Wild Things Summer

Well, we're back in the swing of things. Today marked day 3 of the new school year. Madeline is in first grade and Katie is in Pre-K. They are both having a wonderful time and love going to school, although Katie is NOT a morning person and bitterly complains about waking up after her solid 10 hours of sleep.

Amazingly we are in a good routine for homework, piano, lunch packing, meals, bedtime. I have been soaking in a little quiet time today, after spending the beginning of the week catching up on work.

So, we spent about a month in the Midwest this summer - the coolest summer on record there for a long time. When we arrived home, we landed in the middle of the hottest summer on record in a long time. The record broken, specifically, related to consecutive days over 110 degrees. My poor plants (all of which are on automatic sprinkler systems of course) have been taking it hard and we've lost at least two trees. You simply can't provide enough water to make up for the awful sun.

That said, we had a great time romping around in the cool northern temps. The girls decided they weren't scared of animals anymore this summer and had a great time chasing, catching, picking up, and petting all sorts of creatures. This love of animals did not extend to the Daddy Longlegs that Katie inadvertently picked up when trying to show us a tree frog.

We visited Leslie at Victory Acres Farm where Madeline caught and petted a chicken which, strangley enough, seemed to enjoy the experience. The girls also met Jasper, the dog that has adopted Leslie.

Dad and Evan took them fishing off the pier probably every other night. They had lots of success. Katie was mostly a blue gill catcher, but Madeline caught herself a few bass, too. Overall, they mostly loved to "play with" and abuse the beemoths they used as bait.

Madeline made sure she combed Mom and Dad's yard on a daily basis for little creepy crawlies. Here, she is holding one of many tree frogs. She also picked up a turtle which we carried to the lake, and a katydid that we found while visiting the park with Grandpa and Grandma Gottschalk.

Jackson was apparently so starved for attention that he enjoyed the girls' company.

Almost every night they begged to catch lightning bugs.

This little raccoon was one of several wild creatures that seem to love Mom and Dad's spread. He is pictured in the corner of their garage. Madeline finally created a chart for counting deer sightings at the end of our stay. We saw many, many deer, some foxes, buzzards, Great Blue Herons, and a stink bug laying little yellow eggs on their glass front door.

We visited the Fulton County Fair with Mom and Dad, taking in all sorts of livestock. They loved the horses and rabbits. Dad really helped the situation by reading out loud the sign that said, "Rabbits for Sale." Madeline was really taken in with the goat showing, and realized after a walk through the hog barn why calling someone a pig is an insult. Katie was the one to spot the few chickens that had laid eggs in their cages.

We visited with my cousin Alaina and her boys at Connor Prairie, but only had time for the play area, lunch, and the barn before a summer storm moved in. Regardless, the girls had a wonderful time brushing goats and a calf, and manhandling chicks. They were disappointed the miniature horses were pastured outside at the time.

Besides all these pictures, the girls saw a tiny baby kitten at the Hollewell family farm in IL, visited a dairy, saw livestock and a variety of birds including owls and falcons at Cosley Animal Farm in Wheaton, IL, fed swans on Crooked Lake in IN, and were quite taken with the dead mink at Leslie's farm and the dead squirrel at Crooked Lake. They were actually able to pick up and hold several-day-old piglets on my college friend Lindsey's family farm. Madeline loved the experience, following the boys in to pick one up for herself. Katie thought they were a little too noisy for her taste. If I can get a picture of them with the piglets, I'll post it.