First Day of School 2023

 It's really hard to believe, but here we are at the first day of school already. I feel like I blinked, and summer is over. But, I guess it feels that way every year. 

Emma is a 6th grader this year. Again, it's really hard to believe she is already in 6th grade. I am hoping for a better school year this year with Emma. We had some struggles last year, but hopefully we can start the year out strong and have a great year. Emma seemed ready to be back at school with her friends. We also have cross country and basketball to look forward to, so we have a lot of good things to look forward to this year. 

Elliott is already a 3rd grader. How did that happen? I expect him to have a great year! He was ready to be back with his friends and back into a normal routine. We also have some soccer coming up for him, so that will keep us busy. 

We had a pretty uneventful morning getting ready for school. The kids made some smoothies for breakfast. We made sure they had clean clothes, clean teeth, and put on deodorant and we were out the door. We took our obligatory first day of school pictures, and then headed to school. 

At school, we took some more photos, visited with the other parents, and then had our opening chapel service. Then, we left the kids in their teachers' hands. 

Today has been an errand day for me. I ran around town picking things up, went to the gym, caught up on blogging (and Netflix), and podcasts, and now I am getting ready to pick the kids up from school. We are heading to the library and then ice cream after school. By the way, we are in a middle of a heat wave, and it's 104 degrees here for the 3rd day in a row, so, it's HOT!

We are ready for a busy, fun-filled fall. 

 

Turner County Fair 2023

 Another fair is in the books, and we had another good one. We started off the fair week on Sunday. We went to church, had a welcome breakfast for our new Vicar, and then had a Women of Bethel Meeting. Following all that, we gathered up all of our luggage and 4H projects, and headed to Parker. John dropped me off at the camper to get settled, and then the kids and him went to Jim and Barb's house to gather the animals and the rest of the projects. 

We were all back and settled at the camper around 3:00pm. Then, we went and did the vet check for the bunnies and chickens and then got them checked into their cages and settled. After that, we enjoyed our free BBQ supper in the park, and then we checked in our 4H projects, which was kind of a cluster, like always. But, we got them checked in, and then we could finally relax. 

Katie spent a lot of time at the fair this year. She entered a couple baking projects in open class and volunteered at the fair all week. On Sunday evening, Katie, Barb, and I enjoyed a nice long walk around the fairgrounds, and then we all sat around the camper and then called it a day. 

Monday was another busy fair day. In the morning, Emma and I volunteered in the 4H building helping the judges and hanging up the poster boards. Meanwhile, John did his volunteer golf cart rides and Elliott rode along with him. Late morning, my parents arrived, and we all enjoyed some lunch and then walking around the fair. We hit up the commercial exhibits, the animal barns, and basically the entire fair. Then, we enjoyed some adult beverages at the camper. At 4pm was the bunny show. It was a little boring, but the kids did really well. They both got purples, and Elliott was close to getting reserve champion on his bunny. They also both did showmanship again this year, and Emma got a reserve champion on that, so that was awesome. 

After the bunny show, we went and looked at 4H projects, and then it was time for us to head to town for Bethel's Open House, and mom and dad headed home. We had a good open house and got the kids all signed up for school. We enjoyed a night at home and some glorious showers. 

On Tuesday, Emma had an orthodontic appointment. We pretty much are locked in for braces in 6 months, so that will be fun. Otherwise things look good for Emma and she is on track. After her appointment, we headed back to the fairgrounds. The chicken show was at 2:00pm. The kids did okay with their chickens, they got some blues and reds, but they had fun. And they both did showmanship as well. 

After the chicken show, we had our shift in the 4H stand. Katie came along and helped us in the stand. We were very busy, but it was pretty fun. It was hot, but we had a good time. We worked until 11:00pm, and then we were all beat. John went home because he had to work the next day, and the kids and I went to the camper and passed out. 

On Wednesday, we had a pretty chill day. All the shows and scheduled things were pretty much over. We spent some time hanging out with Jill and Peg, and enjoyed some more fair food and walking around. Katie and I drove golf carts around from 11-2, and the kids rode along with us. It was pretty fun to give rides and meet people, we had a good time. In the afternoon, Anna, Johnny and Abby came to the fair, so the kids rode some rides with them and had fun running around the fair with them. In the evening, Elliott and Emma played bingo with the aunts, and Elliott ended up winning $32, he was in heaven. 

Thursday was the last day of the fair. The Polzins came out for the morning and early afternoon, and the kids loved showing them around, and then doing rides with them as well. We spent most of the day hanging out with extended family, eating fair food and playing bingo. Elliott, the little stinker, won at bingo again. $37. He was flying high. And then of course spent all his money immediately. 

At 9:00pm, we checked out the animals and projects. It went pretty well. Jim and Barb took the animals home, and the kids and I spent another night in the camper. On Friday, we packed up and headed home. 

We had a pretty quiet weekend at home. On Friday, we just enjoyed a quiet evening at home with some neighborhood walks and enjoyed our own beds. On Saturday, we had a catch up cleaning day at home, and then John and I volunteered in the beer tent for River Fest. We had a lot of fun and served a lot of beer. We even got to listen to a little bit of Kory and the Fireflies. Sunday was a recovery day before going back to work after a week off. 

We had another great year at the fair. Elliott got a judge's choice ribbon on his Jurassic Park garden. And the kids got mostly purple ribbons on their projects, which was awesome. We had a great time!

Minneapolis Twins Game

 This past weekend, we were super busy all weekend. Friday evening, we had the church campout with Sure Foundation and Good Shepherd at Big Sioux Rec Area. We couldn't actually camp this year, but we decided to just go for the evening. 

We had a fun evening of good food, good fellowship and nice weather. There was even a bike parade for the kids and they had friends to play with, so they were in heaven. We stayed until around 9:00 pm and then headed home. 

On Saturday morning, we headed to Minnesota. John and Elliott dropped Emma and I off at the Fairfax Community Center for Katie's wedding shower. We met up with Mom, Rachel and Elena and Emily there. It was a nice shower. We didn't know a ton of people there, but it was nice, and there were muffins, donuts, and mimosas, so that was nice. 

We left a little early, because I had plans to take the kids swimming at the Fairfax Pool. However, they had staffing issues and didn't know if they would even be open, so we scrapped those plans. Instead, I invited Samantha over so I could meet her adorable baby girl finally. So, we visited with Sam for a while, and played with Skyler, while the kids all played together on the farm. 

At about 3:00pm, Sam and Skyler left, and the rest of us headed to Grandview Winery to celebrate Rachel's 40th Birthday. We had a great time with plenty of pizza, wine and beer. We drank our first round on empty stomachs, so we got a little loud and rowdy for a while. But we were having fun. When we got back home (like 3 hours later) we had a campfire. It was a beautiful evening, and it was nice to sit out and enjoy it. Michelle came over and joined us for a while. Then, we finally hit the hay. 

On Sunday, we left the farm after a big breakfast for the cities. Back in March, we bought some Twins tickets for $4 each. They are standing room only, but we had no problem finding placed to sit. We decided to go to the ballpark early since they were handing out Twins lunch boxes to the first 5000 kids. We parked, and made it to the gate at around 11:15 am. The kids each got a lunch box, and they really love them. 

Then, we walked around for a while and checked out the ballpark and shopped. We also visited with Sue, the organ lady. She gave Emma some sheet music to practice, so that was pretty cool. Then, right before the game was supposed to start, it started raining, So, we had a 2 hour rain delay. We spent that feeding the kids and walking around some more. Elliott all of a suddenly became a giant Twins fan, especially Carlos Correa. So, we got him a jersey, a pennant, and a keychain. He was in heaven. 

The game finally started at 3:20pm. The kids enjoyed the game and Elliott was really engaged and asked a lot of questions. We talked about leaving the game in the 5th inning, but Elliott and Emma really wanted to stay and watch and then run the bases at the end of the game. So, we stayed. I'm sure glad we did. The Twins ended up winning the game with a walk off home run. It was amazing!! The kids loved it, and they are still talking about it. 

After the Twins won, we got in line for running the bases. That was pretty cool. We got to walk around the warning track. We saw the bullpen, the centerfield wall, the dugout, and then the bases. Emma even got in trouble for running into the centerfield wall (like she was trying to catch a fly ball). The kids ran the bases, and we enjoyed some field selfies and gawking around. Then, it was finally time to leave. 

We made it out of the Twin Cities in pretty good time. We made one stop on the way home at a Kwik Trip for some supper, and then drove straight through to home. We made it home at 11:00pm. We were all pretty beat, but we had such a good day. 

We were not ready for a full week of work, but we did it, and we survived. Now, we are in full fair prep. The fair pretty much starts in 2 days. Tomorrow, the kids and I are baking our little faces off, and doing the final touches of our 4H projects. This is a busy, but fun week for us, so we are all looking forward to it. 

I can't believe school starts in less than 2 weeks! Where did summer go?!

Kansas City Twins Game

This year, we planned a trip to Kansa City to see a Twin's game with Ryan and Emily. The kids went to Gary, SD with Jim and Barb for a family reunion and camping. They had a blast and had fun with their distant cousins. 

Ryan and Emily got to Sioux Falls Friday afternoon. We sat in the driveway and had a couple beers, and watched some of the planes practicing for the airshow. It was pretty cool to get to see the Thunderbirds practicing right above our house. Eventually, we made some supper and then we headed to Buffalo Ridge Brewery in Hartford for a couple beer. We had a nice evening, and then headed home to get some rest before our big traveling day. 

On Saturday, we ate some breakfast, and then hit the road at 7:00 am for our 5.5 hour drive. Ryan drove his truck, and we had a pretty smooth drive. We did stop at a truck stop about halfway there, and ended up getting stuck in a downpour. We had to sprint to the truck, and my phone and chapstick fell out of my pocket and hit the sidewalk. I got them back in one piece, but it was an adventure. 

When we got to Kansas City, we were ready for some lunch. We found a BBQ shack and enjoyed some great Kansas City BBQ. After lunch, we checked into our Air B&B. We got a cute little house with 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a nice patio in the backyard. It was cute and charming, and perfect for our weekend away. 

After freshening up (It was hot when we were in KC, like 95-98 degrees the whole weekend, whew) we decided to explore a little We went to the Crown Center and looked around, walked through a couple parks, saw a couple fountains, it was a nice little exploration. Then, we headed back to the Air B&B and got ready to go to Kauffman Stadium to see the Twin's Game. 

Ryan bought the tickets, and he got us some really nice tickets where we sat at a table and chairs to watch the game, and had our own waitress, bar, and bathrooms during the game. We had a really good time at the game. The food was good, the drinks were good, and the game was entertaining at least. The Twins ended up losing, but we saw a lot of hits and runs scored from both teams, so it was great. Then, as a happy surprise we discovered that there was a Luke Owen concert after the game that was included with our ticket. They performed right behind second base. It was awesome. They put on a good show, and it turned into a beautiful evening for a concert. We didn't end up leaving until after 11:00pm, but it was well worth it, we had a blast. 

On Sunday, we started the day with brunch at a Jazz club. They had live jazz and mimosas, so I was sold. Ryan hated it, but the rest of us didn't mind it. The food was good, and the mimosas hit the spot. After brunch, we went to the National WWI museum. John and I had been here before, but it's a great museum, and we enjoyed going through it again. It doesn't give you the warm and fuzzies, but it's an important part of history and it was really interesting to walk through it again. 

After that, we definitely needed a beer. So, we went to Boulevard and got some beer and snacks. I love their beer, so I had a great time. And maybe a little too much to drink. We also hit up the gift shop and did some damage. Then, we headed to Jack Stack for some amazing BBQ. This place was amazing. We had to sit on the patio because there was no seating inside, but that BBQ slapped. It was probably some of the best we have ever had. We had intentions of going to the Power and Lights District afterwards, but we were all pretty shot, so we just headed back to the air B&B and then relaxed for a while and went to bed. 

Monday was pretty much just a travel day. We packed up and hit the road pretty early. We stopped at a Waffle House outside of KC, and then pretty much drove straight through back to Sioux Falls. We got back around 2:00pm, and Ryan and Emily headed all the way back to their house. It was a fun weekend, and it was nice to get to know Emily a little better. 

At 4:00 pm I went and got a haircut and decided to completely chop off all my hair. It was quite drastic, and I traumatized the kids, but they are getting used to it now, and so am I. John went to the farm to pick up the kids, and we were all back home in the evening unpacked and ready for another week. 

It was a great weekend, and I can't wait to travel to other stadiums to see the Twins as well. I could see this becoming some sort of tradition.