Tuesday, July 31, 2012

On our way up to Soup Lake for the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa
Silver Creek Cliff Tunnel
Mighty fine view of Soup Lake
Everyone fishing on the dock
Like Mother, Like Son... Fishing line caught in a tree :>)The kids looking for Buddy the chipmunk at his house.
Buddy knows there is peanuts, he heads out to get to the kids. Meghan feeds him.
The kids wait for him to eat his peanut and come back for more.
Meghan and her dead minnow
Mason with his dead minnow.

Monday, July 23, 2012

(Beauty, aint she?)
Fact: If humans had the physical abilities of mice, they could easily jump over tall buildings in a single bound, out run a speeding bullet, hear a whisper or smell food a mile away, and carve a large totem pole with our front teeth in a normal 8 hour work day.
Their natural enemies include humans, cats, foxes, snakes, owls, hawks, and sometimes dogs.
Did I mention we are now in the market for a cat, fox, snake, owl and hawk?
Last year we decided to store our 12ft pop up camper at the land we purchased in Holyoke MN. Ryan laughed as I emptied all the curtains, cushions and anything that could catch a foul odor during storage. Little did he know, I did the right thing.
We pulled it up in the driveway and proceded to pop it open.
WE HAD BEEN INVATED!

Scattered across the counter tops, floors and beds were these little black rice sized droppings interspersed with acorn shells. Further investigation revealed shredded insulation that had been used to make these nice little cloud soft nests in the drawers and cabinets. We spent the afternoon cleaning out the nests, vacuuming up the acorns and droppings, and disinfecting all of the drawers with a bleach solution. I also patched multiple holes of canvas and and now and forever will be patching screens with needles!!

Our visitors are no longer cute furry little critters with big black eyes nor the cartoon dipected creatures dining on a feast of cheese! No, these were uninvited invaders — enemies of the state trespassing on protected soil!
Ryan has caught one thanks to the help of the kids and we know there is at least 1-2 more that came along for the ride from Holyoke. Traps, poison and Bounce Dryer sheets are not the solution to abating this type of invasion. In the military, a commander will quickly tell you that if you want to win a war, you must know your enemy. Where they sleep, what they eat, how they think, what they value and what weapons they have at their disposal. I knew if I was going to win this war, I must approach it like a true military commander. I must, in my own mind, become a mouse!!! GAME ON RODENTS!
(You must know, I will not be hunting, that is Ryan's job)
The mice in our camper completely soiled the ruffled valance around the top of the camper. I was not going to be cleaning mouse pee out... Gross. We ripped it out completly and I became Martha Stuart....
Do I sew?? Um, absolutely not! But so far, pretty good results. May I ad, its a much updated touch to the 1996 flowered pattern that was in prior.

Check out those pleats!!!

More to come on the revamp.....

Monday, June 25, 2012

The Home Depot

Home Depot has:
• FREE hands-on workshops designed for children ages 5 - 12 offered the 1st Saturday of every month at all The Home Depot stores between 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.• Workshops teach children do-it-yourself skills, tool safety and instill a sense of pride and accomplishment.• All kids get to keep their craft and receive a FREE Kids Workshop Apron, commemorative pin and certificate of achievement.
It wasn't the 1st Saturday of the month but there was a party so we
stopped by. They had the local fire department there with their trucks.
Free Hot Dogs and water! Free building, games and prizes
for all ages.
Mason loved the inside of the fire truck.
He also got a football painted on his cheek. This was after he built his sailboatand then painted it blue followed by a topcoat of red.
Landon chose a birdhouse to build and paint.
Meghan also chose the birdhouse to build and
paint Mom's favorite color, purple!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Hennepin County Fair

How to cool off on a hot summer day

and keep hydrated at the same time!

Weekend

My find on my run... That time of year,
Turtles laying their eggs.
I have to say, it scared the heck out of me. About 1 mile prior
to this I had a field mouse running along side of me. EEK!
First we get some fire wood.
Then we get a toasty fire going....
Find a perfect stick for roasting....
Pull off the branches and sharpen the stick
to get the Marshmallows on.....
or not....
Get the Marshmallows, have a seat, and
just start eating all of them.
not sharing with onyone...
still not sharing his chocolate marshmallows.
Either way, it was a fun time for
everyone until we had to go in to sleep.

Followers