Justin, Annette and Carrie Morrison traveled from Astoria, SD for quite a short visit, basically just Saturday and Sunday morning. It was a wonderful time, we're so glad they were able to get over here, even if it was short. We had made plans to
spend the day at Sylvan Lake in Custer Park ... Gpa and Gma wanted to take Thor shopping for his birthday, so we thought we'd start the day with a trip to Target... Grandma had just as much fun as Thor picking out all the things on his school supply list. It's much for fun to do that kind of shopping with your grandmother... she is willing to buy you the EXTRA big package of markers... and the special "cool" package of erasers... What a blessing for us, too! Now Thor is pretty much ready for school, just one last pair of sneakers to get... and the way his feet are growing, I think I'll wait until the week before school... just to be sure they last as LONG as possible this year!
In the afternoon, we thought we'd pack up and head for the lake... but as we watched the plume of smoke growing just south of us... we wondered what was the best plan after all. We heard on the TV that the fire was near the Nemo Road area, which is actually a number of mile from here (but then again, the recent fire in Hot Springs had travelled 11 miles before it was contained!)... but it still looked ominous.
The next thing we knew, a group of black clouds were moving in... and we had a WHOPPER of a summer storm. It started out with just a few sprinkles of hail, but moved quickly into a dousing RAIN! No matter what other conditions were around, we were more than happy to get the rain. Dirk and I were betting on how much came down -- I said 3/4 to 1 inch... he said 1/2 an inch... Why are boys always right about these things?? quite unfair!! (it was just a hair more than a 1/2 inch -- dad said maybe 7/8th at their house). So instead of going to the lake, the lake came to us! Thor wanted to play in the rain to cool off -- and cool off we DID! By the end of the storm, we were mostly wrapping up in towels to stay warm! The water was running many
inches deep in our gutter... great play time for Thor, Tante Carrie and the rest of us!
The next day we packed up the Blaster and Thor's dirt bike (his birthday present from mom and dad) to head south to Ted's. After we enjoyed burgers, hot dogs and ice cream (instead of cake) -- the boys and little girls headed out for the trails. Thor had his first experience on his dirt bike in the real woods. Thor said he crashed 3 times... and only "bent up his bike a little" (the gear shifter is bent in a bit) -- but he did great. Dirk was able to stick close to him and give him all the coaching and encouragement... When the found a mud puddle that covered the whole road (and steep side on both sides) Thor got stuck going through the first time, so dad helped him buy driving it through on the way home. They were gone for about 2 hours.. and came home with 4 VERY TIRED children. I think the girls had a great time too..
Brianna said it was more fun than riding a horse ... and Anika fell asleep before we hit the 7-11 road (less than 5 minutes!). By the way, we heard this morning that the fire by Nemo Road (called the Box elder Fire, not to be confused with the town of Box Elder near Elsworth AFB) is 35%
contained. The rain slowed it down, so the fire fighters could make better progress, but it is still burning. We pray for the safety of all the fire fighters, and protection over the homes... none lost at the time of the last report.
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