Family

My mom's sister, Betty, her husband Leon and their son Mike and his wife Teresa road-tripped from Arizona a few weeks ago. It was a great excuse for family in the area to reunite and catch up.

My niece and nephew are in the middle of the picture next to the boys. My cousin Julie's daughter Carly is in orange. And my cousin Jen's kids are in the red, one holding their new brother.

And now for a picture of the old, old cousins. The two girls that are not me are daughters of my Aunt Donna. Mike is my cousin from Arizona. I haven't seen my Arizona family for probably 10 years.

The sisters in a rare picture together. 

My mom is in the middle with her natural hair color :-). She is the baby at 65. Donna is on the left and my aunt Betty from Arizona is on the right.

I can't put into words what a joy it was to get to know Mike's wife Teresa. We had a blast being silly and teasing each other. It was difficult to say goodbye. I hope we can reconnect soon. Real soon.

Last Campout

Our last campout of the season was at Big Island State Park in Albert Lea, MN. We enjoyed cookouts, campfires and conversation. We celebrated 3 birthdays over the weekend - a 2yr old, 3yr old and 4yr old. Our camping days have changed significantly. When we camp it is always with Corey's family. It used to be us in our popup and Don and Joyce in their big fifth wheel. This weekend we had Amy and her pregnant self with her two sons in their motorhome. Mel and her pregnant self with her husband and daughter (and Chunk) along with Chad's sister Christine and their mom, Cindy. Karen and Brad housing Ashley and her husband Christian along with Wrigley and Sammy in their camper. Jodi and Jake with their son and Roscoe in their popup which started as our popup and then was Karen and Brad's popup. Still Don and Joyce and still us for a grand total of 26 (including pets).

The brothers created an apparatus for carrying heavy blocks.

Cam enjoys a peaceful and relaxing lunch.

Coop entertains two of the little ones with a bus stop wagon game.

Blowing and chasing bubbles.

It was an exhausting weekend.

Camping on the lake makes for splendid sunsets.

Walk to School

Walking to school - not really. We park down the street and walk from there. It's an annual event that is organized for grade schoolers. It is great fun to walk with your friends, family and teachers on a sunny, brisk, fall morning. I enjoyed overhearing the many conversations that transpired from the uninhibited brains around me. Cam gave me a tearful goodbye but it's getting easier every year. 

For him.

The principal looks scary. I'm just sayin'.

Out of the Darkness

The first annual Out of the Darkness Walk was held in Winona this month. It is a walk to raise funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I joined the cause by joining Team WSHS. I was fortunate enough to have two little walkers with me. Although they didn't quite get what the walking was all about, they did enjoy the snacks and beautiful weather.

I ran into an amazing lady who was on another team with me 6 years ago. Super great to be here to join MH and others in this great cause.

Small, but mighty, Team WSHS. Thanks for all you do to save lives Josh and Kate.

Family Fitness Challenge

Jefferson School has the annual family fitness challenge to culminate a month of fundraising for the school's PTA. We challenged ourselves to work hard and have fun. We had a blast!

Go Team Hancock!

Kyle can't contain himself after his friend falls down behind him.

Go Cam!

On your marks...

Growing up in Shirts

So, I decided to put the same shirts on the boys every year to see how they are growing. 

Yikes, the shirts tell the story...

Winhawk shirts and hats from Coach Smith - 2011.

Same shirts - 2012

Same shirts - 2013

American Queen

The American Queen stopped in Winona for the day. We enjoyed hanging out with our dear friend, Mary, and welcoming the visitors.

Kyle and Gramps greeting travelers.

Smokestacks down to make it under the bridge.

Oops, rewind...

Our annual Labor Day weekend camping trip to Flandrau State Park was a lot of fun.

Kyle likes teaching his little cousin a few tricks.

Slip slidin' away.

Brydon, just a swingin'.

Cam trying to stay little.

Catch up Weekend

It's MEA weekend so I am using the extra days to catch up on this long lost blog. And yes, I know it's not called "MEA" but Marshall Fields will always be Daytons and Education MN weekend will always be MEA weekend. On to more important things...

Off to work at the WSHS. My first day of school. It was VERY sunny.

The 3rd grader.

The 1st grader.

The 6th grader. 

Eek! It took a lot of arm twisting to get him to pose. Tween attitude has set in. Lucky me.

Splashing Good Time

We spent a lot of time at the pool this summer minus Cooper. He is not a fan of swimming so typically it was Kyle, Cam and me poolside. 

Cam loves to jump off the side. Careful!

Good Times

Our dear friends from St. Louis visited in June. We love hanging out with them. It was great to meet our newest friend, Abby, who clearly is not big on sitting still. 

 Corey took on the Trinona for the first time.

They did it! Congrats Matt and Corey!

We loved having our little friend E.G. visit us with her mom. Elleigh was intrigued by the tiny frogs we had inundate our yard over the summer.

Watching the Steamboat Days Parade while getting a sugar high. Nothing better. Parades make me all melancholy and gooey. I don't know what it is. Maybe the music, the innocence, the simplicity, the horse crap. 

Fore!

In June, Coop and Kyle participated in a golf outing for area youth at Cedar Valley. Coop made a new friend, Kyle got to golf with an old friend and Cam got to ride in a golf cart. It was a fun time. 

Happy Graduation, Chris!

One of the hugest ever highlights of the summer was attending our friend's grad party. It was super great to reconnect after so long. There were so many fun times but one of my favorites was when we arrived Ceci cam running down the street to greet us. So cool! 

Joan-E baloney.

Ky and Cam are happy to accept sweet handouts from Grandma Fran.

 Chris and Ceci all growed up.

Cam loves to snuggle.

WLYA

Toothless Wonder

Woohoo! Cam lost his first tooth! 

Since I am playing major catch up this actually happened in June.

3 months later...

Scary, I know.

That's all for now...

The summer is going well. We are busy with swimming, golf lessons, baseball, bird watching (more on this later) and just hanging out playing with legos. June and July have been super busy with hosting a bridal shower, two weeks of friends and family here to visit, grad parties, and other outings. Still lots I would like to do before the summer is over...

RIP Rog

Rox and Teeball

It's baseball season. My favorite time of the year. Kyle is back playing with the Rollingstone Rox and Cam is trying out teeball.

Kyle trying to smack it.

A rare shot of the two grandpas together. It doesn't happen very often but the grandparents were together this week. Corey's dad is on the left and Gramps is on the right. They are debating the finer points of youth baseball. 

Kyle being his usual goofy self.

The Rox won first place in the Rollingstone Tournament. His 8U team as of today (July 13th) is undefeated. That makes for a pretty fun season.

And then there's teeball. They should put this on video and play it in bedrooms of insomniacs. We'd all fall asleep a lot faster. Cam is learning a lot and trying hard even though it's not really his favorite thing to do.