Obviously, I've been terrible about keeping up with the blog. So many things have happened in the last month and more!
Our time in Minnesota was incredibly busy--mostly with good things. It was challenging to balance our work, BradFest organizing and visiting, but we worked hard at it.
BradFest was rained on both days but we still managed to raise some money and had a great time. Our efforts were recognized this year by the Two Harbors mayor, which was very exciting.
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| The mayor of Two Harbors with the BradFest organizers and Brad's parents. |
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After BradFest, Troy brought the robots down to Minneapolis. Our friend Aaron designed EMMI's new logo. In exchange, he was promised a private robot concert. Aaron organized a nice, intimate gathering of his friends (and ours). It was nice to see so many music robot enthusiasts. Troy's composition professor, Scott Miller, showed up to jam with the robots, as did an old friend, Jeff Vigness.
We got to visit with many old friends and later went out on the town. Minneapolis is really a great city. I realize that more and more each time I return. One very unfortunate thing happened that night though. My camera was stolen (along with my cell phone). As you know, I love taking photos. And I loved my camera. I'm a bit heartbroken but found what I think will be a suitable replacement finally this week on Craigslist. I'm anxious to play around with it.
Some of the other major MN events:
I spent some time with my mom, aunt and cousins at my grandpa's cabin. My sister came up one day with the girls too. We realized we had 6 sets of sisters there at once! Pretty special.
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| Maddie, Barb, Val, mom and me |
I helped to throw a small baby shower for my sister.
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| Suzi with Taylor, Marty, Heather, Laura, me and mom |
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| Laura and Taylor |
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| Nieces Ria and Amelia |
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| Laura, Ria, me and mom |
Troy's mom retired from teaching nursing. We were happy to be there for her surprise party. Unfortunately, I have no pics of that since my camera was gone at that point. :(
We had a fun game night at the Rogers with our friend Steve (who drove up all the way from Charlottesville for BradFest). I never realized how good Troy's mom was at beanbags! And has anyone ever heard of moose balls? It sounds weird but it's a pretty fun game!
My brother and sister both came home for a nice family dinner. It's a rare opportunity for all of us to be together.
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| Patrick and Jackson (his girlfriend's son, a sweetheart, who I met for the first time) |
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| Family |
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| Ria eating her favorite food. She went through 3 half cobs and was demanding more. She didn't want to eat anything else! |
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| Chowing down on the deck. |
Towards the end of our stay, Troy and I were thrilled to get one night away to ourselves in nature. We went camping at Fenske Lake again. It was an incredible 24 hours. We had perfect weather. We went canoeing and swimming. We cooked delicious steaks over an open fire. We fell asleep listening to loons and wolves. It was just what we needed. I borrowed my mom's camera to take some shots, but it's hard to do this beautiful MN scenery justice.
