July + August

From Aug 10

Hello, we had a very busy July and August (like every year I suppose). Here are some highlights.

Karin's Visit

From July 10

Karin flew into Minneapolis on July 7 (at 2:30 am...) and spent a week and a half with us. Unfortunately, a few minutes after the picture above she flew off the bike and broke her arm... ouch! Also, Jenny was working nights most of the time she was here, we managed to have some fun and eat some delicious food. Karin did a good job of making the horrible tasting vegetables (kale for example) that we get from a CSA taste decent. Except for the beets... wow, grilled beets are awful, and I eat about anything.

Family Visit

From June 10

My parents and brother came to visit for 6 days in June, though it only seemed like 3 days. We did many fun activities including the biking you see above. We borrowed three bikes for free in Pine Island, and rode 6.5 miles on the Douglas Trail. My Mom had a little trouble getting going at first, but riding a bike... is just like riding a bike... We also played disc golf, went to a Honker's game (pretty fun for baseball), watched the little league games in our back yard, ate out at Outback and the Olive Garden, watched teenagers act out A Mid Summer Night's Dream, did a tour of Assisi Heights, did a tour of the Mayowood Mansion, went to church and Sunday school, and played a few games of Sequence: An Exciting Game of Strategy Luck.

While my parents and brother were here, Jenny's parents and sister were spending most of their time in the hospital... Jenny's Dad had a heart attack and needed quintuple (?) bypass open heart surgery! Thankfully, the surgery went well and he is now recovering at home. It was pretty scary though - one minute he was riding his bike, the next minute he was in the E.R. On the bright side, it helped my prayer life.

Family Growth

This is a card from my favorite board game, Agricola (Latin for farmer). This card lets you grow your family (have a baby). Having another person in your family gives you more opportunities to build a better and bigger farm. However, the extra person costs you more food each harvest. Jenny and I played this game last weekend on our camping trip with Dan & Aimee. We went to Myre Big Island State Park and set up our tents for Saturday night and Sunday night. We played games (Agricola, Dutch Blitz, Hearts, horseshoes, and get the balls tied together to wrap around the pipe game. We did some hiking, eating, geocaching, hiding in Dan & Aimee's tent during a thunderstorm, and some people watching. We saw a girl wreck her bike, some people sitting in the back of a truck while geocaching, and someone drop their McDonald's food out the back of their SUV.