Fargo Favorites #40

1. Rollerblades & Bicycle-rs

During the Summer, the Fargo sidewalks are always filled with people rollerblading or riding their bikes. I was informed this week that Fargonians are among the minority these days that do this. Supposedly rollerblading is not as popular in the rest of the US as it is here. Who knew??? But regardless of how 90ish we are- I love that Fargonians do everything and anything they can to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather while they can! Go rollerbladers!!!!

2. Harley Davidson

Who would think that Biker Chicks and Harley Guys would find their way to ND? But they do!! We see lines and lines of Bikers during the Summer driving down Main. Actually we even have a Harley shop at the end of our neighborhood. Are we cool or what???

3. Fields of Clover

I think I mentioned the fields of dandelions recently. Well, we have now transitioned from yellow to white. And not just cuz the dandelions have turned to seed. No- sorry no wishes for us to make {by blowing the dandelions into the air} BUT there's now tons of luck to be found in our fields and fields and fields of clover. Where are you 4 leaf clover? There has to be one in there somewhere, right?

4. Novice Dutch Oveners

For some reason, I have just always known about Dutch Ovens. Everyone does!!- Don't they??? Apparently not! I can't even tell you how shocked I've been at the number of people who have never heard or cooked in a dutch oven before!! But at the same time- it makes Fargo a great place for introducing a new talent into people's lives. AND yummmy for me!!!

5. LONG Summer Days
Winter is lonnnng but has very short days in Fargo. Seriously---- the sun takes on an 9-5 shift during the Winter here. For those working indoors, they practically miss all the daylight. So sad!!! So.. it's only fair that we get compensated for it during the Summer, right? Summers are short here but the days are very long!!! Mr. Sunshine graces us with his presence from 5:15am to 10:30pm every day! I am NOT kidding! Good thing for blinds and dark curtains. And for a night owl's schedule! But I am NOT complaining one bit- we'll take it for as long as we can!!!

 

What makes your days BRIGHT??

Happy Trails...

Brett's good friend retired this week. I can't even believe it.  Brett was asked to MC the Retirement Party. It was a lot of fun! There was an amazing turnout of people to wish Gary well. It was both funny and emotional.  He will be missed around work for sure. For Brett's part, he had put together a few funny powerpoint presentations and a nice musical slideshow. I helped Brett doctor up a few funny photos. They turned out hilarious! A few people told Brett he should be a Stand-up Comedian. He did a great job!

The office got together and got some pretty awesome gifts for Gary. This painting was one of my favorites. They had someone paint a picture of  Gary on his bike. Isn't it amazing?

Good Luck to Gary & his family. He will be missed but we're so excited he gets to spend more time with his family!!!

Work, Learn, Play, & Have Fun!

I do love the Summer! I love the laid back schedule, the late night parties, the sunshine, the sleeping in and doing fun things with the kids. However, long free days can produce bored, unproductive kids if not channeled a bit. Hence... every Summer, we come up with a way to schedule our time and be a bit productive along the way. Last Summer we did Attitude Change. It worked great because the kids wanted to be at the TV or Computer a lot but this year they haven't really been too bad of couch potatoes so we wanted to try something new.

For Summer 2011, with the help from Kristen'sKrafts, the kids made buttons to track our week. The buttons turned out way fun and the kids loved helping make them!!!

So here's how our Summer Schedule 2011:

Work, Learn, Play & Have Fun works:

There are things that we do DAILY like piano practice, prayer, scriptures, and a chore. [M-bedrooms, T-laundry, W-bathrooms, R-kitchen, F-basement] They put up the magnet and move it each day they do it.

Then, they have to pick one HOMEWORK thing to do each day. Things like reading, math, computer, art, or writing. They make their choice and put up their magnet on the day they do it.

Finally, they have a HOUSEHOLD thing to help with each week. These include setting the table, helping make dinner, washing dishes, and doing a job.  

I love it when they take the initiative to do there stuff!

We've been a little more slacky than I had planned (too many late nights and sleeping in til 11, I guess) but we are for sure enjoying our Summer. And I have some amazing helpers at my house. What would I do without them?!!!

Artic Swimmers

It was NOT swimming temps today but the kids have had their heart set on swimming together so whatever, right? Just don't make me get in!!! The Cudneys and us were invited over to do a bit of Artic Swimming at the Larsens tonight. The kids LOVED it! At least until they froze their hineys when they got out! LOL Thanks for the fun night, guys!

We got to warm ourselves by the fire. And they even treated us to some roasted marshmallows! Yummy!

Enough Already!

Will the rains EVER stop??????

Dutch Oven @ the Park

We decided to try something new with our Dutch Oven Cooking Parties. We moved them to the Park. We figure it'll cut down the craziness (and need for the before-cleaning process) at one person's home. I was a little nervous at the idea at first. Especially cuz most of the free parks in town do not have bathrooms or running water. A little bit nerve racking for the Mommas but it turned out perfect. It was a smaller group than usual this time but that just meant more food for me!!!
I think the reason for the smaller group was... Most people are taking off for the month of July so they think they need the whole week to get ready or something! ;o) All the more reason people should come to everything before they abandon us for the Summer but... that's just my opinion! And it seems it doesn't count for a lot round here these days! LOL
The food was amazing as usual! We had Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken with Veggies, Jambalaya, Pink salad, butterscotch cookies, Apple crisp and a Blueberry/other fruit cobbler. Delicious!

We brought Sabrina with us this time. We also had the new Gill family to play with as well. All the kids enjoyed playing on the playground and swings. Funny thing...The entire playground surface felt like it was floating (because of the rains this week). Whenever you jumped off the equipment , it felt  like you were gonna sink into some kind of quick sand. Luckily most of the kids came away without too much mud on them!

 After dinner, the Z boys, Jared Gill and Brett got together a game of Kickball for the kids. They loved it!!!

We'll have to see if we stay with the Park Dutch Oven Plan but for now.. we'll count it as a success!

Joseph in Technicolor!

We have some of the most awesome friends ever! When I was out VTing at the beginning of this month and Faith told me that Katie was going to be in the Enderlin Production of Joseph, I knew we had to make it out there. We love to adopt ourselves into the Lueck family anyway we can. They are awesome! They spoil us when we go out (not that that this the reason we go but it sure makes us feel special)!

We went out a bit early to eat dinner. Micki is a fabulous cook and the food was excellent. We totally made pigs of ourselves but it really was soooo good! She made us ribs, the best potato salad ever, fruit pizza, baked beans, chips, and the BIGGEST hotdogs you have ever seen in your life!!! Our kids love the big hill and playing with Katie & Ellie (and now they love to hold baby Scout)! Brett and I love visiting with Micki, Faith and Steve. (We missed Chet cuz he was out of town) They are so easy to laugh & visit with. Thanks so much for dinner, Micki! Yummmy!

Enderlin is such a cute little community where everyone knows everyone. [It's about 50 minutes SW of our home] They did a fabulous job at the production of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. The set was awesome, costumes were amazing and they sounded great! A perfect performance for our kids to experience Joseph for the first time. Way to go, Katie! You did an awesome job!

Remember the spoiling part??? Well after the play, we walked to the local Ice Cream Shop where Micki treated us to dessert. So yummy! It was a bit chilly cuz the wonderful ND breeze picked up but it was delicious!

Thanks for letting us come out guys! You are awesome!