Casey Summer Fun

I kicked off the summer fun getting together with Jane, Pat, and my cousin Sandy down in Cannon Falls - oh yeah, Charlie was there, too, the center of attention. We have an annual get-together when school is out. Too bad, Jenna, Maddox, Matthew and Angie couldn't join us - maybe later in the summer. I brought my camera, but never took it out of the bag!

We enjoyed the month of June with several Casey events. Tessa was home from California for a wedding, and we got together to hear about her adventures out west. She is loving it out there, and things are going well for her.

We had a smorgaasboard of salads at Mark and Karena's beautiful home on Lake Minnetonka.
This is Tessa with Karena and Paul's brother Phil.

Tessa's dad, Jon, has this bull dog puppy names Surley (or is it Hurley???) and Callen had to make friends with him. She is a huge animal lover - dogs, cats, even horses. Scarlett, however (Annie's 18 month daughter) would have nothing to do with him.

Brenner swung him in circles while he held on to a frisbee! He must have very strong jaws.


Here is Annie, Ryan, and Scarlett. Notice Scarlett is safe and sound in dad's arms - the dog was probably nearby!

Do you think she has inherited the Casey music genes?

The morning after the Casey gathering, Paul and I left for a four day, three night getaway in the Wisconsin Dells. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera because Tessa and I have the exact same camera, and she took mine and I left hers at Marks! It was a crazy mix-up, and after several phone calls during the ride to the Dells, we figured out what happened. So... to make a long story short...I took a few pictures on my phone, but ran out of batteries and didn't do my usual photo journaling.

We spent three nights at the Hilton Garden Inn (free for just listening to a time share spiel) and enjoyed three golf courses, a duck boat ride, and two magic shows in the Dells. On the way home on Friday, we stopped at The House on the Rock in Spring Green. Above, you can see the roof of the room that projects over the valley - a little spooky to walk out there!

There were lots of gardens with Asian artifacts like this dragon statue.

The man who built this whole conglomeration of buildings was what I would call an organized hoarder - he must have spent millions collecting things, and then had to build more spaces to display the stuff. Above, you see a calliope - one of many musical scenes where the instruments play themselves.

The gardens were beautiful. Too bad my camera was in Excelsior!

There was a lot of Tiffany glass, but the rooms were so dark, I gave up on taking pictures inside.

This was a tabletop - a really LARGE coffee table.

Sunday, July 3rd, we had Alison, Roger, and Elaine over for a cookout, and some dominos. Elaine and Alison have a running feud going over who will win. This time, Paul came in first with Alison a close second. Elaine was LAST, and Alison won't let her forget it:)

After golfing three times in the Dells, we went again on the 4th of July. All this practice is really improving my game! Then on Wednesday, July 6, we all got together to celebrate Grandpa Roger's 93rd birthday! Anna made and decorated a domino cake, and we had cake and ice cream in the party room at the hotel Roger had to move to while they fix the elevator at his apartment.

Here he is, the birthday boy, getting ready to blow out his candles. I think there are 10, one for each decade and one more for good measure. Roger is a blessing to us all!

Well, June is over, and so is my vacation. I'll be working on Wacky Wednesdays and organizing VBS over the next month. Of course, I'll find time for a little more golf, hosting a Norwex party, touching base with the Catlins when Tom and Kim are in town next week, a Twins game with our friends the Bykowskis as well as gardening in the new vegetable patch at church. Never a dull moment!