Summertime Fun

It's been a great week with near perfect summer weather. Although Dale and I had spent Monday evening at Principal Park, we accepted when we were offered a friend's season tickets for Wednesday night. We rearranged our schedules a bit and enjoyed the perfect evening. Perfect except the I Cubs did lose again!

Friday night was the kick off for the 48 Hour Film Project in Des Moines. Dale and I have been helping our friends from Cedar Falls for several years. We go to the kick off event and draw the genre and get the information about the required elements.

This saves Scott and Julie two hours of production time and lets us get involved. We are anxious to see Scott's film at the screening on Thursday night. Forty-one teams were entered in the competition which requires that the film be completed in 48 hours. Although Dale and I do very little, we get excited about the event!

Saturday night we had several ideas including Barnstormer Arena Football or Ladies Roller Derby...yes, they actually really do have roller derby and we think it might be fun to go one time...some other time. Because of the gorgeous weather on Saturday night I wanted to go to the Des Moines Menace Soccer game. It was the first play off game for the national competition which is down to eight teams. I do not understand soccer very well but enjoyed the people watching, the game and the kettle corn.

I always love mascots and I think that Maniac is one of the best mascots in the city. He is pretty cute and does a great job of working the crowd and playing with the kids as he cheers. The Menace won and will host the national championships next weekend at Valley Stadium, very close to my house. By next weekend we will be doing different things...possibly arena football and definitely a nascar race. Let the summer continue!

Monday Night Out

Sometimes when I get home from work I just want to relax or get things done at home. Monday was one of those days but Dale and I decided to head over to the ball park to watch the game anyway. It’s great to be getting off work by 4 or 4:30 this summer. With my job at the university I was often at work until 6 pm which made a huge rush to get to evening activities. After an hour at home I felt ready to head out with Dale. It was a nice night for baseball even though there was some drizzle the second part of the game. We saw some great fielding, but sadly it was mostly the opponents!

Visits from Family

I love spending time with family and I love it when people visit me. This was a great week on both counts. My sister, Sandi and my niece, Molly came down to Des Moines to do some shopping and hang out for a night. We had some pool time before heading out for Mexican on a very colorful patio. It was nice to get coffee time with Sandi before leaving for work the next morning too.
Jill, my sister-in-law and I have been talking about a girl's pool weekend for a long time and we finally made it happen. We had a great time this weekend relaxing, knitting and just hanging out together. It was fun to go to the Downtown Farmer's Market on Saturday morning and hit Valley Junction in the afternoon. I even enjoyed the shopping. We had some perfect weather for the pool too. Jill is going home with tan lines!

Kansas City with Eric

A week ago Dale and I drove to Kansas City to spend a day with Eric and see his art on display. It was great to have time to hang out with Eric and explore parts of Kansas City with him. Seeing his art as well as the arts incubator was very good. We saw River Market and ate interesting food at fun places too.
Although it was very hot and humid we did spend some time outside at Loose Park. It's a gorgeous park that is obviously very popular with wedding photographers. We saw several brides and lots of tuxedos. It was nice to sit near the water watching the ducks and turtles. It was also a good opportunity to play with our cameras. I photographed Eric and Dale. Dale photographed me and lots of ducks. He even got eye level with the ducks for a few shots!

Family on the Fourth

Finally I am posting more photos from the Fourth of July. I was quite disappointed in my photography that weekend. As I have been playing with the focus options, I failed to learn some basics. Many of my photos found the focus in the wrong spot. The tree, car or background would be in focus leaving the person blurred. Too bad I had to figure out the mistake on a big family holiday, but I am learning more now.

These are "the kids" or they were the kids. What happened? Obviously the kids have grown up.

Fortunately the next generation has started so we have a toddler in the family. Now we get to watch her grow up too!

I also love spending time with my cousins! I told Randy to look famous when Dale took this shot. I think he did a good job of that. Randy and I always enjoy conversation, fun and laughter.

Sherri is looking great with her year old puppy Samantha. Sammie is the older sister to Aunt Snook's puppy, Cassie. It's fun to watch them play together. There were at least five dogs at the family reunion this year!

John and Mel made a quick trip from Lincoln. Dale and I changed our plans and came up a day early so we could spend some time with everyone at the family fish fry before John and Mel headed back to Lincoln.

It's rare that I get to spend time with all of my siblings at once, so we always need a photo! It was great to get to spend the night with Dan and Jill when we went up for the holiday. I loved spending time with so many family members. It's my favorite thing about the Fourth!

Beautiful Aunts!

Here are two of my aunts. Can you believe that they have nieces and nephews in their fifties? Amazing, isn't it! We have been blessed with loving aunts and uncles. Aunt Betty couldn't make it to the party this year but I got photos of Aunt Carol and Aunt Snooks with her new puppy, Cassie. I am so slow at blogging this summer so I guess I will just post a couple of photos at a time. More of my free time is spent by the pool with a novel these days so blogging is even more limited.

Fun Family Fourth!

What a great holiday! It was so fun to see family. Several were not able to make the trip this year. A couple had to leave early, but here is a photo of those who were there at photo time. We had great conversations, good food, fun, laughter and lots of love and affection. It truly is a joy to gather together at Clear Lake each year. I took lots of photos and may post a few another day. It was a happy holiday!

Fourth of July

I love the Fourth of July holiday! For me it means family. . . lots and lots of Wreghitts! I get to see my cousins, siblings, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncle and my kids. We always have a great time. We have gathered in the same place for decades and look forward to it each year. We always go to the parade and complain about the long gaps. We stick around for the tenderloins and corn dogs. We gather at the house, enjoy the lake, food, cameras and people. It's a real family reunion!


This will be our first year without Uncle Lloyd. He and Aunt Snooks have been gracious hosts for more years than we can remember. Sadly, Uncle Lloyd died last summer. We all miss him deeply. We do have wonderful memories of a man who loved us deeply and teased us often. He taught me many things. He even taught my kids how to drive a manual transmission. But most of all I think that he and Aunt Snooks taught us a wonderful hospitality and sense of family. He will be missed.

Zoo Brew

Volunteerism is a passion for me. When I first moved to Des Moines, I wanted to find community, connections and the opportunity to serve through volunteering. So much of what I do for my jobs and past volunteering involves direct contact helping other people. I was anxious to try something different. Blank Park Zoo has been one of my favorite places to volunteer in Des Moines. Wednesday evenings in July, the zoo hosts Zoo Brew for adults. It works with my schedule because it is an evening event. It’s a wonderful chance to experience the zoo in a very different way. There are no children. Beer or wine is served and there is a live band. It is a great event that reaches out to all ages of adults and makes money for the zoo. Although I have never been a bartender, this volunteer opportunity has given me that experience. I even make great tips for the zoo! I have also served as the volunteer for giraffe feedings. I love that but it does take up most of the day on a Saturday or Sunday so my other weekend activities limit that schedule. I do love photographing the giraffes, so I will take my camera the next time that I do a giraffe feeding.