Days With the Duerksens

My sister and I enjoyed a day out with two of our cousins last Thursday.  We have never done such a thing, but I'm starting to think that it should be an annual event!  I have a lot of cousins, but Erica and Tina were the only ones I grew up with on a daily basis - same school, same town, same church.  It was a delight to spend the day with them.  Anyway, Tina had heard about a winery near Paxico, KS (about halfway between Manhattan and Topeka).  I have probably had about 3 sips of wine in my entire life, so this was completely a new experience for me!  But before we got to the Prairie Fire Winery, we made a stop in Manhattan to eat lunch.  If I had to live anywhere else, my first pick would be Manhattan.  I've always been drawn to it - beautiful limestone buildings, the flint hills, K-State (of course).  There's just something about it! We ate lunch in Aggieville at Rock-a-Belly Deli.  Good sandwiches!   Then, w...

I took Cambry to her first fair this morning - or at least her first fair where she was judged on projects.  She was kind of excited about it, but she told me she was nervous, too.  Being judged includes talking with the judge - not a strong thing for her.  But she did great! She had the nicest judge - a few critiques, but mostly positive feedback.  She took four projects along:  a rock collection, a painted dolphin, a 4-H  clover centerpiece, and a layered sand jar.  All of these she did at her Exploring 4-H meetings throughout the year.  Her fantastic leader, Susan, puts so much time and effort into leading this project.  We are very thankful for her and she made Cambry's first year in 4-H a good one! After it was all said and done, Cambry had earned 3 blue ribbons and 1 red ribbon.  She was very happy with that.  On the way home, she even said, "I feel like a talented girl!"  Oh, self-confidence, please stick around!! ...

In our family, it is a tradition to have a post-harvest meal together.  It's a way to celebrate after the last loads have been cut and carted off.  Usually, this happens within a couple of days and we end up at Applebee's.  This year, however, we had to wait a couple of weeks for the schedule to clear up.  And, we went somewhere new!   Chelan's second cousin, Shasta, lives in Enterprise, KS with her family.  They recently opened up a small restaurant called "The Buggy Stop."  Her family lives an Amish lifestyle, and their menu features some great home-style food:  homemade bread (loaves for sale on Wednesdays), homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade cookies.  Last night we had 2 choices for dinner:  BBQ boneless ribs or Bacon Jack Chicken Breast.  It was all so fantastic and so laid-back!  We enjoyed catching up with her and her family.  They have 6 children - the younger ones were eating while we ate, and the older ones ...

Would you believe it had been 7 months since Chelan and I had been on a date?  (Yes, I had been keeping track.)  Finally, FINALLY it worked for us to get away last Friday evening.  We actually went to the old FOX Theater in Hutchinson to watch a movie.  They actually show movies there most weekends for $4/ticket!  It was so much fun to watch a current movie in an old, classy theater.  We sat in the balcony and I admired the architecture and light fixtures while we waited for the movie to start. The movie was good, but my date was even better!  Hopefully, it won't be another 7 months before we do it again . . .  

My sister invited us to join her and Ty in Salina on Monday.  Our first stop was the "Cozy Inn" - it's been on my list to try for some time.  Who can go wrong with a bag of little burgers?  The kids all loved them, and that's saying something!  I can't remember the last time the girls ate a hamburger and liked it. Then it was on to the water park!  I can't count the number of times I went around the lazy river with Delaney.  She's just a little too short for most of the slides, so the river and the wave pool kept her happy.  Caiden and Ty kept busy playing hide and seek around the park and hitting the slides.  And Cambry was sometimes with me and sometimes happy to be doing her own thing.  It was great to catch up with my sister a little bit.  We definitely don't get much time for that! Good idea, Vanessa!

The girls got their day, and last week, Caiden got a boys' night with his cousin, Ty.  Caiden decided All-Star Sports would be fun, so last Tuesday, I took them.  I hadn't been there since college, so it was all kind of new to me!  They had a good time - they rode the go-karts (in sprinkles), we all played mini-golf (in sprinkles), they did laser quest, and I even let them play some arcade games. I'm happy to report that I won mini-golf!  :) You can't beat 1/2 price shakes to top off the evening!

We dropped Cambry off at Camp Mennoscah on Sunday.  When we left her there, it was 100 degrees.  Luckily, I threw in her jacket just before leaving on Sunday, because since then, the highs have only been in the 60's and 70's!  We hope she's staying warm enough at night - never thought I would say that in July! She's in Nestles for the 2nd straight year - she really wanted a different cabin, but I'm sure she got over it.  Her counselor is Gentry - a girl from our church, which always makes me feel better.  And the other counselor is from Pretty Prairie - we happened to know her aunt from playing sports way back in the day!  It's kind of fun to make those connections! We hope she had a great week - despite rainy and cool weather. Ready to swim!

Delaney has become quite the little fish this summer, but she still needs lessons!  Luckily, her cousin was willing to give her some again this summer at my parents' pool.  It was a good week, and Addi did a great job with her - she's even got her diving and treading water!  Thanks Addi, for your patience to work with these little people.  I can't believe you are old enough to be doing this - weren't you just Delaney's age?? She also gave lessons to Noah & Levi during the same week  

After our fields of wheat had been harvested, it was time to harvest our canola.  It's such a tiny little seed!  Since our field was so small, it didn't even fill up the semi, and Chelan had to haul the whole thing all the way past Hutchinson (a long trip in a semi)!  I think Chelan and his dad decided that they won't be growing canola again - at least for a little while.  But it sure was an interesting experiment!