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| We set up our RV at Dakotah Meadow RV Park at Mystic Lake Casino for three weeks. Chase and Clara made the RV their vacation home, which we enjoyed it immensely. | Our time was filled with playing games, bowling, swimming and bike riding with the grandkids. Here we are listening to a Jamaican Jazz Band at Harriet Band Shelter near downtown Minneapolis. |
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| Between tennis, ice hockey and football practice and games, we kept ourselves busy. Here Chase (#4) is getting ready to receive the puck which neither went flying nor in the net for a goal. | During the weeks we were in Minnesota, we could not believe how quickly this team gelled. Fifth graders playing full on tackle football. We could barely lift the helmet Chase wore. |
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| Do they grow up quickly or what? Clara is 13 and starting the eighth grade. She is mostly in honor classes and starting to seek greater independence, which most of us did when we were her age. | Chase turned 11 a couple day after this picture was taken. He is sporting his new football uniform and also his football face. The Lakers are a community team in Prior Lake. He too will be taking mostly honors classes. |
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The day after we arrived back in Mexico, we attended Open Circle, where the topic was "Mexican Grace." A half dozen foreigners shared moving stories about the kindness, generosity and humility they experienced living amongst Mexicans. |
September is still considered the low season, meaning very few snowbirds, which gave us time to volunteer. Last winter, Larry helped Lake Chapala Society create a long term plan called LCS 2.0 and is now catching up with President Carole Wolfe on the next steps. |
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| We have our teeth cleaned twice a year. This year Larry had a chipped tooth that needed repair. We are used to how inexpensive it is to live here, but all this for under $35 USD is something to shout about. | Glorine has been doctoring with a swollen left foot for the past couple of months. She saw this orthopedist in Chapala, who fitted her with a specially designed insert for her shoes and is now feeling much better. |
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| Mid-June to mid-October is called the rainy season for a reason. While it rains nearly every day, most of the time it rains late afternoon and at night with the days becoming mostly sunny with high temps in the 70s. | On two occasions the rain came down in buckets and kept coming. As the rain wash down from the mountains and foothills, it brought with it tons of rocks, mud and other debris that ended up on the streets. |
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| This picture was taken two days after the rainstorm ended and rainwater was still rushing down the street from swollen ponds in the mountains. | Since buying our home here two years ago, we put our fingerprints and footprints on nearly every square inch, except our entertainment center. Stay tuned.... |
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| The side streets of Ajijic are extremely tranquil, especially in the low season. This is what this one looks like six days out of the week. | However, each Wednesday over 100 venders line both sides of the street three blocks long. Wal-Mart came to town ten years ago and hasn't affected this market. |
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| Our dining room has not gotten much use, other than a meal or two with Maureen and Wayne. We will spend late Oct and early November in California with Carmen, Mike, Dakota, Sierra and Hunter and when we return, we expect to get our money's worth out of this table. | We have been keeping up with family and friends in the north country and learned winter has arrived early. So we decided to winterize our home by planting flowers and turning our irrigation system back on in preparation for our dry season--we call winter. |
