Item the first, we’re moved in to the new place. Thanks to the massive army that is my family, we moved fairly painlessly, all things considering… Also, thanks to the Brodies for their generosity and self-sacrifice. They’ve been too kind.

Item the next, we had a lovely vacation in Minnesota. I was able to take two and one half weeks off, so we had a very leisurely time, with something like ten days at my wife’s family’s cabin in the central part of the state. They’ve owned the place for about fifteen years, yet Sarah had never spent that much consecutive time there. The babies grew up a great deal on the trip (pictures are forthcoming), but I’ll let Sarah highlight that aspect later. We played in the lake a lot and drank a lot of Leinenkuegel (particularly the delicious Sunset Wheat). My own family drove up to spend the last week there with us, and we had a wonderful time all together. The few days that we spent in the Twin Cities were also lovely. Sarah’s cousin was married. Her sister was also in town at the same time as us, so we got to spend about a week with them - going to the Eagan waterpark and then spending time together at the cabin. We went to the Lyndale Farmer’s Market and ate roasted sweet corn and cheese curds for breakfast; we saw the Soviet Bread Basket display at the Russian Art Museum; we, of course, took my sister to the Mall of America; and we took my parents to St. Paul so that they could do the F. Scott Fitzgerald driving tour. We, once again, missed the Wabasha Street Caves, but there will be other chances.

Item the third, the wee unborn bairn is doing remarkably well. This pregnancy has been so much less eventful than the last. Sarah’s midwife is very excited and slightly puzzled as to how she can be doing so well after such a troubling pregnancy and two pre-term deliveries! So are we. We’re getting the list together of things that we’ll need at the birthing center. I know that there aren’t many male readers of this blog that have much experience with birthing pools and natural childbirth, but if you’re out there lurking and you want to give me some pointers, I’d surely appreciate it.

Item the fourth, congratulations to my brother Jonathan and his new bride Nicole! They were married at the end of June.