Thursday, August 27, 2015

Pottery and ice cream and Rachels, oh my!

I sit here tonight at my computer with a full, full heart (and tummy) after spending the afternoon with not one--but two--of my favorite Rachels. :)
We had planned to spend the afternoon together in Pierre, and Aunt Rachel (because no one wants to be called Big Rachel) surprised us with a trip to the paint your own pottery place. 

--I almost just typed potty--now that would be an interesting business concept.-- 

Anyway, we each chose matching mugs (of course, because we both have matching fabulous taste, and also because we both needed large coffee mugs)! Little Rachel chose a plate, which changed in design and color many times as she waited for us big people to finish our masterpieces.
I will show you all the finished products after they are fired and complete in about a week.
I've seen these places on TV and know we have one in Aberdeen, but it was my first time trying it out.  I've definitely found a new creative happy place!


Before we left for home, we had to stop at Zesto!  Pierre, SD has one of the best Zestos in the entire country. Ask anyone. It's true.  It's a little tricky to find, but worth the trip for sure!
Full tummies and happy friends!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

R-H-E-L

Rachel has been very interested in her written name for the past couple of months. She knows that it begins with R, and even claimed all of the bottled water during harvest because they said WATER. An R is an R, right?
Since she learned how to write an R, she has been working on her name, too.
For awhile, she would say, "Now I make F." after the E.  Sometimes the E has many, many little legs and most of the time the letters are mixed around. 
One thing is for sure, though, the A and C "is too hard for me" she says. I learned from Landen's preschool teacher that the angled and curved lines are the most difficult for preschoolers to make, so now I at least know the reason behind her dislike for those letters.
Last night as she was practicing, I saw that she got these four letters in the right order, but she still wasn't interested in adding that A or C.
"I don't need them," she said.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Driving Range

Today we invited my cousin Amber and her boys out to the farm to try out our driving range.
(Almost) everyone was happy to stop for a photo before moving onto the next activity of the afternoon--Nerf gun wars.
The kids sure have changed since they first began using the stack yard as the Melius Driving Range!



Friday, August 21, 2015

Melius Summer Vacation 2015

We didn't expect to take a "real" vacation this summer, but thanks to the blessing of an early wheat harvest, we were able to travel to Sioux Falls and Wisconsin Dells last weekend.
We began our journey at the opening of the Sioux Falls Diocese Legacy 125th Celebration.
Every east river Catholic parish, past and present, was represented with a banner at the opening ceremony. It was beautiful seeing all of these pieces of our Catholic heritage brought together.


As you know, I was looking forward to the Matt Maher concert since my friend Michelle first shared the news with me last spring!  It was a great concert, made even more special by sharing it with our friends and David's aunt and uncle, too! He sang all of our Matt Maher favorites.  Ahh . . . good music, good stuff.

After a night in Sioux Falls and a sub-par continental breakfast (hey, it was free!), we continued onto Wisconsin Dells. Nathan had seen the photo of the spiral "toilet" waterslide, and he was on a mission to ride it. 

We stayed at Kalahari, which is right off I-90 if you ever find yourself in the area. It had both an indoor and outdoor water park. We just had to take a photo with the gorilla outside our elevator!


We all found something fun to do in the water parks. David and I took turns with the girls in the smaller pools and wave pool. The red and blue slide behind the turquoise and yellow slides is the "toilet." Even I went down the toilet! (There was an inside "toilet" as well, but that one just spit the rider out the bottom.) 
The boys and I spent one afternoon together while the girls napped, and that was a fun time for all of us since Mom's time is usually dominated by the younger members of our family. 
They got me out of my comfort zone a few times by trying out slides I otherwise wouldn't have  (one lifeguard turned us backward--twice!). 
On our last day, David went down the "Screaming Hyena" and another like it which dropped the rider straight down out of a capsule at the top. The rest of us passed on that experience!


We also went to the Tommy Bartlett Exploratory, which had something for all of the kids. It included several rooms of science experiments and the like, with a tour of the actual Russian MIR space station at the end.


David, I and the boys all rode bike on the high wire.



The boys rode this gyro sphere. Astronauts use something similar to train for living in space.



MIR space station


Before we left, they lifted a car with the giant lever!


And . . . on the top of the list of memories from the trip . . . having our food delivered to us by TRAIN at Buffalo Phil's restaurant!


And now, it's back home and back to work!





Thursday, August 20, 2015

First Day of School

There is much to report from the Melius family, including seeing Matt Maher in concert last Friday and an end-of-summer vacation to Wisconsin Dells, but the news of the day is that it was the
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
Yes, Teresa has been asking about this day for weeks, and I know the boys were secretly excited to go back, too.  Landen is ready for his new middle school adventure and Nathan loves his teacher who makes the day go by so quickly. Teresa made the number signs for everyone this year.



Teresa's favorite part of the first day of school was doing math, getting her locker, and sitting by her friend Ashley. She says, "I love school!"
And check out this backpack!


Thursday, August 13, 2015

August

Ahh . . . it's the hot, muggy, end of summer vacation days of August.

Even Teresa knows it is time to go back to school . . . I have heard "I'm bored" from her way too often, and she usually doesn't admit that! It's time for a routine again, even if the mornings come way too early!

We still have a little summer fun ahead of us before school begins in just 1 WEEK!

Soon we will have a middle school student in the house. It will be time to begin middle school football games and marching band.

Happy August!



Friday, August 7, 2015

Walking What?

Rachel looking for her walkie talkie:  "Where's my walking taco?"

Perhaps that girl had a few too many meals at the ballpark this summer!

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Rosie and Snuggles

Rosie joined our family a few weeks ago, shortly after her daughter headed for the hills.
She seems quite happy here, and Landen is happy to have her.



Nathan and Snuggles are doing well, too. Between the rabbits in the backyard and the new kittens that are old enough to play with in the barn, I have been loving all the extra time the kids are willingly spending outside. (You'll see in the background that Tall Star is still with us as well!)



Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Wheat Harvest 2015

Wheat harvest 2015 is complete! It actually wrapped up Monday afternoon. It's always my favorite harvest with no school to worry about and it is the most beautiful of the crops we grow.  I don't have any photos of my kids in the wheat because most of the time, our boys were running a combine or two!  Even Teresa practiced steering the grain cart with grandma.
Time sure does fly!
It is fun to see the next generation of farmers taking a new role on the farm.