Fun on the Farm

The kids' annual trip to the farm was complete with trips to Walnut Grove to visit Plum Creek and the Laura Ingalls Museum, Currie, MN to visit the End of the Line Railroad Museum, Bible School, rock painting, exploring in the woods and a bit of this and that. I'm not sure who and why, but they named two of the trees in the grove, one "Broccoli Tree" and the other "John the Hobo Tree", both









Jacob enjoys roasted marshmellows.


Grandpa Van Loh is known for his perfectly cooked smore's.

Railroad Museum, Currie, MN

Every year, the kids look forward to their annual trip to the End of the Line Railroad Museum in Currie, MN. As you can see, the museum is quite interactive. The beautiful photography is Kenzie's handiwork.

Walnut Grove, MN

In June, we loaded up the kids in the back of the wagon and took them to visit Grandpa & Grandma Van Loh on the farm.



Grandpa & Grandma Van Loh attend a small country church...



...with a rather young, female preacher.



Foot-washing in Plum Creek is also a ritual.





Grandpa and Grandma can also be harsh disciplinarians.



Jake is cracking in confinement.



Katie enjoys her new-found freedom.



Jake at Plum Creek

Katie's 4th Birthday

Katie received two goldfish for her birthday which, unfortunately, only lasted 3 days. We're thinking of a pet with a bit more resiliance.


Kid Friends With Poisonous Snake


Kid Rides Giant Python

Katie's 4th Birthday

Go Fish Concert

Two hours after returning home from 10 days on the road, Natasha and I took Katie to a concert at our church for her favorite musical group, Go Fish. She was really into it at first, but started to wind down within two songs after intermission.

The Go Fish Guys.
Going....

.....going......

........gone.

Tennessee: Swimming

No vacation is complete without swimming at a hotel swimming pool. Here we are at Pigeon Forge, TN.

Tennessee: Katie

When travelling over 2,500 miles, through 7 states and over 30 hours in the van, it's not hard to find some candid moments with out attention rich 3 year old, Katie. Natasha captured these pictures.

Katie with the penguins at the Chattanooga Aquarium.

Self entertainment at the Grand Ole Opry.

Katie and another penguin.

Katie nursing a fever at Aunt Wendy's. Thank God for portable DVD players.

Always needing to know what everyone else is doing.

All smiles, the day before her fever.

A brief stint as a surgeon at the Nashville Science Museum.

Drinking with her feet...like the monkey she is.

Cleaning her toe nails, like the monkey she is...

Tennessee: "Not all those who wander are lost." --J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

So we were not exactly lost, but we didn't really know where we were either. In what was my most enjoyable day of vacation, my uncle Laurel and I took a 2 hour hike through the hills behind their house. I'm not sure how long or how far Laurel intended on hiking, but we easily covered over 3 miles 800 feet down and then back up the hills. I can't tell you how many times I heard Laurel say, "There is a road down here." And there was, but we were farther and farther away from where we started.

Our hike started on man-made, groomed trails like this through his neighbors' property.


The early part of our hike took us through a washed out railroad bridge. Much of the trail is on the old rail road grade.

This small bridge was one of the last signs of civilization we saw for over an hour.

You never know what you might come accross when hiking through the hills of Tennessee and trespassing on others property. As it turns out, the owner of this Tennessee gem guards his property with a shotgun...likely still guarding his moonshine still. I thought the ruggedness of this lot had a unique beauty.

After an hour or so of hiking, we emerged out of the woods and into a beutiful clearing.

What goes down the hill must go up.

Trust me, we kept a close eye on the bull in the back ground.

Another pasture to cross.

Back home.