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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

On the go

This summer is just flying by!  My girls have been on the go!!  I looked back at July and there were only 5 days that Jenae & Aubree have not had somewhere "fun" to go & it looks like the rest of July they will be on the go as well!

Last week we got home from De Smet on Monday afternoon about 2:00.  Mostly we spent the afternoon resting and trying to get laundry caught up.  My parents like to have the girls come for a couple days in the summer to have a little "vacation" at their house.  As the summer is flying by, I had told mom that last week was looking like the only time between now and school starting that would work for them to come for a few days.  The plan was to meet up with my parents on Tuesday evening after work and send the girl with them & Mom would bring them back to me on Thursday evening on her way to my sister's house.  Well, Mom called about 7:00 Monday evening and said "is there anyway we could meet up with you tonight and Jenae & Aubree?"  Danielle, Dusty, & Erin were planning a day at the water park in Columbus on Tuesday with all of the kids and they thought they wanted to have Mom, Jenae & Aubree join them.  I quickly packed bags for the girls and we meet up with my parents at Pizza Hut in Neligh.  It sounds like they had a blast at the water park!!  They enjoyed the few days at my parents and I got them back on Thursday night. 

Friday Hope was over to her parents house and helped Jenae run barrels.  She wanted to take the girls swimming in Orchard that afternoon so they went home with her.  It ended up that the pool was closed due to a pool party so they didn't make it to the swimming pool, but had a lot of fun playing at Aunt Hope's house!  Marilyn & I went over to get them that evening.  It was fun to see Trey's big boy room & the baby's room. 

Friday night Kyle was at Wahoo.  His Aunt Linda and some of her family was there to watch him.  He won the steer wrestling there.  From there Kyle & Chip headed to Iron River, MI.  It was a long ways up there but both Kyle & Chip won a little so it was worth the trip.  Kyle said it was nice and cool up there, they did not even need to run the AC in the trailer.  I sure wish we could get some of that coolness to come our way! 

Saturday morning I went over and helped Marilyn with chores.  Then the girls & I headed up to Lacey's house to help her pack for their move.  Jenae & Aubree were really good help & entertainment for Riley and we were able to help Lacey get quiet a bit done.  I had told the girls if they were good we would go home though Atkinson and go swimming for a little bit.  It was such a hot day that the pool felt awesome!!!  We got home and went over to help with chores again then home to do our own chores and then it was off to bed!  It was a big day!!!

Sunday we went to church.  It had been about 3 weeks since we were there, so I felt like I needed to make the effort to get there.  After church I spent the morning trying to get caught up around the house.  That afternoon my cousin, Heather, came over.  She had a little mishap and ended up locking her keys in her pickup.  While we were outside trying to get them out Jenae & Aubree were busy playing in the yard, barn and sometimes would go back in the house to cool off. It had been about 15 minutes since I had seen Aubree, so I thought I should go check on her.  I thought she was probably in the barn playing with kitties.  I checked there no Aubree, then I went to the house to look for her, no Aubree.  I headed back to the barn thinking maybe she was in the haymow as I was walking toward the barn I could hear a faint cry coming from the shed I park my car in.  I went and found her in my car.  She was a ball of sweat and crying hysterically. Sunday was in the upper 90s.  I was just sick to think what would have happened to her if i had not found her when I did or if my car would have been parked in the sun on such a hot day.  It still upsets me when I think about it.  I asked her what in the world she was doing in the car.  For some crazy reason she went there to cool off and thought the air conditioner would be going in my parked car.....hopefully she learned her lesson, I know I sure did!! 

Jenae checking out Lacey's new house.

Jenae & Aubree having a treat at the pool.

Aubree floating around the pool.

Jenae loves the water!!

Aubree decided to try sticking her head under the water coming off the mushroom.

Friday, July 22, 2011

De Smet, SD----Home of Laura Ingalls Wilder

For any true Laura Ingalls Wilder fans, De Smet, SD is a must stop!  It was an experience that my girls especially Jenae will always treasure. 

We got to De Smet about 9:30 on Sunday morning.  Our first stop was the original land that Pa & Ma homesteaded.  The buildings on the site were replicas of the originals.  Most of the pictures I have posted are from the homestead.  Sunday night we went to a pageant with a storyline from one of the little house books.  It was fun to see the story in the book come to life.

After we left the homestead we went to find a place to eat.  It was right about noon.  We we to a little restaurant and enjoyed sitting in the cool.  Jeane was asking Marilyn 1001 questions about Laura & her family.  A lot of what she was asking us was things about Laura that were not in the books.  Such as who died first Grace or Carrie?  how many kids did  Carrie have?  etc.... A gal was sitting across from us at her own table.  She was listening to all of Jenae's questions and she said to us "excuse me, can I ask how old she is?"  When we responded that Jenae was only 7 she was a little surprised!  She thought Jenae was much older based all that she knew about Laura & her family & the questions that she was asking.  The gal happened to be a historian who made her living studying & doing research on the Ingalls family and was visiting De Smet from New Hampshire.  She knew all of the answers to all of Jenae's questions :-)  It was really fun to hear all that she had to say.  Marilyn has he email address so if Jenae comes up with more questions we can get the answers for her! 

The girls also had a lot of fun swimming in the pool at the motel.  We left De Smet Monday morning and got home about 2:00 in the afternoon.  We were all so tired!!!  It was a really fun weekend!!


Jenae & Aubree on the look out tower.

Aubree was in a hurry to get to the barn.  She took off running down the hill &
was hard to catch up with!  One thing about it, I was not worried about anyone "taking" her, as
everyone at the homestead appeared to be very family oriented.

Marilyn & Jenae walking toward the barn.  Soon after this picture we sent Jenae
after Aubree to catch up!

Jenae & Aubree in a stage coach.

The girls headed into the school house.

Jenae & Aubree sitting in the desks at the school house.  It was a really neat experience.
There was a teacher in the school & she told the kids what school was like back in Laura Ingalls time.  She asked the kids
if they could see any differences between schools of to day and schools from back in time.  Aubree raised her hand
and said "There aren't any lights on!" 
Another question the teacher asked was "Do you know what kids took for their lunches back then?" 
Jenae raised her hand and said "Apples"  The teacher said "Yes, you are right!  Apples were the one fruit the
settlers had access to since it did not need to be kept cold so they could ship it out west easily.  Aubree
then raised her hand and said "I think they used to take hot dogs!!"  The entire room busted out in laughter!! 

Aubree in the classroom.

I thought this was a neat saying, so I had Jenae stand in front of it! 

Jenae, Aubree & Marilyn on the covered wagon.

One of the highlights for Jenae was getting to drive the team and the covered wagon. 

Aubree was not going to be out done by Jenae, so she drove them too!!  I am not sure
what the wagon full of passengers thought of a 3 year old taking the reins!!

Both Jenae & Aubree had to make sure to hold the homestead's baby kitties.


Aubree making a jump rope.

Jenae taking her turn making a jump rope.  They each got to make a corn cob
doll, they were pretty excited about that!

A tired little miss Aubree!

Jenae & Aubree waiting for the  Laura Ingalls Pageant to start.  The souvenir
they got was a Charlotte Doll.  A replica of Laura's original rag doll.

Mary & Laura AKA Jenae & Aubree :-)

Jenae soaking in the experience.

All smiles Jenae!

Jenae and the actress that played Laura.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Part 1 of our trip to South Dakota

Marilyn wanted to take the girls up to De Smet SD, to visit the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Jenae is a HUGE Laura Ingalls fan.  We have read her all the books twice and she has also listened to them on audio books.  So she has a pretty good knowledge of Laura and her family.  We left Saturday morning and made our way up to Mitchell, SD.  Kyle was up in a rodeo there that night.  We checked into our hotel room then took the girls to the Corn Palace.  It was fun for the girls to see how the Corn Palace was decorated.  We went to the rodeo to watch Kyle.  It was so hot!!!!  I actually let the girls poor bottles of water on their heads to stay cool.  The rodeo did not go so well for Kyle that night, but we were still glad we went to watch him. 

We got up early and headed out for De Smet.  Jeane was so excited to get there!!! 

I will try to get my blog post done tomorrow about our visit to De Smit!


Jenae & Aubree with the flooded Fort Randall Dam.

Aubree, Jenae & Marilyn at the Corn Palace.

Jenae & Aubree eating corn on the cob at the Corn Palace.

Jenae riding Comet at the rodeo in Mitchell.

Kyle & Aubree riding around before the rodeo.

Aubree was so excited to get to participate in the candy toss.  She climbed the fence
and jumped in the arena with the other kids.  We had no idea how much candy she would be
getting so we did not send a bag with her.  She grabbed all she could hold with her little hands.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Hartington Rodeo

It has been another busy week!!!  I worked Mon-Thurs last week and Tues-Friday this week so I had a nice 4 day weekend.  It was a needed break from work :-)  Thursday night Kyle & Chip were up in Hartington.  After work I drove over to meet up with them.  Kyle won the bronc riding and Chip won the calf roping.  It was so hot, muggy & muddy!  I was wondering what I was thinking going over to watch, but I am glad I did. Kyle headed on to Mitchell, SD that night & Chip, the girls & I came on home. 

Friday was a nice catch up day around the house.  It was so hot out that we did not leave the house too much.  We got all packed up for our next little venture.

I will try to get the rest of the weekend blogged about tomorrow!



Jenae riding Spud before the rodeo.

Aubree before the rodeo.  Both girls were wanting to ride in the Grand Entry at the rodeo
so they wore their hats.  It was so muddy there I do not think they even had a grand entry!

Chip was doing his pre rodeo stretches.  Aubree joined in ;-)

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

A rodeo weekend

Kyle, Chip, Jenae & Aubree packed up on Wednesday night and headed for Madison County Fair & Rodeo.  It was the first stop on their weekend of rodeos.  I grew up going to the Madison County Fair & I still love getting to go back for it.  Unfortunately I did not get to go along.  My parents met up with the girls there & helped entertain them during the rodeo.  Danielle's family also came over for the night.  Jenae & Aubree always love getting to see their cousins!  Kyle did well in Madison.  Kyle won the saddle bronc riding and was 5th in the steer wresting. 

They loaded up after Madison and headed for Hamel, MN.  This is one of Kyle favorite rodeo weekends and he has taken Jenae with him every year since she was 2, I think.  This year he thought he wanted to take both girls.  Thank goodness for Grandpa going along to help out!  The girls had a blast & I think they are kind of liking this living on the rodeo trail life style.   At Hamel slack a news reporter was there & interviewed a bunch of little girls sitting there watching their dads compete.  Jenae & Aubree were in the bunch.  They did not ask Aubree any questions but she was sitting right there. Jenae did really well answering the questions.  I was able to see it via facebook.    Kyle made a nice bronc ride and ended up 7th.  The timed events did not go so well for Kyle at Hamel.

From Hamel it was off to Spooner, WI.  From what Kyle says Spooner is a great place to take a family.  They have a nice place for trailers to park under trees and plug ins.  The Morton Family was at Spooner the same time.  Jenae & Aubree had so much fun playing with the Morton kids.  They have a daughter a couple years older than Jenae and her name is Danae.  Aubree did not realize her name started a "D" instead of a "J" and Aubree referred to her as "the other Jenae, not our Jenae, but the other Jenae"  it was cute! 
Kyle was 8th in the Steer Wrestling at Spooner.

They spent the night in Spooner & made there way over to Isanti on Saturday afternoon.  No luck at Isanti for Kyle.  They headed for home and made it back to chambers by 6:30 Sunday morning.  I was so happy to see my girls!!!  (& Kyle too :-)  I missed them so much.  I was the official chore girl for the weekend.  Me & my go ol' trusty dog Buster!  I actually one time on Saturday called him Bree instead of Buster.  We were finishing up chores over at Chip's and I turned to him and said "ok, lets go home Bree...I mean Buster"

Something with Aubree changed while she was on the road.  She went from a little girl who would change her clothes 3-5 times a day to a little girl who whats to wear the same outfit all day/night and the next day. She is my child of extremes!!! 

Marilyn is out in California to for the FCCLA Nationals.  It sounds like they are having a great time. 

Kyle & Chip were up in the rodeo in Nelson, NE last night.  They left before I got home from work & so they took the girls with them again!  Jenae & Aubree were more than ready to load up and head to the rodeo again!  They did not get home until 1:30 this morning so it was another evening at home alone for me.  As much as I have missed  getting to spend much time with them over the weekend, I know the time they are spending and the memories they are making with their Dad & Grandpa are priceless!!!  I guess when they left the rodeo last night Aubree was wanting to go to another.  She thought they should be going back to Wisconsin from Nelson!! 

Jenae & the Morton kids on the go carts.  Jenae was excited that she is finally
tall enough to go on her own!  Kyle said she had a few crashes!!

Aubree playing miniture golf. 

Silly Aubree!!!

Aubree eating some lunch!

The kids playing in the camping area.

Eating some lunch!

The Whitakers & Mortons eating lunch

Friday, July 8, 2011

Dunning Jr. Rodeo

On Monday, Marilyn & I loaded up the horses & girls & headed to Dunning for their annual 4th of July rodeo.  It was an early morning.  Jenae woke up at 4:00 so excited for the day & I got up at 5:00.  We were out of our house by 5:45 and got over to Marilyn's to get everything fed before we headed out.  Chip was on the rodeo trail with Kyle so it was a little more for Marilyn & I with out having him along to help out. 
Despite the heat it was a fun day.  Jenae was pretty disappointed that she did not win any money.  She did really good, but she has moved up to 7-10 age group & let me tell you they are a tough group of girls!!  There were 35 girls in her group & she was 9th in the poles & 10 in the barrels.  She made very respectable runs! 

Kyle had a good rodeo in Manawa, WI.  He won the average in the calf roping & 2nd in the average in the Steer Wrestling.  He also placed in both rounds of the calf roping & in the first round of the steer wrestling. 

The girls have went with he & Chip this weekend.  It sounds like they are having so much fun!!!




Jenae & Hippie before the goat tying.

Aubree having a snack.

Aubree  & I hanging out at the pickup.

Jenae & Taylar Doggett on their horses.

Aubree & Marilyn trying to sit in some shade.  Shade was hard to come by in Dunning!!!

Caden & Aubree having fun on the fence!!  They have so much fun together.

Jenae had her first goat run in a rodeo.  She made a great run,
unfortunately the goat got up, but it was a great learning experience for her.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Swimming

I give the Atkinson swimming pool 5 stars!  It is a fun place to take little ones swimming.  We met my sister, Lacey & her little boy Riley and also my cousin, Heather, for a day for swimming at the Atkinson pool.  It was a really fun day!!   Heather really worked with Jenae & gave her a mini swimming lesson which was great.  Hopefully they will start swimming lessons in the next couple of weeks & this was a great chance for both of them to get familiar with the water again before they start their lessons.  Jenae had a blast going down the slide & Aubree enjoyed just chilling in her floaty.  When we were done at pool we let the kids dry off while playing in the park.  We were all starving after a long day of playing so we grabbed a bite to eat before heading home.  It was nice to spend some time with Lacey & Heather.  We all live fairly close to each other, but we do not take the time to get together.  Hopefully we can do it again sometime :-)

Aubree, Riley & Jenae having an ice cream break at the pool.

Jenae under the water of the mushroom.

The super fun slide.  I did not know if Jenae would be brave enough to go down it,
since it was so big.  Thanks to Heather working with her on it, she had a great time!
Jenae & Aubree by the pool.

Aubree & Riley drying off in the park after a day of swimming.