the first sullyfest without gramma. the first sullyfest where the majority of us went horseback riding. the first sullyfest during which we went into town and mingled with people who were not sullivans (i think).

not the first sullyfest where i ate two s’mores in one sitting.

i like this photo because i rarely get to see that earring inside of my ear (aka ‘daith’).

4th of july potluck at the park in town. lots of salads and meatballs and two kinds of hotdogs and an infinite number of cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. and soft-serve ice cream. the population is less than 200 people but there was enough food for twice that.

that’s grampa in blue.

i think i dipped into at least 11 (maybe 12) different crockpots and salad bowls for this photo.

jason’s first sullyfest!

cows are so weird.

exploring with a few cousins.

the bridge had collapsed/been washed out. i told michael to please not die and then thought i better take a photo of him just in case. he survived, no worries.

kim, michael and i played in a game that we don’t know what to call. someone had taken three pairs of shoes and nailed them to two 2×4’s, then we sort of had to ski across in unison. we took second place (of three teams) and each earned 50 cents. yes, we did fall down (like dominoes). but the last place team fell more, which is all that matters.

there was a nice display of fireworks after dark, then we sat around the fire for a good long time.

this had been planned for a couple weeks, i guess. a cow had passed away several years ago out in the pasture and just recently the bones were discovered. so, someone stuck glow sticks in the eye holes and left it in the porta-john late at night. i had just woken up when i discovered it and all i did was giggle. then i thought ‘how am i gonna move it? i don’t wanna touch it.’

outside of jamie & shane’s tent.

this farm cat has been pregnant every time i’ve visited the farm this year, i swear.

presumably the baby-daddy.

i didn’t do as much knitting as i had hoped i would. i might be suffering from ‘second sock syndrome’ but i am going to finish the pair, dangit.

uncle tom recently retired, so mom made brownies. my dad didn’t know they were for a special occasion, so he ate one. mom quickly made up a story about how the brownie cut out was tom’s life before retirement. the rest of the brownies were life after.

this was right before the golf cart (aka ‘tiny zoom’) ran out of gas and we killed the battery. we were trying to go to town to ride horses. shane drove us, instead.

selfie with grampa!

there is a horse camp on the edge of town. the owners very generously let us all ride, if we wanted. we rode around the barn to get used to the horses, then they took us out to the trail for about 45 minutes (i think). mom and grampa rode out with one of the owners’ in their vehicle, so hopefully mom got some decent trail photos that i can snag later.

i rode chili. she was a pretty good horse, but i think she hated me. she did not want to take a selfie.

total city-slickers.

and then there were kittens.

jason got to experience the magic of driving around the country/in town in a golf cart. we totally ran out of gas, though. we had to be rescued. then we and our rescuers went to the town’s bar.

dollars from supporters. gramma & grampa both have a dollar in the bar.

saturday night was a big dinner of kebabs and baked potatoes. shane and some of the other guys lit more fireworks. we made s’mores. a group also played with an emf detector (ghost hunting) in the house and at the nearby cemetery. verdict: this place is pretty quiet.

sunday morning was crazy foggy, which became insanely hot and humid.

there was kitten playtime while we waited for brunch to be ready.

it was heartbreaking to leave them because they were so young and we weren’t sure that their momma was anywhere around. do you need a kitten? if you go now, you might still be able to adopt one.

for comparison with the morning’s foggy photo.

jason made a pit stop during the drive home. i have been meaning to check this place out. it’s just south of mankato! we bought three kinds of cheese and the cider donut was really tasty.

and that’s it!