Relaxing outside together

After an afternoon thunder shower, the sun came out and so did Frankie and Uno. The two of them are spending more time together.

 

Frankie may not be hearing and seeing as well as he used to. And may be Uno is wanting to keep him company.

Crazy? race - Duluth Midnght Run

Well, it was kind of crazy but Michelle, Jon and I drove up to Duluth to meet Trish and Jason to run a 5k along Lake Superior at midnight Friday night/Saturday morning.

We met Trish and Jason at their house in west Duluth. We went to Canal Brewing for dinner and back to the house where I took a quick nap.

The race started right at midnight and followed the walking/biking path along Lake Superior. The weather was fantastic.

I was actually thinking there might be ambient light since it was just the summer solstice last weekend. There wasn't any natural light and in places it was downright dark.

We all had good runs and a good time. Got back to the house before 1am. I took a quick shower and fell right asleep. We had brunch at the Buffalo camp ground restaurant. The bloody marys and my pancakes were fantastic.

Gardening

The tiger lilies have started to bloom. They are so pretty.

And got one and only one strawberry so far. Not sure I'll get any more. Was able to pick a nice bumch of spinach.

Gracie and Alex visit

My niece Gracie brought her son Alex to spend a year with his father on Wisconsin. They spent a couple of days with me before Alex's dad picked him up on Saturday.

Gracie and Alex flew in to MSP on Wednesday while I was still in Denver for work. They went to a Twins baseball game and stayed the night at the downtown Hilton. My fantastic neighbor Roxi lent them keys to my house so they could check out and move Alex's huge suitcases. I got home a little after 9pm. It was still light out.

I worked a couple of hours Friday morning. They are still on Hawaii time so sleeping in was pretty much assured. We went to Isles Bun and Coffee before going over to St. Paul to the Como Zoo. There was hardly anywhere to park but the zoo and Como Town were not crowded.

We had a wonderful time at the zoo. Got to see the baby gorilla and the baby orangutan. Alex also got to see two gray wolves (wolfes as he calls them). One of the wolves is all white.

Turns out Alex loves carnival rides so an unlimited ride pass at Como Town was perfect. He rode all he could twice.

We drove back to Minneapolis and walked to the Stone Arch Bridge to see the Mississippi River. Alex was starting to run out of steam. Walked over to Izzy's for ice-cream. The goal now was to try to keep Alex up to switch him to Midwest time. By the tome we got back home, all three of us were out of steam. Everyone laid down for a nap.

The Uptown leg of the Northstar bike races was Friday night. We got dinner at Salsa a la Salsa before going to Hennepin Ave to watch the professional bikers race around. Alex's nap hadn't really helped. His biological clock was totally off.

These pro-racers are incredibly fast and fun to watch. We stayed to the end though Alex was done half way through.

Alex's dad Nate drove from Wisconsin on Saturday to pick up Alex. Because Gracie has to finish her tour of duty on Hawaii then go to training in Florida the move to Washington state for her next two year tour, she decided to have Alex spent a full year with his dad and go tone school for third grade. It was an emotional going away.

I took Gracie to the airport after stopping at Chipolte one last time. There are no Chipolte restaurants in Oahu.

Denver - the final trip

My last business trip to Denver. At least in this business.

The weather has been sketchy but Denver is always a great place to visit. So many great places for food and drink. I was able to get a run in along Cherry Creek until the path was flooded... that is how much rain there has been

capitol building view from my hotel room

sun and storm clouds

the flooded pedestrian path

interesting sculpture and sky

Kay's birthday croquet

It was a bit damp and buggy and the grass could have been trimmed but it was a very fun and competitive birthday croquet at Minnehaha Park.

Kay likes to have a game of croquet and picnic to celebrate her birthday. This year's event was quite lovely. Good food. Good play. Good friends.

I don't think Christine is going to wack Kay.

Brew making sure Kay doesn't cheat.

Lauren learning how to send another player's ball.

Wide angle shot of the players.

Tom's very productive stance.

 

The art shot. 

Sibling togetherness

This rarely happens. A moment of peace and quiet together.

Latest home improvement

Part of my Budget Blinds purchase were these plantation shutters for the living room. I have wanted this type of window treatment for a long time. They are custom made and of real wood.

I had them make the split at the same level as the divide in the large center picture window. They operate very easily. Closing one slat closes all of them in that part.

I can even open them with the sofa in place.

Open slats to let in light. Close slats for privacy.

And the rest of the peonies

About a week after Miss America peony starts to bloom, the rest of the tribe joins in...

I call it peony row.

The pinkish white ones at the far end are really full this year.

This plant is actually not doing well.
This is the middle red bush and down to just this one blossom
but it is spectacular.

Interesting lighting this evening.
Stormy sunset light strong and shady at the same tome.

And not to be outdone, the Siberian iris are on bloom.
The heat is making them last only a day or so.

Here she is. Miss America

Peony time. They are starting to bloom. Miss America is normally the first to open.