We had another full weekend, starting with Friday night. Brett picked up Brandon and brought him to URS (my place of employment) for the company's summer function, which consisted of a BBQ and a Twins game. We had some nice lower level seats for the Twins vs. White Sox game. The Twins came out victorious and we had a great time.

Saturday I left early to drive to Des Moines. I met Mom and Dad at the Iowa Gold Star Museum at Camp Dodge just outside of DM. We were hoping to find out some more military info about our Koch ancestors who served in WW1. Unfortunately, the info cards we were hoping to find were not there! The guy who was helping us said that he has pulled about 100 of these cards, and rarely does he have one that he can't find. Of course we come in, and there are 2 he can't find for us! Kind of a bummer, but we did pull a couple of other cards for some other relatives.

After the museum I met up with some friends for our annual get-together at Okoboji Bar & Grill in south DM. This is a chance for a bunch of us who went to college together to have lunch and catch up, and see how fast everyone's kids are growing! There were 8 adults and 5 kids under the age of 3 there. It was a hoot! It's always so fun to see what new things the little ones are doing. Above is my friend Laura with her little girl, Maggie. Laura is also due to deliver a little boy any day now!

Later I went to the Iowa State Fair with 2 friends (also an annual tradition). We walked around a lot to take in all the sights. The IA State Fair always has the "Butter Cow" and usually one other sculpture made of butter. This year it was a butter Superman, in honor of local actor Brandon Routh who played the role of Superman in the recent film. We also saw the biggest boar and the biggest bull (over 3,000 lbs!) Later we enjoyed The Blue Band. And naturally you can't beat the people watching at the State Fair; we saw some outstanding mullets and some very interesting outfits. Of course through it all, we ate. Corn dogs, cheese curds...it was all there.

While I was away, my boys did play...World of Warcraft, that is. They had a couple of friends over and had a blast. So our computers got a good workout this weekend!

Sunday when I returned to Mpls, we headed over to the state capitol in St. Paul to watch the closing ceremonies for the Breast Cancer 3-Day. Brett's sister Marcey and some of her friends walked it this year. It's no small endeavor either - participants walk 60 miles over 3 days, and raise a minimum of $2,200 each. As many of you know, this event is very close to my heart. I walked in the first Twin Cities 3-Day in September 2004, in memory of my grandma Rosemary Overmohle, who lost her battle with BC in December 2003. This year's event had 2,500 walkers and raised over $6.3 million for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation!

Here is our niece, Hayley, sitting on her dad's shoulders and cheering Auntie Marcey. Nice shades, Hayley!

Marcey had a few blisters and some taped up knees, but she looked pretty darn good after all that walking. Here she is with her husband Haver after the closing. Way to go, Marcey!