Mens toys.

Oh what fun the big boy has with big toys. Feeling sad the grandkids are not around to play too.

Wyatt would be thrilled to be right out there with his own diggers.

My Mr. rented an earth mover/scraper whatever to play in the dirt. Son has a pond that has been dry this summer so we are making use of the wonderful black topsoil that has washed into it over the years. Not sure how many loads he has brought up to the yard but he has been busy busy..for HOURS. We have need for some around the foundation of our house... so that kills my flowerbeds there..which were maybe more weeds than flowers anyway. And I can dream all winter about the future plans of landscaping around the house. maybe.

He also has taken out a grove of pines which were planted on the farm when the family moved up her in 1958 so now have lots of topsoil where they used to be and one day we will plant something...not too much grass hon...please! we mow mow mow...tooooooo much already.

13 day journey of cacoon to butterfly

Cacoon is at the top of the jar hooked onto the stick by maybe the caterpillars antenna??

The opaque cacoon is between IT's antennas.

Another picture of the Cacoon IT lived in for 13 days.

BEAUTIFUL monarch butterfly.

Oh dear these are 50 year old hands....SIGH...but look at the beautiful butterfly!

Look at a miracle of nature..Perfect artistry.

My SIL Becky brought several cacoons down so we could share in watching the rest of the process..She had found the catterpillars on some milkweed and I believe she watched one form the cacoon..

Two made the car trip to the farm from wisconsin.

Cheri took one to Iowa where that one turned into a butterfly while they were gone for the day.

But ours............ was soooooo AWESOME to be able to see it HAPPEN.

On day 13 of being in a cacoon IT worked it's way out into this world. I had noticed the eve. before that the cacoon was a dull color green now from a bright green and I could see some black and orange off the wing. The next morning the cacoon was a dull grayish color with more vivid showing of the black and orange and white of the monarch. A few hours later the bottom of the cacoon kind of fell apart and IT was attached to the cacoon still and would turn one way and then the other over a few hours..his legs slowly coming out of the cacoon..I could not imagine such a small cacoon for such a large butterfly.

The cacoon by the time IT was out was just an opaque color.

We turned IT loose in my flowers and sometime after an hour IT took flight. I wonder if this was the hatching that heads south to Mexico? Seems there are 4 hatchings a year and the last hatching heads SOUTH.

Speaking of being born and knowing to head SOUTH for the winter...amazes me....

I would love to head SOUTH for a small portion of winter.

Mystery Cave

Enjoyed taking Tanner and Wyatt to forestville state park to mystery cave one day.

Wyatt held onto his very own ticket before the tour. The cave is a constant 48 degrees year around.

Now next summer IF we end up with some HOT HOT weather...we hope to go back with some of the other grandchildren. They do have a lovely campground area with lots of hiking trails..trout streams..years ago we took our horses there and rode with our kids..one or two of them I cannot remember exactly.. They do have an old town forrestville which has the store, gardens,of the 1800's or so and have staff there that acts the part.

Fishing and hiking.

Vernon and Joel F. canoeing at the hyalite resevoir where they dropped a few lines. The fish were lucky as none made it into the boat.
Us 3 ladies and 3 children went on a hike to palaside waterfall. 100 ft fall. Gorgeous scenery and a good hike up the mt. and back down. Miss Avrie had a walking stick.

A couple views of the falls.

July 19 we left on a 2 week vacation taking shannon and the 3 grandchildren. We had a great time together and saw lots of beautiful scenery.

I have a hard time figuring out HOW to get my pics from camera to computer to blog. but I have begun to make headway and will add more soon.

And who is this?

This is our oldest grandchild. He was trying out a new look oneday.

A fresh cut for summer.

Tanner came one day with a fresh cut mohawk..It is much cuter now that it has grown a little bit since this pic.
If he would let his hair grow sometime I think it would be dark.

Part of our july 4th

2 minutes after the july 4th party at Sims.

Dolpin was a great ride. Sue helping stabalize the creature.

Most of one morning was spent moonshoe hopping around the yard.

Papa Vernon our driver.

Last minute plans at Rich and Sue's and kami's...potluck lunch.pooling,hand and foot for those who did not want to get wet.

Sue,Kami,I and the boys had 1 1/2 hour nonstop pooling. The slide was a hit as was Kami and her blue dolphin and the fact that her pool is deeper than ours.

well at least I have been able to figure out how to get some pics on this blog..nevermind that they are totally not in order. and there is open spaces. :)