Our Mini Vacation--Warning: TONS of pictures

In the first week of September,

I loaded up the six younger kids and headed for North Dakota 

for a visit/vacation with my aunt and uncle.

It was so refreshing!

It is also something I've never done--I felt like such a big girl

driving all by myself to somewhere I'd never driven before.

We arrived at supper time and I didn't unpack my camera until the next morning--

 breakfast buddies!

 Ivy always takes such nice pictures, remember?

 cereal from a box that has an activity on the back!!!

(Christopher and Elijah were still sleeping when these were taken.)

A ride in Uncle Curt's combine

 tea parties

in jammies

with hair not yet done

 Here, the ladies were better prepared for the occasion.

 riding the 4 wheeler

 testing the waters of their pool

looking really weird cool in some goggles

eating freezy pops

strutting one's stuff

 hitting Uncle Curt with a water ball

eating treats in Uncle Curt's man cave

 this was a first for these guys--jumping on a trampoline!!

(I love the shadow on the tramp)

Ruby had the time of her life on the trampoline!
She loved to just run around and around and around and around and--
you get the idea.

Ivy thought Uncle Curt was so funny

Of course I couldn't take pictures of everything--
the delicious meals, the pop & popcorn movie nights,
my very own first ride in a combine,
the gracious hospitality
and the sense of "ahhhhhhhhh"
we all felt just to be away for a bit.

It was something we will remember for a long, long time.
Thank you, Curt and Tammy,
so so much.