"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of!"
Surrounded by my sweet boys (hubby Eric, sons Connor and Ramsey, and our dog, Jango), I thought this a rather befitting name for my crew's blog. To our cherished friends and family, happy viewing! We love you!
Ramsey had swim lessons earlier this year. Though he made progress (submerging his head under water with a held breath), he didn't pass to the next level, so he was rather discouraged.
His issue: floating. He just didn't get the hang of it. Eric and I figured that he just needed some more one-on-one personal attention for longer periods of time.
While I was at work, Eric has been swimming with Ramsey, teaching him how to float and swim more.
We agreed that after just one "Daddy & Me lesson", Ramsey had already surpassed what he would have needed to do in order to pass Level II Swim at the YMCA. He was doing... amazing!
He is getting braver and braver. Before we know it, he'll be swimming like a fish and jumping off the dock!
FINALLY! After battling the water levels and getting everything set up, we are ready to roll on the pontoon for the summer. Wahoo!
Jango... well, Jango was pleased as punch. Soak it in, pup!
Connor had to work, so we went out after I could get away from my job too. Ramsey played tug with Jango for a while... until we caught a fish.
Then, it was all hands on deck... er, in the live well! Ramsey always loves playing with the fish we catch. Poor fish... but, it keeps him occupied and entertained.
I enjoyed the family camaraderie, the glide of the toons over the water, and the gorgeous skies. It was heavenly. This Spring had been challenging, but finally, just at the cusp of summer, we're boating on the lake! (I was really beginning to wonder.)
After Jango's excitement, he did settle down near my feet. Much of his time was spent peering out the troll motor door. There were many times I thought he was going to jump in!
And, on this first expedition for the pup, he seemed "concerned" when we would troll/crank by our house; he would cry and scream when we would pass it. I guess he may have missed home?
We stayed on the water long enough to see a beautiful sunset. This... this is my happy place!
...always makes my heart happy to see the boys playing. Jango's too, as he got lots of love and play attention tonight. He's made strides in his dock jumping this year!
Last year, he "flumped" (plopped/fell) into the water a few times, then decided he didn't like it much. This year, he's jumping in and loving it all! This is my view from the deck, while making supper. Love it!
Little did Ramsey know what was on the end of the jig when he was reeling in this fighter! If it would have been a similarly-sized walleye, we'd have a proud angler. Instead it was a carp. Still.... they are fun to reel in!
I decided to do something new this year. I decided to volunteer to be a vacation bible school teacher. I had a bit of vacation time to use, the church was looking for helpers, plus this would be one trip instead of two trips to town to transport Ramsey for VBS. Why not?!
When I checked in, I was told I'd be a team leader. Oh boy.
Every day started out the same; about 20 to 30 minutes of learning/singing songs (that would be performed at the end of the week, in church). Each song had actions. By 9:15 AM, we'd sat, stood, danced, sang, and repeated several times! We got in LOTS of steps and exercise this week! Holy schmoly.
After singing, our groups went to various 20-30 minute sessions, learning about teachings of the good book and praising Jesus.
During the week, after VBS, Ramsey and I would go to McDonalds for special lunches. We went to parks to eat. We even stopped in to see Nana Karen at her apartment. She has a nice park behind her building.
It was really a special week and I met some truly phenomenal people. And, I now have three new songs that will be forever engrained into my brain. 😉🥰
"God is Watching Over You"
"Our God is Great - Our God is Awesome"
And, my favorite... "Our God is an Awesome God".
Ramsey's Group:
My Group:
The entire group!
It was a wonderful week of getting to know new sweet kiddos, learn more about bible teachings, and spending time in church. It was, however, extremely exhausting also. I had no idea! Kudos to all of the volunteers and employees of our church who make this happen every year!
Dock-fishing at its finest! Connor had Jared out to chill and all of the boys wanted to go fishing. So, in true Duven style, it had to be a contest; two against two.
Connor and Jared... against Eric and Ramsey.
Ramsey snuck over to hang out with Connor and Jared for a while.... then returned back to fish more with Daddy. Notice that Jared was bestowed the R2D2 pole.
I was surprised that I was able to get a catch on video. I was just in time! The rest of my evening was hanging with Jango, so he wouldn't be sad all by himself (crying inside the house - poor baby).
The guys kept all of the fish in the live cage until the next day. It's Connor's turn to clean fish!
The last few days had been rather exhausting. BUT... Sunday was church day. And, frankly, I just needed a bit of Jesus that day. And, I knew Ramsey would love what came after church this particular Sunday.... bouncy castles in the church gymnasium!
In all of my years living around here, I had never been to Ft Sisseton Days. It was always around my birthday. Apparently, I had other things to do. This year, Eric was away on a fishing trip, so I called up my BFF Shana and planned the trip for us to go to the fort. With Ramsey's newfound love for war history, I figured this would be right up his alley.
Fort Sisseton was established in 1864. In 1959, it was turned into a state park. About 14 of its original buildings are still intact.
Everywhere we walked, there were soldiers in uniform, battle items, look-outs, food and goods vendors. And, they had all sorts of activities going on in various directions.
Ramsey thought these cannons were pretty neat. Frankly, so did I!
After our intial "oohs and aahs", our first two missions were to go find TOYS and FOOD. Toys came first. Ramsey talked me into buying him a wooden rifle, a wooden pistol, and a wooden sword/sheath. Cuz... why not. ?!? The food wasn't as awesome as what Shana remembered it to be (she had worked there a few years after high school), so we only bought a Mongo-sized bag of kettle corn. I should have brought a pack mule to carry all of the items we had purchased.
Shana filled us in on some of the history of the place. Ramsey loved this fort, even though it was sparse and walking inside of it felt like a funhouse, with wonky stairs and unlevel flooring.
He played like he was watching out for enemy troops, poking his guns out through the flat rectangular windows.
From here, we found an area with a lot of kids gathering; it was a gold/mining wash plant! Each person received a overfull mug of muddy sandy dirt. They had mixed in "gems", gold, and other treasures for kids to find.
Auntie Shana really got in there with her hands to show Ramsey how to pan for gold.
Incidentally, after we got home, I washed Ramsey's "treasures" even more. There were all kinds of cool little rocks in the mix, plus a stone arrowhead. Nice little bits to add to his collection!
After this, I was adamant about getting over to the Gatling gun demonstration. The fort is large and we had no idea where we were going. We found the location (beyond the vintage baseball diamond where live games were being played by men in old-time baseball uniforms - and even farther than the vendor stands). We didn't get the greatest view, but we made it just in time!
I thought Ramsey would LOVE this. He thought it was cool until it started going off. Cuz uh... it was LOUD! Nonetheless, I can now say that I have seen (and heard!) a real Gatling gun firing.
We didn't tour all of the buildings (maybe next year?!?) and just wandered about until we came to something a big magical.
"The Bubbler" was there, entertaining the kids (and adults!) with his bubbling antics. He had intricate ropes and wands for making every size bubble imaginable, plus a bubble machine going full blast.
The smiles on the kids' faces were joyful. It made me feel like a kid again too!
Kids were jumping and running after bubbles, trying to catch and pop them.
...fun for ALL ages!
After a few hours of the heat and tons of walking, we decided it was time to head back home.
We will see you again, Fort Sisseton! Maybe next time, Daddy and Connor can come too.
