When it rains it pours and pours and pours...

Well after many weeks of draught the rains finally came. We had big storms for a couple of days. One of them I was out in the mail vehicle in. Imagine being in a large tin can that someone is throwing rocks at. Believe me it was noisy in the hail that came. Then later that day, the tornado warning siren started blasting. I was just leaving my Aunt's house where I had quick run in to say HI. I decided to stay put for awhile. Then I looked at the street and here comes a large 4X8 sheet of pink foam insulation flying through the wind like a wind sail on the lake. Pretty windy and the clouds were so dark it was like it was 10:00 at night. It went over quick and we were all on our way again. BUT Monday it started raining in the late afternoon and did not stop until the next morning. 4 inches of rain fell in less than 12 hours. Poor Will his windshield wipers broke. I ran and bought him a new pair and left them in his car at work for him when he came out. I of course did not put them on for him. It was raining for cryin' out loud. Actually, I am not real sure how to put them on and it takes me a little bit to figure it out each time. I thought that standing in the rain working on them was probably a dumb idea.
When he came home that night he was supposed to go straight to his band practise, but when he got to the church the lightening and rain was so bad he drove right by and came home. That's pretty bad, because the only thing he misses practise for is his parents and even then he likes for them to come and listen so he won't miss it. Those guys sure have a good time and they are really getting better and better each time I hear them. It turns out that they lost power less than an hour later, so it all worked out for the best.
Jacob is back from Bible camp and had such a good time that he is planning on going back next year as a helper for the younger kids for the first week and then staying for the second week as a camper. Will and I were very impressed with the camp. Jessalyn is hoping to go next year too. This year she was a little nervous about it and then Grammy, Grampy and the cousins were here so it was easier for her to stay home. Our church plans on paying for any kid that wants to go that is here in Warrens. Much more likely to leave a lasting impression than vacation Bible school. Will is going to post pictures here pretty soon.
The Monroe County Fair started yesterday. I'm sure that we will try to take the kids at some point. They really like seeing the animals. It is a true fair with draft horses, cows etc. They also are having a horse-pull, rodeo, monster truck demo, etc. Good fun when you are a kid.
2 weeks from today the kids, my Mom and I leave for our anual camping trip over at the Greenlake Conference Center. Since our camper died, we are renting a cabin this year. It will be fun, I'm sure. I am looking forward to not having to lug all that stuff over there. They are cabins with 6 single bunk beds, table and chairs, kitchen and bathroom. Much easier. The campground even supplies the sheets and towels. We are going to eat simple and just have fun. For the most part we ride bikes around the paved park roads (the park is over 200 acres I think), we take a tram ride around the park, make jewelry at the craft area where they have rocks, stones, gems and beads and take long walks. The most fun thing for all of us though is when I take the kids swimming down at the lake. They swim and I sit in the shade under these huge oak trees and read. How relaxing! When Will comes over, he usually goes fishing and fishes for hours on end. I don't think he has really ever caught anything, but he has a great time just chilling out.
Sweet corn came in yesterday. I stopped and bought a Moseley dozen which is 14. They have the best corn around and we all ate pretty much just corn for supper! Probably not the most healthy meal I have ever fixed but oh so tasty.
Cranfest is right around the corner.....56 days or so I think. That means that it is time for our church ladies to start baking. We have to bake almost 500 pies. Then we let them cool, put them in special containers and freeze them until the fest. Then we take 300 or so of them and pull out the individual slices on the day before fest and box them up. I am working on getting more people in to help with the slicing process. It is usually great fun. Although, I am so busy right then with my "official" cranfest duties that I don't get in on much until late afternoon. If you can imagine a whole town suddenly filled up with about 1500 booths. The weeks before the fest we (there are 4/5 of us) walk around town with our handy 10 X 10 PVC pipe stencil frame and spray paint where each of the booths go. In the fields where the flea market goes we use that little measuring tools with the wheels on them to mark off the booths some are 100 feet long. Want to try something interesting? Try walking in a straight line over a bumpy field. We get laughing sometimes at the crooked lines. Anyway, we mark them off and have a 30 something page map that we use. Then when they get here there are always difficulties and lost people. Set up is exciting and frustrating. But we all love Cranfest! I average about 3 hours sleep per night from Thursday til Sunday, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.
The Travel Channel will be airing specials on Wisconsin during the months of August and Sept. and the Warrens Cranberry Festival is the feature event. Hope you catch some of it. We are also pleased that the travel channel in the United Kingdom is doing a special on us. It's a hoot when they call from all over the world. Who knows how they heard about us.
Well time for swimming lessons and then we go pick up Will's car from the shop (new axles $$$$) Hope you all have a blessed day.
dea