Sunshine and Smiles

Last Sunday was a lovely morning, and I opted to sit outside with my latte and enjoy the sunshine and warmth. We've had so many rainy days lately, so we try to spend time outside when the weather is warm and dry!

Ava's done with TKD for several months until after marching band is done, so it's down to just taking G to class. His goal was to get his final stripe for purple, and then get his first stripe for blue, by the time Ava rejoins the class in November. The first goal is done, so now he can focus on the blue belt progression!

Ava's bf and bff are both gone this week, so we've seen a lot of her around the house - hooray! Marching band hits the ground running next week, so I'm glad this past week had some good downtime relaxation for her. She's been applying to jobs around town, but no luck yet...

It was rainy all day on Thursday, so the majority of July 4th events were cancelled. Instead, Apple Valley had their fireworks show on Friday night, so G and I wandered down to the usual spot and watched from afar. Other than a few mosquitos, we were all alone out there, and it was an easy 5 minute walk back home.

Scott and I enjoyed a night out with my parents on Friday evening, and it was so wonderful being able to leave Ava in charge, and know that if she needed to, she could drive somewhere. Such freedom!

Sunday is Scott's birthday, and we're going to take it easy. He is going to make a steak dinner, and he just wants to lay low at home. I picked up a DQ Reese's Peanut Butter Blizzard cake for him, so we'll have a sweet treat to celebrate - yum! Glad we have another year around the sun under our belts!

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Exploring Local Places

Last Sunday was the perfect day to explore an area that neither Arya nor I had been to before. We headed east to walk around the Vermillion Falls/River and Greenway area. The path was nicely paved, with lots of overhead shade from trees; there were so many families out on bikes and walking, and we had a nice view of the Vermillion River. Arya got some great pics, and I enjoyed spending time outdoors with my sweet girl. This weekend, G and I will be heading out to explore a creek area in a few towns just south of us. And I've already got an idea for another creek I want to walk by next month (it's a bit further away, and I'd rather put that aside until Arya is off at college) The tree leans to find the sun On the way home, we stopped at the DQ in another town (we have a love/hate relationship with the DQ in our town, so I wanted to avoid it.) The warm weather felt great, and we enjoyed some sweet treats while watching the world drive by. We're counting down the days unti...

What a Week

The weather has been unseasonably warm this fall, so we've been able to extend our outdoor projects just a bit. This past week Scott's been working in the garden, cleaning everything out, and repairing the back wall of our garage. Ava was such a good little helper, scooping up dirt, but still trying to keep her hands clean while doing it! I swear, a box is all she needs to make her happy. Princess Darla. Princess Darla has had enough. I personally like how she and Ava have the same expressions in this picture. Apparently Spanky was bored - check out that yawn in the background! We went down to Grand Meadow this weekend, and as always, it was so fun to see Ava and Isabel play together. They actually had several little conversations with each other - and they were so polite while doing so! We even had them share a room last night...boy, that was a challenge. I think they finally fell asleep around 10:00pm. And of course, Ava wa...

All Done!

We made it! May was extra busy this year, leading up to Arya's graduation. And now that we are a week out from the chaos, I'm happy to report that we survived and are enjoying a slightly less busy pace in our days and nights. On Friday, May 29, 2026, 601 Rosemount High School seniors graduated, with the ceremony held at the University of St Thomas campus in St Paul, MN. It was a new venue for graduation this year, and it went really well. We were allowed six tickets in total, but were provided with a link for others to stream it on YouTube. We ended up parking at St. Kate's and shuttling over to St Thomas, so the parking situation was easy peasy for us. The ceremony was so well done, focusing on the triple A philosophy: academics, arts, and athletics. We are so proud of Arya, and can't wait to cheer her on in the next phase of her life! We did a pre-graduation photo shoot with a few friends from school Last day of high school! Red Pine is a special school in the distric...

Go, Go, Goers!

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