"Fly by the Seat of Our Pants" Day

Yesterday I had some work to do up in the Silver Bay area so AJ and I headed up the North Shore. On the way back we decided to hit a few of the tourist areas. We went to the Silver Bay Marina to check out all the cool boats. It was just amazing how clear the water was, especially since the Iron Ore dock was right next door. We then went to the Split Rock Lighthouse. They had a 20 minute documentary / movie on it and then a 45 minute tour of the grounds. After the tour we explored on our own. I think we spent about 3 hours there. When the lighthouse was built it was the most state of the art lighthouses around. The lense was imported from France and cost $10,000 back in 1910. There are 32 steps from the entrance at the bottom of the lighthouse to the top, where the lense is and 171 steps from the housing area to the lake. Of course, we had to take them all!

After the lighthouse we went to Gooseberry Falls. They weren't running very fast this time of the year, which was fine with me. AJ rolled up his pants and walked through the water. While doing this he learned that river rocks can be a little slippery when wet. He ended up falling in and wet from head to toe! Luckily I had packed an extra set of clothes, just in case.

A trip up the North Shore is not complete without a trip to Betty's Pies. When I was a kid we use to go to my Aunt and Uncle's house in Silver Bay and we would always stop at Betty's Pies. It is a lot different now then it was back then, but the food is always good. AJ got a shake with a piece of bumbleberry pie mixed in it. I opted for the more conservative piece of pie with the ice cream on the side.

Our "Fly by the seat of our pants" Day was great short trip to take right before school starts again. I think we both enjoyed it.

Bribery and School Clothes Shopping

School starts the day after Labor Day so AJ and I went school clothes shopping tonight. He does not like to go clothes shopping so I had to employ a little bit of bribery. I told him if we could get his shopping

done without much whining we could go dinner,a movie and some kind of reward. We were able to get almost all the shopping done except the winter jacket, boots and snowpants. It was too hard to think about snow this time of year! We went to Old Country Buffet, the new Star Wars movie and got a Clone War helmet. The helmet even talks, lucky me! I got to hear it all the way home from the mall.

The kids are looking forward to starting school and now they have pretty much everything the need. We are all ready for them to head back. Wish Tanya could be here, we are missing her an awful lot.

Tanya starts her Navy life

Tanya just called about an hour ago from Chicago. She had very limited time, but said that she had made it to the Great Lake Navy base for boot camp and would not be able to contact us for two to three weeks. It is going to be hard for all of us not to be able to see or hear from her for that long. AJ was already saying that she missed her last night and had only been gone for 6 hours. I don't know how he going to be able to stand it.

We had a going away party for her on Sunday night and had a huge turnout. It was so wonderful knowing that she has so many people who care about her and will miss her. Brian had to leave on Monday morning at 4:30 am for some schooling for work so Tanya dropped him off to pick up the work car so they could say goodbyes. I know he is going to be lost without her, especially during hunting season. On Monday the girls, Sue, Olivia, Vanessa, AJ and I all went out for lunch before she left. Then they came and picked her up at around 3:30pm. I don't think there was a dry eye in the whole house. I sure hope these next 8 weeks go really fast, just wish she was coming home to stay after boot camp.

The Navy has a really good website that tells you what will be going on each week of boot camp. It is http://navy.com/about/during/bootcamp/ This week sounds like she will be processing paperwork and learning the basics like how to make a bed, take care of there Navy clothes and get haircuts, a physical and dental exam. Looks like week 2 is when it starts getting tough! I just can't wait until the graduation ceremony, I have heard that they are wonderful. I am hoping that we will all be able to go, since there will be limited seating. All I know it that it will not come soon enough!

Huge WA Pumpkin in MN

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, we got some pumpkin seeds from our friends Shane and Nettie who live in Washington. I started them indoors and distributed them to a few friends and family. I figured that if ours didn't make it, then someone else's might and I wouldn't feel like I "wasted" the seeds. Well, ours are definately making it! There are two that are about the size of basketballs already. We planted them in the garden at the bottom of the hill and they love it there. We will have some HUGE halloween pumpkins this year.

Brian was able to get some straw this weekend, so we got all the new raspberries weeded and straw laid down on top of them. Al also got over to till up the garden again. It looks really nice, no weeds at all, sure hope we can keep it that way!

The garden next to the house is doing well. Kris came over and helped us pick green beans for canning. I was able to can 7 pints and 5 quarts. Not a whole lot, but it is just the beginning. We have had lots of broccolli and will be having cauliflower with cheese sauce for supper. AJ's corn was the first to start forming ears and boy did he rub it in! We are still getting quite a bit of raspberries from the raspberry patch. Denise and Mike are here from Texas and came and picked a gallon and a half last night. They are going to make some raspberry jam and try to fly it or ship it back to Texas.

Tanya is heading for the Navy soon

Today was a beautiful day. This morning Brian and Warren (our next door neighbor) went golfing. AJ, Tanya and I went to Menards with Uncle Larry. Tanya needed a large shed that she can lock for all her stuff. She will be leaving for the Navy on the 18th and wants to get everything packed up. It seems like just yesterday she was leaving for summer camp, now its basic training. She has 8 weeks of Basic at Great Lakes and will have her Advanced Electronic schooling there. We are glad that she will be so close, we might actually get to see her once in awhile! We are also excited for here "graduation" from Basic training. She was the first recruit to sign up for the Dale Earnhart Jr Division of the Navy. She was even brought to the NASCAR race on Memorial Day to meet him and watch the race from the pits. She missed her High School Graduation, but she said it was well worth it. She can home with a signed hat, picture and lug nuts right off the car!
The pictures above are Tanya with Dale Jr and Brad Keselowski his teammate. She got to have a picture taken by his car, but she was not allowed to touch it!

It has been really quiet tonight, the girls are all at their mom's house and AJ went to Uncle Brad's to hang out with them while they are getting the race cars ready for the fair. Sounds like they were going to try to make a Duluth Huskey's game too.

Brian just got done picking another 10 pints of raspberries tonight, that makes a running total of 55 pints so far. We have made raspberry jam, jalapeno-raspberry jelly, raspberry ice cream sauce and have froze some. Brad and Kathy juiced a couple huge batches and have started raspberry wine. It is going to take a year to make....I don't know if I can wait that long! I think I might make some muffins or pancakes tomorrow. I am still trying to think of other ways to preserve them too. I am hoping that some of the jalapenos that I planted make it, I would like to make another small batch of jelly. Because of the salmonella outbreak, there are no jalapenos to be bought. I had to raid my friend Kelly's garden to find enough for my first batch!