August and Everything After

 

Okay, that's a Counting Crows album and I'm not proud that I know that, although it was their only good one. And it was one of the 2 cds that I know of that my sisters and I all purchased independently and then realized it later. The other was Indigo Girls' Rites of Passage. I'm not bragging about that, either. But my sisters and I were finally all in the same place at the same time after 7 years apart, and I am thrilled about that! There's a picture of us at the end of this blog post.  

 

 

These two are from our visits to Anna's new place. She's getting bored with Mankato and has a long winter ahead of her. She's thinking of moving to Chaska & commuting next school year. She figures the tips are better around here and she can't stand to be so far away. She is an excellent writer and correspondent, her handwriting is becoming font like, and if you write to her, she will write back.

 

Jake's awesome new scooter, which I'm scared to ride on. I'll have to overcome that, too. I flew and went up in the Space Needle, but then I chickened out & sat out for the cable ride that goes over the State Fair. I got problems.

 

This is a nice picture, except that Luna's tongue is on my pillow!! Gross. Sara, check out the blanket. It still gets used daily. Maya plays with the tassels every morning and sleeps with it every night. She even took it to two slumber parties.

 

Kendama Mama, Grandama, Kendama Pamma, or Grandma Can Dama. Anyway, she landed it, sitting down, almost on the first try. Pretty impressive.

Later in August, we had lots of fun at the cabin with Dave & Marissa. And at the State Fair.

 

 

Dylan's Mecca, the Sweets Kendama stand (that's the man Sweets himself in the background, looking stately:)). Lucky for Maya, it was right next to the Webkinz, wax hands and some yarn marionettes, so she didn't get bored.

 

We only went in the baby animal barn & saw lots of brand new pigs, like this one. The we were in the right place at the right time and 19 teams of horses like this paraded by us into the Coliseum.

 

Finally, we checked out Pert Near Sandstone on the free stage. What an awesome local band!

 

The official end of summer. So far, school's been easy breezy for Maya. Dylan's been feeling the weight of 7 classes, 7 teachers, 7 subjects of homework. He's starting to plow through it now. The first few weeks of middle school were tough! He's also been busy with kendama and rock band. He performs Nov.8 at 6pm @Dunn Bros. in Excelsior.

 

Maya's been writing and drawing in her usual prolific fashion. She highly esteems Hayley and pays close attention to all of the art she posts on Instagram. Maya's been dabbling in poetry the past few days.

Here's Maya's Ode to Luna:

 

Luna is bigger than a twig,

She is a dog, not a hog.

She is naughty, but not trotty.

When she has her collar off,

She's naked, but not sacred.

She's rather adorable.

She's not deplorable.

She has brown eyes.

She doesn't make lies, either.

She's wrestly and bold.

She's not nestly and wasn't told.

 

She's as poetic as the song she was middle named for- To Ramona by Bob Dylan:

 

Ramona, come closer, shut softly your watery eyes,

The pangs of your sadness will pass as your senses will rise...

 

 

Our visit to my sister Kim's house inspired us to get a ping pong table. Fun for the whole family. Well, no one thinks it's fun to play with me. I see them roll their eyes and raise their eyebrows. But I've been practicing and I'll soon be a contender.

 

There's a lot going on in this one. Both dogs and all 4 kids if you look closely. This was the day Kayla & Anna attended their paternal grandpa's funeral. Grandpa Ray was 80 and went peacefully. Anna read a passage at his funeral.

Dylan and his friend made these carriers. They clip them to belt loops with caribeaners. He's sold and given them to kendama enthusiasts everywhere he goes.

 

Photo by Jake. He took lots of the sunflowers Maya planted as seeds in little pots on our front step. They got to be 10 feet tall.

Maya's brushes with cardboard cutout fame. As her aunt Jessie said, "Maya doesn't always pose with cardboard cutouts, but when she does..."

 

Maya reminisces about preschool and swimming lessons.

 

 

And we say goodbye to summer days by the lake, which everyone enjoyed in different ways.

Dinner with Kayla, complete with candlelight, waltzing (well, other people were), a live band, and yes, a kendama on the table. Oh, the incessant clacking.

 

Grandma Olsen took the kids to the Arboretum last week. Maya says she likes the way Grandma talks, because she says things like, "We're going back to where I live" instead of just saying "my house":)

For Dylan's 12th and golden birthday, he elected to attend the MN Kendama Open at Union Depot in St. Paul. Isaac, whose 12th birthday was 2 days later, came along too. Below, Dylan competes in a spike competition with pros and amateurs alike. I think he was 6th. He competed in a couple of these and also at the Intermediate level, at which he needed to master about 20 tricks. He made it to the 2nd round. Above, he and Isaac are pictured with pros, including the MKO champion-the one with the towel. It was a fun, unique birthday.

Michelle just sent me these pics of my grandparents' anniversary & birthday party. They've been married 66 years and just turned 89 & 90! Here they are with the whole clan minus Anna and below, with their 3 kids, Marc, Chris and Carol.

Kinda like Charlie's Angels. Kind of.

And finally, after years of the 4 sisters not being in the same place at the same time, here we are! This time, we're just missing Kayla, but a pretty good turn out. Lots of fun was had by all. Congrats to Kim & Jason on their recent engagement! (these 2 photos by Michelle, too)

Back: Iona, Isaac, Anna, Maya, Olivia, Nora, and Dylan (Nora sticks close to Dylan)
Middle: Jason, Scott, Becky, Leif, India and Steph
Front: Michelle, Kim and Jake