Sioux Falls
I spent the 4th of July weekend in Sioux Falls with my family. Well, part of my family. Sioux Falls is best known for this:
Yes, Sioux Falls is the home of XRX, Inc. and they have offices on Minnesota Avenue. I even went to high school with two of the Xenakis brothers. Seriously, I was so excited when I saw this sign when we were driving down Minnesota Ave. I've known that XRX was based in Sioux Falls for a long time, but this is the first time I've seen their offices. I don't know if they moved from somewhere else, just got the sign this year or I've been incredibly unobservant, but this is the first time I've seen it.
XRX may be what Sioux Falls is best known for in the knitting blog world, but for the rest of the world, this is what it's known for:
Yes, those are THE Sioux Falls. After spending a little time with my step-mom (Kim)'s family and a nice and healthy dinner, we went to the falls to see the light and sound show. When I lived in Sioux Falls, the falls were a pretty grungy, worn down area. In the last 20 years, they've really re-vitalized the area and it's really, really nice now. I'd love to go there to hang and knit. The sound and light show was about the history of Sioux Falls and was pretty interesting.
On Sunday I headed back to Minnesota and spent some time with my grandma. She's having surgery tomorrow, so I'm glad I got a chance to see her and visit a bit. Sunday afternoon I went over to my mom's and hung with her a bit. Later, my sister brought my neice, Alexis, over since she was having a party at her boyfriend's house. I saw my sister, Laura, for a grand total of about 6 minutes the entire weekend. Oh well. My mom, Alexis and I went out for dinner and Alexis is apparently addicted to the crane game:
You may notice my mother's Vikings shirt in that picture. Yes, I come by my love of the Vikings naturally. To my amazement, Alexis actually won a teddy bear:
I shouldn't be surprised because Florence has won me stuff in the crane also, but I can't shake my belief that it's just a rip off. That teddy bear is pretty cute, though.
On the 4th, I got a chance to see my other sister, Kerry. She, Kim (her mom, who I made the bracelet for and who I call my step-mom even though she and my dad aren't married anymore) and I went out for a very unhealthy by absolutely delicious brunch.
After brunch I headed back to my mom's and Alexis and I decided to spend the day at the pool, since it was incredibly hot. Alexis had a ball in the small pool and the big pool. The small pool had fun stuff like this butterfly slide:
She also practiced her floating:
We also had tea parties on the bottom of the pool, played karate chop and karate kick and I "rescued" her. She saw some boys from school there and played with them some and I swam some laps too. When I was growing up in Sioux Falls, I went to this pool sometimes and more often the other pool, which she also goes to more often. So odd to think of Alexis living the same life as me, in some ways. They still have the patch you can sew on to your swimsuit as a season pass and they still have the mandatory 10 minute rest every hour:
I wish I had wrapped myself in a towel, because I ended up getting very sunburned. Actually, it was mostly on the area above the water - my shoulders, my cleavage and my back. It was incredibly painful and then itchy. Now it's at least tolerable after a week and a half. I wish by my advanced age I had become more wise about re-applying sunscreen often.
My sister came back and picked up Alexis, so I decided to stay home with my Mom so she wasn't alone. Her husband was out of town, working. We just hung out, watching a Monk marathon. I sewed together my Florentine Flattery and the dogs enjoyed the air conditioning, which we don't have at home. Fiona found a baby to cuddle with:
I like to call her "little mama", and I thought this was a cute picture. Finbar decided to use Alexis' lapdesk as a pillow. I wonder what he was dreaming about.
Yes, Sioux Falls is the home of XRX, Inc. and they have offices on Minnesota Avenue. I even went to high school with two of the Xenakis brothers. Seriously, I was so excited when I saw this sign when we were driving down Minnesota Ave. I've known that XRX was based in Sioux Falls for a long time, but this is the first time I've seen their offices. I don't know if they moved from somewhere else, just got the sign this year or I've been incredibly unobservant, but this is the first time I've seen it.
XRX may be what Sioux Falls is best known for in the knitting blog world, but for the rest of the world, this is what it's known for:
Yes, those are THE Sioux Falls. After spending a little time with my step-mom (Kim)'s family and a nice and healthy dinner, we went to the falls to see the light and sound show. When I lived in Sioux Falls, the falls were a pretty grungy, worn down area. In the last 20 years, they've really re-vitalized the area and it's really, really nice now. I'd love to go there to hang and knit. The sound and light show was about the history of Sioux Falls and was pretty interesting.
On Sunday I headed back to Minnesota and spent some time with my grandma. She's having surgery tomorrow, so I'm glad I got a chance to see her and visit a bit. Sunday afternoon I went over to my mom's and hung with her a bit. Later, my sister brought my neice, Alexis, over since she was having a party at her boyfriend's house. I saw my sister, Laura, for a grand total of about 6 minutes the entire weekend. Oh well. My mom, Alexis and I went out for dinner and Alexis is apparently addicted to the crane game:
You may notice my mother's Vikings shirt in that picture. Yes, I come by my love of the Vikings naturally. To my amazement, Alexis actually won a teddy bear:
I shouldn't be surprised because Florence has won me stuff in the crane also, but I can't shake my belief that it's just a rip off. That teddy bear is pretty cute, though.
On the 4th, I got a chance to see my other sister, Kerry. She, Kim (her mom, who I made the bracelet for and who I call my step-mom even though she and my dad aren't married anymore) and I went out for a very unhealthy by absolutely delicious brunch.
After brunch I headed back to my mom's and Alexis and I decided to spend the day at the pool, since it was incredibly hot. Alexis had a ball in the small pool and the big pool. The small pool had fun stuff like this butterfly slide:
She also practiced her floating:
We also had tea parties on the bottom of the pool, played karate chop and karate kick and I "rescued" her. She saw some boys from school there and played with them some and I swam some laps too. When I was growing up in Sioux Falls, I went to this pool sometimes and more often the other pool, which she also goes to more often. So odd to think of Alexis living the same life as me, in some ways. They still have the patch you can sew on to your swimsuit as a season pass and they still have the mandatory 10 minute rest every hour:
I wish I had wrapped myself in a towel, because I ended up getting very sunburned. Actually, it was mostly on the area above the water - my shoulders, my cleavage and my back. It was incredibly painful and then itchy. Now it's at least tolerable after a week and a half. I wish by my advanced age I had become more wise about re-applying sunscreen often.
My sister came back and picked up Alexis, so I decided to stay home with my Mom so she wasn't alone. Her husband was out of town, working. We just hung out, watching a Monk marathon. I sewed together my Florentine Flattery and the dogs enjoyed the air conditioning, which we don't have at home. Fiona found a baby to cuddle with:
I like to call her "little mama", and I thought this was a cute picture. Finbar decided to use Alexis' lapdesk as a pillow. I wonder what he was dreaming about.
rdladd@arnan.com
