The Midnight Wanderer

A few nights ago, I was awakened from a deep sleep to the now-familiar sound of scratching on the decorative pillows next to my side of the bed.

It was 3:00 a.m. For those of you who don't know this about me, I don't DO 3:00 a.m.

I knew immediately that the hamster had once again escaped his less-than-effective cage. By the time I fully woke up, got the light on and rolled out of bed, he was gone. He was gracious enough, however, to leave little poop trails around the bedroom and our bathroom so that I would know he had, in fact, graced us with his presence and that no, I wasn't dreaming. I did verify he was not in his cage - he'd popped the lid off. I then dragged a not-so-impressed husband out of bed. We armed ourselves with flashlights and proceeded to search everywhere for the little furball for the next 30 minutes. No luck.

We decided to let him roam until morning and headed back to bed. I, however, couldn't sleep because I kept having visions of him crawling into the furnace (right, mom and dad?), getting caught in one of our many mousetraps, or otherwise just curling up and dying somewhere that we wouldn't discover until the smell arrived.

I got up at 6:30 with Mark and resumed my search while he got ready for work. In going through the living room again, I happened to glance over at his cage.

Here's the wild part.

Get this.

He was curled up, sound asleep in his bed. In the cage. Lid still off.

At some point during the night, the little dude decided he'd had enough wandering and headed back home to bed. Of course.

I still cannot for the life of me figure out how he got back IN and wish like everything I could have seen that trick. The only way in was to climb up the side of the cage, and go in through the top - part of which is solid, slippery plastic. He's evidently one smart, agile little dude.

I told the boys when they got out of bed, and they just looked proud as punch. Like "well of course, mom, we have the coolest hamster EVER."

Who knew hamsters had personalities?

Done camping, and on to other things for a while!

We finished out our marathon stretch of camping last week and are now done camping until the middle of August. Actually it feels pretty good to be at home, getting caught up with things around here and having a break from outdoor life!

This past weekend we had an awesome family weekend - with both my family and Mark's. We all converged at Spearfish for their annual "Festival in the Park." (which consists of a couple hundred craft and food booths). Us girls shopped and found all kinds of fun things for our homes and the boys all ate themselves into oblivion. We also invaded my mom and dad's house and spent several hours sitting out on their beautiful deck and even enjoyed a bonfire. It was a great success. Actually I was so busy having such a good time I didn't even think about taking a picture to post on here. Bummer. I wish we could have 2 or 3 weekends like that per year, instead of just one. However, my checkbook simply wouldn't allow it. :)

This week we're getting ourselves ready for a 10 day trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin. We start out with a week at a lake resort in MN with my family, and conclude with Mark's family reunion in Wisconsin. By the time we get back, it will be August. WOW. This is summer is going far too fast . . . .

Camping, camping, . . . . and more camping.

So here's what we've been up to the past two weeks: camping. Yep, that's it. We've made a lifestyle out of it this summer. And grocery shopping. These kids don't stop eating. Ever. During the week, we're at Hart Ranch and on the weekends, we head for the Hills. Occasionally I get a 24 hour period at home when I can catch up with groceries, laundry, mail, groceries, cleaning, bills, more groceries, etc. I'm getting so that I can pack, unpack and re-pack in my sleep!

Over the 4th, we went to the biggest KOA campground in the United States - near Mt. Rushmore. No, we didn't see the fireworks - they are nearly impossible to even get close to. Anyway, the kids love this campground because they have a ginormous "jumping pillow". Much like a trampoline. Gives the 'ol legs a killer workout. That would be Mark over on the left, attempting to launch the kids into the stratosphere.

Happy 4th!

After the weekend of the 4th, we were back at Hart Ranch. This time, Grandpa and Grandma brought their camper and puppy and came to stay with us for a couple nights. The kids kept them busy with mini golf and their new obsession: shuffleboard!

This weekend we headed up to Custer State Park and had a wonderful weekend. The only snag in the weekend was the series of massive thunderstorms we had Friday night. We didn't sleep much, but at least we weren't in a tent! We had a beautiful campsite . . . .

. . . . . visited a nearby lake where we fished, hiked, rented paddleboats, snacked and just enjoyed the view . . .

Back at the campground, Jack caught a rainbow trout - Enjoyed the campfire (and eating, of course) -

This morning, the kids fished some MORE (they are hooked, no pun intended) -

and had great luck! Thanks to the Master Fisherman (Dad!) for teaching my boys the art of the catch. They couldn't learn from anyone better!

We're in for another busy week - part of it at Hart Ranch and then a big family gathering at my mom and dad's in Spearfish at the end of the week.

But first, I'm headed back to the grocery store . . . .

The Best Show on TV

One of the great things about summer is being able to catch up on our favorite TV shows we've Tivo'ed and haven't had time to watch. We love crashing on our big comfy couch at the end of the day and relaxing with our favorite shows.

This one tops them all.
This is some great TV, people.
Real life.
Real people.
Real families.
Real jobs.

I love everything about it -
King Crab
Opies
the life-threatening danger
The Northwestern
The Time Bandit
The Cornelia Marie
the storms
the greenhorns
Sig
Phil
Andy
the money earned (WOW - $2.5 million on one boat in two weeks!)

Here's my favorite boat - Sig and his boys:
And this season, I'm a bit worried about this veteran. Phil. He has life-threatening blood clots on his lungs and missed the King season. He's currently debating heading out for Opie season on the episode we're watching. This is riveting stuff.
All for this. Some of the best eatin' in the world, folks.

This show rocks. A show that made a bunch of gnarly tough-as-nails foul mouthed crab boat captains world famous celebrities. How cool is that?

On my bucket list: a visit to Dutch Harbor, Alaska.