Swimming in the Slough

Around here, we have sloughs (pronounced sloo). They're really no more than low places in the topography where water collects. We really have them this year since we had all the snow and rain.

This slough is about 200 yards from our driveway and I'm surprised that I have kept the girls away from it this long! But, they finally had the thought that they now have their own private swimming pool, so, I'm a lifeguard.

Josiah was with Daddy this afternoon, so it was just the girls.

As you can see, Mariah wasn't really too sure about the whole idea, but the girls had a blast.





Jumping off the culvert.





A good time was had by all, as I spent the time sitting in the van, parked on the road, reading my book. I finished the book I was reading, Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History. If any of you like non-fiction stories about weather, this is a GREAT book. I highly recommend it.

The book is about Isaac Cline, who was the chief meteorologist in Galveston, TX when the hurricane of September 8, 1900 hit. It was the worst natural disaster in the United States and around 6000 people died that day.

The only sour note was that about a half hour after we got home, the girls were covered in hives. No idea what caused that! Oh well, a little Benadryl fixed them up and I'm sure they'll sleep very well, he he he.

Independance Day

Well, we decided to do something different this year rather than going to the Mandan 4th of July parade.

We went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan.

It was a beautiful day for being outside and the kids had a blast. It made me think that we should do a unit on Lewis & Clark! (always the homeschool mom, I guess)

This is a statue in front of the Interpretive Center.



At Fort Mandan, the kids had tons of fun.



They had the MOST fun, though, dressing up.

Olivia in her garb:



Sophia and Mariah playing with the dishes:



Joey:



Miss Mariah:



So, remember the other day, when I said that Mariah didn't remind me of any of the kids?????

Mariah looks so much like Olivia here!



Fort Mandan is surrounded by trees and the grounds are beautiful. Here's a shot of Josiah and Mariah that I thought was cute.



I couldn't resist taking some pics of the flowers that were growing on the grounds. LOVE to photograph flowers, and orange is my FAVORITE color. I just LOVE ORANGE FLOWERS, lol!



Here are a few pictures of the Missouri River. There is only a 65 mile stretch where it's allowed to flow unfettered by dams and such, so it meanders across the prairie here flanked by beautiful trees and fauna.

I found a stand of Russian Olive trees with the Missouri River in the background.

First cultivated in Germany in 1736, the Russian Olive tree was introduced into North America in the late 1800s, and subsequently naturalized into the wild. It is considered to be an invasive species because it has low seedling mortality rates therefore crowding out native vegetation in the wild. It often invades habitat on the banks of rivers where a stand of cottonwoods has died. (information taken from Wikipedia)

Russian Olive is one of my favorite trees, next to the cottonwood. I know, I know! Cottonwoods shed (it looked at times like a snowstorm) and the Russian Olive is an invasive species, but...well, I just like them. There's no accounting for taste, they say.



The Missouri has a high level of silt, which it deposits as "sand bars."



Here's a couple of random photos I took of the kids that I thought were interesting.

Mariah is so photogenic. She has such a range of expressions!




Olivia:



Here's a photograph of my husband's hands.



His hands are strong, like my father's and grandfather's hands...the hands of a working man with the earth and grease embedded under the nails. He works so hard to provide for us.

And here's a picture of Joey and his new bike! Poor Joey has been riding girlie bikes, but not anymore!!



Hope I didn't bore you with all the pictures! But, it takes a lot less time to look at them as it does to upload them, lol.

Hope you all had a GREAT 4th of July.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!!

My Son

I decided that I needed to get some pictures of "my little man" on here since I had the picture of the three girls.



Sometimes I worry that he gets lost in the shuffle, but he seems to be able to hold his own with his sisters, lol.



He loves to go with his dad, too, so that helps.

More Pictures

I just thought I would put in a few more pictures that I took with my new camera. Did I mention that I LOVE it?

Here's a picture of foxtail barley that grows everywhere! My goats don't like it, but I think it's pretty.



I enjoy photographing nature as much or more than my kids, lol.

Here are some pictures of the goat kids frolicking. They're so funny. When one of them gets a wild hair, it just takes off running with ears flying everywhere. Then any baby in close proximity takes off with it.









Here's a couple of pictures of my youngest. It's been hard for me to figure out who she looks like.







You know how when you are watching your child and there are fleeting moments when you say, "Oh, that reminded me of my brother!" or "When she looks like that, she looks just like her sister!" Well, that never happens to me with Mariah, lol. She doesn't remind me of anyone. She's just...HER.

Been Away for a Few Days

We had a little mishap with the camera, so I didn't have pictures to post...the most important part, he he he.

Also, my computer was acting up, so I took it to the computer hospital, lol.

In Bismarck today, I bought myself a brand new digital SLE camera. OH MY GOSH!!!!!

I LOVE it!

I bought a Pentax since I already had lenses. (That's the brand of SLE I currently own.)

Here's a picture of My Three Girls:

Sleeping In the Tent

My girls received a little tent from their Aunt Diana for Christmas last year. We had it set up in the front room for most of January, but Daddy got tired of that and finally made us take it down. (He's no fun at all, lol!)

But, it's finally getting warm enough that the girls have been asking to sleep outside in the tent and we finally relented a couple of nights ago.

You can't tell since it's draped in sheets, but it's actually a little green tent that looks like a frog.



That's Kaia there on the right. She always looks so sad when she's quiet. I guess that's the look of the Great Pyrenees. When she's up playing with the kids, though she looks more happy.

I wanted to get a shot of them when they slept outside last night. Then, they were on the deck, but I guess they're getting more brave because they slept about 50 yards from the house last night.

Here they are sleeping.



Don't they look like little angels?

Also, here's a shot of several of the adult does.