Grandad's Birthday!

We celebrated Grandad's birthday the weekend after the 4th of July. Somewhat randomly, I agreed to be Christine's doubles partner for the tennis tournament at the Edgewood Club. Pretty amazing that we won our first match, given that I hadn't stepped on a court for maybe 30 years (!). Must have been our lucky outfits!

After a belated July 4th lunch which was a really nice chance to catch up with friends, we kicked off the birthday celebrations with an "Original 5" dinner at a lovely outdoor restaurant in Tivoli. While we were out reveling, Fer and Wendy enjoyed a sleepover with Apple and Milli, and Henry and Uncle Chris had a guys' night out!

The next day, we had a birthday lunch for Grandad with family and friends. Happy Birthday Dad!! We love you so very much.

Family 5K: Maplewood July 4th Run!

We had a great time running the July 4th 5K in Maplewood. This time I ran with Wendy and Chris paced with Fer. He definitely has a future (and a past) as a running coach as Fer shaved 4 minutes off her Florham Park time! Wendy and I took it a little easier than she did in Florham Park, running 12 minute miles in the heat. And we made it despite the fact that they ran out of water both on the course and at the finish line! Afterward we went out for breakfast with the Cannings to celebrate (Patricia, Jim and Jessica also ran the race), then had a quiet afternoon at home before a quick swim and picnic at the pool and then the family circus in Maplewood as our final July 4th activity. We skipped the fireworks this year in favor of a reasonable bedtime, and heard the next day that this was a good choice as the fireworks were apparently extremely crowded.

Overall our re-entry from Minnesota has gone really well. There was some agitation at bedtime the first night back, but the last 2 days have been great between our July 4th activities and then yesterday transitioning back to summer session at Newark Academy. Both girls have been so diligent with completing the unexpected homework from the summer session and seem in very good spirits with the new friends they have made and the interesting work they are doing there. We are so proud of them!

Heading Home from Minnesota

Hugo and Maria came with Nic to take us to the airport, and we got one more picture of the foursome before we got on the plane:

And, we're back!

Day 4 Minnesota Visit: Splash Park, Mill City Museum, More Soccer!

On our last full day with the Olsons we decided to head into Minneapolis for a field trip. We visited a splash park to cool off and then headed to the Mill City Museum, where we learned a lot about how Minneapolis was founded as a mill town with flour factories. The kids all enjoyed the hands-on exhibits, the Flour Tower (a huge elevator exhibit), the lookout over the Missisippi River, and a movie about the history of Minneapolis. Afterwards we went for dinner on our way to Hugo's soccer game. They tied, but we had a great time cheering for MTA!

The splash park was a big success!

Mill City Museum pics:

Hugo's soccer game was great fun to watch, and we managed to get one more group picture before we had to say goodbye:

Day 3 Minnesota Visit: Church and Hanging at Home

We had the opportunity to worship with the Olsons at their church, Bethlehem Baptist. The lead pastor, John Piper, is quite well-known and I was very interested to see what his church was like. It was an uplifting service with wonderful music (I was so happy to sing an especial favorite of mine, "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing") and we had the chance to meet a few of their friends afterwards and get a photo of the 12 of us.

After church we went back to the Olsons' house to relax and spend the rest of the day together, complete with a family soccer game at a nearby park, and a movie night for the kids.