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.

This summer is going waaaayyyy too fast . . . . .

We're in the car the a few days ago and Noah says "Man, I can't believe we only have 12 weeks of summer left!"

Oh boy.

I had to say "Ummm, buddy, you don't have 12 weeks left. You have about 8." Dead silence. Then a shriek of "whhaaattt?????" from the backseat. Poor dudes - it ruined their day. I then gave a pep talk of how LONG 8 weeks actually is.

They are having the time of their lives at our "vacation home" - Hart Ranch. Can't remember if I've explained this before, but it's a camping resort community just south of town where we've got our camper. And when I say resort, I mean RESORT. The place is beautiful - all paved roads and sites, grassy - no dirt - and rules are very strictly enforced which sometimes is a pain but overall provides a better experience and very safe environment. The kids activities are endless. If they aren't on their bikes, they are usually at the pool or playing mini golf (18 holes!). If they get bored with those, there are tennis courts, basketball courts, pickle ball, horseshoes, bingo, playgrounds, tether ball - every sporting activity you can think of - and they even have a free kids' camp from 9 - 12 every day. It's amazing. And better yet, some of our best friends have memberships there too. We've been staying there most of the past 2 weeks.

Occasionally, they do have some down time, and have become passionate little readers: (on Noah's bed in the camper)
Here's all the Hart Ranch buddies on our couch in the camper:

I'll have to post more pictures of the actual resort next time.

Father's Day weekend we headed for our favorite campground up in the hills and had a great weekend with my mom and dad. Grandpa took the boys fishing . . .

We did a little exploring and found this cute rusty old miniature train . . .

And an old boarded up mine shaft . . .

The boys were soooo excited they caught 3 rainbow trout. Grandpa actually cooked them up and they ate them for supper. They thought the whole thing was really cool.

Happy Father's Day!

Jack and Noah's new hobby: dognapping. Our friends - who are staying at Hart Ranch as well - have two Pomeranians the boys are just in love with, so one afternoon they dognapped them.

And really, how can you resist a face like this??

I also had to post a picture of a project the boys are working on this summer - filling in this adorable camping journal from my sister. It's good writing practice for them, and by the end of the summer, it will be a great keepsake full of fun memories.

This week we are at home, and the boys are headed to VBS. I'll be giving this house some much-needed attention and getting ourselves ready for a 4th of July camping trip. I truly can't believe the 4th of July is already Saturday. WOW.

Catching Up a Bit . . . .

So backing up a bit, our garage sale a few weeks back was a TON of work, but a HUGE success. I was shocked at the turnout. Sooooo glad we did it once it was all over. The kids even got in on the action - they set up a coffee and doughnut stand and made a killing. I really thought they'd sit there for 30-60 minutes and then get bored with it, but they sat at that table like little gentlemen for 3 full hours. We were happy their efforts were rewarded.

On to the birthday party . . . .

It took place at Cabela's and it was AWESOME. The best one yet. The staff arranged a major scavenger hunt through the store, which the kids just loved. Then we had a magician come in and do a show, and he was HILARIOUS. He did a 40 minute show and we laughed the entire time. It was fantastic. Here are some highlights:

(The theme was "Bolt" - as in the movie)


The next day was their actual birthday, and we celebrated with a small family party at home.

Here's a small issue with having twins - if giving them the same gift, they open them back-to-back in case one is quicker than the other, so no one ruins the surprise for the other one. Uggh.

After their birthday was over, the rain set in. Now I think we may be coming out of our monsoon season, but we're still having daily afternoon thunderstorms.

We're semi-living at Hart Ranch, a camping resort a few miles out of town. The place is amazing. It's huge - like it's own community. Beautiful, clean, very well kept, and it has every activity a kid could ask for. Olympic size well-heated pool, mini golf, tennis courts, pickle ball courts, volleyball courts, horseshoes, ping pong, tether ball, two playgrounds, an arcade, kids' camps in the mornings, the list goes on. Better yet, they can ride their bikes EVERYWHERE. They have put miles upon miles on their bikes already.

We came home tonight because mom needed to get some laundry done and find some more FOOD - these kids eat and eat and eat and eat and then eat some more. And then say they are still hungry. And go to their friends' campers and eat all their food too. Jen, we're going to help with your next grocery bill . . .

Anyway. You would have thought their world was coming to an end when I told them we needed to go home for the night. Oh. My. Word. They are ready to permanently move there. Even said they sleep better there. I would imagine that has something to do with the fact they have been outside playing every night until 10 p.m. We are needing to get back on some sort of schedule!

Next up: Camping in the hills this weekend with my mom and dad. I LOVE camping season!

Summer is Officially Underway . . .

Well, we made it through the garage sale, the birthday, two weeks of nothin' but cold and rain and now I think we may be starting summer . . ? I hope, anyway. We're READY for it. We've totally run out of indoor projects. We've had day . . . after day . . . after day . . . of rainy cold weather. I'm talking the kind that makes the furnace run. And it's seriously been cutting into our summer plans. We've finally checked into Hart Ranch (got here last Friday) and plan on staying for the next two weeks, weather permitting.

And while I'm loving our summer "vacation home" at Hart Ranch, they don't have WiFi, so I'm forced to put up a very short, picture-less post until I have enough time to give a bigger update. Which will hopefully be in the next day or two. Stay tuned . . . .