Hannan Campout
We headed to Hannah, SD (just a campground area not a town) between Lead and Spearfish. We found a good place to park the camper out in the woods, all by ourselves. We spent one night (with a few black angus cattle) and day treking through the wooded trails on our ATV and dirt bikes. Thor finally had a chance to
ride his dirt bike endlessly... every time he would get a little bored of sitting on our camp chairs, he would say "Can I ride my dirt bike?" He didn't know it, but that is precisely why we went... to give him a safe, quiet place to ride back and forth and get used to the bike. It think we hit the mark! By the end of the day he had ridden up and down the trail (as far as we could see) about "a THOUSAND times" (according to Thor!). Now maybe he is ready for a real "ride" with dad and the boys?! So the next weekend we headed to Rosholt for the big 60th Wedding Anniversary Celebration for my mom and dad!! LOTS of family and friends showed up for the big party... so many more people, from so far away... we didn't really expect it all... we just really didn't know what to expect! Mom and Dad had such a good time seeing everyone... but the poor basement felllowship hall of our home church, St. Joseph (out in the country near my hometown of Rosholt) was so crowded, they could hardly move around to visit with people.
My brother said the basement room holds about 80 people comfortabley, and we counted 125 people during the 3 hour "open house!" We did get some great family group pictures with both the Moeller/Jackson and the Moeller/Nigg sides of the family. So many of these cousins I hadn't seen in 10 years (or more)... One group of cousins (kind of distant by the 
time you get to my generation) came from Minneapolis and Wisconsin together. They visited the old farm place the next day -- now Layne and Betsy's home. They said they hadn't been the the home place house for probably 30 or 40 years!!
So then next... or actually WHILE we were off partying in Rosholt we had the biggest hail storm at home in Piedmont that has been seen in years and years.... maybe ever? Our neighbors reported that the hail came in three waves. There was large hail right from the beginning, some as big as a baseball. It started breaking people windows and windshilds right away. One elderly neighbor went out to try to cover a window and slipped on the ice... he got inside, thankfully.. or who knows! The next wave of hail brought softball sized ice mixed with all sizes of smaller hail. By this time every house on our street facing North had lost at least one window on the front of the house. Our house faces South -- we did not lose any windows.
The pickup truck with the topper camper were sitting right in front of the garage and took the worst of the hail. Our roof, gutters, eaves, one window (the frame was cracked/chipped) the siding, all
the above on the storage shed, our patio table, the grill and misc. kids toys were all eligible for "claims" with our insurance. We're still waiting to hear the final amount on the pick up, but the campers is a "total" for sure. The house repairs and personal property replacments will be covered 100%, Praise the Lord! (of course, after our deductible... which won't be that much considering).
You might think we'd have given up on "going and doing" after all that... but we had been planning a special camping trip with Abby and Anna, Holli and Jason since last
summer.... and had just settled on this late August date earlier in July. It was going to be a birthday treat for the girls, and an early birthday gathering for me. We actually did have a really good time, even though I was a little sad we don't have our camper anymore. Tenting went really well, considering it was very cool and rainy the first day and a half. The night time was a little chilly --
so baby slept between Dirk and I on our King sized air mattress. Who knew King size could feel so small?
We had all sorts of fun at the Grace Coolidge campgroup at Custer State Park -- bike
riding, playing in the water (even though the parents had forbidden it!), experimenting with meals over a campfire, watching a few buffalo, etc. As you can tell by my pictures, my attempt at making biscuts over the fire, in our dutch oven went pretty well -- but a bit too brown on the bottom. I'll just have to practice more often! I even made my own birthday cake in the dutch oven. No burning there either... just some very prominent carmalization (again, a nice way to say just a little too brown!!).
Thor starts school, 2nd grade, tomorrow. Maybe this will put me back on track with getting projects and usual chores done? Summer adventures for this year are pretty much done... and maybe I'll get a little more sleep at night now too??
