Those Grand kids

Ok, the grandkids were with us over the weekend. As ususal, we had lots of fun going to the parks, taking walks, watching "Cars" (for the 490th time) stopping by the library, and of course, doing everyone's favorite thing: EATING! I swear that Isaiah can put away more food than a grown up. He's always hungry, always wondering what's next to eat and if he can have... chocolate milk, gum, ice cream, banana chips, etc. He has a hollow leg, as my dad would have said. And that Phinehas, I was chasing him around "Phinehas don't hit Buster too hard." "Phinehas get your hand out of the birdbath now" Phinehas, it would be easier if you walked up the steps instead of the slide" "Sorry Phin, you can't ride the bike yet. your feet don't quite reach the pedals yet" Ach, don't touch. Be Careful. Hold my hand. Put that back, please. Ok, but only just a few bounces on the bed. Sorry, we're not going to water the plants, we just had 8 inches of rain...... well, you have the idea. I was exhausted, but I loved it.

Fire in Downtown Orange City Destroys Three Stores

I worked at Hannah's Hallmark in the photolab for two years before I got back to the library. I counted it as a time to be humbled, to learn something new, and be glad for the library again! It was with absolute horror then, when we watched it burn to nothing last night. That along with two other stores in downtown Orange City. It is hard on a community to lose places like this. And i was just in there on Saturday to pick up some pictures. I looked around at their sales to see if I could find anything neat for my daughter-in-law's birthday. I found bunches of stuff, but decided I'd wait til it was a bit closer to her birthday. Now I won't have that chance. We spent 4 hours up there lastnight with the whole community watching 7 fire departments fight the fire. It was almost like a carnival...kids playing in water, people taking pictures everywhere (including me) families out on their bikes, walking their dogs, sitting in lawn chairs...It was really eerie. S0here are a few of the shots I got:

Oh yes, we had the grand kids this weekend too. They just missed all this. Pictures of them to come, too.

New Clothes/Hurrah for Target

I worked in Sioux City today. My normal routine is to grab a cup of coffee and drink it as I drive down. No reason to change that this morning either. But by the time I was half way there i had coffee all over the front of my shirt. Boy whata mess that makes. And how embarrassing. No way was I going to walk into that office with a coffee stained shirt on. Good thing I'm driving alone as I'm sitting there in the drivers seat discussing with myself what to do (big thought cloud here) It's not even 9 in the morning. Who will be open? Aha! I know, I'll stop at Kohl's. They're not too far off the track to the library....(brilliant light bulb shining overhead) I'm really not too crazy, I promise. But what I actually did was stop at Target (way closer) and picked out two shirts and a pair of shorts. I did a quick change thing in the truck and I looked great! Well, as great as I'm gonna get buying clothes from Target. Plus I have a couple extra things to try on when i get home.
It was an expensive day at work....

Summer is Too Short!

So, we're not quite done with the roofing project yet, but we are making much progress! All the old shingles are off both the house and the garage. What's more...they are cleaned up and in the dumpster. Huge job. Thank you Ivan and Lauren G! What a huge job. Now to find the time between camping, family visits, work and well, every other project that we have to get it done. All that's left is putting the shingles, and gutters back on. (I think I must be missing a step or two because that sure seems waaaaay too easy for a Kroesche)

Then, we have to paint the house.

Then here's my next project:

Reasons to love Camping!

Ok So here's the real reasons why I love camping: Other people love to go along. It's fun to show them new places and watch them enjoy it too.
The food is always abundant and easy. There's not too much fuss or muss, or if there is it's all outside anyway.

I can't think of anything much better than cooking over a campfire. I' m not crazy about hot dogs, but there are a ton of other things to put on a stick and cook over a fire. Easy too1

We have a new camper and it is perfectly lovely not only to sleep in, but to sit around. See how much fun this group is having around our coolest camper yet?
And this picture? Well, it almost speaks for itself. The scenery is too lovely to put into words. A change of scenery is always good. It refreshes and renews. I think I'll go back again!

Bikers Extrodinare!

Hey look what we did this weekend! It was our first camping trip and we headed over to a favorite spot: The Root River Bike Trail in SE Minnesota. The trail is a 40 mile + paved bike trail. We have been doing this for several years and have gone with lots of different people. This year we lost our campground reservation because of the flooding in the area so we tried a new spot. The campground was only ok, but we did get to bike from a new perspective. We biked from Preston to Lanesboro, a 10 mile ride one way. It was beautiful. The weather cooperated. We checked out Lanesboro, then biked the 10 miles back again. Because we rode on Friday night too, we probably did about 28-30 mi. in the days that we were there. (and please note, that I am the only one with a bike helmet on!) For the first time in recent memory, we did not canoe. We were a bit discombobulated because we weren't in our usual location so we didn't know river conditions, or outfitters to rent from, blah blah blah. So we just biked. We won't go a whole summer without canoeing, however. I promise. We'll get that in somewhere along the line, even if we have to go to a new river to do it on! Then, never fear, I have more pictures to show you of this trip, but I'll save that for tomorrow.

Ah Summer

The Farmers Market has started up again. It's been going a few weeks, and though there aren't all that many vendors up there you can still get some delicious stuff. Just take a peek at what I've been buying 2 days a week for a couple of weeks! And this cool "going green" to the Market bag was a gift from my sewing, creative friend Amy. She gave it to me just so I could bring strawberries home from the market! I think this short 'strawberry' period is one of the best of the summer! I hunted around for a recipe on how to freeze strawberries and found a pretty good one on the internet (of course) You just wash the berries, take off the tops, and spread them on a sheet, pat them dry then quick freeze them. After a couple of hours you can takethem off the sheets and put them in bags for the freezer to be used on a cold winter day when you're just longing for that sweet taste of home grown strawberries. MmmM!