DC Trip to see cousins Brodie and Liam

 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

Lincoln Memorial 

Korean War Memorial 

Doggy Pool Day

 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. 

First Day of School 2022

 Freshman in high school and a 5th grader! 

Sydney has Mrs. Jen Anderson. And, Tasha is in her class. 

The Cutest Baby Tigers

 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

Valley Fair 2.0

 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. 

Valley Fair

 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!

They are in the 2nd car from the back on the roller coaster.

Lake Week 2022

 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. 

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.