Mark and Gaila hosted the third annual family gathering at their place. There was lots of food and family representation.
Boris and Rhea.
Family group photo.
David, Auntie Margie, Auntie Terri, and Mom and Dad.
3rd Annual IOTUS Family Get-together
The Farm and Monroe, WI
Gillian got to drive the tractor.
Here she is pulling a rock out of the path that Mark kept hitting with the lawnmower.
Next it was the quad.
Then she took Susan for a ride around the yard.
and me.
We went into Mount Horeb for the Art Fair. they close off the main street and artisans sell their wares.
We drove down to the City of Monroe, it is known as the Swiss Cheese capital of the world. There were a bunch of space themed statues.
George Jetson and Astro.
Gillian got to something she wouldn’t do in Canada. Mark showed her how to shoot a 22. She was aiming for a peanut bottle filled with water out in the field.
To Mark’s surprise she hit it a couple of times, you can see the water dripping out the bottom.
Only in America!
My turn.
Downtown Madison
Saturday morning we headed into Madison for the Farmer’s Market on Capitol Square. Here is Gillian with one of the Bucky’s on Parade.
Looking towards the Capitol Building.
Every Saturday morning there is a farmer’s market setup all around the Capitol Building.
A honey seller.
We headed down State Street for lunch.
We did a quick walk inside the Capitol Building.
Monona Terrace.
We drove down to campus. Gillian with the Graduation Bucky on Bascom Hill.
Bascom Hall.
North Hall, it is the first structure on the UW campus.
Looking towards the Memorial Union.
Science Hall.
Memorial Terrace on the shore of Lake Mendota.
Next we headed to the Allen Centennial Garden.The Agricultural Dean’s House, the home of the first four deans of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
William Stovall Building is where I work. It is home to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene. The building was built in 1951, the lab has been around since 1903.
Agriculture Hall, it was built in 1903.
Touring the Madison Area
We headed to the Henry Vilas Zoo in downtown Madison. The zoo has free admission all year long.
We also went to the Cave of the Mounds National Natural Landmark near Blue Mounds, WI. We had some time before the tour, so we walked around the grounds.
The cave system is pretty cool.
The caves have been open to the public since 1940.
Susan and Gillian’s Wisconsin Visit
Susan and Gillian drove down to Wisconsin for a visit. It was an adventurous road trip with only a couple of missed turns. The first day we went into Madison and headed to the State Capitol Building.
You can walk out on the observation deck on the sixth floor.
Our selfie on the observation deck.
Looking down from the balcony in the rotunda.
Gillian with a Badger in the University Bookstore.
Around The Farm
Some photos from around the farm on a Sunday morning.
Tukka.
Mark put out his Canadian flag for Susan and Gillian’s upcoming visit.
Canada Day Picnic
We had a great time at the picnic this year. Although the overall turnout of the picnic was down, we had good representation and did well at bingo and fukubiki. Here is Bear running in the races.
Getting congrats from Lily.
Kaiden.
Lily.
Gillian and Angela in the 3-legged race.
Mark and Gaila.
Julie and Carey.
Danny and Carolyn.
Angela, Gillian, Emi and Dylan in the Geta race.
It was then time for the shoe kick.
The Saikora game.
Everyone who was out of the Saikoro game.
The candy toss box, there was so much candy and so few kids they stopped tossing before they reached the end of box.
Kaiden with his haul of candy.
Angela and Dylan won the water balloon toss.
As always the best part of the day was lunch and dinner.
Claudia with Lily and Kaiden ready for bingo.
Mark with his winning card. As usual Carey won a set of chairs.
Both Angela and Gillian won Tim Horton coffee makers at Bingo.
There was no rain this year, but it was hot!
Gillian, Farriyan, and Kaiden.
The group photo from this years picnic, hope to see you next year.
Claudia’s Grade 12 Graduation
Claudia had her grade 12 graduation on June 28th at the Hershey Centre (three days later it became the Paramount Fine Foods Centre).
Gillian and Claudia. Angela had to work, so she missed the festivities.
Susan and I with the last one through high school!
Heading up to the stage for her diploma.
To our surprise, when it came time for the special awards, Claudia’s name was called for The Crusader Award. The Crusader award is presented to a graduating female student who is pursuing college or university education, is a leader or contributor in the school community, and is involved in community events outside of school.
The Crusader Award is donated by the 800 Black Forest Squadron, and it came with a $300 monetary award.
Congratulations Claudia!
The traditional tossing of the caps.
All of the special award recipients.
Claudia with Mr Quinn and Daniel.
Claudia with Mrs St Louis, the head secretary at Mt Carmel (and Mr Quinn photobombing). She was the secretary at St Richard when Gillian started in JK, she moved on to the high school shortly after. Only fitting that she would be part of our closing chapter of Dufferin-Peel education.
Claudia with Mr Carney and Mrs Faria.
Claudia is off to Humber College for Television Broadcasting.
Claudia’s Graduation Mass
The Grade 12 Graduation Mass and Subject Awards was held in the morning at the church. Claudia was the recipient of a couple of awards. The first one was the Dramatic Arts Academic Excellence Award.
She received the ICT SHSM (Information Communication Technology Specialist High Skills Major) Award. Here she is with all of the recipients.
She also received the Communication Technology Video Productions Award.
Claudia with Mr Carney (her Dramatic Arts teacher) and Mr Quinn (her ICT teacher).
Claudia with her ICT SHSM award.
Come From Away
We went to the Royal Alexander Theatre to see the musical Come From Away. We had bought the girls tickets last Christmas.
We saw a protest marching down the street.
The girls out front of the Royal Alex.
It was a great show and we had front row seats in the balcony.
