Cement Project

Catching up on some blogging today...so scroll down as there are several posts.

We decided we wanted a little slab of cement as an area for a patio or a place for Harper to place. So we (and by we, I mean Noah) tore up the old cement which was crumbling and starting prepping the area for new cement.

Max was with us for the project on Saturday morning so he and Harper enjoyed the entertainment of the cement truck, etc. Here they are waiting patiently on the hammock waiting for the truck to arrive.

So I have learned....but doing cement is TOUGH work. Therefore, Noah needed some help and enlisted Caleb and my dad. 

Max and Harper observing....

One person to rake and two people to.....not sure what that's called....but to spread it across the framed in area.

All in all it went very smoothly! It was hot and they worked hard, but it didn't take long. 

Of course, it seemed to take forever from Max and Harper's vantage point. They started to get bored watching outside....so they made their own entertainment.

To Milwaukee

Noah and I had a weekend away (our first together since Harper was born)...and we went to see Lori and Jason in Milwaukee. It was a great time. We went to the Waukesha County Fair, Miller Valley for the brewery tour, Ale House in downtown Milwaukee and to Miller Stadium.

One of Jason's favorite things about the Waukesha Fair is the all you can drink milk for $.25. Imagine his surprise when the price inflated to $1 this year! He decided to protest and not buy the special this year due to the high inflation!

Another of Jason's favorites is all the "real" John Deere's....not the JD's that are sold at Lowe's, etc. But the REAL THING! So he took advantage and sat on a couple....dreaming of being more than a "gentleman farmer"!

Lori and I just loved this cute little mini tractor. Not exactly sure what's its purpose would be, but it sure was cute!

We enjoyed music on the free stages and some beer! 

At Miller Valley enjoying one of our three free samples. It was a great tour - and one Lori and Jason had never been on yet. 

One picture I didn't get to capture was Jason and Noah's matching pajamas. They both (unplanned) end up wearing black mesh champion shorts and gray A&W Farms shirts. It was so cute!

Combine Derby

Caleb participated in his 3rd or 4th combine derby at the Boone County Fair. It's quite the entertainment. Combines crashing into each other until one winner remains. This year there was only 3 participants, and they were all friends. So they decided to pool all the winnings and divide it 3 ways and just go out there and have fun. And I'm pretty sure they all had a blast!

Caleb getting his pep talk prior to derby. The combine was already in rough shape as it was used in a previous year's derby. He got it running well enough to compete again.

Thug #1 ready to go!

Crash! 

Notice the back tire - very injured! Caleb placed 3rd (or last)....and it was great entertainment! 

Post Storm

What does one do with the resulting mess post storm? If you're Noah, you bulldoze and burn! He used his newest man-toy, Fat Alice (a Fiatt Alice bulldozer), to pile all the wreckage and then ignite. I have never seen him smile so much! He was loving every minute of it. In typical Noah form, not all things went as planned. As he was pushing piles on to the burning pile, the bulldozer stalled....and stalled very close to the fire. What does one do now? Well, Noah sped off to my dad's farm (2 miles away) to get a tractor (and stopped by our house on the way to say he'll be running a little behind! Really? He could have called, didn't warrant a stop...) and then pulled Alice to safety. Thankfully, no one was injured or harmed! :)

My zinnias survived the storm - although a little goose-necked!

Storm Damage

For the second year in a row, we've had a major storm in the area. And it came out of the blue...we had a "slight risk" forecasted.  Woke up at 3:30 a.m. to no electricity and lightning, major wind and thunder. The house shook, and I could hear branches and debri hitting our house.  It's the scariest storm I have been through. Thankfully, Harper slept through it all! But with that major wind came major damage. Even with our damage, we lucked out.  About 4 miles north of us really got the worst of the storm - the city of Maxwell looks like a war zone...trees down on every block. Some pics below:

This was a limb that actually broke off in last year's storm, but was still dangling up high in the tree.  We just never took the time to saw it down since it was so high up.  Well, this storm brought it down for us!

Harper's toys all in a heap. Branch broke our clothes line too.

Back yard...and Noah's tent!

The poor corn. Hard to know if it will rebound or not. The corn is just about to tassel so it's a critical time. If it doesn't stand back up, it may not pollenate and produce the corn. All we can do is wait and see. Farmer's won't know until harvest how this affected their yields.

Tree blocking the road just north of my mom/dad's.

The barn at our acreage we bought this year (Ted's). 

The corn crib at Ted's also gone.

Corn in one of our new fields we purchased this year. It was looking so good too - so sad to have it damaged liked this.

Cattle fence at mom/dad's blew down and mixed up two pins of cattle. Dad, Russ and Noah got them sorted back out (hopefully).  The cattle in the two pins were nearing similar weights - only about 25 pounds off. So that makes it hard to sort them back out.

Corn at an A&W field. This field is 4 miles north of our place and much flatter than the corn down by our place. 

The old barn at my dad's 80 - also closer to Maxwell. Nothing left on top. And we loved this barn - very historic looking. Sad to see it gone now.

Roof of the barn.

 

This is closer to Collins - Noah's broker Joe's shed/farm.  The tin from the shed is scattered a good 1/4 - 1/2 mile west. A huge mess to clean up.

Two huge bins at Joe's - both damaged.



More Summer Fun

At a b-day party for co-worker Corey's son Luke. Playing here with buddy Evan (aka Evie).

Enjyoing a snack with cousins Shea and Mollie at the VM Aquatic Center.

Cute on the 4th of July and her 2 1/2 b-day. 

Putting up daddy's father's day present - a tent!  That tent last only a few days when a storm came through and wiped it out. See Storm post.

Being silly and holding her lolly with her toes.

Minnesota Fun!

We spent the weekend in Minnesota - two nights at the Water Park of American near the Mall of America.  It was a great time, but went way too fast.  Harper and I never even got to step foot in the water park. The reason for our trip was to go to our Aunt Cindy's for our cousin Jill's engagement party and meet her finace. So our time just went so fast! And I only have a few photos from the trip as we used Amy's new camera for most of the pictures. 

Some highlights:

• Dinner at Rain Forest Cafe - Harper thought it was interesting when it starting "storming" while we were eating. The lights would flicker, thunder would sound and it would rain.
• Riding the rides at Nickelodeon Universe. Harper went on 3 different rides and loved them all.
• The aquarium at the MOA. Harper especially loved the tank with the sting rays.  She kept laughing and squealing at them when they would swim by her.
• American Girl store. Harper picked out a couple things for her Bitty Baby.
• Meeting Pedro, Jill fiance, and "helping" them decide where to get married - Spain, California or Florida.  All good options!
• Homemade sangria by Pedro.
• Harper's first Dilly Bar from DQ - a special treat at the party.
• Running around Cabella's with G'pa S.

At Nickelodeon Universe with a new Dora tree house Harper picked out.

Watching Curious George with Mollie at the hotel.

One the dock at Aunt Cindy's. 

Enjoying that Dilly Bar. You may notice an injury on her neck. Harper and G'ma S suffered a fall off the steps leading to the dock. Harper scraped up her neck, had a bump on her head, a cut lip and other bruises. She recovered quickly, though. G'ma had a big bump on her head too, a sprained wrist and bruises. Quite the traumatic accident, but all are fine now. 

7 of the 9 cousins - Lori, Jill, Mary, me, Amy and Jodi.

Cousins holding Pedro. We have a photo of us holding Todd like this, so we made Pedro do this pose. He thought he looked like super man! 

Max and Harper in the bunk bed at the hotel. You can see her fat lip here.