Before the snow...

Winter comes early in the far north...  Knowing this, we made an effort to get out and enjoy every last ounce of warmth we could before the freeze set in.  Bet ya'll can guess one place we went...

The lake :)!  Of course, hahaha...we love the lake :)...

see the lights in the distance?  flares...

Fishing, sunset watching, building with sticks and rocks...it's all fun at the lake...

That flare again, I just can't get over how enormous it is...

Another day, another fish...

These kiddos are getting pretty good at catching those things :)!

Bountiful Baskets...

The kids LOVE to go early and volunteer with me...

This site is really (really!) early in the morning.  Before daylight early.  Our reward, besides the awesome fresh veggies/fruits, is this:

A gorgeous sunrise that reminds us to stop everything and just breathe it in...<3.

Loads of fresh foods means fun new recipes up in here.  Two keepers...the first is a Honeydew Smoothie.  Sounds weird, but it's very good.  Honeydew melon, vanilla yogurt, a little fresh apple juice, a bit of raw honey, and some ice...

The second is a pesto that is super simple and super delicious.  Fennel fronds (the feathery part that usually gets thrown away), sunflower seeds, parmesan cheese, fresh garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper if you need it.  Great on pizza...

We just had to sneak down to the North Unit of TRNP one last time before the interior roads closed for the season...

It was c-c-c-old the day we were there, the wind was whipping.  We ate a fast picnic lunch then went for a scramble on the rocks.  Our favorite part of the park :)...

checking out a little cave...

the cannonball concretions are so cool :)

When we were driving back into the farther part of the park, we spotted a Bighorn sheep!  First and only one we have ever seen in there (or anywhere in Nodak)...

He saw us, too, and headed down into the shade to "hide".  We still see you :)...

Brown, brown, brown...

The wind was shoving him forward.  If only we had wings, we could have taken off ;)...

One lone buffie...

We had planned to hike down to the river and back up, but it was just too windy (sand blowing) and cold.  Instead, we just monkeyed around at the top for a while...

Back to the car and back to Williston...

My girl with her new (to us) treasure...

Williston has a couple of really good thrift shops.  I try not to go in unless I have something to donate, because we ALWAYS find at least one treasure.  For any of you folks that like to read...all books at the Wise Penny are free.  Yep, free!  The kids love going in there to look at the books and always come out with something good :).

some random goodness...

I have gotten so far behind with this blog and I really want to {try to} get things caught up.  There are so many things from this summer that I want to tell ya'll about :).  This post is just me going through my pictures and sharing some of the best moments/things/eats/whatever with ya'll...

Good grief...wouldn't you know that a picture of a donut is the first thing, haha!  This is no ordinary donut, people.  This is a Dan-D-Donuts donut, the very best donut that I have ever eaten in my life.  We have been visiting the kind folks at this little shop for as long as I can remember (way back before kids) and they have never disappointed.  A tip:  plan to share one of these sweet treats or save half for later, they are way too big and rich to eat the whole thing at one time. (Dan-D-Donuts is located on Harrison Avenue in Panama City, Florida btw)

This next photo shows two things that made me smile...the beautiful flowers my husband surprised me with and the smallish piece of banana bread on the plate.  My girls made banana bread all by themselves for the first time and within minutes it was *gone*.  Delicious :)...

My good friend Belinda started her own business this summer.  She has a booth at Old South Antiques in Dothan, Alabama, called Cowboys & Gypsies.  The kids and I could hardly wait to get up there and see what all she had done!  She is super talented and we had so much fun being in her space and doing a little shopping :).

the kids gave it a "thumbs up"

we bought this beautiful abalone shell...just like the ones we learned about in Monterey, Ca!

Dothan is a long drive from where we live, so we did some more shopping while we were there.  Ashlyn came home with an old box full of vintage hair funnery.  All we need now is a pink convertible ;)...

These next two pictures show how goofy my kids can be.  It was snack time and this is what 2 of the boys came up with...

"roasted" beef jerkey

???...never saw this flavor before or since

We had so much fun when our friends came to play in the bay with us.  Play dates are as much for the moms as they are for the kids :)!

Tristan, Tyler, Clementine, and Audrey

Clementine's little brother Huck

the kids had SO much fun catching critters :)

 ***photos of Huck were taken by his mom, Belinda :)***

My big girl had to have 2 teeth pulled as part of her orthodontic treatment :(.  For any of you moms (or dads) that have kids in braces/with extractions, one of those personal sized blenders (Magic Bullet type) is a must.  I would just puree her food for her and she could eat whatever we were eating.  We came up with a yummy soup...a little milk, some boiled new potatoes, some stir fried yellow squash and onions, salt & pepper.  Blend til smooth and it makes a perfect portion.  ALL the kids wanted to try her "special" soup, and they ALL liked it :)...

Farmer's Market goodness...

little heirloom tomatoes :)

BIG tomatoes :)

The kids and I discovered a blueberry farm only 10 minutes from our house :).  We had a fun (and hot!!!) morning picking berries...

The girls took some seeds from a watermelon and planted their own gardens out by the seawall.  We were all tickled when they came up :)!

 
My constant shadow anytime I step outside the door...

I got a new globe for my collection.  Probably my favorite one so far...

Okay, I'm gonna stop there for now.  This is long enough for today!  I'll be back with more later :).