Go, Go, Goers!

Last Sunday, G and I ventured into St Paul, and did a little exploring. We drove through part of the St Kate's campus, went to Cecil's Deli for some sweet desserts, checked out the Ford Dam (I cannot believe how much Highland Park has changed since I lived there 25+ years ago), and then finally made our way into Minneapolis to Minnehaha Falls Park. It had been a really long time since I had been to Minnehaha, and every time that G went recently with the Y, either they didn't make it out to the Falls, or, we were in a drought, so there was no falling water. But this weekend was perfect! It was really rushing, and it was so neat to see it. In all of my time while at college, I never realized that they were such a short drive from campus. I'm glad we took the time to see them! Cecil's! Ford Dam At the top of the falls The rest of the week was a blur with work, work, work, and activities. On Thursday, we headed out to the opening day of the MN State Fair, mostly to see ...

I'm having a hard time believing that the kids go back to school in a few weeks. This summer has flown by! I love, love, love the month of May, when summer starts feeling more real, and the expanse of "free time" is just right around the corner, and feels never-ending. Yet, here we are in the latter half of August, and I'm not really sure where the time went.  We've been so busy over the last few weekends preparing for and volunteering at the RHSMB Mega Garage Sale. It's so big! And it takes an army to pull it off. Collectively, Ava, my mom, and I put in at least 30 hours to help out. And we're just a small percentage of the people who volunteered. It's such a wonderful fundraiser for the band, so it's worth the time and sweat we pour into it! Ava's been really busy with marching band and...also starting a job! Ava's a teacher's aide at a local daycare center, and really seems to like it. They are organized, responsive, and pay pretty d...

It's the time of the summer when marching band takes over, and all free time goes to that activity. I think G went to TKD this week? I worked, maybe? I do know that Ava got a job (hooray!) so that's a big to-do that is DONE. Ava will be working at one of the childcare facilities in town. It's not the one that we had originally thought she was going to work for, but that's ok. She seems very pleased with how this other facility is managed, and thinks she'll really enjoy it. Onboarding starts this Monday morning, and her first day is this upcoming Tuesday at 8am sharp! Assuming it works out, this job will be one that she carry into the school year, and one that will be a great fit for her potential career (elementary ed.) All that aside...let's talk about the RHSMB! Ava was at band camp, Mon-Fri (two weeks ago), at a university about 2.5 hours NE of home. The weather was much more tolerable in years past, and the kids had a great time and learned so much.  My mom ...