Nominated by Sheila, Bill was one of four city residents to receive recognition for his sustainability efforts. He was recognized at a council meeting and there was cake and cider afterwards to celebrate. It was nice to have like minded folks together sharing their plans and efforts.
Syd was very happy to be the Mandalorian complete with a cape and her squishamellow baby Yoda. We went with a pack of neighborhood kids and some of the parents.
Colin ended up going out with friends and borrowed an inflatable dino costume.
It was the warmest Halloween in 22 years and so nice to be outside that evening.
We carved pumpkins just in time, too. Syd's made a house with a dragon like squash and mini pumpkin living inside. Colin experimented using a drill for his lil design.
Bill and I had a college friend's wedding in Alexandria VA this fall. It turned out that the venue was just a few miles from Russ and Mandy's place. We brought the kids and stayed with them. 2+ y.o. Brodie was so excited to play with his cousins, especially Sydney!
The weather was perfect and made for a great day to walk the National Mall.
WWII memorial
Milo and Herman attended the 2nd annual dog pool day for the last day of the Preserve pool being open. We got there early before the chaos of many other dogs took over.
Milo enjoyed splashing in the water and then watching and sniffing other dogs. He liked meeting Lucy, Syd's friend Kaia's dog. He didn't hide under the table like last year.
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Freshman in high school and a 5th grader!
Omigosh! The tiger cubs at the MN Zoo were so cute and active! I thought Sydney's head would explode. The 2 males came right up to the glass to play (eat the children, more like?!).
Mama Tiger
We found a perfect day to go back to Valley Fair. It was great weather and very empty as most people were at the State Fair. We spent very little time in line waiting. Some rides you could stay on if there wasn't a line. We did that a few times. At the end of the day we rode the Wave and stayed on for a second time only to have it break down on the way back up the hill. We had about a 10 minute wait for maintenance to restart the ride.
Sydney fell in love with the North Star (swings) and Mad Mouse. Colin got his fill of roller coasters.
Hit the water park for some fun in the sun. Syd did a large water slide and later the Cork Screw. It may be another summer before she tries those again...
We ran into Lucas who was with a couple of friends - small world!
We had beautiful weather for Lake Week this year. Jen arranged for another cottage for several of us to stay. It was a bit rustic, but it was close and we could easily walk back/forth from the house.
We were missing Russ and Mandi as she is due with baby #2 in August. Paul was also not at the lake after the first weekend with his surgery becoming more complicated than planned. He will be starting chemo for bladder cancer soon.
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Colin, Syd and Zoe enjoyed a lot of time on ZuZu now that Colin passed the MI water craft certification test. They tried their best to fling each other off the jet ski.
In the rain, the group decided to try the Swiss Swirl vs the annual trip to the Dairy Bar. It was a hit except the kids did miss playing on the rickety old swing set by the DB.
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Another crazy, fun week at Cardboard camp. The kids came home exhausted every day, which was the goal. A new location this year and the many leveled castle was a sight to behold. The tall building was a circle maze that required a flashlight to see your way through to the end. Sydney was very happy that her days of searching for a relic had a happy ending in finding one.
A fun kick off to the summer; Colin had a great experience at Drum Set Camp at the middle school. He even won a new snare drum.
Sydney was so excited all week for her Sing 2 Musical Camp. There were only 5 kids in the camp, so they all had several roles to change into. They did a great job and were laughing the entire time during the finale performance for the parents.
