Fall is in the Air!

So i know that it has been a while since the last blog update. I have been taking pictures though, so at least there is that. It has been a warmer than normal fall (or so I'm told) for South Dakota. And in the 6 months that we have lived in Tyndall, a lot of things have changed in this small little town. For a place that has mostly remained the same for a long time, there have been a lot of changes. Some of those include new park equipment, the closing of a favorite place to eat (which has since been reopened, but dramatically changed), two buildings have burned down and the old pharmacy was torn down this weekend. Now this was your classic old pharmacy that reminds you of the "good old days" and I kept thinking that someone should buy it and turn it into a cute shop. Well someone who bought it had other plans. Oh well. Things change and life goes on. :)
We have been spending a lot of time out in the yard getting ready for the cold weather that is inevitable to come. It would seem that firewood is just as important to food storage around here and Jared has been good at making sure we will be able to stay warm this winter without breaking our pocket book. :) Jared found a farmer in a nearby town that was trying to clear his tree line on the fence by his farming plot so he could cut down as many trees there as he wanted. I think we have cut down 5 or 6 so far. Cache was pretty cute because he wanted to help so he would pick up the little pieces of branches and drag them to the fence to throw them over. Of course he wasn't able to do it all on his own, but he sure enjoyed helping where he could! He also liked to throw the little pieces of wood off the end of the trailer when we were unloading it at home. He is such a good helper.

Jared cutting a tree

Collecting wood! Notice that you can't see anything but a phone pole in the distance...South Dakota is FLAT!

Helping in the yard!

Looking like a big boy in his camo gear!

Cache and Jared were taking turns blowing on the fire to get it started

Cache has also been getting pretty creative with his toys. This is part of the ball pit that grammy marquis got him and he pushes it around and gets inside and rolls around the house. This was one of his more creative spots though. There were pillows under the walls under his head and he would just lay there and watch a show or something for a few minutes before sitting up to smile at me and look all proud of himself occasionally.

Just chillin' :)

And last but not least, a cute video of Cache mimicking Jared's muscles pose :)

Projects and Family and Habits, Oh my!

There is something about a nice crisp fall day that's not too hot, but not too cold with sunshine and green trees that makes me just happy to be out on a walk. Cache and I decided it would be a good day to venture to the library, since that's they place that we haven't explored yet. It is one of those buildings that was on the national historical something or other and was built by Andrew Carnegie. The bookshelves are all dark wood with molding tops that are arranged in a maze in this little building. Cache had fun weaving in and out and jumping out and saying, "Aaaahhh!" whenever I found him. Because this building is to remain historically preserved, they are not able to upgrade to digital cataloging so they still use the dewey decimal system with a card catalog. They even had the little cards tucked into the covers that you use to sign in and out. It was all rather charming actually. After Cache got tired of climbing up and down the little stairs, we headed back out, without a book in tow, because I just wasn't prepared with an author that I might want.  

Grammy Jean and Papa Steve just had a visit to our quaint little town. They were tons of help in getting some long over-due projects started at our house. We always appreciate the extra help they provide, even if it's dancing with Cache to keep him occupied.
Here are some project pictures:
Kitchen:

Before

Before

Grammy Jean standing on the counter scraping paint!

Papa Steve laying down the skim coat!

Same section by the kitchen sink! All primed and textured and ready for color!

Downstairs bathroom:

Before with white walls and no storage

Managed to get our baskets and shelves in for storage and painted the walls green

 "Dining Room":

Terrible red before....

Beautiful blue and yellow after!

And the garage got an electrical facelift, and there were plans for other things to be done, but with the short amount of time, we just couldn't fit it all in. We did get to tour the dam for a day off, so that was good. :)
I will be glad to have all the projects mostly done! We still want to put tile in the bathroom and paint the walls and cabinets in the kitchen (and maybe knock a wall...and chimney...out) But one thing at a time. :)

There are always good times with family and of course my camera is always focused on Cache because he is such a cute little man. I love that he wants to take my fingers and drag me across a room to pick up that ball he was standing right next to. I love that he wants to sit in my lap with his bear and watch sesame street.

Just after getting off my lap

Meeting Elmo at the Avon Homecoming parade in unseasonably cold weather! And yes, we held up the whole parade just for the picture...

I love that he waves "buh-bye" to Harry the Bunny on TV and now to other people, and that he claps with Sammy the Squirel when they find the acorn. He loves to play hide and seek and lifts his face for kisses even when I'm not initiating it. It's amazing to watch him grow and learn make faces and noises. He loves to turn on and off light switches and climb stairs, ladders and just about anything else.

helping in the kitchen

I love that he will put just about any pair of shoe on if he can find it. He will bring me his shoes and try to hold his feet up for me to put them on. He will also bring me my flip-flops and try to put them on my feet.

He loves to go outside and will run for as far as his eye can see. There is this one storm grate at the park that he loves to stomp on. It makes the best sounds :)

It's great to see all the funny things that he does. I love that even though he doesn't say many words, we have our own language  that allows us to communicate. He loves to sweep the floors, and play with his friends. He tends to hide at the store in clothes racks and on shelves...

And today we had lunch on the deck which was lots of fun. His favorite foods are berries, fruits, mac and cheese, lasagna, grilled cheese and of course fruit snacks, cookies and ice cream. Today we had mac and cheese.

Aaaaannnnddd we broke our the high chair after he wouldn't keep from sitting in the mac and cheese...

So this brings our post to an end, though I think I covered all my bases. The video below was yesterday of Cache finding another light switch by the front door. Notice how he waves now :) Sadly, he now has fallen off that step stool, but it frightened him more than anything :)

Boating and Camping with Jill and Major

So we had a couple of options for what to do last weekend. We ended up going camping with our friends Jill and Major! This, of course, meant that I had to clean out our trailer from when we had lived in it earlier this year while moving out here. Always needing motivation, ha ha. So, we camped near Gavins Point Dam in Yankton and Jill and Major got to try out a rental trailer to see if they liked it. It was a lot of fun and we got to enjoy the outdoors. Cache enjoyed the sticks, grass, rocks and fire pits. For entertainment, Jill and Major brought their boat and we got to spend some time out on the reservoir! The morning had started out all rainy and cloudy but as soon as we got a sunbreak we headed for the water! Lucky we did too because it turned out to be a beautiful day! The water was between 73-75 degrees and we were all a little reluctant to get wet, but once you get in, it wasn't so bad! :) Cache's vest practically swallowed him whole, but when he got used to it, he didn't seem to mind.

Jared and Cache before take off!

Woo hoo!

Jill and their son Tyler (8 months)

Tyler, Jill and Major's son, spent pretty much most of the time sleeping, which was good because he didn't seem to like the life vest all that much. I can't blame the kids since they are so tight and confining.

Jared was the first brave one to try the waters

Cache got to ride on the tube too!

 Cache's first ride on the intertube was fun! He wasn't too sure about it at first because his feet were getting wet and the vest was uncomfortable, but once we got moving he started to enjoy it! He was slapping the tube and making happy baby sounds, so I would say that he liked it.

We were way  behind the boat!

Jared made it up onto the water skis on the second try!

Toward the end, the kids were getting a little cranky and restless, but who can blame them after a few hours. Cache was ready for a nap and Tyler was probably ready for food. I did get a chance to try to water ski as well, but I kept wiping out. I almost made it up on the second try, but with how long it takes to put the skis back on and run the rope out, it was time to head for land. Especially because of the crying little people. But we did have fun!
Back at camp we got to break open Cache's new camping chair! He pretty much just sat in it long enough to get the picture because he was too interested in the fire we had going for dinner, but that's ok. :)

On Sunday we had a bit more thunderstorms and I was pretty glad that we hadn't been in tents. It was nothing more than some rain and wind, but not so much to rock the trailer around. Cache hadn't been used to sleeping in the trailer, so he had spent the night between Jared and I sleeping like a rock. Unfortunately for poor Jared his back was hurting from skiing so he didn't get much sleep. But Cache sure didn't move too much, so at least he did. When we got up and ate breakfast and were ready to head over to the other trailer we heard a little crack outside, but we just shrugged it off. As we headed over to the trailer we notice that they had half a tree on top of their trailer! Apparently the tree that was between our trailers had split a HUGE branch off and was just resting there on their roof! It was crazy! I suppose it was a good thing they had just been renting the trailer instead of it being their own. Nothing was damaged too badly and no one was hurt, it was more just a crazy thing! After that got all situated we headed for home as it would seem that we would not be boating that day.
After cleaning up up and unpacking and a nice nap for Cache we headed back over to Jill and Major's to try to figure out what to do. We had thought about taking the Jet Ski's back to the water because the weather had cleared up, but they weren't working like we had hoped so we spent the time hanging out while Jared and Major tried to get them working.

I know it's sideways, but here is Tyler and Cache playing in the pool in their driveway

 Overall it was a fun time and we enjoyed it! I wish we had had more opportunities to camp this summer, but now that Cache can walk it will be easier I hope.