Summer fun.

Over the last week or so.... We were able to visit my parents before we headed out on our vacation. My dad will celebrate his 80th birthday on July 30th! So, I wanted to make sure we got to wish him happy birthday before leaving. My pal, Sophie, is front and center.

No... this picture was not taken in our backyard. :-) When our friends, David and Mary were visiting, we went to The Mitchell Park Domes. This shot was taken in the "show" dome, which apparently changes seasonally.

While David and Mary were here, we also went mini-golfing, visited a cousin of his in Lake Geneva, went to dinner at an Indian restaurant, drove around Kettle Moraine, went to the Hoard Museum's new Mystery of the Mounds exhibit.... and other things. The visit went all too quickly... will have to try to get to Ohio to visit them soon.

Also tried to get some of the Barr family together for dinner again. This time, we ate at Hoolihan's in Lake Geneva. We will have to get together again soon and bring more family on board. Suggestions for a location? Good day of the week for all?

Tune in next time for a picture or two from The Grand Adventure... featuring scenes from Hawaii. Maybe Breck and Alice will be able to see our boat from their house!

More summer stuff....

We have been fortunate enough to have a new neighbor that doesn't like the texture of raspberries right off of the bush. She invited us and another neighor to pick whatever we want! The other neighbor is making raspberry liquor (lic-oo-er)... I made two batches of freezer jam so far.. and gave some to the neighbors, including the one who owns the bushes. We will have to decide what else to make. Maybe a pie... :-) Every day on my way home from summer school, I see this family of cranes eating their fill from bird feeders about fifteen feet from the road. Apparently, the pair arrives every year and has at least one offspring each year, seems like every other year they have a pair of offspring. The house is right along Highway 12 just as you are driving into Fort Atkinson. It is the same house where the albino deer (and her two brown fawns) can be seen on occasion. Earlier this spring, a few turkeys were in that field as well.

Tomorrow is the last day of summer school (17th). Then the Relay for Life event will be held at the high school and Kate will help her friend, Elaine, with facepainting (17-18), followed by a visit from some friends for several days (20-23), then sidewalk sales and farmer's market (aka Carnival Days) (24-25), and a brief visit from Molly as she comes down to attend some events with friends (25-27), then we make final preparations for departure (29th)! After we arrive home, preparations for the new school year will begin.... :)

Whew! Where did summer go?

Summer time.

After a brief break (sort of) at the end of school, summer school began. This summer, I am teaching three summer school classes: sign language (third graders), reading/language (5th graders), and math (5th graders...almost the same group). I also participated in two different interview processes... including reading through the files in preparation for the interviews. In between all of that, I have been able to read books that I have wanted to read for a while, go to the farmer's market, Frostie Freeze, go a bike ride on the bike path, pick raspberries, visit my parents and spend time with them, etc. The fun stuff summer brings as well....

Kate started working again at Nasco on June 29th after a delayed start. She started working in the same place as last year, but they switched her to a different place putting kits together this week for an indefinite period of time. Not fun. So, she is hoping that they either get that particularly large order done quickly so she can go back to the other place, or they just move her back to the other place. She is also starting to think more about the transfer to the new school in October. Over the summer and early fall, she will also photograph two weddings.

Molly (and her cat, Ella) came to visit for about a week at the end of June. She asked for a few days off and wasn't scheduled on a few more so got to spend some quality time with us down here. Of course, that makes it difficult to go back up to Menomonie, but hopefully she will find things to keep busy, which may help her meet more people. Before long, school will start again, and she will be busy with that again (I know she is excited about that, too.) We were able to formally celebrate her birthday while she was visiting, including taking in a Brewers game (which included her friend, Jill) and having some CAKE!

Charlie has been able to schedule a few games of golf and was able to get away for a few days at the beginning of July to golf with Jamie and Austin after they picked up Austin from soccer camp. He also has been going to work and helping the new superintendent get onto the network, making sure all of her technology is up and running smoothly. Before long, he will be done with his contracted days and will be able to enjoy the trip to....

HAWAII!! We will mark 25 years marriage on August 4th... so it's our gift for making it that far! YAY US!