Flying into Fall....

Yep...gotta catch up with all thesummer
 goings on...
Kathy & I grabbed some State fair action
by the horns - always plenty of fun !

---A lotta birthdays this time of year ...

Chris S. junior's 

Thomas's 

Early august found Jeff and many of the usual
river - rats camping on Wisconsin river sandbars
again around Muscoda ...

resting after playing Bocce ball

Hiding 'Ma Bear' , my latest geo-cache

the Manly art of Butt-Cooling

After getting our dancing shoes warmed up at the wedding 

reception for Amy's friends Val & Josh , we were 

ready for the wedding of 

KELLEY & ROGER....

A fine ceremony at Charles Allis Art Museum with
plenty of food , fun and dancing at Lakefront
Brewery well into the night....
Plenty more pics in that top link in the next column,
as always ( as they become available) ...

Can you say 'Mr. and Mrs. Thounlasenh'?
Don't be afraid...you can do it !

Packers are back ! Kathy's brother Mike gave us 4
tickets to the 4th exhibition game , so Tom,Mo & I went
to see the Pack destroy the KC Chiefs .Fun in
Lambeau -land , like checking out this fan ...St. Vince...

Labor day weekend found us making the trek to
Viroqua , and the home of old friends  Susan
& Mike F. who are going 'off the grid' with their
plans for retirement on their homestead on
the edge of town . The area is a hotbed for the
Organic food movement and has a large number
of Amish to set the example in low-impact living .
It'll be interesting to see their progress as
time goes on ....
We had a Great time checking out their local
farmers' market , some local characters , eating ,
biking, geo-caching , and partaking of Mike's
understated brand of homespun ,heartfelt
humor that we've known since back in the days
of the Milwaukee Free University ...
Susan's got her hands full !

On labor day itself , Al & Lois  held a picnic/concert at
Muskego park , with his 18 year old guitar-prodigy
teacher-Macyn Taylor - (see link in next column)
 playing her fantastic variety of acoustic folk /
jazz/blues (Al & Matt's brats& burgers were pretty good , too !)
As game master for this event , I can attest that all
attendees -- friends & family --had a fun time !

Lastly(whew !) , this past weekend was Kathy's birthday ,
and she had quite the time , starting with sister Jean
flying in again just for the occasion . Meeting up with with
 Kathy for breakfast at The Gingerbread House was Jean , Louise, 
Christine and the girls .

Then a trip to the lakefront for the Kite festival ,
with some really Large kites ,music and adventure....

Followed by fun , music ,beer and MORE dancing at the
annual Oktoberfest at the Heidelberg grounds in Glendale
where a couple reserved tables  insured us room amongst
the traditional German festivities !
A lot of friends and family showed up, and the kids
 really made this special with their enthusiasm ,
like wide-eyed Owen , live-wire Esme,fun-loving Brianna
... and especially this one little girl -a cute 2 year old
dressed in a Dirndle - who took Jacob by the hand all
around the hall and then tried to
dance with the poor , unsuspecting boy.... he would
have none of that !--well , maybe Next year !

Yeah we danced up a storm - literally!- and it came
down in buckets , too(the rain,i mean!)....a great time had by all !

We topped off the weekend with a trip to the famous
Starving Artists Fair .....great stuff , oozing with creativity
and colorful things for sale and appreciation...followed by
fun and food at Louise & Jerry's .
Thanks for coming back , Jean !

Fall and football fantasy , here we come !