into the Fall

the pictures are jumbled, but you will get the idea of what we have been up to the last few weeks.   Yesterday was a holiday here in the US- though I am not sure how much of a holiday I really got.  I was doing regular work stuff and PTO stuff all weekend.  But I also got to harvest our potato crop- what you see above is all we got this year.  the initial crop likely rotten due to poor drainage and this is what came afterward.  I was hoping to get 3 meals worth of potatoes out of it, but we got one meal, the one I made last night.  I forget that Rocket is now an eating machine - he is always hungry.

I also took Rocket and Pablo out for a walk yesterday.  We went to the local park we typically go to.  We saw turtles sunning themselves on a warm day.  The earlier part of the weekend was cool and starting this evening it will be cooler for the rest of the week.

the boy walking his dog.  he is not so little anymore. 

Me and the boy and the dog on the walk

First day of school was 23August- I can not believe that he has another year of school and then he is off to high school

Waiting for the bus

on our walk

this picture is just to show you how tall Rocket is now.  he comes to my ear, which makes him about 5 foot 2 inches tall or 157.48 CM.  Definitely not so little.   the other 2 folks in the picture are my cousins- we just made contact.  the Man in orange, his father is my great grandfather.  the man in blue is working on our family history.   our side of the family lost touch with his side of family sometime back when my mom was a very little, so in the 1940s/1950s.  We made contact because I did the DNA testing when I was sending in Rocket's DNA test.  the guy in blue showed up as my closest relative (because my siblings have not been tested).   Pretty cool how genetic testing can show you relatives you never knew about.   Note: we are still hoping for DNA relatives for Rocket to show up.  All Rocket wants right now is a relative that shares his genetic history- preferably on his father's side.

Love and hugs,

Deb

Birthday and Eclipse and Back to School ice cream social

Completely out of order- S's half birthday, celebrated the same day as Rocket's birthday.  Beside her is Jason.  She and Jason are dating. 

My mom and 2 of her sisters.  I could use initials, but all my mom sibling's have names that start with "J".  My mom is the oldest of the 3 pictured.  They go to lunch about every 4-6 weeks.  I got to go this time (finally no meetings on the day of their lunch).  Rocket went too since he is not back in school yet.  He was not excited to sit and listen to the conversation, so I let him play on my phone once our meal was done.  it was so nice to see my aunts.

Me with my aunts and mom.  I am definitely carrying their genes.

Rocket and S on 13Aug- when we had the family celebration for Rocket's birthday.  How in the world did he grow up so fast.  It really does go by in a blink of an eye.

Dinner was a joint choice of hamburgers.  Dessert was Strawberry cake with strawberry icing- S's pick since Rocket does not like cake.  Ice cream was "moose tracks" because S does not like ice cream with her cake.  Thank goodness they like opposite things.

Tuesday, 15Aug- the boy's birthday.  I took him out for brunch- his choice.  He choose First Watch which is a place that only serves breakfast and lunch.  We both had the same thing:

A chickenchanga= an omelet with chick, chorizo, and vera cruz sauce.  We love it.  It was a nice day sitting in the shade, watching the birds and people pass by.

Another view of our brunch.

Wednesday, I took a half day off work and took Rocket and his buddies to the bowling alley.  We were supposed to go play laser tag, but when I called to check that they had space for us, they indicated they were closed until 4 pm.  But, their website said they were open at 12 noon.  Thank goodness I called first.  And thank goodness rocket got a certificate for 10 free games of bowling. 

dancing to the music.

Buddies since kindergarten

Saturday, we headed out to park to rocket's orthodontist's end of summer bash. They treat everyone to hamburgers and hot dogs, then a movie at the park.  these are the boys after playing basketball in the hot sun before the movie started.

J and me talking while the boys were off playing

Before we went to the park, we took Lulu down to the main library and we did some wood engraving (these are going to be Christmas presents) and Rocket made some more things on the 3D printer.

Today, 21Aug- we were on the path of the total eclipse.  We were not going to be completely dark, but we would be in 91% darkness.  It looked darker than usual, but it was still bright.    I had been reading articles on how to watch the eclipse and one of the best ways was to use binoculars backwards.

This is the viewer- the large end of the binoculars are facing the sun, the smaller end then reflects the sun down onto paper or the pavement.  the cardboard acts as a frame on the ground.

This is what shows up on the ground.  this is about 15 minutes before the eclipse.

fiddling around with the view- we could get the big reflections and the little ones too

This is total of what we saw- little smiling faces. 

about 10 minutes after the eclipse- I called these smirks.

How we were set up

me and boy just after the eclipse

More smirks

Only 2 more days until school starts.  Rocket starts on Wednesday.  His school is one of the last to go back this year.  We had the ice cream social on Sunday.  It was hot, but we had a great time showing a friend around school (he is starting there this year as a 6h grader), then saying hi to teachers and finally getting all Rocket's things in his locker.  After the ice cream social- Rocket went to a friend's house for a swim party.  He was definitely tired last night.

First day pictures are coming on Wednesday, stay tuned.

Love and hugs,

Deb