Pictures of our MN adventure!

Well, after "borrowing" pictures from Andrew's phone and getting mine on here as well, I think I'm ready to write this picture-ful post!

 

Our time in MN was pleasant for sure.

 

Andrew and I pulled in the driveway of Dale & Kathy D.'s organic dairy farm around 2:30 Friday afternoon and spent a little time hauling things in, then visited with Kathy and Michael (Dale was out fishing) before heading out to the barn to help them prepare for milking. We didn't do all that much to help, as they have a system worked out, but we jumped in where we could. James D. arrived a little later with a cousin who he'd been off trapping with up North. After supper, we set up a game of Settlers of Catan and taught James how to play. It ended up being a very close game and I think we all had 8 points at the time that Andrew won. :)   

 

 When Michael is home from his job, he does the early morning milking (he's up at 5, milks at 6) and his dad does the evening milking, while his mom helps with both chore-times (feeding calves and chickens and cleaning up, things like that). Andrew and I got up early to keep him company...

 Me, playing with one of the friendly barn cats...

 

Kathy and her "Babies"...

 

 Michael wanted to take us on an adventure and so he treated us to a day of skiing! Neither Andrew nor I had ever skied before, so it was quite the learning experience. It was really neat seeing so many little people on skis and snowboards, learning how to do these things while they're still close to the ground when they fall. :)

We started out by going down the "Bunny hill" several times. There was a conveyor belt that you rode on to get to the top, and the downhill slope was fairly mild. I somehow managed to stay upright the whole time we went on that hill ('though the guys both took a tumble), but when we got to the bigger hill, that quickly reversed and then it was me tumbling and they kept their footing!

 

 

Michael and Andrew were both fine gentleman and waited for me to get down each part of the bigger hill (the "Hawaiian Cruise") safely before moving on down the hill. It was a good thing they did too, as the first couple times that I fell down, I couldn't figure out how to get back up, so they gave me a hand. :) I did eventually get that figured out, but one time I fell and one of my skis popped off and went sailing down the hill. Andrew stopped it before it went all the way down. After a few times of falling, I made it down a couple times without crashing and said I was fine if the guys wanted to move onto harder things, which they DID! Can you imagine?? After getting Andrew's camera from him, I stayed down at the bottom of the hill once to get some pictures (and to take a break).... 

 

 Here they come---Michael in front and Andrew not far behind...

 He makes it look easy!!

 

 ...and it isn't!

 This is where you go to get on the ski-lift...

 You can't see most of the easiest hill in this picture, as it curves around way on the left side there and has 3 different parts to it. You can really get going on it though and I had the hardest time on the middle section, not getting going too fast, even though I was "snowplowing" (where you turn your skis into a V shape). It was fun though and we made some memories!!

The hill always looks steeper at the top than it does from the bottom!

Riding the ski-lift was one of my favorite parts! If it had been allowed, I would have loved to have just stayed on and gone 'round and 'round!!

 

 

After skiing for a couple hours, we took a break and went out to a Pizza Ranch in Alexandria for lunch. Yummy! It's somewhat surprising we could still move after eating there, but we did.

 

Me and my blue sticker-ticket...

 

  Believe it or not, there is a trick to getting on and off of this thing too! The first few times, just Andrew and I rode together on it, but there is room for 3 people if you're careful and cooperate and don't put your poles on other people's skis while hopping off the lift. :) I think that's what happened to Andrew and I on our 2nd time of getting off, as we both tipped over. Ha!  But, we got better at it and soon Michael joined us on the bench and we all 3 made it off succesfully several times.

 Doesn't that look like fun?

 "Thanks again, Michael, for taking us on that adventure and broadening our horizons!" :)

 AND

thanks be to God for the perfect day we had for skiing

and for safety while we "flew down the hill on two narrow pieces of wood".....

(quote from the movie, "The Christmas Box")

 We got back a little late (we had over an hour drive) and so supper waited until after chores that night. Here Kathy is bedding down the stalls before the cows come in for the night. 

Their dogs, Sam and Lily are helping too of course.

Hello there! (Her feed smelled really good.)

 This cat looks a bit grumpy, but she was actually friendly!

 Andrew and Michael, feeding the girls...

 

 After attending church with the D.s, we donned our warm winter clothes again and Michael took us for a long walk on the river and under a bridge that was filled with very smooth ice.

 

In this place, we saw otter tracks and if you look closely, you can see where they'd been sliding on their tummies on the snowy ice!

 There sure are a lot of trees in MN!

Strolling down the river

 (and yes, I won't name names,

but a couple people did get slightly wet boots when walking too near the edge)...

 

 Another big 'ol tree---and Sam...

 That night, Andrew and Michael played a game of chess. Kathy popped up a huge bowl of popcorn, then we played Rummy for the remainder of the night.

 

 

 We had to leave on Monday (which happened to be Dale's birthday), but Michael took us ice fishing in the morning, as I'd said I was interested in experiencing that.

 

On the way to the lake, Michael drove us through these awesome trees!

 We saw wolf tracks in the snow, but Michael said not to worry,

and since I was with 2 guys, I didn't, or not much anyway.

 

Michael made this look easy too!

 Very beautiful there!

 The portable ice-house...

 ...and we were ready...but nothing happened.

 They had this neat underwater camera that Andrew had fun playing with.

The bottom of the lake:

 We did see fish, twice actually, but they never got very close to the bait. Mustn't have been hungry.

 It was so funny watching them on the screen!!!

 Then, it was time to say farewell and head for home. Thankfully the roads were pretty decent and thankfully Andrew doesn't mind driving, which means I got to take a little nap on the way home.

 

I needed my rest because the next day, I worked hard for about 9 hours at keeping this little tyke fed, dry, and happy. :) He is SOOOO cute!! Baby Vonn was much more awake this time. What a difference a couple weeks makes.

 Look! He can even blow bubbles...

 

Today, I unpacked my things and got my room in a somewhat orderly fashion again; spent some time in the kitchen; then went and babysat for the neighbor 3-some for a few hours.

 

While we were gone, my dad and Jacob nearly finished our combining. All that's left is the little bit of corn south of the farm that is too high moisture still.

 

I was thrilled to hear that the guys wired in an outlet and set up the timer in the chicken barn for their lights. I put the heater in their water trough and plugged it into the new outlet. We will have some spoiled chickens! Hopefully they'll keep laying through the winter this way?

 

Oh, and Andrew figured out why my car battery was dying, so I now have my car back in working order too.

 

Life is good. God is good. Friends and vacations are good...!

 

(just counting my blessings again)