Squeezing It All In!

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 dang well. Things seem to be going pretty well, but I detected a bit of exhaustion as Friday rolled around.

First day on the job!

Thursday night rehearsal...so pretty

I had forgotten that I had promised G that I would take him to a Vikings practice game over the summer, and luckily rainy weather caused the last Vikings Training Camp practice to be rescheduled. I just happened to see it announced on the day that the rescheduled tickets went for sale, so I snagged a few for me and G to attend. I figured training camp was easier than heading downtown for a full Vikes game with my little guy. It was an absolutely perfect night. The weather was great, the food was decent, and after we had our fill of the field activities, we walked around and played games, ate popsicles, and reveled in a new event (for us.) We even saw our friends there, which was a fun surprise!

With how busy we've been, I was thrilled to have this upcoming weekend with zero plans on the calendar. Never fear, there's definitely stuff to do, but I really needed some unscheduled time to relax. I think G and I are going to head to Minnehaha Falls on Sunday, as well as walk around St Kate's and check out my college campus. There's a wonderful French mint pie at a deli right by St Kate's and I promised him we could share a slice. Ava and I need to clean up "Bernice" so we can start getting her ready to be Ava's main vehicle, and not the Pilot. So, lots to do, but no time constraints, hooray!

G wanted to see what he looked like when playing VR

His last day EVER of Summer Power! I can't believe it's really done.

And we have the MN State Fair starting this Thursday! The RHSMB will be the parade on the first day, so we're going to support them (and enjoy the fair.) Can't wait for my pickle dog!

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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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