The Penultimate Summer Adventures

Family,

Joanna, Russell and I have been pretty busy since the end of July. All three of us have worked hard managing these apartments, working in our new church callings, and just spending time with each other! 

What follows is a series of pictures and brief descriptions of what we have been up to for the last few weeks:

We dismantled our couches to repair cracked wood beams, then we put them back together. This is Russell relaxing in the upside-down couch! Look how happy he is! 

We bought some floaty toys for Russell to use when we go to the pool or to the beach. Russell did not enjoy them in either of those two circumstances, but he does like them as recliners for reading. . . .
(At the beach he prefers to play in the sand with sand shovels.)

We have been attempting to eat healthier. . . . but with limited success. . .
Here is a picture of one of the successes: Joanna made broccoli, salad, and tangy potato sticks. 

Russell enjoys a healthy meal!
(He also enjoys a not-so-healthy meal too! (see below)). 

With his teeth coming in, Russell has been a little bit more whiny than normal.
Here he is taking a mandatory nap on daddy to try to alleviate some baby stress. 

We were lucky enough to get some MN Twins baseball tickets this year to see them play the Cleveland Indians.
We go to one of the Twins-Indians games each year, and the Twins always seem to lose.
This year they also lost. :(
However, it was "dollar-dog-day", so all the hotdogs were only $1 !
Normally the hotdogs are $4, so this was a great deal.
So Russell had 1 dog, Joanna had 3, and Ben had 10. (No joke!)
They were DELICIOUS!

Here's Russell paying attention to . . . . not the game.
It's ok anyways because they were just cleaning the field at this moment. 

The Twins game!
Target Field is a beautiful facility! We love going there!
This year the weather was perfect - not much sun, a little cool breeze, and some warmth. 

Daddy and baby enjoying the game! 

We did lots of road-tripping this summer, and this is pretty much how Russell felt about the experiences.
Here he is playing peek-a-boo with us, and of course putting his little feets on the back of our seats. 

Sears Tower in Chicago.
Well, actually, the skyscraper formally known as Sears Tower. 

We did lots of this.
Driving.
Joanna is a pro now at driving manual transmission Dodge Neons.
Especially during horrible inclement weather!
. . . Like rain or snow, and especially when it is pouring down sunshine! 

We went to visit Mt. Vernon, OH for Joanna's 10 year high school reunion.
The reunion was lame, but the visit to where she grew up, and to her friends was awesome!
This is Joanna standing in front of the elementary school she went to! 

This is Russell and Joanna's old schoolmate Meghan at the 'upside-down tree' on the Kenyon College campus near Mt. Vernon. Meghan was fun to hang around, and Russell and I soon found out why Joanna has been friends with her for so long! She and Russell became close friends, and Russell enjoyed spending time with her!
She is a middle school teacher, and is great with kids, so Russell felt at ease! 

We spotted this primate species swinging through the upside-down tree, and we were lucky enough to snap a non-blurry picture of it as it paused to observe us. We think that is is related to Sasquatch. 

Here we are in Ohio! 

Here is Mary, Meghan, and Joanna! Three good high school friends! 

I was impressed with Meghan's house! It had a Frank Lloyd Wright feel to it. . . 

Meghan's kitchen with the delicious peach shortcakes she made! 

At the MN State Fair! On opening day! Yay! Our first stop was to visit the animals - specifically the nice fuzzy bunnies. Russell loved them! 

Russell was not so fond of the roosters and chickens. . .
But he did have a nice discussion with this one. 

This is when Russell got to pet the rabbits. He was so excited and he loved it! 

He was not very excited about the larger livestock, like these sheep.
But clearly Joanna was loving it! 

Here's Russell and me eating FRIED CHEESE CURDS!
Delicious!!!!
See how Russell is savoring every morsel? Such an intelligent and discerning boy!
He had to close his eyes and move the squeeky cheese curd around his mouth to pick up all the subtle flavors.
By the way, this was about 10am.
It was just the beginning of a long day of deliciousness.

Here is Russell and Joanna in the large cattle barn. All these cattle were on display and were ready to be judged.
Russell just kept thinking about hamburgers here for some reason. . . . 

Russell was super amused at the Oink Booth. (As is evident by his pig hat and his facial expression.)
Did you know that pigs start off only weighing 3 to 4 pounds, but then gain about 1 to 1.5 pounds a day so that when they are 1 year old they are already over 250 pounds?
The biggest boar at the fair was named "Big Kenny" and weighed 1045 pounds!

Here is Russell petting a goat. He loved it! 

Russell and I spoke to this pre-bacon pig for a few minutes. He was very nice, and Russell didn't know what to think of the pig's sniffing snout.

These were LARGE horses! Russell watched from close-up as they trotted back and forth and got groomed and ready for the judges. 

Russell was sad that these enormous pumpkins were not a pie yet.
The one on the left weighs 881 pounds!
If you want to see all the results of the judging at the MN State Fair, click on this link:
http://www.mnstatefair.org/competition/results.html

Russell and I enjoyed the crop art! These pictures are made by gluing different colored crop kernels and seeds on a canvas. We especially loved the picture right above my head. . . .    :)
Jim, watch out!!!

I was fascinated by this prize-winning "garden in a dish" that I saw. It was awesome, and I would love to start one to keep me cheery in the dreary winters. 

Here is Joanna admiring all the different types of  flowers. 

Here is Joanna enjoying the last of the elephant ear, and Russell is gnawing on the last of the foot-long corn dog.
DELICIOUS!

We stopped at the MN Republican Party booth, and Joanna and Russell got a picture with the elephant. Russell was less than impressed, and I hope it's not because he's a democrat. . . .
It was probably because he was scared of the blue elephant costume.
He did calm down after getting a Republican balloon . . . that he proudly held on to the rest of the day.
I spoke with the MN Republican Party chairman, and told him he was doing a good job trying to get families and kids involved. (He also had a hammer-slam-bell thingy for people to hit, and a complicated web-chart showing the crazy intricacies of Obamacare.)

We then stopped in at the 1500 ESPN booth to watch the opening of Garage Logic - my favorite radio show.
Each year the host, Joe Soucheray (Sue-sure-ray), and his buddy 'Rookie' interview Marjorie Johnson as their first guest. Marjorie is about 4.5 feet tall, and talks a mile a minute - and she is pretty old! She is hilarious to listen to, and she has been on Letterman and Leno. Her claim to fame is her personality, and her repeatedly winning the top ribbon prize for baked goods and pies at the MN State Fair.
The "GL" sticker I have on the back of my car is for 'Garage Logic'. 

A road at the fair. 

Joanna and Russell walking down a road at the fair.
Can you tell what Russell is doing in there? 

Russell was eating a fresh and sweet grilled corn on the cob! It was delicious and dipped in butter!
So good!!! But, he had had just too much fun, so he was taking a little nap before we started eating again.

Just a random street at the fair.
Can you find Joanna?

One of the best things at the fair is Sweet Martha's Cookies! We buy a whole bucket, and then go to the endless cold milk booth to eat the cookies with. See how Russell is eating that chocolate chip cookie? Well he eventually was covered all over his face with chocolate, and his hands, and everything he touched.
He WAS the COOKIE MONSTER!

We stopped back at the radio booth for the end of Garage Logic and the start of Sports Talk - I wanted to see in person Joe, and his buddy Patrick Reusse (Roy-see). Do you see me in this picture?
GL discusses local and national politics and other issues with a conservative spin. They are generally pretty funny, and it is totally a Minnesota and mid-west thing. You can listen to the show live or on podcasts at
http://www.1500espn.com/shows/garagelogic    .

Russell likes to peek out the back hatch of the stroller. Here Joanna took a picture of him peeking out, and also playing in the chocolatey-buttery-watery mess he made in his cup-holder. 

Deep fried candy bars! Not as good as I was hoping, but still delicious! 

This is me drinking a lemonade, eating a small shrimp cocktail, and Russell enjoying a drink while overseeing his Republican balloon. Fun times at the fair! 

We watched a bit of this boy acapella group sing a song at one of the bandstands. 

This is Joanna getting ready to savor a delicious rhubarb and strawberry sundae at the dairy barn. In the background are the awesome butter sculptures - only 1 is completed on the first day of the fair, and that is the dairy winner, Princess Kay of the Milky Way - a title and competition that has been going on here since the 1960s. 

After was got back from the fair, we were all a little sleepy and sunburned. Here is Russell after he just stole my watch, and ducked under my legs to hide! He's a pretty cute little guy!
He is getting lots of teeth now, and so doesn't sleep so well at night. Look at all those chompers! 

Due to the fact that he keeps himself and his daddy up at night, here is Russell and me sleeping around noon on the couch. I cherish these little tender moments.
Oh ya, and Russell got a "I love lamb" tattoo at the fair. 

This is Joanna being productive and making crafts while her hubby and son snooze on the couch!
Good thing Joanna is around or not much would get done around here except for eating, sleeping, and using the facilities.

Here is the little Russell sleeping on the couch after a long summer of playing.
I can't believe how big his is now, and how developed he is becoming right in front of our eyes!
Everyone who has kids tells us to cherish our little guy now because he'll soon be too big to snuggle.
So we do.    :-)

I hope you have enjoyed the nearly-last adventures of our summer. This summer has been fantastic and busy, but I would gladly re-live it again and again. Next week is meat-a-thon at Ben Scoresby's house (grilling and eating an obnoxious number of meats and vegetables and watching BYU football, and playing basketball). It will be the last HOORAH of the summer before I start back teaching again! Ciao! 

- BEN

Fast Sunday

Since tomorrow is Fast Sunday, I thought I would give my travelogue here instead of in Fast and Testimony Meeting.

We took our first long road trip together and with Russell to the Duvall Family Reunion (that's Ben's Mom's family). It was an enjoyable trip all around, but we were most impressed with Russell's pleasantness in the car for 4.5 days of total driving. That made up for his horrible sleeping the whole time we were gone.

Our first stop was Sacrament Meeting in Ames, Iowa. The speakers were great, and we were both wishing that our ward would have such good speakers. Several people were hoping we were a new family moving into the ward....

We stopped at the Winter Quarters Temple/Mormon Trail Visitor Center in Omaha for lunch. It was a nice break in the trip. We were both impressed by the temple. It's a two story version of the St. Paul temple.

We made it to Sidney, Nebraska the first day. The second day, we stopped in to check on Ben's Grandparents in Laramie, Wyoming to make sure they were getting everything ready to head to the reunion. I was quite surprised that Ben could actually remember how to get there (and I can now point the general area out from the freeway. You can't see their house from it.), and that they were home! We enjoyed our stop with them, and Russell enjoyed picking and eating their unripe chokecherries.

We finally had our chance to stay at the legendary Wood Hotel. I would rate it a 4.5 out of 5 stars. My only complaint about our stay there was Camille started crying as soon as she saw us out the front door. Other than that we had delicious food, fun company, a friendly kitty, awesome toys and Camille to entertain Russell, and satisfying Graham Canyon Creamery Ice Cream to make our stay worth all 19 hours of driving. Too bad we have zero pictures actually documenting the occasion.

Showing Russell where he will go to college :)

 On our way up to Bear Lake, we met up with a couple of my roomies from college. It was so nice to see them again, and I'm sad we don't live closer to get together more often (ok, it had been 3 and 6 years since I had seen each of them, so anything less than that would be more often). Ben was very impressed with how awesome they were. Way to go Nikki and Lisa! Sadly, we had to leave too soon to continue on our epic journeying.

We stopped in Logan to buy food for our meal at the reunion and get a quick bite of Chik-Fil-A. Russell poked his finger through a cup of ice water in the drive-thru and soaked himself. They were kind enough to give me another cup of water, but poor Russell had to sit in cold wet clothes for the next hour. Luckily, the dum-dums distracted him from that.

The reunion was at Bear Lake. The first day we went to the beach was cloudy and cool.

 The second day we went it was so sunny and warm that we didn't take any pictures. Russell was not a big fan of the water. The first time we went out into it he was walking by himself and tripped getting his face in the water. After that he preferred digging in the sand.

The house we stayed at was quite large, but had enough room for everyone that came. We lucked out and got our own room with a crib that Russell kind of slept in.

 The bonus room over the garage had a big screen tv and foosball table. Outside this room was a loft area that had a pool table.

 The main living room had a great view of Bear Lake from the deck.

 The only place large enough for 50+ people to eat was the garage.

Hmmm. Not the best picture...

We all had fun with Ben's family. Russell especially enjoyed having other little people around him. He'd walk up to them and give whoever a big smile and then just start jabbering away at them. It was nice for me to put faces to names of the extended family members and for Ben to get reacquainted with his younger cousins. We look forward to seeing Ben's immediate family again in December.

 The trip home was nothing exciting. We were super tired from the lack of sleep that we stopped at 5 the first day. I was so tired I didn't even hear Russell wake up that night. We made it home the next day about 5. It was nice to have people waiting for us. One of the old ladies told me she missed seeing Russell walking around the place and was happy he was back.

Now we have to catch p on all the work that needs done here.

First Haircut

Last night, we gave Russell his first haircut. We figured out on Sunday the reason why he was always messing with his ears was because his hair kept tickling them, so we decided to trim his old man hair.

 It is a good thing it took him 14 months to grow all that hair because once I trimmed it off and felt the back of his head, I got pretty sad. I realized he is not my little baby anymore and growing into a little boy more and more each day. :(

And, that is all that came off. I know. It's not that much. I shouldn't have gotten so emotional about it.

Parades

Living in the Mid-west gives us lots of chances to go to all the surrounding towns little 'fests' and 'days' and 'counts'. I like to take Russell to watch the parade and he really enjoys it. He gets into waving at everything that goes by and points as all the trucks, and emergency vehicles go by.

The first parade we went to was the Viola Gopher Count parade. I wasn't expecting much because I have driven past Viola, and it is 3 streets. We got there a few minutes early and had to park way far away because so many people were there.

We needed this when we sold corn!

We also let Ben away from studying to join us at the Rochesterfest parade. It started at 6:15 and we stupidly choose a spot at the very end of the parade route. As we were waiting for the parade to come a storm blew in and we got rained on. We stuck it our, only to have rain come on and off through the first half of the parade. Russell was tired and crabby, so we left. The highlight of the evening was the smoked turkey leg and Ben shouting and waving to the DESCH band. His students tried to ignore him, but Ben has a pretty loud voice and was standing on the road flailing his arms at them.

A rainbow after the first band of rain.

Summer break

We wasted no time starting our summer break. While on our way to a graduation party for one of Ben's former young men, we stopped at a cheese festival and got free fried cheese curds and lemonade thanks to a deal we made with some of the workers. They used our outside outlet to plug in the freezer holding the cheese curds, and we got free curds and lemonade!

While in the cities we had fun visiting with old ward members but also a stop at Ikea. Russell really enjoyed the kid decor area and wouldn't get off the little rocking moose they had.

We also enjoyed the Scoresby reunion in Nauvoo. Russell pointed at all the trucks we passed along the way and shoved lots of food in his mouth. Sylvia also reached the 100,000 mile mark on the trip. We decided it was a good thing Ben married me so he could put lots of miles on her.

After the Scoresby Scamper where Ben and Russell took home the Outstanding Award for pushing Russell on the almost entire gravel road.

 Some people would make better pioneers than others.

 My boys

 He was whispering secrets into my ear. At least that is what I was hoping, but I'm pretty sure he was trying to take a big bite out of me.

Russell loved Camille and her pink crocs. He also loved pushing her around in the stroller. He would have been happy doing that the entire time we were there.

Russell and I made out first trip to the pool yesterday. He was scared at first, but then decided it was pretty fun. He even would sit in the very shallow part by himself and splash. We are both looking forward to going again, but wish Ben could join us for all the fun we plan on having. Only 6 1/2 more weeks!

So we are Apartment Managers

What were we thinking!? 

Ya, it's nice to not have to pay rent and only have one utility bill to pay. Plus, we have the nicest apartment (probably so we didn't get scared away and not want to take the job). But, seriously!? This place is not what we would typically want to call home.

I think we should have known when we learned it was government subsidized housing.

But, it is free and so close to Ben's school. And, I just want to hide out in our apartment away from everyone.

The one good thing is the senior apartments. There are some really nice old people there who just want someone to talk to. Russell really enjoys them,too, and smiles and flirts with all the old ladies.

We moved

Our new place is quite different from all the other places we've lived. We have put about half our stuff in storage thanks to limited space. We our now out of the ground and on the second floor. Our neighbors are much different from all the other neighbors we have had.

But, it isn't too bad. I like the floor plan of this place much better than the last. I feel like it uses the space much better. We are also back to paying just electricity! Yay! It's the only thing we pay to live here. And, surprisingly, it doesn't smell. I opened a box this morning and the nasty stale cigarette smell of our last apartment came wafting out. Bleh.

Russell really likes this new chair in his room. He sat by himself on it for about 45 minutes yesterday while I was putting stuff away. It has replaced the futon that used to be in Russell's room. We got it for $12.99 + 30% off at Savers and are going to reupholster it in August. I'm a little scared of re-upholstery, but everything I've read says take lots of pictures along the way and you should be fine.

Oh how much can change in one year. Russell was super happy to drive away from our old apartment for the last time because he knew he wouldn't have to sit in his stroller for hours with only a few snacks and watching the Yo Gabba Gabba playlist on youtube. He was a trooper for putting up with it. All our hours of hard work sure did pay off in the 10 minutes the property manager spent casually walking through our apartment talking about how they wanted to put the nice cabinets (like the ones we had) in all the apartments but it was so hard to get it done instead of checking all the ridiculous things they made us clean. Anyway, we are done with that place and now we get to do the walk through with people.

He was trying to hide from me. Russell, not Ben. All of his cuteness sure impressed our new ward today. Ben and I are going to ride on the waves of his popularity until they realize what awesome people they just had move into their ward. Seriously, we are probably going to get ridiculously time intensive callings. Multiple people have commented that they were so happy that another family has moved into the ward and this ward will really need you. It is by far the smallest ward we have been in. Ben counted 30 total in priesthood opening exercises, and there were about 15 in Relief Society. We are happy to be in the same ward as some of our friends who moved from our last ward and some friends who moved from the ward before that (but they are moving soon so they don't really count).

And, last but not least, apartment managing has already turned out to be a super awesome experience. Not. Within the first week of us being here (and we hadn't even technically started) we had repairs, maintenance requests, fire alarms accidently set off by plumbers (really? they were working on the plumbing not electrical!), tornado warnings, big hail storms, boiler issues, complaints about the heat being turned off, loud neighbors, master keys and phone accidentally locked in office with no back up key, over zealous helpers, a move out, etc. Hopefully once we are trained things will be a little more sane. Who throws new managers into the job with no training?