MTCB MELONS

Tonight the Lanker grandchildren are staying at our house. It is now time to pick their watermelons and start selling them. Their daddy and grandpa went to the watermelon patch to see how many were ready to pick. They came up to the house with a wheelbarrow full of 8 nice sized watermelons. The biggest one, a crimson sweet, was 21 pounds and the other 7 were sugar babies and were around 15 pounds.

We wheeled the wheelbarrow around front so the boys would be ready to sell them tomorrow. The boys went out to admire them and 2 neighbors came over and the big one sold immediately. Then the other neighbor bought one of the small ones and the girls that work with Susan wanted 4 watermelons. Sooo, with only 2 left, we decided to go to a couple of the neighbors down the street and sure enough - they each wanted one too. Now we are sold out and the watermelon stand has not even opened yet. That's the kind of business we like!!

FORTY YEAR REUNION - CCHS 1966

My teaching career started forty years ago and tonight we were invited to a class reunion of the class that graduated in 1966. I started teaching at Central Christian in the spring semester of 1966 and I can hardly believe it was forty years ago. I was fresh out of college at that time so most of the people there tonight were only 4 or 5 years younger than myself.

We were at the Houlahans Restaurant and had a good meal and lots of reminiscing. The cake was made by Kathy Girst, who was one of the graduates, and she made an eatable picture of all the graduates and principal on the cake. I coached several of the girls in basketball back then. You can see from the pictures on the cake that several were not able to attend. Rog & I won the prize for having the most grandchildren of those present.

My roommate at that time was Elvera Unrau and she was there with her husband who was one of our students. We had a nice time and it was fun to see these students and their spouses again. Rog did not come to Hutchinson until the fall semester of 1966 so he met some new friends.

MEMORIES MADE

Camp Gramma 2006 was officially over after breakfast this morning but we still have most everyone here. Julie left this afternoon with her 3 children because she had to work tonight. The rest have been in the house most of the day because it has rained off and on all day. We usually take the tents down but we needed to let them dry out so will have to wait another day at least.

June, Elisa, and Susan will be leaving tomorrow so it will get very quiet around here.
It has been a great time with our grandkids and very busy. We were able to enjoy the very little ones today. Ethan, Molly, Meryn, and Eli have had lots of attention today. We will miss the grandkids - they are all sleeping now. The week will hold many memories for us and hopefully for our grandchildren as well.

LAST DAY OF CAMP GRAMMA 2006

We had another good night but it was much warmer than the first night. We started off the day with a hungry bunch and they devoured our breakfast of cheesy eggs, sausage, bacon, and rolls. We have an eager bunch this year that cannot wait to finish breakfast before they are asking what is on the schedule for today.

We started off by driving to Yoder in 4 vans to visit a petting farm with lots of animals. Some of the younger ones were not as excited when several of the goats crawled under the fence and came to greet them. There was an opportunity for each one to have a pony ride and that was a first for several of them. We had an enjoyable time there.

We left there and headed for the fair grounds where we had been informed that the 4-H bunch would be showing animals and some of our people from church are involved there. We were able to see some of the animals and then the kids all had a chance to shoot a laser gun that simulates pheasant hunting. Some did pretty well with their aim.

It was now time to get back to gramma's house for lunch and they were definitely ready. We had lunch and then about 10 minutes to rest. Then off to the Salt City Water Park out in Carey Park to have some fun swimming where there are water slides and many other water toys. June and gramma stayed home with the little ones so they could rest. You see a picture of gramma on the couch with the little ones while June is vacuuming.

Just a few minutes ago a fireman came to our house to give a burning permit. The kids want to have to have a bonfire tonight so that is the plan.

We had dinner(grilled tonight) and then some more zipline fun where even Aunt Elisa tried the zipline. Grandpa had dug a pit for the bonfire and later we enjoyed the bonfire as our grandkids sang and gave testimonies of when they accepted Jesus as Savior. After a challenge from Grandpa, he closed in prayer and we had a watermelon feed and some smores. The Lanker boys furnished the watermelon from the ones they are growing to sell. They were very tasty.

Then it was time for lights out. Shortly after turning in for the night, we were seeing lightening and hearing thunder. Yes, a nice thunderstorm came our way but the boys seemed to enjoy it in their tents and the girls were safe and sound in their playhouse.

DAY 2 OF CAMP GRAMMA 2006

We had a good night and everyone slept well. We started off our morning with breakfast and they were served gramma's special - biscuits and gravy - and they cleaned up a very large amount.

We then went to our backyard adventure and straightened up tents and cabin and then had some fun on the zipline. They are all pretty brave, courageous, and trusting with the zipline.

Our kitchen crew were busy preparing sandwiches and such for lunch and then we loaded up the cars and headed for the Hutchinson Zoo. We started off with a train ride around the zoo and then had a fun time looking around at all the animals and then moved on to one of Hutchinson's Fire Stations where one of the Daddy's (Greg) is a fireman. He showed us around the station and let the grandkids shoot some water from one of their brush trucks.

Then we were off to our yearly hike across the bridge above Highway 61 and 30th Street. They love to get to the top of the bridge and motion for the semis to honk their horns for them. Some of the drivers were kind enough to respond. Then we went on across the bridge to the Dillon Park and had a picnic lunch down by the water. Some pieces of their sandwiches might have been fed to the ducks:)

By this time, we were very hot and and ready to get back to the house so we loaded up the vans again and headed for home. You can see a picture of everyone on our living room floor under the fan resting and enjoying the cool air again. Several were put down for naps and a few of the bigger ones were allowed to watch a video
while the younger ones were resting.

Then it was time to swim again. It was so hot out there that they were even shy of swimming for a while. We have some pretty red faces on some of the kids. They had the zipline going again and some were getting into the swimming pool. Some of the little ones who are here with their Mommy's but not actual campers enjoy the backyard adventure time as well.

At 5:30 p.m., it was time for dinner(supper). The kitchen crew had prepared pizza casserole, corn, and finger jello. They were so starved that they devoured most everything.

After cleaning up the backyard and playhouse, it was time for our evening meeting where we enjoy singing our songs on building character. Then Grandpa shared some introductory comments about the Chronicles of Narnia which he had read many years ago and then we viewed the video. Then we had an ice cream treat before bedtime and lights out. It has been a good day with many opportunities for character growth for most of us.

OUR FIRST DAY OF CAMP GRAMMA 2006

Today was our first day of Camp Gramma 2006. Grandpa and I arrived home in the middle of the afternoon from Great Grandpa & Grandma's house in Salina to find most of our campers and helpers waiting for us. They were already swimming and having fun on the zipline. Greg(our son-in-law) had picked up our new cover for our hot tub and the kids had fun making a tent out of the box.

It was time to get the tents up so Grandpa and some helpers got that done and they look pretty cozy. Hopefully it cools off so their fans keep them cool. The girls have the playhouse cabin which has an air conditioner this year with electricity as well. We really feel privileged and very comfortable.

We had supper and some time to play and then it was time for our opening meeting. We met at the picnic tables and welcomed our campers and sang our Camp Gramma songs about Building Character. Then Grampa shared his testimony of how he came to know Jesus as his Savior and challenged each camper to talk to their parents or us about anything they might have questions about. Then we prayed and had a ice cream snack and then had some free time to play in the yard.

Now it is time to go to our tents and cabin and get some rest so we will be ready for tomorrow's activities.

A NICE CHANGE OF WEATHER

Finally, it cooled off. Yesterday morning we woke up to a pleasant surprise. We opened up the the house and enjoyed some fresh cool air. The grandkids were swimming and complaining how cold it was.

I am enjoying little Molly who is 4 mo. old today. She is such a good baby and loves to smile. Once Camp Gramma is underway, I won't be able to spend as much time with the babies.

The Lanker boys brought back a turtle from Cheney so Eli & Meryn were having fun watching the new little creature.

The kids have been using the zipline quite a bit and I think Meryn is the queen of the zipline. She will go frontwards or backwards with no fear but we do have an adult supervising when the zipline is in use. The boys spend time in their fort above the slide figuring out what they are going to do next and watching all that is going on below.

COMPANY ARRIVED

What a hot spell we have had(109 degrees today). Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler so we will see. I have gotten up at 6 a.m. the last couple of mornings so I could do some painting before the heat of the day. Rog built the platform for the zipline but that was in the heat of the day. Just finishing up some things before camp gramma next week.

Today, June and her 5 children arrived at our house. They left Gardner by 6:30 a.m. today so if there were any car problems, they would not be stranded in the heat. They made it here by 9:30 a.m. with no problems. The grandkids have played in the playhouse(which now has air conditioning and electricity), done some swimming, tried out the zip-line, and seem to be having a great time. They really wish their cousins, from Hutch, were here too but Greg has his 4 kids camping(in a camper with air conditioning) at Cheney while Susan is working 2 nights in a row. Check out the Duehring blog for pictures of the day.

A VERY HOT MONDAY!

We go to Salina on Mondays and enjoy spending time with Mom & Dad and encouraging and helping them in any way we can. Today when we arrived, Dad was about to go to therapy and we visited with Mom while we waited for Dad to return. When he came back, we were ready to make a run to Burger King for lunch. We always have lunch together when we come on Mondays. After we finished lunch, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few groceries and then returned back to the Manor. When we walked in, Mrs. Favors was sitting in the lobby so I visited a few minutes with her. She was my teacher in my first few years of school at Shiloh School. I enjoy seeing several people that I knew forty some years ago or more. It was good to get back inside where it was cool. We went up and put a few things away and then I thought I would go down and visit Uncle H. He has a very nice room on the first floor. I think I disturbed his nap but he was happy to see me and didn't care that I interrupted his nap. I got him to pose for a picture and I think he looks pretty chipper for being awakened. It's always good to see him. Then it was time to return back to Hutch. We went out to the car and the temperature inside of it registered 122 degrees. A little ways down the road it had cooled down to 110 degrees. When we arrived home, we saw that we had tomatoes that needed to be canned so we got busy and canned 5 qts. of stewed tomatoes. We were scheduled to go to the Rescue Mission in Wichita tonight but Rog's back is hurting him from pulling up cornstalks on Saturday so he didn't think he could handle sitting in the car another 2 hrs. going back and forth to Wichita. I had planned to paint the playhouse tomorrow but with the high temperature forecast, we decided not to do that now but to wait for cooler weather. Hopefully it will cool down some before Camp Gramma next week.