Harvesting Hay

Our kind elderly neighbor let us use his hay equipment, so after Miller's Custom Baling swathed the brome grass, we let it dry a few days then Riley raked it. 

most of the 5 acres of hay

all done, ready for the baler

The girls fixed some herbal tea for us to enjoy on these sunshiny arid days. We have quite a stash of herbs that need used up, so they chose several varieties to sample.

sun tea in the making

peppermint, spearmint, red raspberry, & jasmine green tea

Peppermint and Red Raspberry Leaf are the children's favorites. We are so enjoying a full size fridge to keep multiple beverages cold! In the PPA, if we had milk we couldn't chill water, and we certainly never had tea!

Jack baling it up

Shannon's 'little tractor that could'

a full trailer load

headed from the field to the shed

Annie and Caroline took turns driving the tractor while the Shannon and Riley stacked the hay. A couple loads fit just right in the shed. Enough to get a taste for it and still be fun, but not tire of hard work! (Well, the little people anyway.) I didn't do much except take pictures, care for Meg and do laundry, meals, and other daily work. We haven't located our clothespins so I've been using 8 or so to hang out clothes in shifts or just drape over the line. Then multiple trips later to switch dry clothes out for wet and pick the unpinned off the ground, our laundry eventually gets done!

Annie's hay harvest supper

Hurray for a break from house remodel and food for future livestock + to spare!

RV Basics

Here are a few snapshots of our family inside the purple Pace Arrow motor home while traveling.

Looking forward from the back hallway... Kitchen booth on the left, then couch.
Fridge, oven/stove on the right, then swivel chair

Sometimes there was a stool that could be added at the end of the table to help spread us out. Sometimes the stool would be perched up front between the driver & passenger to hear conversation. Sometimes it was stowed out of the way because we were tired of any extra stuff!

Meg's chance at the driver seat

If you look in the background, this photo is taken (by Riley?) standing at the front looking back.
Booth at right, kitchen on left, then hallway with closet & bathroom beyond.

The couch that pulls out like a futon for a bed.
We unfolded it the first week, then one girl slept on each end after that & one on the floor.

Mealtime at the booth. Riley is using the stool so Mama & Daddy have more elbow room.

The table is very handy for various activities, including playdough and...

...coloring, and schoolwork.

Past the kitchen is the toilet, sink, & shower.
The towel rods got used for drying spot-cleaned laundry overnight.

Across from the bathroom is the children's closet.
We brought along about 10 outfits per person and that was plenty!

Bedroom at the back. Meg slept on a changing table mat on top of the nightstand on the left.
Everyone's jackets hung on wall hooks back here.

Caroline played a funny trick on Daddy while he was napping. See Meg's blanket on the left?

We spent more time outside than in, hence the plethora of previous outdoor pictures. If we could keep the seating areas cleaned off and the countertops uncluttered and the floor picked up, (which we did more than once a day) the 270 square feet living area suited us just fine!

Wheat Harvest

About a week after arriving back in Kansas, the surrounding wheat fields were ready to be cut. Kent Brubaker asked Shannon to help them, so our family loaded up the motor home and parked near Sawyer for about a week while Shannon was in the fields! It was super hot starting out; Matthew Flora & family let us stay in the cool of their basement to escape the heat. A fantastic diversion for the children...lots of different toys & games, and friends to play with! They also had a pool set up for many hours of refreshing fun!

Cora pleased with her train

Flora residence

shady RV parking

Aah, sleep is so much better where it's nice and cool!

The children had more fun riding go-carts & 4-wheelers to do the neighbors' chores, playing multiple games of basketball P-I-G, and finding nature's treasures.

trampoline turned balance beam for Caroline

One afternoon we swam at Trent Wray's pond with Amber Peters & boys.

Cora, Maison, Mogan

Meg's 1st summer swimming

We stopped by the harvest field at least once every day so each child could have a turn with Daddy. (Meg & me rode too!) He liked a Starbucks iced coffee in the afternoons for a tasty rejuvination. Long days + short nights = drowsiness in the sunshine.

It did cool off the last few days, so we enjoyed a Sunday evening campfire supper at Matthew & Deborah's.

(this is actually brunch: eggs, muffins, fruit cups, cereal)

sticky s'more

popcorn by the embers

And we spent a morning with Beth Sink enjoying her garden bounties: delicious stir fry, smoothies, and juicy red blackberries.

Michael & Beth's beautiful bean rows

babies Meg and Brooklyn

Cora & Winston

We thoroughly enjoyed our vacation days back at our old neighbors and friends' backdoors. We missed them!

What to do on NE 30th Avenue

What do we do when we have a house that's not yet livable?

* Ride bikes we've been without for 4 months!

Caroline riding by the hay field beside our house

Caroline starting down the hill at the end of our 1/3 mile lane

family bike ride sunset 

almost back to the driveway

* Play in the water in the biggest tub we have, and put tubes on the rim so it doesn't poke!

of course noodles are necessary in this deep water

* Wear only onesies because it is 100 degrees and no AC!

*Play with sheet rock computers, cell phones, and other gadgets Daddy so kindly cut out for us!

*Hang out the front door because a little dust and bugs is not a big deal in a ripped apart house!

*Eat on the picnic table outside because the kitchen has no table!

Sunday night supper

* Spread out while cooking because the stove works in the kitchen and is much roomier than an RV! 

* Read, read, read -under the fan- for the Library Summer Reading Program!

the girls in their bedroom

Looking forward to cooler weather and a fresh new house!
Meanwhile life goes on!