A Trip to Jackson, Some Tennis, and a Few Links

Jackson Visit

We went to Jackson last week to visit Mom and Dad (Grandma and Grandpa), and especially to see Dad's (Grandpa's) most recent sculpture outside Ella Sharp Museum.

It's titled "The Blonde Trick-Rider Practices for the State Fair".




At Ella Sharp, M finally realizes his dream of being on TV. Or in TV. Or behind TV.


M and K try out the "Whispering Bench", so named because a person can whisper into one end and the other person can hear it perfectly.


A yucca plant next to the house has sprouted quite a stalk.


While we were at Ella Sharp, we noticed a lot of hot-air balloons taking off. We were a little puzzled since the Hot Air Jubilee is scheduled for this coming weekend, but we were told that this was a preview of the Jubilee, intended to create excitement and publicity for the real thing.

Tennis Update
K played his first official USTA tournament over the weekend. He played four matches over two days, and we were exhausted just watching him play. Three of his four matches were against kids who had played many tournaments in the past, but he played hard and didn't give up any easy points. For all the time we were there, we somehow neglected to take even a single picture.

Links
Gears, gears, and more gears.

A clever idea for the reader on your Christmas list.

Shops and shopkeepers.

I keep looking, but I've never seen one of these to rent at the canoe livery.

And finally - nope, nope, nope-ity nope.

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Sculptures, Tennis, and Pumpkins

Tennis

K (in the white shirt) hits backhand during a two-on-one game at practice.

K has been taking tennis lessons at the U of M indoor tennis center. It's a beautiful facility that looks like it was built about a week ago. His class has roughly10 students, with boys and girls together. These are more serious lessons than ones that he's taken in the past, and he's improving by leaps and bounds. He will probably get to play in a few matches before the lesson season is over - even though his level of group isn't normally scheduled to play matches, they often need students from his level to fill in at the higher levels if someone can't make a game. We're going to see a game tomorrow to take it all in and help prepare if he gets called up to take another player's place.

My Favorite Sculptor

Dad's sculpture at Ella Sharp Museum

Last weekend, our whole family was excited to get a personalized tour of sculptures surrounding the Ella Sharp Museum by experienced sculptor Fred Bruey. Pictured is his latest work "Green Galaxy". The display at Ella Sharp is part of a sculpture series called the Midwest Sculpture Initiative.

We're so proud of dad (and grandpa) for being selected, and we're impressed with his artistry. We can't wait to see his next sculpture on display!

"Green Galaxy" by Alfred Bruey

Pumpkins

J's "Wicked" pumpkin and K's "hothead" pumpkin.

The kids are getting better and better at carving pumpkins from patterns (as am I), and you can see the results here. As is typical, J's wins the prize for most complicated (and probably coolest-looking) with her "Wicked" jack-o-lantern.

M's skull pumpkin is a contrast to the goofy one I carved

Relative Quiet

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by Mattias Adolffson

K is now playing soccer, which has one practice a week and usually one game a week. After piano lessons, that's it for now. A relative calm with no pending storms. Next stop: summer break, summer band, swimming, picnicking, and (we hope) a slightly lower temperature average than last year.

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Links
I'd like to see a video of how these work, but I can't find one. They are voice-activated musical instruments.

My brother's next occupation: building travel case-style furniture.

Casting your own parts - if I had some parts to cast, I'd try this.

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