Fierce Opossum...

Rusty was outside in the middle of the night recently, and there was a loud hullabaloo. He was barking at something hissing and growling underneath the rain barrel. Upon closer inspection, I discovered a small opossum taking refuge in the cinder block. I brought Rusty inside and left the opossum to disappear into the night. I am thankful that it wasn't much bigger, otherwise Rusty could have been in trouble!

Lego Gumdrop...

I grew up reading the brilliant Gumdrop book series, written by Val Biro, and so I've been introducing our children to some of these classic books. After reading one of these books together, Riaan disappeared into his Lego corner and this is what I found a little later. He'd designed and built his very own Gumdrop, the 1926 Austin 12 hp four cylinder car made famous by the books! We were so proud! :)

Some of the Gumdrop books.

Riaan with his Gumdrop model.

The rear of his Lego vehicle.

He even built a scene out of Gumdrop Goes Fishing and won an award at the Old Settlers festival in Odon, Indiana! :)

Cool Fire Engine...

I spotted this awesome-looking fire engine on a shopping run to Wal-Mart recently. It was still parked on my way back home and so I pulled in and snapped a couple of photos. :)

The side of the fire engine really caught my eye!

Brown-Eyed Susan Bush...

We planted this brown-eyed susan bush last summer, and it really took off this year! We were really excited to see all the beautiful flowers. They certainly add some colour to the corner of our property. :)

Lots of lovely flowers!

Candace's Helper...

Candace had a little helper doing her ironing the other day. She's so sweet! :)

Prophetstown State Park...

After leaving Indiana Dunes, we drove down to Lafayette, Indiana, and spent the night at a hotel there. We visited Prophetstown State Park the next day, which has a huge water park. It also has lots of hiking trails through prairie grassland.

The water park was a highlight for all of us. We loved relaxing in the lazy river and getting water dumped onto us from swinging buckets above - although some of us didn't enjoy the loud splashes as water crashed down. We then went for a 4 km hike in the prairie grassland and saw many beautiful wildflowers and pollinators, before heading back home in the evening. 

It was a much-needed two nights (three days) away from home, and although the camping didn’t quite work out as planned, it was awesome to see how God can turn frustrating situations into amazing family memories. I also love how flexible my family are, and how we can easily pivot and change plans without much fuss. Such a blessing!

Candace's leg after one day at Tippecanoe River State Park. So many mosquitoes!

We loved the lazy river at Prophetstown.

Hiking amongst tall grass.

Pretty little star-shaped flowers.

St. John's Wort.

Possibly rattlesnake master plant.

Pretty little butterfly.

Candace walking along past tall wildflowers.

Female dickcissel in the tall grass.

Canada geese playing 'follow the leader.'

Great blue heron.

The fishing pond at Prophetstown.

Budding little photographer.

A photo of me taking a photo of Eliza taking a photo of me. :)

Tippecanoe River - Indiana Dunes Trip...

We packed up our tent and went camping at Tippecanoe River State Park (three hours north) for three nights last month. Well, the state park is beautiful, but the mosquitoes were atrocious! We pulled in and were immediately swarmed by them. They seemed to favour especially Candace and Riaan and the next day Riaan counted 38 bites just on one side of his body! 

We did have mosquito repellent and citronella candles, but they seemed immune to them. And so we decided to break camp after one night (it’s not really fun camping being stuck in your tent the whole time) and after a lovely bacon and egg breakfast done over the campfire we headed another hour north to a special place, Indiana Dunes State Park on Lake Michigan. 

The kiddos loved playing in the sand and paddling in the calm waters of the big lake. And I also enjoyed seeing big ships, helicopters, and open water again – so good for the soul! – and hiking a trail with Riaan amongst the densely wooded sand dunes. It was a fun first half of our mini-vacation!

We stopped at the Park at Boswell on our drive north. This is our favourite place to break our travels north!

 

Pork chops on the braai - yum!

Eating supper in the safety of our tent's screened front porch.

Yummy bacon sizzling on the braai.

Main entrance at Indiana Dunes State Park.

Stewart J. Cort anchored waiting to enter Burns Harbour, Indiana.

Sikorsky S-61N helicopter buzzes past.

Candace with a sleeping Anya.

Yay for beach fun!

Dipping her toes in Lake Michigan.

Beautiful Lake Michigan.

They loved the beach!

Riaan sits on the propeller of the J. D. Marshall, shipwrecked just offshore in 1911.

 

The pavillion at Indiana Dunes.

Riaan at the summit of Mt Tom, the highest sand dune in Indiana Dunes.

View towards Lake Michigan.  

Gigantic Giant Sunflowers...

These sunflowers are certainly tall! Like my sister said, "it's 'Jack and the Giant Beanstalk' unreal!" :)

Sunflower Pollinators...

A pair of honey bees on this beautiful sunflower.

Eastern black swallowtail. :)

Garden Fruits and Veggies...

We have quite a variety of various vegetables and fruits that we've planted in our garden this year. They are all nearing harvest and we are incredibly blessed. We have had radishes, beetroot, carrots, spanspek (cantaloupe), potatoes, butternut, spaghetti squash, cucumber, zucchini, watermelon, tomatoes, and ground cherries. :)

Butternut.

Watermelon.

Tiny butternut and small cucumber.

Beetroot.

Potatoes. :)