Tuesday, July 15, 2008  -  HE SAID:  Today was a day to catch up on some housekeeping projects like dumping the holding tanks, filling up with fresh water, washing the truck and trailer and doing our laundry.  Pretty exciting stuff.  I helped Doug with the haying.  I drove one tractor and raked and turned the cut hay, and he drove another tractor and baled the hay.  I'm beginning to feel like a farmer.  The weather was nice today but warmer than yesterday.  A little of the heat and humidity that we have been expecting but dreading.  I went into Deer River with Dar and while she did some grocery shopping, I visited the hardware store and picked up some items I needed for the trailer.  Laurie & Loren's son Logan is here visiting and playing with Dar's other grandson Evan.  They have been busy working in the woods cutting some trees and making a fort.  They took the last three letters from their names and came up with "Fort Vangan", and are busy designing a flag to fly on the fort.  I watched them out shooting their homemade bow and arrows and it reminded me of being a boy and visiting my uncle's farm.  So many things to do.  It's nice to see them using their imagination and not inside watching television or playing video games. 

Tuesday, July 15, 2008  -  SHE SAID:  It was a good day to just stay put and like Don said, get caught up with a bit of laundry, spiffing up the RV, and resting a bit also. It has been busy almost every day since we got here, so a down day was great. I helped Dar cut up about another 400 pounds of strawberries (okay maybe it was 12 cartons, but it seemed like more!) - and that was fun and it also gives us the chance to talk, talk, and talk some more about everything and everybody. It's wonderful to have someone you can truly trust with whatever you are sharing your thoughts on--and I feel like I've been blessed with one more wonderful sister.

I also got a chance to spend some time with Doug & Dar's grandkids, Evan & Logan, which helped ease some of the big old empty ache I'm feeling missing my grandkids. I walked down to see the fort the boys are building and I was VERY impressed with these 2 budding architects and of course they took turns entertaining us throughout the day with paper moustaches and eyebrows, strange voices, and their opinions on what is wrong with our world.  We could learn  a lot from sitting down and listening to these kids...wish we could send them to Washington!