dude".  Man he didn't even look real and he just hung there for the longest time.  It was soooo neat!

Another shark.  I'm sure it had a name but I forget it.   After we were done we decided to go the the mirror maze.

It is all done with mirrors and you had to wear plastic gloves (even Kyann) so you wouldn't leave fingerprints on the mirrors and show someone else the way out.

 We tried several times but coming back to the beginning.  We stuck out head out and asked the kid in charge what we were doing wrong and he said well there are some land marks like the fire works ( we found them every time but they didn't' help us)

We finally gave up and went out the entrance.  Hope I never get lost in the woods.  We headed out for lunch with a couple of stops on the way at the Lego Land and the Disney store.

From there we went to the Rainforest Cafe  for lunch.  It was really good and had a Build  A Bear right in it.  Cindy said they were trying it out in a couple of cities.

After lunch we went back to the rides for a while and Cindy and Kyann rode the Ferris Wheel.  No more log rides.

We decided we had had enough Mall and had a DQ for a snack and head back to the hotel.  Cindy and Kyann went swimming for a while and I rested.  We went to TGIF's for supper and it was really good too.  Lots of good food this trip.    Our idea for Thursday was to go to Fort Snelling but they were forecasting rain and cold, so we thought maybe we would just go for a swim in the morning and maybe stop at the Little Brown Church on the way home.  So after breakfast we came back to the room and we couldn't get in.  Cindy went back down to have them re-key our card and came back and it still wouldn't work. She had to go back a third time and brought the manager back with her with new key cards and then they worked.  We loaded up the cart (which Kyann loved to ride. better than the rides at the mall I think) and went out to the car.  It was so cold!  Windy but sunny.  We got loaded up and started home about 8:45.  We didn't have any trouble but ran into rain in Iowa.  We made a few potty stops and stopped for lunch at Applebee's in Waverly and  got to Cindy's about 2:45.  Not too much traffic coming home.  I rested a little while and headed home.  Stopped in Washington and got a few groceries and made it home safe and sound.   Good times.

Mall Of America Days 1 and 2

Cindy, Kyann and I took a trip to the Mall of America while Shane was in Canada fishing.  Last year we went by train to Chicago and this year decided to take a road trip to Minneapolis to the Mall.  Originally I was going to go to Cindy's Monday afternoon and we were to leave Tuesday morning early.   But Cindy saw that the mall was having a Cat in the Hat meet and greet story time for toddlers at  10:30 Tuesday morning. Kyann really likes Dr Sous stories but we  didn't think we could get there in time if we left Tuesday morning so we decided on Friday we would go part way on Monday and make it to the Mall in time for the Cat. I got online and found a cheep hotel (49.99) for the night  in Owatonna Mn.  I guess the price should have been a red flag for me but I just thought it was a good deal.    We stopped in Brandon to have a Kodak moment with the big skillet.  And give everyone a chance to stretch our legs. Traffic was really heavy in Waterloo due to road construction and the holiday traffic.  It took us  45 minutes to go 5 miles.   We made it through finally and traffic wasn't too bad after that.  We stopped for supper ( I can't even remember where) but got to the hotel around 6:00.  As we exited the interstate and  pulled around to the hotel.  Right beside it was a ( humm how can I put this delicately)  a strip joint I think.  We didn't go in!  It was separated from the motel by a chain link fence.   We pulled up in front of the hotel and attached to it was a liqueur store. Not a good beginning.  We talked about just going on and trying to find something else but decided to at least look at the room.  The clerk was very nice and gave us a room key and we went back to the room.  It was OK but smelled of cigarette smoke  even with the window open it was very strong.   After a little while Cindy went to ask if we could switch to another room and again the clerk was very nice and gave us a key to a room on the second floor.  It did not smell so bad so we moved up these rickety stairs.  I didn't sleep well.  I kept expecting someone to break in and slit our throats.  After a while I just decided to give it to God and if I died so be it.  I then slept pretty good.  In the morning Cindy told me she had the same thoughts but was unable to sleep.  it was going to be a long day.  After breakfast at Perkins right next door we hit the road and had no trouble finding the Mall.  Made it in plenty of time to meet the Cat.

I didn't get a good picture of Kyann with him but she gave him a hug .  Then we set off to the amusement park.

They rode the balloons

and the swings. This one made Cindy sick.  She must be getting old.

and the Merry Go Round.   Then on to Lego Land







They had the neatest things made from Legos and Kyann had a good time playing with them.   It was lunch time by then and we decided to eat at Dick's Last Resort.  Very funny place and the food was really good too.  Our waiter was very entertaining.  The whole idea is to have fun.  He did magic tricks for Kyann (she wasn't impressed).  Threw paper on the floor and even ate one of Kyann's sliders.  Cindy and both had the bar-b-que and it was really good.   After lunch  Cindy and Kyann helped me find the Princess Diana exhibit and then we off on their own for a while.


















They wouldn't let me take any pictures at the exhibit only  of  the cake at the very end of the exhibit.  But I enjoyed it a lot. I met up with Cindy at Lego Land and we decided to head  to the hotel . A very nice Comfort Inn.  I forgot to tell about the Log ride.  I had told Cindy if they were going to ride it I wanted to ride with them.  They have changed a lot in the last 40 years .  Much scarier now.  (be sure to click on the picture to enlarge it and look at Kyann's face.  I had to shut my eyes and go to my happy place.  Cindy  coped by screaming but poor Kyann.  I think she thought we were all going to die. When we got off she said I no like that.   Me either, baby, me either.  We went to the hotel and got checked in and went swimming for a while.  Then to supper at IHOP and the girls went to bed.  I read for a while and joined them to be rested for another exciting day.