Fairmont Tri Weekend

E & I signed up to do the Fairmont Triathlon this year (me, the "sprint"... she the "mini"), but the injury bug hit us both (one us bitten far worse than the other!).

Regardless, we still made the trip south and had a great weekend cheering the rest of the crew (Brett, Suz, Jay, Michelle... and several other Cardinal alum), taking in the the Heritage Days parade, motoring around the Chain of Lakes, and, of course, hitting up the Fairmont staples (do I really need to list these anymore?).

One new Fairmont weekend tradition is the Sunday morning family run, E & S (and now Lucy too) serving as "pace car" on the first and/or last few blocks...

Grand Ol' Day

We made a grand ol' day of Grand Ol' Day with the fam' and La & Opie by hitting up the annual street party and then scooting over to St. Thomas to show the girls around Dad's (L & O's too) old stomping grounds.  

We walked the quad outside my old dorm, played on the white boards in my old Gen Chem classroom, did "homework" in my favorite spot in the library, raced on the football field and tried to pick locks in the old mail room.  We then closed out the day with a hike down to and along the Mississippi River, stopping to carve initials in the sandstone walls along the way.

Edina Art Fair

This piece at the Edina Art Fair stopped S in her tracks... prompting her to say "Mom, gimme a pen"... and she proceeded to take detailed notes on design and color so she could replicate it later at home.  Strong is the inner artist in this one!

Last Day of School!

E & S on their way out the door for the last time this school year (kindergarten for E, "pre-B" for S).  Excerpts from their "exit interviews" below:

E's three favorite things about kindergarten:

1) Play stations (unstructured play time)

2) Computer class 

3) Gym

What E will miss the most about kindergarten: 

"I'm going to miss seeing my friends everyday."

What E won't miss at all from kindergarten:

 "Doing morning work." (in-class homework)

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S's three favorite things about Pre-B:

1) Art projects

2) Popsicles

3) Making Miss Halverson's day (the day the kids were to draw their favorite thing about school, and S drew Miss Halverson)

What S will miss the most about Pre-B: 

"Easy.  Miss Halverson."

What S won't miss at all from Pre-B:

"Cottage cheese."

The Blomstroms

Jeff, Susan and their girls (Maddox & Harper) returned to MN from their new Florida home to catch up with old friends over a picnic at the Lake Harriet Park & Bandshell. 

The Foss Factory

S proudly retrieving rings during deep dive practice at Foss Swim School... where we spend an hour (and a ridiculous amount of dollars) each week from Fall to Spring slowly mastering the life skill of swimming.