Camping at Cheney Reservoir State Park

We had one weekend that seemed to work for a camp trip this spring, between graduation and wheat harvest and new baby arrival, and it was a weekend with rain! Since the wetness was just Friday night, we opted to go ahead and camp one short night anyway. We left first thing Saturday morning so we'd have all that day besides Sunday. It turned out to be beautiful weather! A little on the cool side, but just right for a campfire to warm up to.

 Back on the road again! On the way to our first camp trip of the year.

Riley and his buddies left earlier and got the fire good and hot for us. They had evening plans so they went home late afternoon to get back after plowing bikes through flooded parking lots and roasting hot dogs.

The rest of use enjoyed  a bike ride or two as well. Those giant puddles were so alluring!

Cooking over the fire and cousin time make for fun memories!

Winter Field Trip

Our family took a winter jaunt north to Nebraska for our son's high school basketball tournament. We stopped halfway at a park to have a picnic in the snow (because it was a beautiful bright day) and watch a little plane taxi and take off above us.

The official Kansas day stop was at Pawnee Indian Village Museum, a building encircling a large excavated Indian winter home.

Before entering we had to play in the snow some more, shoving each other into the large drift. There was no snow in our part of Kansas, so we were indulging in it here!

The museum guide was very helpful and interesting showing us a painting of what the Pawnee village would have looked like in its day, overlooking a river, positioned on a bluff above. It was a neat vantage point! Apparently over 2,000 natives lived here, but in 20 years were gone, with 20,000 white settlers replacing them in Republic County. The current population in this county is only about 4,500 now.

We giggled at the buffalo chart that showed how all its parts were used by the Pawnee, some as strange as water bags, paint pencils, and baby rattles. They used up blood in soup. ick.

Our next historical visit was to Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Nebraska.

The entrance to one main building has states hanging along the wall showing how large of areas were homesteaded by the part that is missing. 

The girls worked on their Junior Ranger badge booklets, filling in information from the various displays. We watched a short film and peeked inside a replica cabin of those determined homesteaders of long ago.

 

They did it! Even Meg received a pack of trader cards telling the story of different families starting out on a land claim, a bracelet, and a badge. This is the National Park's 100th year, so the Jr. Rangers got an extra centennial badge!

As for the basketball games...we have an entire post dedicated to the basketball season coming up here in a couple weeks, as the season concludes...

August Garden

Snapshots of our Kansas garden in August...

A morning picking of peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and zinnias.

The volunteer sunflower towering in the corner by the patio.

The Flat Dutch cabbages survived the spring and summer, despite the heat and worms. The strawberry plants have sent out runners and the patch is enlarging. The tomato vines pulled over their stakes and are growing into the yard, and over some cabbages.

Swiss chard was left uncut for several weeks and we harvested five pounds in one cutting. That's heavy for lightweight greens. You know how big a bag of 10 oz. lettuce or spinach is in the grocery?!

Here is part of it washed and waiting to be cooked or refrigerated. Some of us like it warm and salted, others eat it only in berry smoothies where it is undetectable.

The sweet potatoes have filled up their space (where I ruined our regular potato plants). Hopefully we will get a nice amount of pretty orange ones just before frost.

I've been cutting okra 2-3 times a week. It's situated on the edge of our newly expanded garden area this year and unfortunately the grasshoppers are doing their damage. Anywhere our grass grows tall, the pasture bugs abound.

Some fruits and veggies ripening on the vine...

After our two week absence visiting relatives back east, we gathered quite a few piles of produce.

Produce harvested in August: 126 pounds

Tomatoes, summer squash, cantaloupe, okra, and cucumbers as the main weight bearers, though we picked 3 varieties of peppers, turnips, red beets, carrots, and 3 kinds of greens as well.

July Garden

Many things growing in the July garden...

Filling in bare spots and plants growing up over one another.

Plenty of greens to harvest: Kale, Red Beets, Swiss Chard, Turnips. 

(Though not the family's favorite side dish!)

Banana Peppers are the first of the peppers to start producing. The Bells have little babies on them, but the mini sweets are only growing plants, not fruits. Perhaps because I saved seed from grocery store peppers?!

The garden view from our back patio. 

Someday that hodgepodge building will be improved. It disgraces the garden photos every time!

One morning's harvest.

The okra plants are thriving in the heat, all 3 rows tangled together in a prickly mass. The picking is a bit sticky, but I'm so glad they are producing. Okra is my hubs favorite garden veggie. He could skip the greens.every.time.

The pea gate trellis has been overtaken with cucumber plants, hurray!

Basil is growing well in the shade of mammoth indeterminate heirloom tomato plants.

The calendula is blooming that was brought all the way from Ohio in July and transplanted for medicinal purposes.

Another day's picking.

Produce harvested in July: 77 pounds

Green Beans, cucumbers, onions, and turnips being the heavy weights.