An Enchanted Saturday Afternoon

Last Saturday we spent the afternoon driving the Enchanted Highway, which boasts seven larger-than-life metal creations. We stopped at four of them and made the event a progressive picnic to boot.

Our first stop was at the pheasant family, a male, female and three chicks. These are the three smallest.

All my guys hanging out in the metal grass.

Our little monkey, Levi shimmied right up this metal pole with the greatest of ease.

Wade got a little too close and got his head eaten.

He was so tasty that they ate me next (I am typing this from the belly of the pheasant).

Stop number two was at "grasshoppers in the Field."

This was probably the boy's favorite because there were lots of smaller hoppers they could climb on.





Stop number three was "Fisherman's Paradise," which I thought was the most impressive, even if it wasn't as much fun to play at.



The final snack stop was at "Teddy Rides Again" featuring Teddy Roosevelt riding across North Dakota. Also at this stop was a stagecoach pulled by wooden horses. We ate our final installment of the progressive snack inside the stagecoach.

We stopped at this point of interest on our way home from church on Sunday. A crop duster was working over a field of sunflowers.

Family

We are once again on the tooth fairy's itinerary -- Isaac lost tooth number 3, the first one on top, on August 14.


Kris and I were back in Washington for a weekend for a friend's wedding, much to Mom's delight (and ours too... and Dad's and Kenner's).


How in sync are we... Kris and I both packed brown and white dresses for the wedding and church on Sunday.


Levi and Luke showing love at a recent picnic.


We've got bed bugs! Ain't they cute?

Better Yards & Gardens

Wade and I have been quite busy in the yard, as has been God, doing all the growing of plants and such. Here's a peek...

Here is the arbor Wade built unbeknownst to me while the boys and I were in Washington.

And here's how it looks now that it's up! It's not finished yet though. It still needs four more support posts, some lattice and then some plants to climb on it.

Wade and his dad working in the dirt...

And suddenly a fence! This was another one of Wade's surprise projects while he was here all alone for a week.

Felt a little artistic one night and the moon lent itself to my fancy.

The strawberries are ripening on the vine, and the birds are enjoying them immensely -- but not for long...

... thanks to Levi who built a scarecrow to save the berries! Go Levi!

Isaac also joined in the scarecrow building fun, so now our yard should be well-defended.

The corn is standing up amazingly straight after having been blown down a few times, and is growing "hair" according to the boys.

I think the National Ladybug Covention Chairbugs decided to hold this year's event in our garden. I can't really complain since they do eat the bad bugs.

Cherry tomatoes on the vine (c'mon babies, ripen, ripen, ripen!).

Okay, the package of seeds I bought said "Pumpkins" on it. This, however, does not look like a pumpkin. What's with the yellow?

Wade picked this bouquet of wildflowers for me from along the roadside... ain't he sweet?