Treasure Hunt

So, you know how fun Barant is, and he spent Saturday making up some pretty cool clues to unravel for a treasure hunt for our kids and some neighbor kids. Our neighbor, Sam, started this whole thing a while ago, when he made one for our little kids! It was so fun for them, Barant thought he could go a little further, make it a little more! Here they are, racing to the next clue.


Checking high... ...and low! Where is it? It has to be on this windmill! I'm pretty sure it's the only one in the county!

Ah-ha!! What the... Who knows sign language? Oh, thank goodness Sam knows his letters!But what is this? They had to get the dictionary out to figure out the crossword! "What is an antonym?" they asked!! Maybe we better skip summer and get back to school!
These girls finished the whole hunt by looking up the right letters using a code, to spell out the last clue. Way to finish girls! They were first in line for the yummy S'mores treasure-treat. A good time was had by all! Next time, I think Barant should make it for us BIG kids, it was so much fun, I'd like to do it too!

Our Summer Retreat

Aahhh...our newest hobby. Of which Kaylee and Barant are very proficient at! Thank goodness, Mom really needs help rowing and steering this thing! I don't know how Kaylee mastered it in one lesson! I need a few more!
Oh, yes! This is our wonderful little camper that keeps us dry when it rains. It almost has enough beds for us all, but the kids prefer the tent. They are just true campers, I tell you! Once in a while I beg them to switch with me, they hardly ever want to though, good kids, huh?
Here is the dam that was built to make the pond. We have big plans of clearing the edge of it closest to the pond. We'll see how far we get. We cleared one whole day, and we keep forgetting to bring the chainsaw back! We have cleared, or kind of cleared, a trail around the pond for some good adventures, but we're waiting for the poison ivy to die before we trek around it again. Mine has just finally dried up after my trek 2 weeks ago!

Alli smiles like she's not at all hot and muggy. What a cutie! That's why we call her "Alli Angel".
Our camp-crafted swing, just as fun as those ones on those "playsets", whatever, so over-rated! This one comes with a view, and all the S'mores you could want!

And here he is.... our brilliant gourmet camp cook! (And cute too.) Tonight he's cooking a very tasty "One-pot meal", a combination of potatoes, onions, peppers, and yummy roast beef, with a savory sauce that could be described as a little cowboyish. Really. Cowboyish. You should try it!
Here is our friend Bully. He is not named for his attitude, just his species. Isn't he cute? He even smiled for the picture, they sure are friendly here at the pond!
Here it is.... the beautiful Hasek Haven. That's not it's name, but it's what I call it. Nice, huh?

So, I have to get some pics of our summer vacation get-away! I will post them as soon as I take them! You will all just be so envious, you will be fighting your way to see us there as soon as you figure out just how to get there. It is actually over a river and through some woods, and very, very near Grandmother's house! My parents' new house sits on some prime land bordering Shimek Forest. It really is beautiful land, and just across my dad's bean field is our little weekend adventure place. There is a nice pond surrounded by trees, many pine that my grandpa planted years ago, and then of course on one side is Shimek Forest. It is just what the Hasek's ordered in this time of outragiously expensive gas!! So we are taming the wild, literally. We have trampled poison ivy, burned a million tics, and peed in the weeds. We are becoming part of nature my friends. If we live through this summer, I think we will really be one with God's green earth. Yay! We have just finished our 3rd weekend there, and I think we're getting the hang of it. Barant is becoming quite the Dutch oven cook! This past weekend he made chicken enchiladas, and a gourmet, GOURMET I tell you, apple cobbler! It was delicious. I have put it on the menu for each of the campout's for the rest of the summer. We are trying to decide if there's anything we can do to make the pond more human freindly. The huge bullfrogs are absolutely at home there, and each morning as the sun gets warm, the painted turtles ease their way up on many of the logs by the edge of the pond. As for us humans, though, we are resigned to the canoe, or the shore, as we discovered a quite unfriendly inhabitant of the pond, leeches, very happily reside there as well. We have envisioned a nice dock that reaches out over the pond, where we could sun bathe, and fish, and maybe even jump off of! Also in this vision, we see a great rope swing going out over the pond from one of the big trees near the shore. Of course, these visions for now are in vain, thanks to our unfriendly leeches. Oh, you're wondering who discovered these foes? Cassi, of course. We couldn't talk her out of staying on dry land our very first trip there, so in she waded, and had a very jolly time until she came out, and discovered some weird attachments to her legs. Thankfully, her dad had been in similar circumstance before, and knew that salt would make them shrivel up and fall off. And so we learn. It sure is fun though, this learning stuff, isn't it? Well, until next time!!

Summertime!

Hey friends and family! I love seeing other's blogs so I thought I'd give it a try myself! Hopefully this will be an easy way to keep everyone updated on our always on the go fam! I'll start with some pix that you may or may not have seen, but that let you know exactly what we've been up to these days.

Flood waters coming up back in May, now it's a lot worse, hopefully soon to be gone again!

Old Nauvoo fun! Cassi, Constance, and Kaylee dress up and have some good ole' fun down at the Pioneer Pastimes. We had a fun day there the week after school let out. What a nice little town we live in! We also explored some nature, check out what we found:

Introducing...Tank!

Yes, we're crazy. We got a Great Dane back in January, he seemed like a perfect fit! Until we realized how big he was. He still fits, even if he does outweigh all of us except Barant. He is 15 months old now, and still all puppy! Lucky for us, he is full of love, and has yet to meet anyone he doesn't like. He loves for the kiddos to lay on him like a pillow, and is happiest when he is close enough to touch!! We, or should I say Mom, are still getting used to having a dog, and some of their weird habits, (such as rolling in others' poo), but we really love him! Here are some of our cute pix with Tank!

Fishin' Fun

Our first time fishing...ever...and Kaylee and Cassi are pros! Here's Kaylee, with her first real catch! Beside her is James, one of Logan's friends, and son of our awesome fishing teacher, Chenille. Cassi was baiting, and taking the fish off the hooks before Mom even tried! What a go-getter!