Since the name of our blog is life as a Rauschendorfer I figured that I should showcase some REAL Rauschendorfer's. This last weekend we headed up to Scandia MN for Sean's dad Mike's 60Th birthday party. This is a sign that was hanging up above the host couples garage. I liked it and thought that some day when Sean and I have our own house this would make a nice addition.

Here is a picture of Sean's dad with his brothers and his Mother. His sister Rose could not be there. L-R Mike, Terry, Chuck and Tom and then Grandma Geri in the front. She is a wonderful, strong woman who manages to keep up with all of her kids and grand kids using email and sending letters. She has a big heart that is full of love and always has a smile on her face. She is also very strong in her faith and reminds us to thank God for every day that we are given.

I managed to pull everyone together for a group photo and it turned out very nice I think. There are a few people that unfortunately can not be seen (maybe they wanted it that way :)?)

Here is Mike enjoying his birthday meal, grilled burgers, hot dogs and brats!

Grandma Geri was laughing and I thought that deserved a picture!

Here is a pic of Zack with the bug vacuum, he is such a cutie and is very easy to entertain.

I can just hear Kaisa saying to Haley, "did you really get all of those things tangled up AGAIN?"

The kids had fun with all of the games that were set up.

Here is a pic of Myles and Kerry with his GF Lisa. It was her first time meeting that side of the family. She is a sweetheart and fit in well.

Here we are hot and sticky and full of bug spray. It was a very muggy day and a bad storm passed thru just before we arrived. Yes there are mosquitos in MN just as there are in ND. They have a big beautiful yard in the country so keeping mosquitos away isn't so easy.

Kent and Kaisa smiling big for the camera.

The next day Sean and I took Myles to the Twins game for his birthday present. We were only a few rows from the ceiling as we got stuck in traffic for a while and did not get there early enough to get better seats. We still had fun even tho they lost 0-1. The day before was 14-2 so I was excited to see some action..... NOT! I am not the best baseball fan as there are still some things that I do not understand and my constant bombardment of questions for Sean makes him laugh at me... a lot! I do tend to get a little bored with the game at times, however there are always interesting people to watch and things to keep me busy. I did cheer for the home run even tho it was for the other team. I was just happy to see someone score!

Even tho it was a busy weekend in the cities (as usual) we always have a great time visiting with family and friends and look forward to our next visit.

Worlds largest............ You name it and its found in ND!

Our trip to Medora with my parents started out in Valley City where we met them and we left our car there. Then we proceeded on to Jamestown where we found the Worlds largest buffalo. This trip is kind of a tradition in our family. Since I can remember we always had to stop and see the buffalo and cow on the way to Medora. In the above photo Sean was jumping up to touch the Worlds largest buffalo balls :) We did get a chance to see all 3 white buffalo which included the baby, as they were all out in the open in front of the viewing area. But did I get a picture of all 3 NO. Why you ask?? I don't have any idea!


Then on to see the worlds largest Sand Hill Crane in Steele ND. This was a Hanssen first as we have never stopped to see this before. Which just blows my mind and I can't believe that we have never seen this magnificent thing before ;0) It is quite large and there are a bunch of native wild flowers and wild grasses to learn about here as well.

Sean of course had to have a special moment with the birds leg, I don't know about him.

Next stop on the list was Salem Sue the world's largest Holstein cow in New Salem! We couldn't get over how pink they have painted her veins on her bag and tummy. You can see a little bit on this pic.

Then on to the badlands. We stopped at the painted canyon which is just a few miles from Medora. We did see a buffalo but it was a long ways away. It was starting to get very cloudy and there was storm rolling in and we were getting very nervous as we still had to set up our tent.

Here we are after we had eaten our famous Steak at the Pitchfork fondue. With full tummies we enjoyed the scenery until the musical started. It was very windy and the storm was out to the west but heading North. Jamie was continually checking the weather at home and texting us with updates!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU SEAN!!!!!! Yes it was June 22, Seans birthday and here he is wearing his gift. A new Twins coat from Mom, Dad, Gma and Gpa, Angel and Dave. He really likes the color and I think that he looks sexy in red! I got him a twins hat but I didn't realize that hats come in sizes and I just grabbed one off of the shelf. When I was going to wrap it I was looking for the Velcro strap in the back and it didn't have one. Then there was a tag that had a number on it 7 5/8 or something like that!!!!!!! Yikes it was way to big, so we must exchange that one. Hey how can you blame a girl who grew up on a farm and all my dad's hats came from the elevator or seed company with the strap on the back!

A very rare picture of my adorable mother smiling!!!! No actually that's all we did on this trip was smile cause together all 4 of us are very silly. Here we are waiting for the Musical to start. It was very windy and we had our blankets with us, we were prepared!

Here are my parents Dale and Kathy! How cute are they. For many years they treated me to this trip as a kid and created lots of great memories. So it was my turn now. This trip was their fathers and mothers day gift from Sean and I. They both deserved it a lot. Dad works so hard to keep the farm going and Mom works hard to keep the house up and the men fed. It just happened to be the perfect time to leave right between spraying and haying!

Here is Sean at the Chateau we didn't go in but we went to the interpretive center thinking that it was free like the last time we were there. Yeah right $7.00!!!! So we just went to the gift shop and then left.

On the way home we stopped on this road I think that they call it the enchanted highway. Some dude has made several of these metal sculpters spread out along the hiway. This one is a deer jumping over the fence. It really is big and Sean is standing in front of it holding up his own deer horns. This is as far as we went because it was hot and we were bored with it and we had to find a place to eat.

Ok so maybe I am mixed up I don't remember which one was first the meal in New Salem or the metal sculptor.....anyway. We stopped in New Salem to eat dinner cause I wanted to eat at a small town cafe. They are always so cute and have good food. So we stopped here and it was just a really small cafe with really good food. Dad ordered a strawberry malt and they even had one of those old green mixers. Dad was very impressed. When she gave it too him he lit up just like a little boy and he told the waitress, "you just made me feel like a little kid again!" The malt reminded him of how Mildred used to make his malts when he was little in the Niagara Cafe. Then we headed home with our tummies full. It was a great trip and hope to do it again next year.