Gardens, a Cave, and a Concert at a Gazebo

Before our evening concert in Platteville, Wisconsin, we headed over to the Dubuque Arboretum and spent a few hours wandering around.

With all sorts of gardens, there was something for everyone.

After we'd had enough gazing at gardens, we saw a sign for an old mine and decided to stop in.

This was the descent into the damp darkness.

All those metal rusty things on the ceiling are supposed to keep it from falling on us. Nothing collapsed...

The miners would use this peg board to keep track of 

how many big tubs of rock they had filled. 

They'd get paid accordingly.

After the mine, pizza was a welcome supper before our concert at the gazebo in the park.

We wouldn't have guessed it during set up time, but rain ended up cutting our concert a bit short!

Allison Bible Church Family Camp

This concert was certainly a highlight! Why wouldn't it be when you've got...great food, fun games, and fellowship with other Christians!

Minute to Win It!

In this game, we had to transfer mini M&Ms from one cup to another cup on the opposite table using suction and straws.

For another Minute to Win It challenge, we had to blow on a ping pong ball, keep it from rolling off the table, and get it all the way from one end of the table into the cup on the other end!!

Definitely NOT a piece of cake!

Here we had to use paddles to hit ping pong balls into the holes...it's frightful how awful my aim gets when I'm in a race against time!

This one was a really fast race - which team could make it down the field, pass the ball to their partner, and let them run it back to the starting line, all while balancing the ball on their Frisbee! The competition on this one was intense.

During the children's song time, we led lots of fun action songs.

Ladies' Devotional

Seth, frozen in time during kickball

Sing unto the Lord! 

Be thankful to Him for all His wonderful blessings.

Minnesota Log Cabin Party

We had a wonderful time in Minnesota. Thanks for inviting us to perform at your party!

Our hostess was an amazing gardener!

so many cute corners and sweet touches...

There were new things to discover everywhere!

Who doesn't enjoy a great model train?

The mini village even had a tiny real corn crop!

This bird must have made an informed decision on where to build her nest.

John, thank you for the amazing time!

We enjoyed your company so much.

It was great to perform for you.

Lake Itasca Family Music Festival

 We had an amazing time at the Lake Itasca Family Music Festival! The Ken Berge family was SO welcoming and encouraging. Thank you for inviting us!!

We met a lot of new friends and were able to catch up with many old ones. It was an absolutely marvelous time!

Thanks to Hannah, I can actually post some pictures with our whole family on stage. (Not that you can see everyone! Mom is always hard to capture. Can you see the tip of her head behind Karen's arm?)

The Triple L Band

Having hot meals prepared for us all weekend was such a blessing! We didn't have to pack a bunch of food, cook over our finicky little camp stove, and then be ready to perform right after our meal!

(We do love camping though!)

The Banjo Cafe...Finger Pickin' Good!

Ben's Grilled Chicken Fajitas were the best meal at the festival!

Home, sweet home for the weekend

Thanks Schoenfelders for offering to let us stay in this camper! Tent camping while performing is um.... interesting with all the instruments.

The Wissman's Story Book Theater was fun for kids and adults too!

Songs, Bible verses, a missionary story...and humor of course!

The Alaska String Band

The Benson Family

It rained...and rained...and rained! (We could use some of that rain here in Iowa!) It was just about deafening on the steel roof.

I felt sorry for the sound guys. They did a great job despite all the problems and weather difficulties. Moving all that sound equipment in and out multiple times is no party! 

The Main Stage is gorgeous at night.

The Bontrager Family

Part of the Wissman Family

The Berge Girls

Many of the children had a blast riding this little train!

Luke, manning the CD table

Once the festival was over, we enjoyed a short vacation with some friends.

 Visiting the Boundary waters of the Mississippi...

 Written on a post was this statement: “Here 1,475 ft. above the ocean, the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.”

Next was a stop at the old Aiton Heights Fire Tower.

At 100ft. tall, the climb was invigorating and the view was great, as long as you didn't mind swaying in the wind in the small room at the top. That was fine with us!

Yep, it's pretty tall.

We finished the evening with a meal at a local restaurant. Thank you Daddy! That was special.

Our friends' cow had twins!

So curious.

So cute.

 "This is the day that the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it."

To view more pictures from our trip to Minnesota, go to http://www.photofasttrack.com/people/