Suds in the Bucket
We had our last hurray at the lake over the weekend. On Saturday night, my brother’s girlfriend, my golfing buddy, and myself went into New Town for the Sara Evans concert at the casino! 
We started with dinner at their new restaurant, The Bison Room. It was small and fancy. I ordered a filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes and it was the biggest filet I’ve ever seen! 
Then, it was time for the concert. We were trying to find our seats and I kept saying they couldn’t be on the floor because I had just gotten them a week earlier. Well, I was wrong and we were in the 6th row! They were great. 
She is very beautiful and has an amazing voice. 
During the last song, they let people walk to the front of the stage. I left Stephanie and Amy behind and made a run for it! It was awesome because I got to shake her hand!! 
I had some video that I wanted to share but apparently WordPress charges you $60/year to upload video! That really sucks!
After the concert, we tried to do a little gambling but the slot machines either wouldn’t accept or money, ate our money, or malfunctioned when we started playing! It was ridiculous but I guess it kept me from spending more than $2.
Stephanie and her 6 yr old son, Blake, stayed the rest of the weekend. He was Jace’s little buddy. 
That’s it from the cabin until next year!
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1st Day of School
Jace and Lily started yesterday. Jace is in 5th grade and Liliana is in 2nd grade.
Cody started 8th grade today.
Medora, ND
If you ever happen to be in ND, don't miss the hottest tourism spot, Medora. It is settled in Theodore Roosevelt National Park which is known for beautiful badlands and rustic beauty. Medora itself is a little touristy town full of souvenir shops and restaurants.
We had supper at the newly rennovated Rough Rider Hotel which was yummy and beautiful. Then, we went to th Medora Musical which is the highlight of the town. It is an outdoor amphitheater.
At one point all the kids are invited on stage to learn a quick dance number. The boys are too "cool" for that now but Lily went. She's in the rainbow-colored shirt.
There are 3 different feature acts that run throughout the summer. We were lucky enough to be there on the last night for magician, Jay Mattioli http://www.jaymattioli.com/. I am not a fan of magicians but he was really funny and entertaining! He was on America's Got Talent last summer.
They always end with a patriotic number.
A Good Day’s Fishing
Jace went on a day trip over to the lake with grandpa and Uncle Ray. The fishing has finally picked up. They caught 9 walleyes with Jace catching 4 of them including the largest one!
Ranch BBQ
My brother and his girlfriend hosted a BBQ out at the ranch last weekend. Amy is a chef so made tons of yummy food and desserts. Unfortunately, it was 96 degrees so we hid in the a/c for most of the time!
That's my golfing buddy, Stephanie, in the front.
Some of the boys played a little badminton.
Lily and Amy's niece playing pool downstairs.
Stephanie's husband and Ray.
My brother takes a break from the BBQing.
There were some water balloons and water guns that entertained the kids and then Amy got the hose out!
Cody with Steph's oldest boys.
We also took the boys' dirt bikes out which was nice. It was the first time they've ridden them all summer!
Meet Oreo
Well, we probably shouldn't have but we did. We got a new kitten. This time it was not a stray but a free kitten from my classmate's farm. We named him Oreo and he's about 6-7 weeks old. Very sweet! He's living in the garage.
Dance Fever
Liliana, Lilli, and Aunt Taylor gave us a dance show. They wore several of Lilli's big sister's old dance uniforms.
I think we'll be putting Liliana in dance lessons this fall.
Liliana Brings a Friend to the Lake
Last weekend, we went to the lake but we were missing Cody and Liliana brought a friend. Cody went to another lake with his best friend who was celebrating his birthday. It was weird not having him with us but he had a fabulous time besides the bad sunburn. Liliana brought our neighbor across the street, Lilli. They have basically been inseparable for the past 2 weeks. Lilli is 2 years older but they have so much in common and I haven't seen them get in one disagreement which is very odd for girls!
The fishing was still slow but the guys managed to catch 4 nice walleye on Saturday so we had a yummy supper.
Have you seen the new jumbo marshmallows? They look awesome but are impossible to eat!
Lilli had what we thought was a snag on her pole. First I tried to get it but wasn't have any luck so then Ray took the pole. He thought there must've been a big log on it and was slowly trying to reel it in. All of a sudden, the line took off so we realized there was a big fish on the hook! He got it near the top of the water and we thought it was probably just a carp but much to our surprise, it was a huge northern pike! Jace was having a hard time trying to reach it with the net and the fish completely jumped out of the water at one point before it bit the line off. Such a bummer! We think it was probably around 10 lbs.
Sparkle's Family Blog 