June 15 - 21, 2015, MN, WI

Friday, June 19.  Guess I've waited too long to write - I'm having trouble remembering the events of the first 3 days of the week, they do fly by in a whirlwind.  Ben and I got a bike ride in on Monday night after the kids were in bed.  I did go look at some apartments in s 55+ community in St. Paul.  They were nice, but I'm not sure that is what I really want.  I need to do more looking.  And then I said my goodbyes and left Minneapolis on Thursday to go back to Stoughton.

This morning, Pat and I went to some garage sales and I met up with my sister Rita for a little while and we went to mom and dads grave together.  She is in town for my cousin Fran's 90th birthday celebration on Saturday and also to visit a childhood friend who recently had a stroke.  Tonight, we met at Toby's for dinner but didn't get to eat together.  I did have dinner with Bob and Penny and my cousin Dawn, but Rita and Denny waited for their friends so we didn't get to eat together.  When we drove back home, Dawn and I went through an old family photo album that I brought with me.

Saturday, June 20.  I started the day with a 2-mile walk with Dawn and Frisco and then got ready for an afternoon celebration of Fran's 90th birthday.  It is always fun to see my extended family and this event brought cousins in from Alaska and Colorado and my sister and brother from Kansas City.  It was lots of fun and Fran cried when she saw how bright the candles were on her cake and we all sang Happy Birthday.

The birthday girl.

  

The birthday girl at about age 4 (left) and my Mom playing dress up.

Front row:  Rich, Dawn, JoAnne, Donna

Back row: Patrick, Penny, Bob, Rita, Denny

Tonight, i hung out with Bob and Penny in Madison, had dinner at La Hacienda and drove around some of our old stomping grounds; Union Terrace, Lake Mendota, Tenney Park, the locks on the Yahara River between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, and topped it off with a drive around the capital.  Nice evening.

Sunday, June 21.  I really didn't feel like doing anything today but wanted to take advantage of spending time with Bob and Penny.  Tom and Karen had invited me to join them for dinner at the Tornado Club and I hoped that Bob and Penny could join us - it is a very small place and today is Father's Day so we nixed that plan and met at Olbrich Gardens this morning instead.  It was an emotional morning for me, missing Mike and wishing that he was with us.  We did pay our respects at Olbrich Gardens at the Tree of Life, where there is a memorial leaf for him, Dan, and Mom.  After our stroll through the gardens, we went to the Daisy Cafe for lunch and had a yummy salad.  I excused myself after lunch and headed back home after that.