The next part of the trip brought us to "the Farm" in Napoleon, ND. The kids loved "the farm" and all the family that came with it. There was one adventure after another including kite flying, looking into a hawk's nest, swimming at the Napoleon pool, going to a "polka mass", eating at the "Big D" and seeing the windmill that was in Dances With Wolves, trying on Auntie Paula's hats, playing in the "Moose Room" and many, many more things too exciting to mention here.
Enjoying grandma and the lovely weather that we had:
Playing with grandpa:
Eli and dad slept in the tent, just for fun. Here they are seen playing the Sperle invented game "shoe kick". They are trying to kick their shoes over the clothes line:
We were't going to make Eli nap when his cousins were visiting, but then we checked on him and we found him sleeping in the stuffed cow collection:
What could be more fun than playing air hockey with the cousins?:
You know you're a big kid when you get to eat on the stairs. Plus, this is a great shot of Eli's all-time favorite cousins, Emily and Ashley. From bottom to top: Eli, Emily, Ashley, Kyle, Kristen and Erin:
No trip to Napoleon would be complete without a trip to the Logan County Museum. Grandpa is even in the Logan County "Hall of Fame" right next to Lawrence Welk and Georgia Becker-Moch (Miss ND 197?).
It really is a cute museum. Here's Eli in the school house:
The lake has lots of big lily pads with gorgeous pink flowers. 
Sadie enjoyed swimming:
Eli did some fishing:
The park is apparently known for handfeeding hummingbirds. Neither of the kids actually fed a hummingbird. For some reason, hummingbirds weren't interested in eating from noisy, squirmy kids, but we did see a lot of hummingbirds eating from other people's feeders. 
That's one big log Sadie's sitting on. She thought it was a great place for a rest:
We like to put the kids to work while camping. Here Eli is gathering kindling for the fire:
Eli walking in the lake with grandma:
Eli playing his first game of pinball:
Two of my auntie's were in town visiting. Here's Sadie playing with Auntie Lucy:
Scheels, the local sporting goods store, has a ferris wheel inside of it. Eli wasn't so sure he wanted to go on it, but after hanging out in the store for an hour he decided that he wanted to try it. He and grandma made it around a couple of times before he decided he'd had enough. Luckily, they were the only ones on the ride so they ended the ride for him.
Can you believe that Auntie Mia came all the way from California to see us? She just happened to be home visiting her family at the exact same time that we were home and she just happened to be flying into Fargo. We got to eat dinner with Mia and Nancy, her mom. 
The mall's playland:
Swimming under the deck in the backyard. Here they are seen cleaning rocks. Grandpa is such a slave driver:
Towards the end of our stay Eli was brave enough to put his head under, crawl on his hands in the water, "dive" in, and chase other kids.
A view of the "holler":
Our camp site:
Eli and I spent much of the trip looking for mushrooms. We found a lot of big beautiful perfect mushrooms:.jpg)
Although you can't tell from this picture, this beetle was actually about 2 inches long and it's mate just flew away:
Who wants 
His first catch of the day:
We went to the Red River Valley Zoo. They have a very large petting zoo.
Some Pot heads!
Are you starting to get the feel for the parade? No car-
This guy just wanted me to take his picture, so I did.
The skies cleared and the sun actually peaked out briefly, right before it set, so we could attend the fireworks show with our favorite little neighbor girl, Sofia, and her family. The kids thought the fireworks were almost as good as the fireflies (poor kids never get to see them as their mom makes them go to bed at 8!).
Getting the back trimmed up a bit:
A little blowdry:
A perfect little bob:
By the way, her hair is still in her face, but she doesn't fuss as much when I comb it. She has some short layers that still need to grow out some. It's pretty cute.