4 Month Update

Things here in apartment managing are going much better than after our first week. Here is what's up.

We have made friends with quite a few of the senior residents. All of the ladies adore Russell and come out of their apartments when they hear him in the hall. Most of them have also told us we are doing a great job.

The family building has been a little bit harder to make good buddies. They are polite when we are around. They have done reasonably well adjusting to the rules they should have been following before we started.

We have only had a few minor incidents that we weren't expecting. For the most part they have ironed them out on their own.

We've also been able to do extra work for some extra money. It's fun to get my own paycheck again :)

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