Destroyed

Woke up to find a red cat toy destroyed and tossed across the living room. I'm guessing August is the culprit. And then I found another destroyed cat toy downstairs. I don't really want to know what those cats do when we're sleeping.

Yoga cat

How can this be a comfortable way to sleep?

Wedding II

Andy and I haven't been to a wedding to two weeks and this month we've had two almost within one week. We drove to Merrillville, Ind., this afternoon for one of his co-worker's wedding. Tried to get a picture of us cruising down the expressway. Not so easy. The wedding was outside and it was a nice day, but my favorite part was the mariachi band that played before dinner was served.

Irises

More color blooming in our garden.

Bake sale prep

Andy volunteered our house as a drop-off point for baked goods for a bake sale to benefit B's class trip to Japan in a few weeks. That's what happens when I skip the planning meetings. Anyway, kids were in and out dropping off items this evening. B made brownies with pretzel pieces in them and I made lemon cupcakes with raspberry frosting. B works the early shift at the bake sale tomorrow.

Sharing

A woman at church sent out a message that she cleaned up her garden and was giving away tulip bulbs, Coneflower plants and Black-eyed Susan plants. Looks like Andy will be doing some gardening this weekend.

Tech help

E had an interview for a short-term summer technology job at the local school district at 3 p.m. today, so she decided to print her resume at about 2:30. As usual, the printer gave us problems so she had to call B for help. Then they had to call Andy because thy needed his administrator password to fix the problem. Fortunately, that worked. Now to see if she gets the job.

Andy's candidate

We had to give Andy this Father's Day present early so he'd have more chances to wear it during the campaign.

Passed

E and I took my car for a drive today to get its emissions tested. When we got to the facility the sign said we'd have a 13-minute wait. We waited in line for about 45 minutes before being tested. At least it passed. E found it ironic that we were there to get our emissions tested and all these cars were lined up idling.

Finally

Finally it's warm enough for the first cookout of the season!

Tyler's wedding

B and Grandma at Cindy's house before the wedding.

Andy and E waiting for the wedding to begin. Good thing they had their phones or they would have had to talk to each other.

B escorted Grandma down the (very long) aisle.

Hard to see, but that's nephew A on the left giving a reading during the ceremony.

My handsome usher after his duties were done.

E and Aunt Cindy.

Grandma, E and B. L was at the wedding, of course, but the Casey's across the street was too tempting. She was out buying something to drink during picture-taking time.

The newlyweds.

The wedding party, minus the ring bearer who had already left the church.

Grandma gives the groom a kiss.

Cindy and her boy.

We had some time to kill between the ceremony and reception so Andy, B, L and I went to Dairy Queen for some ice cream then drove around the country roads of Gillespie. (E was with Grandma, Aunt Cindy and Cousin A's girlfriend). Andy was a bit surprised when we went around a curve and were face to face with this huge tractor and disk. I told him the tractor would move over and sure enough, it did. We also saw two deer in the road, then two cardinals flew in front of us and we went past the coal mine. Then, onto the reception for some Fema dogs!

Breakfast

Another advantage of having my college girl at home? She made me French toast for breakfast!

Bridal Wreath

The Bridal Wreath are pretty, but it seems they're blooming very late this year.

Party planner

L has to complete a community service project to graduate eighth grade and L and a friend decided to host a party for seniors at the building Grandma Barbara lives in. They raised close to $250 on GoFundMe, and after the site kept about 10 percent for the service charge, they have about $225 to purchase decorations, food and games. Today they hosted their Hawaiian luau-themed party which attracted about 15 residents. The seniors played some bingo and ate all the sandwiches. I'd call that a success.

Here's L calling bingo numbers.

And E said she's explaining her calculus class to grandma in this photo. I'm not sure what she's doing with her hands.

Lunch treat

One good thing about having E home for the summer is that she likes to drive and today she went to Alpine and got us sandwiches for lunch. Now if I could only get her to pay.

Blooming bushes

Not sure what kind of bushes these are, but they're blooming.

Eighth-grade dance

L before last night's eighth-grade dance. Temperatures were in the mid 40s so I was able to convince her to wear a sweater. She met up with friends once she got to the school.

Unpacking

I sat on the sofa this morning and oversaw E as she slooowly began to unpack her things from college. Have to admit I was a bit amazed she brought home clothes that shrunk in the dryer. She recruited B to help her, but he said if she wanted help she shouldn't have given him the Italian-seasoned Gardettos she brought home with her. Priorities, you know.

Once the Gardetto's was finished (yes, he ate the whole bag in one sitting), B did help. Here he is getting ready to take her dresses to her room. She has come to the conclusion that next year she doesn't need to take as many clothes as she did this year.

And she's home

Andy went to Urbana to pick up E today, finish her packing and bring her home for the summer. He said it got crazier as the day wore on with more and more parents arriving to pick up their students.

Now the dilemma is where to store all this stuff?

Still cleaning

I thought E was all packed and ready to come home, but today she sent me another picture of her packed-up items. And this one has her room cleaner than I've seen it all year, except for the day we moved her in, of course.

She's ready

E took a break from studying last weekend to buy a new bin. She recently sent this photo of the bin all packed up. Andy will go pick her up Friday and bring her home for the summer. Hard to believe I'm going to have a college sophomore. I think she's eager for a break from school.

Bigger toy

Andy went shopping last night and his toys are getting bigger:

The picture is a little blurry because it was raining as B was getting the first kid's ride to school this morning.

Of course, I knew he was looking. He took the car to get it detailed while L was at a birthday party Saturday. It was kind of amazing how clean the outside and inside looked.

He went to a dealership Saturday night, but it was almost dinner time and they low-balled him on the trade-in value so he got up and walked out. He was hungry. Then about four dealerships called Monday to say they had a car to sell him (really?) so he went back to the closest one and closed the deal last night. I was in bed before he was home.

'The King and I'

Andy and I went with Allison, Pat and cousins M and C to see "The King and I" at the Lyric Opera last night. We had balcony seats but still had a good view of the stage. The sound could have been a little louder, or maybe I'm getting old? Andy nodded off a few times (that's what happens when you wake up before 4 a.m. most days), but we both enjoyed the show.

Youth service

Our church held its annual Youth Sunday service on Mother's Day. L and B both participated. B led the Passing of the Peace and the Call to Offertory.

L, above, lit a candle at the start of the service and ...

was the jailer in a skit about the Scripture.

Full bloom

It took a while, but the lilies on the flowers from Andy's office are now in full bloom.

Irving gift

This year's neighbor gift from Irving's student council was a butterfly magnet.

Rewarded

At lunch yesterday, L found an iPhone 6 in the restroom. She turned it into the school office. Later that afternoon, she was called down to the office and the principal told her the phone belonged to a parent who was at the school helping serve the weekly pizza lunch. He gave her a Julian T-shirt and headphones as a finder's reward. Good job, L!