RestFest26 Plus

 RestFest has come and gone.

 Back home not much was happening.

 

 

Get a haircut, hippy. 

And I became an internet celebrity. When can I start influencing?  

 

Dogs and a Bit About People

Mom had been away for the entire month of June up until late last night, so I thought I'd document all that we've been up to since the last post. Lots of couch and chair time.

 

With the beautiful weather we would be wasting it if we didn't spend lots of time outside. On chairs and couches.

  

 

 In the kitchen, Rubble shows why he was best behaved dog three years' running.

Dogs were now in their beds (not), dreams of nachos running through their heads.

The first ever borscht made in our family. Extra beety.

Some of the food was from the outside world. 

 

Being the time around Father's Day, I was struck when going through old content and found my first ever text from Eva. From 2017. 

And a note that Levi put into my phone while driving south on I75, on New Year's Day 2015.

 The days are long but the years are short. Father's Day 2026.

The Summer of George

Isn't it funny how, as an adult, summer is the time for vacation and slowing down a bit at work. But as a teenager, summers are for working. Not that school isn't work, but the need to earn is a staple of summer. Eva landed her dream job, at least the dream job of her teen self, at the Asian market. Staff discount and everything. 

 

Astute readers will be asking, "isn't it a problem getting her to and from work, it's all the way across town?" That recently became less of a problem. This girl can drive.

Celebratory dessert. Imagine having a Carson's burger and then ordering dessert. 

On the other hand, the veteran of the job market is making a slower transition to the working world this summer. Enjoying time in the pool.

Investing time into self-improvement in the kitchen. This time it's Korean friend chicken. Tasty.

Eva, who was an equal partner in the kitchen, is becoming a little closer to Levi. In fact, even though she can drive independently now she said that she enjoys driving more with Levi in the car. When she was 2 she might have said she enjoyed spending time with Levi but I'm not sure I've heard it since. Rubble, on the other hand, has always been known to improve any room he enters.

 

Spring and Beyond

Let's start this update by getting pictures of pups out of the way. 

 

 

 

 Next up, those parents went to Mexico City for a short trip.

 

 

 

 On a stop on the most incredible boat ride, someone finally captured the love in the eyes of my wife.

 

 

I also decided to start bringing marigolds into the home in late October, since the bridge between this life and the afterlife is made from marigolds. And I want to have that one night a year when the spirits come back and spend one night with us. Here's a mural of the event. 

  

And here's an artist's depiction of our arrival into Mexico City. We flew in first class.

Back home the big news was the end of the school year. For Levi that meant high school graduation. Before the big day, a party at home.

 

 

 

 

The big day finally arrived. Not sure what a photo essay is, but here is a photo essay from graduation day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a pair of before/after pics from the middle school event four years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here is a picture of some of what we drank to celebrate.

And from the grad dinner later that evening.

 

Eating like a king. What a gift it is to not be afraid of the world.

Levi spent some of his grad day and the next planning out his summer work, which might become part-time college work, and a foundation for a career in healthcare. It's clear he's made a great choice in a healthcare path because the motivation to do this work is all his own. No prompting needed, and for parent there is no better evidence to support the fact that this young man is going to be great.