Small Town Couple: Letter Home

Dear Mom and Dad,

My oh my – what a week! The last week of summer and we tried to make the most of it. School starts tomorrow and we’re all a little nostalgic – the summer went so fast and none of us are quite ready for the school year.

We started by playing with friends. Charlotte invited over a girl she met at horse camp while Laurel had a school friend and Mary hosted our neighbor. Wednesday, we went out to lunch with David at our favorite local diner: the Convention Grill. We love this place because they make everything from scratch and it takes like a burger place if supposed to taste – very rich and completely unhealthy. David discovered the Convention Grill a few years ago and it’s become a special treat to visit a couple of times per year (we’d go more often, but we’re pretty sure that the food isn’t all that good for us). Because we had school open house Wednesday night, we decided to kick off the school year with some bacon cheeseburgers and malts. We were a happy group that night as we met the girls’ teachers and put away school supplies.

Friday morning, Jacob had a cross-country meet in Rosemount. Because Rosemount is over an hour away from Maple Grove, we decided to combine the xc meet with a trip to the zoo which is in the same area. The Rosemount meet is probably the longest Junior High meet of the year in that it is 2 full miles (most races are 1.5). It is also HUGE with 75-100 runners in each category (Varsity, JV, & Jr. High). Jacob was nervous and I was nervous for him. But he did great. He ran two miles in 14:25 which means he ran a 7:12 mile – very good for that distance. I’ve also noticed that he is starting this season so much faster than last season which indicates to me that he’s grown (become stronger), but is also smarter and knows how to pace better. We are so proud of him.

After the meet, we grabbed lunch and headed to the zoo. Mary is 6 and has never been to the Minnesota Zoo so I felt like we should take her at least once. Additionally, they currently have life-size dinosaurs visiting so this seemed like the perfect time to go. As we approached the dinosaur area, we could hear them roaring. With each roar, Mary drug her feet a little more and our progress slowed to almost a halt. We essentially pushed her through the gate, but amazingly enough, once she actually SAW the dinosaurs, she LOVED them. In a matter of seconds, we went from pushing her forward to trying to keep pace as she ran from dino to dino. And we chalked up another fun family memory.

David had planned to take the kids to visit his Dad on Saturday, but when a cousin passed away, we decided to stay home because Grandpa wouldn’t be around anyway. We’ve wanted to do a water fight all summer so we filled over 100 water balloons, put on our suits, and went to battle in our back yard. The balloons were quickly gone, so we grabbed buckets and hoses and continued the fun. Everyone got soaked and everyone had fun even if we did noise up the neighborhood for about an hour with our laughter and screams :).

Sunday was my birthday so the kids got up before 6:00 a.m. to wrap my gifts. We opened presents before church at 9:00 but enjoyed cake after dinner later that day. I was able to talk to Max/Kary, Rex/Cathy, and Scott as well as you both. And then today we attended our ward’s Labor Day picnic and went to bed early.

As I said, a very fun last week of summer. I’d better get to bed too. We love you. Have a wonderful week.

Love,

David, Ella, Jacob, Charlotte, Laurel, & Mary

The Convention Grill - best greasy spoon / mom & pop joint in the Citites!