A Visit from the Styba's

On Friday, July 26th, Lauren, Ben, and Violet arrived at the CG for the weekend.  They are tent campers so here is their site.

Lauren and Violet headed off to the playground while Ben finished setting up.

We took them to Pizza Ranch for supper (where else??) and then Judy and I went to a play in Brandon, SD with my cousin Gary Serie and his wife Shyrl. We had planned this several weeks ago so they got settled in at the CG for the evening.

And, settle in, they did.  On Saturday morning, it was all of 44 degrees!!

Later in the morning there were crafts for the kids in the pavilion.

In the afternoon we walked up the street for "Pow Wow" days here in town. Several Indian families performed by dancing and/or playing the drums. 

On Saturday night we had hamburgers, onions, and beans on the grill (and potato salad and watermelon).

 

Ben climbed up into a tree and tried to get Violet to come up but she wouldn't have anything to do with it.

So he got someone else to join him.

After supper we walked down to their tent site and had s'mores on their grill.

On Sunday we hung out at the CG (it warmed up - 46 degrees!) and watched Violet play in the playground while Ben packed up.

Violet decided that she wanted to walk to the garbage with me a couple of times so I got Judy to take a picture of us. 

 This is their family picture, including Mia, before they left for home.

We were happy to have them come and camp with us.  We thoroughly enjoyed it!!

The Pivec's Visit Pipestone

We got a call from Pam on Friday, July 12th - they were on their way back from Indianapolis to Minneapolis and decided to make a side trip to Pipestone.  
They arrived here about Noon on Saturday and we went to Pizza Ranch for lunch.  We then headed out to the Monument and walked the trail.  It was a beautiful day.

Later on, we had supper - grilled pork chops on the grill.  Yummy!

On Sunday they headed for home.

Twins Game

Judy and I drove up to Minneapolis (again - 3rd time!) on Sunday, the 30th of June.  Steve had chicken on the grill for supper and while we waited, we watched Lauren and Ben and Violet swim.

On Monday Pam was watching Mia and Henry (next door neighbors) so Steve and I took them to the tennis courts to hit a few balls.  Mia got pretty good at it by the time we were done.

On Tuesday we took them bowling.

That evening we went out to dinner with Pam and Steve, Molly and Zak, and Stephanie and Jesse.  Later we went to the softball fields and watched Jesse and his team play.  Good night for them as they won both games.


On Tuesday night the four of us went to the Twins/Yankees game.  What a beautiful night for a ball game!

Unfortunately, the Twins lost.

Before the game they honored Manny Ramirez who is retiring this year from the Yankees and this was his last tour thru Minneapolis.

He was presented with a $10,000 check for his foundation.

They also gave him a rocking chair made out of broken bats (didn't get a picture) and called it a chair of broken dreams for all those batters that he faced and struck out.

Here he is talking with Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire before the game.

He did come into the game in the 9th inning for the save for the Yankees!!

It was a great night even if they lost!!

Life at the Campground - Summer Is Over!

Well, not really, but, it is 57 degrees this morning (July 22nd)!!  And, only 55 tomorrow morning before it starts to warm up again.

Can't believe that it has been almost a month since I last updated the blog. Where has the time gone?  Guess that must mean that we are having fun!

The 4th of July week/weekend was very busy for us here at the CG.  The owner and his wife left for ND on the 3rd to attend his 50th class reunion so Judy and I and the other 3 camp host couples were left to run the place.  First of all, the CG was full - all sites taken.  It was a warm weekend so we had electrical problems, especially on Saturday.  Everyone was running their AC's and, as a result, some sites did not have power.  Electrician was called but he couldn't do much - said the the power company was having problems as well. Guess it was similar to a brown out!  He had to come out twice - the second time because of a short in the wiring near the pool and the people in the pool were getting a little shock!!  We were extremely lucky that most people didn't even notice it.    Then we had sewer problems - had to call the plumber a couple of times for that!!  We were all glad when the weekend was over!

We have been getting together with one of my cousins, Claudia Appeldorn, who lives on a farm about a mile away from the CG.  She is about 5 years younger than me so we really didn't have much opportunity to be together in our early years.  She lives on the homestead where her parents and grandparents lived.  They are all gone now so it is just her.  The main house where her grandparents lived has not been lived in for years and she has decided to sell it.  This is the road to her farm - up the road on the right.

This is a corn field on the way - way over "knee high by the 4th of July" which is a normal yardstick.

And here is the house...

She has some beautiful flowers on the grounds.

A couple from a nearby town want to buy it and move it!  Can't imagine how they will do that but I guess it can be done.  In the meantime, she is trying to clean out the house and running into a lot of memories - pictures, letters, etc. We have helped her get the old TV's, microwave, etc out of the house.  And, I mowed the yard for her.  Will probably be doing it as needed for awhile so she can concentrate on getting the house cleaned out.

So, we have been together alot - went to Flandreau, SD to a nice steak restaurant that she likes (it was very good).  We've been to the Mexican restaurant (YES, MEXICAN!!);  not bad, and good margaritas!!  They have 3 sizes, small, medium, and jumbo (46 ounces).  We did not have that one!
We also went to Sioux Falls last Sunday and did some shopping, and, out to eat again of course!

The local Coburns grocery store has been open for one year on the 18th so they had a lot of stuff going on that day including free popcorn (yes, free), free car wash by the Boy Scouts, $3 lunch (corn dog, chips, and drink).  ((Belinda, does that bring back any memories??). And they had donut eating contests for the kids.  They had to keep their hands behind their backs while they tried to eat.

We have been enjoying our time together and look forward to more good times.