labor day weekend

FRI: k and auntie hot hot walked around campus spying on the undergraduates. they were out in full force in their gold tshirts and mini-backbacks. auntie hot hot and k observed that they only see people who are their own age, hence MH and K were invisible to them. K was very excited to report on what the undergraduates said. we also had a late lunch and spent time talking. it was lovely. mom also got to sneak out with MH to go see Harry Potter 7 Pt 2. this is the only film mom sees in a theater during the year. considering she is a media studies professor, it is a little bizarre. but more importantly, it was a bookend experience as mom has seen all the films with auntie hot hot over the years and now auntie hot hot is far away. there was pizza and wii at home with tired children as well.

SAT: kids enjoyed a late start. we all vegged and had a late breakfast. mom and dad thought through the first week of school and did schedules. the kids played some kind of rescue game and then had a great time building forts all over the house. we dragged them out of the house around 3 after some lunch to go see auntie hot hot and other friends in st paul. no state fair trip with MH but nice to hang out with her. then off to auntie karen's 40th birthday party. the kids had a great time and we came home tired. nice to visit friends on a weekend and enjoy social opportunities for kids and grownups.

SUN: cooking and cleaning day. kids played, dad shopped, mom decluttered. but the highlight of the day was going to the monarch butterfly tagging at the hyland park. last year R grew a butterfly from an egg and then released it for its annual migration. monarchs migrate to mexico every year. and there is a study at monarchwatch.org that is tagging and following them. it was a cold day for the park and we walked on and off trail through prairie plants searching for winged creatures. at first we saw many non-monarchs. and finally it warmed up as the sun came out and we caught one! we took it back for tagging and then set it free for its migration. very exciting. a quick stop at target. then reading and screen time and sleep.

MON: kids were playing that they were miners today and looking for "ding-dongs." apparently they are undergraduates and bad. (see above). mom is a part-commander of ding dongs because sometimes they listen to what i tell them to do. fairly accurate! we dragged dad to the state fair. the usual stops were made -- the miracle of birth center, all you can drink milk, butter princess sculptures, mini-donuts, giant slide, crop art, french fries, ferris wheel, fun houses, bumper cars, bumper boats, more fun houses, and then home. we added bacon on a stick this year. and mom tried fried apple pie and corn ice cream. the pie was better. mom is sticking to fresh peaches instead. came home, ate dinner, said hi to nani and nana, and prepared for school.

now summer has officially ended.

welcome to fall everyone. tomorrow is a new school year. wish us luck!