Last week of July

July 24 Isaac attended a basketball camp from 10-4. Tuesday of that week the other three and I went bowling. 

 

That afternoon we hit another Minneapolis pool to beat the heat. 

Wednesday night Mary had a lacrosse scrimmage. Her season was coming to an end that weekend. Emma's was as well. The boys' baseball was done at this point. 

Oh Isaac started a 3 week mountain biking camp on Wednesday evenings. I didn't get any photos because I didn't realize what the future held. 

I work Wednesdays but this week had picked up Thursday and Friday as well. Thursday we made a trip to the beach in the evening... something we didn't do enough of this summer. 

Friday morning I got up early and went for a run before going into work. So glad I did, looking back this was a REALLY heavy day. I took a lot of photos on my run. 

Got to work and the clouds were amazing. 

This was a hard day at work because I found out one of my FAVORITE nurses to work with was just diagnosed with breast cancer. She has four kids just like me, and they are about the same age, we have good conversations and she is just the sweetest person!

That evening Mary had her first and second (of four) lacrosse games for the final State tournament. We went out to Maple Grove for her games. Kyle and I had a planned date night, but ended up canceling the sitter so we could all be there to support Mary. 

 

It was a late night, but fun. We made it home and Mary was getting into the bath while I took a phone call from my brother. My dad had been killed out on a motorcycle ride earlier that evening. He called about 9pm and it had happened about 6:45pm. He had 'failed to navigate' a turn - is what the report said. But now that we've seen his body, seen the scene we believe he had to have had a heart attack or stroke BEFORE the wreck happy, which is comforting to know he was in no pain. He was only 72. 

Here's a link to the police report: https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/HP68/AccidentDetailsAction?ACC_RPT_NUM=230406437

Link to the news article: https://www.ky3.com/2023/07/29/springfield-man-killed-after-motorcycle-crash-wright-county/

Link to his obituary: https://www.holdenfunerals.com/obituary/leslie-post

Here he is when he came to visit the girls on their birthday during covid. May of 2020

Summer Weekend: Target Field

Camp finished Friday and I met up with a friend (former co-worker) who now does Mandala's for events and art awareness. She asked if I'd capture her art with my drone. Friday was a run through before the crowds on Saturday. 

Did a little family fishing Friday evening. Kyle had tried to teach the kids fishing with a lure... however they are still in the corn phase, they want that instant gratification... and using corn as bait is always a sure fire way to catch fish, lol. 

Saturday morning I had a brick workout (meaning you do two of the triathlon disciplines together). I went for a bike ride and then a run. Turns out my legs work better after a warm up on the bike, lol. And looking back I'm kicking myself for riding my bike with the seat too low cuz I know where it's gotten me now. :-( 

Then we headed over to the art fair to capture my friend's mandala and the crowd. She had two, one she'd completed earlier in the week in the back garden. Then the one out front she was doing that morning and throughout the day. She ads to it with the white paint that will stay for a week or so (not traffic paint but last longer than chalk) and she has attenders color in it with chalk the day of. 

I came back at the end of the day to capture the mandala finished, just before some rain came in: 

I made a little promo video for her: 

Isaac had a birthday party south of town and instead of driving him there and coming home we stayed and took the younger kids roller skating. The closest skating place is about a half hour from us so we utilized our time south to go. The girls love it, Thomas put up a bit of a fight at first but once he got the hang of it he enjoyed it as well. This place was SUPER hot inside, so Kyle and I just sat there and sweated for the most part. 

 

Sunday morning at 8am was a swim, run brick workout. I had a goal to swim across the lake on our bucket list and while I wasn't planning to actually do it that day, turns out I did! And I'm glad I did because this ended up being the only time I swam in the lake. Love my new wetsuit!! It gives me bouyancy making it a little easier to swim. 

the girls came along with me, adding to the total time this ordeal took. But they were my 'spotters' paddling on the paddle board beside me. There were a few other swimmers out as well as the park patrol. 

 

I came back home, then set out for my run. 

As a thank you for coaching GOTR we got free twin's tickets for that days game. It was a HOT one! They were giving out backpacks to kids so we wanted to be there early to get them since only the first few thousand would get one. So we arrived shortly after the stadium opened at 11am! (game was at 1:00) 

Made our way over to our seats, we lasted an inning (maybe 1.5) in the hot sun before needing to take a break. 

They were giving our section these cold neck things: 

And got some ice cream. We weren't planning to stay the whole game since we got there so early... but it actually started getting good at the end. We moved around a bit and watching in excitement as they went into extra innings. 12 total and WON 5-4. 

Since it was Sunday they let the kids run the bases after the game and since we were STILL there, lol we joined in. Crazy long day, but soaking in summer. 

 

(And NOW I realized we missed Twins day this year, which we have hit EVERY year! So this was our consolation)