Wednesday, June 9

Stuff happened.


It's been a busy last few weeks, lots of good stuff. 

We attended a dozen or more graduation open houses-
loved the not having to cook for a few weekends!

Leanne just finished up track, she ran hurdles and the 400 x 800 relay.
This was taken during warm-ups.  You go girl!

We spent a fun day at Itasca State Park going for a bike ride with a bunch of people.

The trail was beautiful!

Some ladyslippers along the trail- the MN state flower.



Itasca is famous for being the headwaters of the Mississippi,
where you can walk accross on the rocks.

Takin' a break and coolin' our feet. 
Then we biked s'more.  Ended with milkshakes at Douglas Lodge, yum!

Organized a gargantuan rummage sale at our church
 to raise funds for our team
going to the EFC National Youth Conference
 in Columbus, OH the end of June.
It was a huge amount of work setting up, selling and cleaning up
but we made $1,600 on a ton of 25-50 cent items! 
Brian and I are part of the team
of 12 students and four adults.

 I think most of the funds came from the sale of baked goods,
 who can resist the baked goods?  We cut the bars really big and charged $1 each.  

After the rummage sale we attended Brian's piano recital,
he did awesome. 
I will add the song or a link to the video of it as soon as I figure out how!

 Had a few friends over to celebrate my birthday with some grilling
and yummo cheesecake that Stacy made!

Brought Landon to Camp Oak Hills
 where he is a counselor/lifeguard for the summer.  
This family of geese hang out on Oak Hills Road.
  And I mean ON the road. 
The dad (or maybe it's the mom?) will stand in the middle of the road and hiss at your vehicle.  The nerve.

The monarch butterflies loved the lilacs as much as I do,
they were going crazy over them.
Sigh, I wish lilacs lasted all summer long.......
 

And this lovely humongous spider in the sink one day. 
Brian took video of himself killing it.  I am glad I was not around.
Very glad.  I hope this little guy doesn't have lots of relatives lurking.

5 comments:

Connie said...

Fun stuff! Love the lady slippers, have never seen them around here, and we also do not have Monarch butterflies....they are so beautiful, and you captured it well!
YIKES...that looks like a Hobo Spider! They are deadly, I'm serious. Google it and see what happens if you get bit by one!

Laurie said...

Connie you should not have told me that. I killed one last summer too in our basement that looked the same. Now I am most paranoid. This one showed up the day after Bill sprayed for spiders.

Connie said...

Sorry to scare you, just want you to be careful! We have lots of them around here. Go to Walmart or a hardware store and get some spider traps and put on the floor around your house. They are sticky and when the spiders go into them they can't get out. Then...have your brave husband or son dispose of it! Better than toxic spray, which is probably worse for humans than spiders.

Laurie said...

According to my research this morning, it could be a giant house spider, which are not dangerous or known to bite even. I can't tell the difference between the two actually, they look very much alike. And it seems all the articles on the hobo said it only lives in the very northwest, like Washington (and Idaho :)). Here's one quote: The behavioral aspects of the hobo spider have been a subject of controversy in the past, primarily due to the the publicized myth of the "aggressive house spider". While the hobo will bite when pressed against skin or tormented, it is no more "aggressive" than other wandering spiders; it does not bite without clear provocation, and certainly does not track people down and attack them, as some people have come to believe. The quick movements of this spider, and the fact that they sometimes run toward individuals when disturbed have fueled such myths, but the idea that such spiders are "attacking" is a misinterpretation. In actuality, these spiders have very poor vision and cannot distinguish objects more than a foot or two away. When disturbed inside a house, particularly when a light has just been turned on, the spiders most often remain stationary. When such spiders finally sense potential danger, they run, sometimes toward a person that they really can't see. Hobo spiders are not good climbers, and are usually found at ground or basement level. They sometimes climb up to a level of about four feet if the surface of the wall, etc. is sufficiently porous. Hobo spiders found in wash basins and bathtubs arrived there by falling down the slick porcelain surface; they did not come up through the drain.

All the same, I may get some sticky traps anyway.

Rachelle said...

I was happily reading along, fully enjoying the nature photos when Aack, aack, aack!!! The spider photo. That is one large spider. My two favorite photos are the yellow lady slippers (whoa!) and the bridge below it. Gorgeous!!