Kerfoot Canopy Tour

When we were volunteering at Every Meal, Emma got to talking to Joy about her desire to visit the high ropes course again. Emma loves the high ropes courses but no one else in the family enjoys it much. She has asked many times to go but never has anyone to take her.

Joy willingly stepped into the role this year and she and Emma had an adventure down in Belle Plaine, MN with Kerfoot Canopy Company.

Hopefully, this will fufill the desire to visit high spaces for at least the next few years. A big thank you to Joy!

Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Mark celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary today as well. Glad they are getting out on a road trip and having fun.

At Least One per Summer...Waterparks

What would summer be without a trip or two to the waterpark? Analise made sure we didn't miss out on our opportunity to go in a lazy river, giant pool or down some fast moving waterslides. She planned a trip for her friends to Splash Valley in Apple Valley.

A favorite was the slides where you could ride in a tube. This one below was like a toilet flush at the end where they spun around before coming out. Most came out facing forward, Analise decided to come down backwards. The girls all looked a bit worried before they went down but in the end they all said it was fun and went on again.

Of course many rounds of the lazy river took place as was as multiple trips up to the fast moving tube slide. They also enjoyed a body slide that dropped them off the end.

Surprisingly, Analise was willing to try every single water slide, even the body slides. She said they were all a lot of fun and that she is officially over her fear of waterslides. It took about 7 years for her to be able to say that but we are thankful the day came!

This was one of Analise's last times to have Fiona, Ella and Tessa together with her. We hope the group will still get together next summer for Art Club at Tessa's house. I think Ella had it will all my picture taking by the end. It is hard to believe next week is the final week of summer for the girls.

Getting Ready for a New School

Although it is exciting to be starting a new school, it is also a bit daunting and scary. Both girls attended the new student and family event to get some of our initial questions answered. Analise also took a placement test which was a bit intimidating but she said it was "okay." After taking her test, she had a few minutes and snapped a few photos of the school from her phone. Apparently, someone at the school really likes Charles Schultz and the Peanuts characters.

It has been a lot of emotions as we navigate this next stage of the journey but we are hoping for the best for both girls. We pray they find good friends who they will feel connected with and who will be good guides for them as they move through the next few years. We also are hoping they find activities they enjoy and feel confident in their academic abilities. Both girls are liking their new uniform options and Analise is joining the cross country team for the fall season.

Here the girls are building a new small desk so that they can have separate spaces for studying. It is supposed to be a standing/sitting desk that rolls wherever you want it to be. The company didn't disclose how hard it was to assemble in the online description. Success was felt after getting it in one piece.

EveryMeal

It has been a bit since we volunteered at EveryMeal a few summers back. We thought we would make a return this summer with Erin's friend Joy to do an evening food packing session. Analise's friend Tessa was also able to join us this year.

We were thankful to share some fun volunteering experiences that gave us time to catch up with friends. We packed yellow bags which means easy to prepare food from anywhere. These bags can be eaten as is or with the help of a microwave. Over the course of the night, our team packed 3,324 bags.

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce came for our final weekend in July. We hung out at our house and played Cribbage and indoor games, badminton in the yard and Emma got to spend her gift card at Dicks from grandma. She bought a white Nike sweatshirt and a purple Nike t-shirt for cross country.

The girls have wanted to try Queen Thai Sushi since it opened this past year so we decided to takeout from there. Then we went out to see Comedy Sportz in downtown Minneapolis on Saturday evening. The teams did a great job with their Improv skills and everyone got some laughs in. It is good to catch up and see what everyone has been up to the past few months.

Art Camp with Tessa's Mom

For the past two years, Tessa's mom has held an Art Camp for Analise's group of friends at her house. They do a variety of crafts every other week and the camp keeps them connected with each other over the long summer months. Analise was excited to tell us about her apron that she designed with a flower print.

She also tie-dyed a shirt which may come in handy if the school decides to do a tie-dye day for school spirit week during homecoming. Her design was hot pink and black.

We are thankful that Shannon offers the camp and that they live nearby so it is easy to stop over.

Como Gardens and Heat Wave

We have wanted to get out on the weekends and do more hiking and outdoor adventures in our area however the air quality and the heat have made it tricky these last few weeks. We rejoined the Y for the next month so that the girls can train for cross country on the indoor track as much as needed without destroying their lungs. We did manage to get out to the Como area last night because the air quality numbers have improved a bit. It was still hot, but we found some beautiful ponds.