A Mothers' Day... Surprise?

Mothers' day dawned beautifully, as it should be, just the sort of way mothers like it best. In place of flowers, we gifted Mom with a fruit tree, knowing our practical mother would appreciate its lasting qualities over those cut flowers. We had a big breakfast and all went out to plant Mom's pear tree together. Afterwords, Mom said planting a tree together as a family should become an annual Mothers' Day tradition. She's really happy with her Mothers' Day pear tree. :)

Next, we piled into our 15 passenger van for a hike in the Porkies, at Mom's request. The Porcupine Mountains are lovely this time of year, just after the leaves bloom but before ground cover makes hiking and sight seeing difficult.

 
 Our hikes are leisurely and fun; stopping to play and explore the natural beauties.

 It's also nice to get out and hike before the bugs and heat arrive.

 Although Lake Superior, to the left there (can you see it?), helps keep things cool.

 Wait, are you seeing that big van alongside the road there?

 Now why do you suppose that would be sitting there, unmoving ...in the middle of nowhere?
 Yup: because it stopped working.

(These pictures were taken in fun, I'll have you know! ;) The boys were bored as we waited for Dad (who hitchhiked back down the mountain) to come back with a borrowed van to pick us up. In case you didn't know, the boys play football and take silly pictures when they're bored.

(Those muscles came in handy when the boys needed to push the suddenly dead van off the road!) Everybody was enjoying the adventure of being stranded in the middle of nowhere... except maybe those that had to use the bathroom. ;)
 The end of the story: The family made it home safely; the little boy was sad because they didn't get to go swimming, the little girl was happy for the bathroom and the little dog was happy to be home! The repair place towed the van and diagnosed a broken transmission. The van isn't due back for 2 weeks so this family is glad they never have to go anywhere. :) (We do have the truck for small errands.)  Now, onto some cuteness... The horses were let out on pasture last week, which is always a big deal...

 With lots of running...

 And prancing...

 And whinnying...

 And looking pretty...

 And regal...

 And... sloppy.

Guess a mule is a mule. What are you gonna do?  And that adorable little calf we had is doing very well.

 She has taken up residence with our 4 month bull calf. We're grateful for these little babies to be cutting down on the abundance of milk we're getting! 10 gallons the boys are milking out every day. These two can account for 2 of them, anyway. The rest is going into cheese, yogurt, kefir, ice cream, etc. etc.

 Fat, healthy and cute to boot! Her eye lashes have won Mike over. ;)

 Thanks for dropping by!