June 7 - June 13

     Monday June 7th Rachel and Becca had basketball camp from 9-12 and Alec had camp from 1-4. After the girls got done with camp Becca stayed to play with Delcey while I took Rachel to town to get tested for Covid for our upcoming Florida trip. We then went back to Hershey to pick up Alec and came home. Elly and Bree came over to play for the afternoon while Jace had surgery. Mike left for Omaha after work for a 2 day conference. Tuesday the kids all had camp again and I just spent the day cleaning between running kids around. Wednesday was the last day of camp. Rachel and I finished packing our bags and getting everything lined up for our trip. 

    Thursday Rachel and I left the house at 4am to start picking people up as I drove us to Denver. Becca and Alec stayed home until mid morning then walked down to Thompson's to play until Mike got off work. We got to Denver around 9 and flew out around 12. We got to Miama late afternoon and boarded a bus to the Everglades. We went to an alligator swap and got to see alligators at night. We then had dinner and then went to the hotel for the night. 

  Friday Mike went to work early then was home and took the kids to go see the steers off the trailers from the ranch. We put 86 on the Simon and 87 on the Campbell. Rachel and I started our day with a Shark Valley tram tour. No we did not see any sharks, it is actually a home for alligators and bird on the tip of the everglades. We then went to a lake called Pennykamp to practice snorkeling and to swim in the ocean.  

  Saturday Mike and the kids went to the office party gathering at Sutherland reservoir and Aaron and Ashlyn were in town and went with them. Rachel and I started our day with a bus ride to Key Largo to go Netting. Netting is just what it sounds like, we took nets out into the ocean to see what kinds of little fish and creatures we could find. We found a couple box fish and shrimp. After that we went to the turtle hospital to see all the turtles that are being treated or live at the hospital. If a turtle is hit by a boat prop and the shell gets damaged they can get air bubbles trapped under their shells and no longer be able to dive so the hospital puts weights on their shells and tries to help them learn to survive in the wild again. If they can't then they get to stay at the hospital. There are also lots of turtles with cancerous tumors at the hospitals awaiting surgery.  That night we got back to the hotel early and had a pizza party at the hotel. After the kids were in their rooms the adults enjoyed a night off with some drinks in the hotel lawn by the docks. 

  Sunday we got up and got on a boat and headed out to the reef to snorkel. It was a little choppy on the water and the fish were not super colorful but we had a good time. After lunch we then went back to Pennycamp and went on a kayak tour. Tara and I found out that we are not good at getting our kayak to go where we wanted. We then went to a shopping center and fed the Tarpin. They jump out of the water to get the fish. There were also nurse sharks in the water. That evening after supper we went to dolphins plus to do a touch tank and to disect a squid. Sunday Mike took the kids to the golf course to swim and golf. It sounds like they have had a great time with their dad.

  

June

7 - What food did you learn to cook or prepare first as a youth? Probably Mac N Cheese or Pizza in the oven. That was usually what I would make while babysitting. 

8 -  Share a horse riding story. We didn't have a horse until I was in High School. The first horse we had was named Red and he only about dumped me off one time. We were coming to the top of the hill in the calving pen and he liked to jump at the top of the hill. He was a great cow horse. We then got Kitty as a colt after dad hurt his finger and dad trained her.

9 - What was your first job? Babysitting and Valentino's working on Sunday's after church for Grandma Tielke. 

10 - How much did you get paid? Babysitting I got paid $20 or $30 and it didn't matter if I was there for a couple hours or all day and night. At Valentino's I am not sure. Grandma just needed help and we were available to help her during the after church rush.

11 - Tell about any other paying jobs you held as a youth. We made sandwiched for mom. I also hayed for Carrol Olson one summer and then for Darrell Smith "Bugsy" for the other summers that I was in high school. 

12 - Were you ever chased by some animal? Almost got tramped by sheep during shearing when I was really little. The cows also liked to chase us while we tagged calves but never got hurt by an animal.

13 - If you were ever in a parade, tell about it. We marched in the Harvest of Harmony parade in Grand Island with the band in high school. We would also march in the Hayday's parade in Atkinson.