Off to the Lake...

for one last weekend, before I settle down to plan for the upcoming school year. Hope everyone has a great weekend- xoxoxo

Jeremy's adventure

Oh, yeah....

Jeremy rode the Gyrospeare contraption and didn't get sick ( I totally would have) and then
he rode this crazy bike at the Discovery Center/Science Station place. It was wild to watch!
Happy Summer!!
PS- the weather is so crazy here, look at Jeremy in his long sleeve shirt and jeans in JULY!

A few funny pictures...

of Sophie and Marissa when we went to The Wisconsin Dells last weekend. The rest of the family was there too, but they weren't as cute!

Summer Music

So, I have been on the road a lot this summer. I have been teaching a bookmaking class at the Women's Prison in Mitchellville, IA, and was working on a play at the Iowa Juvenile home in Toledo, IA, along with a little summer revising on our grad program in Art Education at UNI. Because of all this driving, I have heard lots of great music. Here are four bands that I discovered and love and would like to share with you! Maybe you have already heard of them, remember I live in Iowa. Enjoy!

Metric , Grizzly Bear , The Thermals , and White Rabbits

what a weekend!

I think I am still recovering from our whirlwind of a weekend! Steph and Kyle arrived on Friday from Portland while I was in DeWitt attending an adoption party. It is official, my step-sister has two new kids and I have two new members in my family- welcome Makayla and Ayden!!
Friday night we hosted our first Karaoke party after purchasing the American Idol Karaoke game. Jeremy and I really cannot sing but we love a good competition and that's exactly what this game is all about. Singing for points and humiliating yourself along the way. We had 14 singers on Friday night. Two of them walked away as Karaoke Champions!

Here is a photo of the winners: Left Kris Miller (no relation) and right Megan Matthews (no relation to the other Megan Mathews)

So Saturday night we attended Roller derby in Cedar Rapids. We killed the Chicago Team we played. They couldn't even skate, let alone score... it was great to watch.There was even a small fist fight... Stephanie and discussed our dreams of being on the roller derby team that will never happen. She claims she is not fast enough on wheels. I know that is true for me but my real problem is my fear of knocking out more teeth! yikes!!! Check out Roller derby here... they play again in August if anyone is interested in going with us next time.

It gets even better on Sunday- I know you are thinking what can beat getting a new niece and nephew combined with karaoke and a chocolate fondue fountain (oh yeah, we had that at the party too) and roller derby.... where are we off to on Sunday at 9:30 am???


No, not the rodeo... but good guess! We went tubing on the Wapsi River all day with a cooler of beer, rum and cokes, Oreos and trail mix, and not enough sun screen (for my poor knees)
What a blast we had floating down the river, tipping each other over and maneuvering around trees and rocks occasionally. We ended the evening with pizza and Harry Potter to get geared up for the new one which I believe comes out tonight!!!!!!

Thanks Steph and Kyle for coming to visit and bringing your fabulous sister and brother-in-law along. LOL to you!!!

LACMA

When we were in California in June, we went to the
LA County Museum of Art
Outside the museum, was this fabulous installation of plastic containers.
If you are ever in LA, I recommend checking out this museum!

These light up at night and were amazing!

Workers were draping this cloth on the building as we entered.
Next to the museum is the La Brea Tar Pits another great place to visit!

Violet

We had a little celebration of Violet's great life on Friday with
specials doggie truffles and cookies

We put Violet to sleep on Friday afternoon. Our vet came over on his way home and we buried her in the back yard. I am very sad but relieved that she will no longer be suffering. I am going to look for some old pictures of her this week to share.
In 2001, Jeremy and I adopted her at the no-kill shelter in Washington, IA where I taught 4-6 art at Lincoln Upper Elementary School. She had been hit by a car and did not look good. Our heart went out to her immediately and we decided to adopt her rather than a puppy like we had originally intended. She lived with us for eight wonderful years before she developed bone cancer.

Good-Bye Brenda

I have spent the last month working with the director Brenda Currin who founded What Girls Know, a theater company for adolescent girls. We have been working together at the Iowa Juvenile Home In Toledo, IA. Wednesday we performed our play with the girls. It was such an amazing experience.
Brenda leaves tomorrow to go home to NYC! We will miss her. The pictures below are of the progressive dinner we held for her in Mount Vernon.

The Lovely Violet

Violet has been diagnosed with cancer and will not be with us much longer. She has had ten wonderful years on this planet, eight of those with us. Here she is enjoying the warm sunshine this week as I weeded the garden.