last of summer

Since it’s beginning to feel a lot like fall, I decided it was time to get the last of the summer events posted. 

Weekend at Grandma Great’s 

We had the opportunity to spend the weekend at my grandma’s in early June.  Every time we leave her house I wonder how many more weekends I will get the privilege of spending with my grandma.  My grandma just celebrated her 83rd birthday.  She is spry, yet showing her age.  She is “Grams” to me, and “Grandma Great” to my kids.  I wish that I could sum up Grams in words, but it really isn’t possible.  I also wish everyone was blessed with a grandma like Grams.  Grams is classy…I tell her all the time that I wish she lived closer so I could raid her closet.  She is the best gift giver.  Not only is she generous with her gifts, but they are thoughtful and meaningful.  She lived most of her life on a dairy farm, so to say she is a hard worker is an understatement.  Grams was also preschool teacher for many years and then in her 50’s she went back to school to get her college degree in social work….I remember her college graduation.  She is progressive, and smart, and really, really stubborn.  She keeps an extremely clean house, yet doesn’t care when my kids make a mess.  She doesn’t just let us sit around when we come for a weekend.  She is always looking to play a hand of cards, a game, croquet, or anything else she thinks she can beat you in.  Did I mention she is a little competitive? She is an amazing cook.  My mouth is watering just thinking about her rolled beef roast and twice baked potatoes. Grams is a strong women who has had great influence in my life.  Even with the 5 hours that separated us, Gramps and Grams made the effort to be part of my life.  They knew about every basketball game, track meet, and homecoming dance.  They traveled many hours to see several games each year.  It is no different with her great grand kids.  She was there for all of their baptisms, remembers them on their birthday with a book in the mail, treats them to a weekend at a water park each year, and just spends fun quality time with them with every Minnesota visit.       

Big Sand Week 2

Week two did not disappoint!  The weather was absolutely perfect, making for long fun/sun filled days and exhausted kids.  We spent hours and hours on the beach, boat, and water… exactly what you hope for on lake vacations.  We had the opportunity to spend some time with the Veurinks while we were there.  They were staying at a near by resort.  Grams was so excited to see how much use Gramps boat still gets used and requested the picture.  A couple other highlights from the week:  Miah caught her first Walleye.  It was a memorable night, and I will leave it at that.  Miah can laugh about it now.  Willow mastered the little skies.  Miah did NOT master the junior ski, and again, I will leave it at that.  Bryan and the kids golfed their last round of golf at Evergreen golf course.  The course will not be open next year for golfing.  It is sad for us, but we understand the amount of time and maintenance is no longer paying off for the resort.  Playtime was a hit this year.  Some years the kids don’t care to go to playtime, but Luanne made “school” a lot of fun for the kids.  The treasure hunt and the Big Sand Olympics were favorites.  

Old People’s Prom

We might have been much older than the last time we attended prom, but we both agreed it was more fun than any of our high school proms.  Dan and Heidi hosted their nieces wedding reception at their acreage this summer.  After many, many, many hours of their time and energy the acreage looked magical…seriously, magical.  They decided that taking all the lights, flowers, and decorations down after just one celebration would be a shame.  We all agreed.  So, what’s a group of middle aged women to do?  Plan a prom, of course.   We were all good sport and we had so much fun!  We had a very nice dinner, took prom pictures, got ourselves a DJ (thanks Troy) and danced the night away.  We danced until our feet hurt, and Bryan and I don’t even dance!  I am sure it was quite a sight.  People were driving by really slow just trying to get a grip on what was going on.  Not a single drop of alcohol was consumed, but I am sure they wondered.  We even crowned Dan and Heidi prom kind and queen and they deserved the titles!  Thanks Dan and Heidi for making all our gatherings so much fun.