The Night is Not Over

Still time for a pit fire!

Pumpkin Patch

It ended up being a beautiful fall day today, so we decided to take advantage and get out to a pumpkin patch!

Visit to the Farm

Elsie has always enjoyed going to the American Girl Doll Benefit sale each year. This year she bought her two little cousins each a Bitty Baby. Due to COVID the sale was online and pick up happened this weekend. Fortunately, we we were already planning to visit Grandma and Grandpa Zielicke, so she was able to give the girls their dolls right away.



Grandpa had the kids picking apples from the air.



Alstan always finds a little time for drawing. His cousins enjoyed their art time too.

A Day at the Apple Orchards

A sunflower/corn maze!

Hair Donation Day!

Today Elsie donated her hair for the third time. We made it into a girls day with shopping and lunch before and coffee with chat time after.

Elsie’s First Day of School

This is not a very good picture of Elsie , because she is kinda tucked behind Alstan. Sadly this is the only picture we got of her on her first day. They were being recognized for decorating the groundbreaking shovels for the renovation. Since the 2020 shutdown happened before the groundbreaking ceremony, they were being recognized on the opening day of the school.

Alstan’s First Day of School

Elsie enjoyed helping Alstan pack up his backpack.

The renovation on the elementary building was not quite ready, so Elsie’s first day of school got move back to Sept. 7. Alstan was bummed because he had to go back to school before Elsie, and Elsie was bummed because Alstan was able to go back before she did. 

So while Alstan had his first day of school, Elsie helped mom move back into the art room. 

Yes, the guy from the construction crew that was cleaning up told her she could just drop the boxes over the edge. That may have been her highlight.

Annual Visit to South Dakota

To help break up the seven and a half  hour drive, we found a small park to hike at.

Alstan was six years old the last time we visited the Falls in Sioux Falls. It was time to visit it again.

Salsa Making

Today mom and dad had to work, so Elsie spent the day with Aunt Nette making salsa. Our family has really enjoyed Aunt Nette’s salsa throughout the past year, which made Elsie want to learn how to make it. All summer she has been looking forward to this day. It was a lot of work, but look at all the salsa they made!

Elsie Made Her First Doll

During the lockdown of 2020 Elsie decided to make the legs, arms and head for a doll. This week she decided to get back at it and make the cloth body. Meet Maribelle!

Anniversary Staycation

Dad and mom were happy to be able to celebrate our anniversary with some time together. It just so happened that they were having a “Jammin’ on the Porch” on the night of our anniversary. As we sat enjoying the show we realized we were sitting right where our reception tent was set up (right near where our table was) during the time that our reception would have been.

The kids were excited to be able to hang out with their Aunt Nette for that time again, since their tradition had been interrupted last summer.

Back in Gymnastics

Elsie has been so excited about starting gymnastics again after a year and a half away from it!

Day of Watching the Moenk Girls

Late night cottage cheese pie snack before heading to Aunt Carrie’s for a sleepover with their cousins.

How many kids can fit in this play tent? Two?

Three?

How about four!

One More Camping Trip

We had temps in the nineties with the lake closed due to blue-green algae, so a water fight was a fun alternative to swimming.

There was a short rain the first day, so we all squeezed into our teardrop and played cards for a wee while. The three in the back watched a movie (or part of a movie).

Here are some highlights from their most recent camping trip with Aunt Carrie’s family and Aunt Nette. We ended up packing up a day early again due to some nasty storms moving in, but we had a great time up to that point.

Camping with Their Buds

Alstan and Elsie look forward to their camping trip with their friends from Lisa’s each year.