The summer has been very busy at chez Shepard—as it has been for almost everyone. Believe me, my busy is no more important than your busy. We have had people coming and going, and I have had some technical difficulties with my computer, which has either been with Apple Care or unusable. All of these things have made it difficult to sit down for any amount of time to write, and I have sincerely missed blogging.
Some of the highlights of the past two months include the following:
Atlanta photo shoot
In late June, I accompanied our photographer to Georgia for a photo shoot of some houses built from our designs in the greater Atlanta area. For the most part, the homes were in the suburbs so I don't feel like I really got a sense of Atlanta. I'm not even sure I spied the downtown area of taller buildings, but since we are about all things residential, we stuck to the areas where people live. And, we did drive all the way up to the Appalachian foothills, which were beautiful. I'd like to write more about the trip later.
Simon
My oldest, and very independent, son took a two-week vacation with my parents in early July. They started in Watertown, SD, then drove to Winner, SD, where my father has a place and a lot of farm land. Simon got to help drive a tractor in Grandpa Ron's wheat fields. But, the pretext for Simon's extended stay was a trip to Big Sky, MT, where my mother was attending a conference. The conference had a kid's program ideal for 7 and up. So, Grandpa chaperoned the pasha as he made a jaunt to Yellowstone and Mammoth Spring, took a hike with a naturalist, and tried his hand at tying flies and fly-fishing.
Simon has plans to spend the rest of the summer writing a book and has already bound some watercolor paper inside cardboard covers.
Winston
My youngest son is having adventures of the more local variety. While I was in Atlanta, Winston lost his first tooth. I'm secretly please not to have been there, but he was excited enough to call me and share the news. To keep Winston amused and distracted while Simon was away, we took him to REI where he proceeded to climb the Pinnacle, a 55-foot climbing wall. When asked about his experience, he replied, "From the top, you looked like ants." Which is funny, little dude, because from the bottom you looked like an ant. More on this later, too.
John
My handsome husband is just a few hours from finishing his third RAGBRAI, and I am so proud of him. He is riding with his friend Steve. Neither of them are in good shape physically. Both have admitted that they would have had more fun if every day hadn't been a struggle with sore muscles and numbness in the extremities. These are just a few of the reasons why I opted out of the ride this year. A few weeks ago, I did an organized 35-mile bike ride and decided that was about all I could manage. RAGBRAI, cruel mistress, demands 70 miles a day (on average) for seven days. Plus, camping, which is fun but means sleeping on the ground. I miss John and can't wait for him to return.
Houseguests
John's brother Will and his little family--wife Helena, son Bjorn (5), and daughter Sophia (2)--are visiting from Sweden for a month and graciously gave us a week of their time. We had many wonderful meals together. I spent a day with Winston and our guests at the Minnesota Zoo. And, on Saturday morning we visited the St. Paul Farmers Market.
By this time tomorrow, my little family will be intact for the first time in over a month, and I can't wait to have some more summer with them.
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