2nd annual Momentum camping trip

This past weekend we went camping with the Momentum age group at church. It was the second year we went, and this year we had much better weather. It was sunny and warm and the trees kept the campsite nice and cool. On Friday some of us caravanned to the campsite to setup our tents and started a bonfire for the evening. Despite the noisy dogs barking for a lot of the night the temperature was good sleeping weather.

Saturday was spent hanging around the campsite, eating lunch, and then going into Owantonna to spend the afternoon at the swimming beach. The weather was perfect and although the water was a little chilly a bunch of us took the swimming "test" so we could go into the deep end and swim to the diving dock. The test consisted of swimming from one end of the swimming area to the other, but it was a long ways! Quite a few of our group attempted this task and were rewarded when they passed with a bright green wrist band. After swimming, some played sand volleyball and then we picked up some ice cream on the way back to the campsite. We grilled for dinner, had another bonfire and then braved some strong winds and a brief rain shower that night. The cooler weather was perfect to sleep in and most of us slept until 9:30 the next morning!

Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast and then packed up. We stopped at Cabella's and the Medford Outlet shops on the way home and made it back in time to get a little cleaning in before the work week. I'm not a huger camper, but after the good weather we had made me think that camping is actually pretty fun!

I didn't get any pictures of the actual campsite, but here are a few from the swimming day:

Tom, Dan and Scott getting ready for their swim test

Scott helping Chula get some water

The green wristband club

Dan on the way back from a fun weekend!

Memorial Day weekend and week

Sorry for the delay in posting. We took off some time from work the week of Memorial Day to be with friends and family and here are some of the pictures. Jeremy and Allison came up Friday night and Tom and Becky joined us Saturday. We had a ton of fun fishing, watching movies and watching the hail storm Sunday afternoon. It was too bad all of our cars had a little hail damage, but it was pretty cool to watch the storm. We had no idea it was coming since we were just relaxing and not watching tv, but it came really quickly and then was gone on its way to the tornado zone in Hugo. Luckily we only had hail damage and no tornados, but our grass that was just starting to come in was damaged and washed down into the lake! We might have to wait to plant grass in the fall when there is less of a chance of storms! Other than that everyone had fun kayaking and with the treats Allison and Becky brought we ate really well all weekend.

On Monday everyone headed back, and my parents and Brent and Amber came out for the afternoon and evening. We grilled shish-ka-bobs and pork ribs and the guys had fun kayaking while the girls went for a walk with Bella. The funniest part of the day was Bella trying to jump off the dock. She was a little nervous and crouched at the end of the dock and reached out slowly to dip her toes into the lake. Finally she had enough courage to jump but kept her paws out on top of the water so it was a hilarious doggy paddle. She started learning though, and I think the next time she visits she'll feel more comfortable... maybe the water will be warmer too.

That night Paul and Melissa came with the boys and we got them all settled for the night. It was great Paul III sleeps in a twin bed so that they could have the downstairs level and sleep comfortably. Roger and Monica came Tuesday and we enjoyed walking and fishing, and just relaxing until they left Thursday morning. The kids enjoyed being outside and Paul III kept asking to play in the "sandbox" which we realized he equated to our entire yard because of our loss of grass. He loved looking at the fish that Paul, Dan and Roger caught, holding the worms and the boat ride too. We hope that they can come back for a visit soon so they don't forget the lake :)

After all of our company left, Dan and I relaxed, finished a few projects and came back Saturday to catch up on things at home. It was great to get to see everyone... I feel lonely if we don't have a big group at the lake now! I think we'll have to have guests every weekend from now on!

Allison and Heather fishing - between all of us we caught 50 fish that day and ate the big ones for dinner!

Jeremy in his cool inflatable boat

Allison fishing - we were having a competition about who could catch the most fish... I was winning because she wouldn't put worms on her hook. I only helped after I made her wait until I caught a few fish to get ahead :)

Becky fishing - nice one! I don't think it made the cut for dinner thought :)

Dan, Jeremy and Tom fishing - the girls caught more than the boys!Here is our days work - most of them were too small, but it was fun to count how many we caught all day.The front yard during the hail storm.Tom with the almost golf ball sized hail in the yard

Its hard to see, but the hail was making huge splashes in the lakeCampfire one night

Apparently we only had pictures of Jacob! So, here is an almost smile of him with Dan.