Friday, October 24, 2008

October 18, 2008

The Dog Park
(Gabby & Pirate, running to Austin)

I know I'm posting a little out of chronological order (sorry Reebs & KC), but I wanted to post some pics of the dog park.

(Austin and some new friends)

While Melissa was spending some quality time at school on Saturday morning, Austin and I decided to take the dogs to the doggie park, which is downtown at Lincoln Park.
(Pirate and Austin, brrrraving the wind)

The forecast for that day was supposed to be 65 and awesome, so we just donned a sweatshirt and took the dogs to the park. Brrr! 65! Yeah, right. It was so windy and cold, we could only stand to be there for 30 minutes. We were braver than some ... the dogs did enjoy it. Gabby is doing better with the big dogs rushing up to her and Pirate was a bit more playful. It was a "dog-gone" good time! :)

(Melissa, coming from her "school commitment")

October 23, 2008

Reebs & KC
(here is a pic of Kelly & Reba)

Last night, Melissa and I went to the "2 worlds, 2 voices" concert starring Reba McIntyre and Kelly Clarkson! It was Melissa's first big concert - for me, it's been awhile since I've been to one ... I think 'Air Supply' was the last concert I attended (am I dating myself too much here?!).(the Ralph Engelstad Arena ... home of the Fighting Sioux! woo hoo!)
(the stage is set for the concert)

Along with Melissa's best bud, MacKenzie and her mother, Kim, we all headed out for a night of fun and laughter at the Ralph Engelstad Areana, which is right in downtown Grand Forks. The night started off with a comedy sketch from someone named "Barbara Jean" - I guess she was on the Reba show. During her routine, Kim and I would be laughing so hard ... I would look over at Melissa and MacKenzie and they would be just sitting there, not getting the jokes ... it was hilarious!
(Melissa & MacKenzie, enjoying the show)

The concert was really good - it was interesting for me, as I don't really know any Reba songs, to hear her and Kelly sing together. I guess Reba & Kelly are really close friends outside of the concert venue. One of the songs they sang together (a Reba song) was "Cathy's Clown" ... I somewhat know this song, and it turned out that Reba, also, only somewhat knew the song. Poor thing, she blooped some of the words - it was sweet to see how a seasoned professional dealt with a little blunder on stage. Reba was great about the whole thing - laugh at yourself and the whole audience laughs with you! :)(the awesome Kelly)
(the funny Reba)

After the concert, we went to check out the t-shirts and other concert paraphernalia. The t-shirts were $30 each and I didn't have that much cash on me. Poor Melissa ... she doesn't have a t-shirt to commemorate her first big concert ... or does she? On our way to the car, a man (who I can only say resembled a 'scalper') approached us with t-shirts for $20 each. Sold! So, Melissa has her first concert t-shirt and all is right with the world (except, maybe, for the presidential election - don't get me started!) :)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

October 14, 2008

Boo-tiful!

The dogs + Halloween = Cuteness!

Awww ... Gabby is a pig and Pirate is a bee and, as you can tell, they are both totally thrilled with their costumes! Gabby looked so depressed, she wouldn't even look at me. All Pirate did was try to eat the bumblebee's antennae. I believe I will be switching their costumes because Gabby's came off in less than a second and the bee straps on the dog differently. You'll have to come and see them to see if I do ... :)

Saturday, October 11, 2008

October 11, 2008

*OUCH!*

Well, Melissa decided to show the brick wall in her room some moves. I must admit, the wall was not impressed at all. Of course, after talking with the on-call doctor on base, we decided that, just to make sure, I should take Melissa down to the hospital in town (none on base) to get it x-rayed.
Seeing as we have only been in this area for 3 months, I was a little unsure on the location of the hospital, but we found it! The term "local talent" will be coming out in my vocabulary when I describe the hospital. I gather it is a working hospital due to the UND medical program - the nurses and doctor were actually very nice, but the reception staff and intake nurse were a little on the "local talent" side. Oh, and one must not forget the convict that was shackled and handcuffed with two armed guards with him. True, convicts do need to go to the hospital from time to time, and we were so fortunate as to witness that (place sarcastic grin here).

In the end, Melissa's knuckle had a contusion on it - no break. *whew*! I believe Melissa's words to her brother were ... "Austin. Don't ever do this." What more can I say? Jacob is missing out ... :|

Oh, and one must pronounce 'karate' like this ... "care-ah-tae". Melissa = Sandy from SpongeBob ...

Saturday, October 04, 2008

October 4, 2008

Old Mill State Park

Autumn is one of my most favorite times of the year and I wanted to go and enjoy the fall colors today. I packed up the kiddos and we drove to Minnesota (it was hard to hold my breath the whole time) to Old Mill. Now, I am one for modern technology and all of that, but the stinking tom tom wasn't getting us where we needed to go! It took over 2 hours to get there when it should have only been an hour and ten minutes. I know! RUDE!

To pass the time away whilst driving, I did partake in some picture taking. I know! RUDE! May I not recommend this behavior?! I must repent of such things ... ;) One of the pics I took was when we were driving over the Red River - the river that separates ND from MN - so you'll have to pardon the glare.
Did you know that sunflowers don't stay all pretty and bloomed for very long? I found out the hard way and didn't get to take any coolio pics of the sunflowers here in ND. FACT: ND grows more sunflowers than any other state. FYI. Well, after driving and seeing tons of sunflower fields, we pulled over and took some pics. It was actually really interesting!
After searing and driving roads that aren't even county roads, I flagged down a fellow driver and he pointed us to the right direction. Whew! I was actually about to throw in the towel and call it quits, but we were saved by a man in a truck. :)

Believe it or not, we were the only ones at the state park! I know! RUDE! It was such a beautiful day out! We drove and parked near the Lars Larson log cabin and steam-powered flour mill. Austin thought it was "too bad" that the log cabin was locked (I agreed) but it was interesting to see the cabin and the mill. It was not fun to see the outhouse! :)
Next, we went "toe dipping" into the Middle River - it was very clear and a little on the cold-side, but Austin and I braved it! I went around the rest of the day with a double soaker, due to the fact that I didn't wear my standard footware (Crocs). What was I thinking?
Melissa opted out of the "toe dipping" because she said that she didn't feel well. :( Poor Melissa missed out of the fun but created her own by texting friends. It looks like there may be a "no cell phone" rule while we hike around! :P
A little walk on a trail brought us to a bridge to the campgrounds (which are closed for the season). It's a nice little state park but I bet it gets packed in the summer.
We saw a sign for a "beach", so we were thrilled to go and check that out! HA! It was a little man-made area that was drained for the winter. :( It looks as though they have some sledding there in the winter ... there were randomly placed stairways for no reason - until I looked at the map! :)
We had a fun time at the park (at least I did) but it was soon time for us to depart. But was it the end of my picture taking? NO! :) Of course, I saw some fun things on the side of the road - cattails! I must say, my dad also liked pulling over onto the side of the road for "weeds", but I do not consider a cattail a weed, even though I'm not entirely sure of what their purpose is (except to please me). ;)
Another fun thing I saw was ... get ready ... a drive-in theater! It has been so many years since I've seen one! They don't have them in England (that I saw) and I don't recall one in New Mexico. What a flashback! :) The screen looked like it was in good enough repair so I am hoping it is still a working drive-in. Driving through all of the little towns around that area, it wouldn't surprise me at all that it was still working. The population of the towns were in the 300's or 600's.
Yet another fun thing we saw were the sugar beet trucks and a mountain of sugar beets! Occasionally, you would find a stray beet along the way ... poor little beet! :)
Here are some last random shots that I took on the way back home. It was such a lovely day and I'm glad that we were able to get out and enjoy it (even though it was in Minnesota). HAHAHA!

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

September 30, 2008

Happy Fall, Y'all ...
Well, autumn is here and is all over our front lawn! Along with Austin's help, I raked the leaves up into a nice big pile and then ... there were two kiddaroos jumping in them and throwing them all over!
Melissa is enjoying her "leaf bed" ...

Austin, doing the mandatory "run and slide" into the pile ...

It was getting dark, so I needed to put the flash on, but it took away from the colors. Austin didn't like the fact that he had to look up (and that pizza on his face! - doesn't his mother know better?)/

That one pile of leaves may not look big, but Austin and I shoveled the leaves into 5 lawn garbage bags! It was actually dark out when we finally finished ... I believe Austin said that he wanted to do this every year! Oh, and he wants $35 because he feels that it was a big job ... what he doesn't know is that it's part of his chores! :)