July Happenings

July was an extremely busy month! Following is a quick update of July before I get to our major August event!

First, right after the 4th of July, I hosted a faculty farewell party for Cheryl, who is leaving our first grade team to teach in Kenyon. Sue, Maureen, and I will miss her dearly! Her new school is extremely lucky to add Cheryl to their faculty!

A few days later, I traveled to Linda's weekend/summer home in Alexandria for "Book Club at the Lake." Last year, we had nice warm weather, great pontoon rides, swimming, and kayaking as well as our book discussion and lots of food. This year, the temperature never got out of the 50's, and we never even walked down to the lake. We still had a great discussion of the book "Almost Alice," and, of course, wonderful food and wine. Thanks, Linda, for hosting!

From Alexandria, I drove to the Breezy Point area on Pelican Lake to visit our friends, John and Kathy. Kathy and I love to play duets together, so we spent a lot of time serenading John on Friday night. Chuck joined us on Saturday, and while he did a little fishing, we went to Nisswa for some shopping.

Finally, the sun came out on Sunday morning, and although the temp was still cool, we were able to sit outside on the deck. Thanks for your hospitality, John and Kathy!

During the next week, I spent several days taking care of Maddox. Summer is a great time for Heidi to pick up some extra shifts when Jenna and I are around to do some daycare. Maddox is so much fun to chat with. One day, I took him to Cannon Falls and we spent the whole ride talking about the definition of a "cannon" and a "falls." Then I took him to the cemetery near our house to show him a real cannon and also the statue of Colonel Colville. When it was time to return to Farmington, he wanted to know if he could see that "pistachio" again. It took me awhile to figure out he was talking about the statue!

Next on our July agenda was a long weekend trip to Las Vegas where we met Sue, my best friend from 1st grade, and her husband, Lee. They live in Fresno, so Las Vegas was an in-between spot to get together and celebrate our 60th birthdays (Sue's in June and mine in July). Sue and I talked about doing this a few years ago, and when she called me in April and asked if I was ready to book the trip, Vegas in July sounded like a great idea! However, I never thought about the fact that it would probably be over 100 degrees, twice as hot as the previous weekend at the lake - crazy! I think it was 109 on Monday when we left - yikes!

Here are the two birthday girls with one of the living statues in The Venetian. See all the money he collects from silly tourists who want to pose with him? (That would be us.)

We took a ride on a gondola, and little did I know that I would be experiencing the real thing in a few weeks in the real Venice (more about that soon).

Here's Sue and Lee with our singing gondolier. She even sang "Happy Birthday" to us in Italian.

She also told us that we had to kiss under every bridge. I got more kisses during that short ride than I've had in a long time!

This is the view of Casear's Palace from Sue and Lee's room at Bally's. We spent quite a bit of time walking around, and no time gambling (although Chuck did get in some Blackjack in the early morning before I even got out of bed - he ended up about $100 ahead - yeah, Chuck!)


This is New York, New York from the very HOT street level.

We also went to Cirque du Soleil LOVE (absolutely amazing!), a Steve Wyrick magic show, and to the top of the Eiffel Tower, where this picture was taken. We had a great time, and it was so much fun to catch up with OLD friends!

We got home Monday night, the 27th, and then went to Buca on the 28th for a family birthday celebration. Chuck and Jenna wanted me to open gifts before dinner, so after opening several goofy cards from everyone, I opened a small box from the kids, a FLIP Video camera, and then Jenna started taping the next present from Chuck. He presented me with a very heavy box which contained, first, a large rock, then a board, and finally, a booklet that said Momograms. I had no idea what it was until I put on my glasses and looked a little closer. It was....

a packet with all the information about a trip to Italy, leaving in one week! My mouth practically dropped to the floor (I know, since it's all on video). Chuck had been working for months setting all this up, and he was so excited that he actually pulled it off! I was totally surprised and blown away. I thought we were off for a week at the lake at Heidi's parent's cabin (Jenna and Heidi's idea for keeping me from planning stuff during the trip time frame). The rest of the dinner is kind of a blur, but we did manage to consume lots of Italian food, and what a coincidence that we were sitting right under a map of Italy!

Kyle giving Chuck a pat on the back for a job welldone - what a guy!

Jenna and Andy enjoying lots of great food.

Corey and Maddox - "That cake was good, Grandma!"

Jenna and I showed up wearing almost identical outfits.

Sisters, Janie and Joycie - ha! :-)

Chuck and my brother, Ted, who is actually responsible for all of this since he's the one who got Chuck and me together (a story for another time).

The celebrating wasn't quite over. Sandy and I always entertain each other for all of our birthdays, so Thursday night we headed to their house for another delicious Italian meal. I'm definitely going to have to go on a diet before school starts!

I don't know why this picture is so fuzzy - probably the flash was goofy because of where I set the camera. I think I need a tripod for these timer pictures! Looks like my hair is still flying from running to get in the picture. Everyone else looks so calm and collected. Oh well :-)

Anyways, thanks, Sandy and Ray!

Then, on Saturday, I headed off on a 3 hour drive to Iowa to play for an outdoor wedding. It was a gorgeous day and a beautiful setting for the wedding of....

Steve and Sue!

Sue is our high school music teacher, and she did a wonderful job of planning lots of music to entertain her guests. It was great, and Sue looked beautiful!

Would you believe this is a farm in Iowa? I was expecting corn fields!

It still wasn't over. On Monday, our annual birthday outing with "the girls" started out with fresh caramel rolls on Sandy's patio. Linda, Jo, and I all have birthdays within 12 days of one another, and we've been celebrating together for a really long time! After coffee, they went to Red Wing for a little shopping while I ran some last minute errands before our trip (like going to the bank, the post office, the travel agency, the eye doctor, etc.), and then I joined them for lunch. Whew - what a whirlwind! Then, it was home to organize and pack. One good thing about getting ready for a big trip on such short notice - I saved a lot of money by not having time to shop! I just threw a lot of stuff in a big suitcase, since I didn't really know what I would need, and then I hoped for the best. But all of that will come in my next post, with lots of pictures, too!