What we did, read, watched and thought about this month.

Todd R.: Todd Rapp is enjoying some well-deserved vacation time. He’ll be back in July!

Rich: June began with Covid finally catching up with me. My symptoms were pretty light and by Day four I was feeling good. However, the ten-day quarantine reminded me of the confinement and loneliness of the 2020 lockdowns. 

After quarantine, I focused on getting outside and being with friends doing what is fun. I watched a friend’s daughter play in the High School softball tournament and followed the tournament success of Benilde-St. Margaret’s in baseball, boy’s lacrosse and girl’s lacrosse. Our kids played on these teams when they attended Benilde and it was fun to see some friends from those days.  

Of course, I have been back on the golf course in June. That includes playing with Todd Rapp in the annual Edina Invitational event. Last year we played well and came very close to winning. This year we struggled and received a reminder of how difficult the game can be. Luckily, we had a lot of fun and met some fun golfers. 

Todd S.: The Stone family went to see Top Gun: Maverick, even though our boys (9 and 12) had never seen the original. Turns out, seeing the original really wasn’t necessary. The sequel provided just enough backstory to figure out what was going on. Of course, we never could figure exactly what country the good guys were attacking because no one on-screen ever said the name. Yes, that was weird. But you’re not going to Top Gun for intricate/logical plot, you’re going for the cool, death-defying flight sequences. And, I must admit, it was fun to watch. I had a different reaction to the latest Jurassic Park movie. It was kind of fun seeing the original cast show up in this one, but there were simply way too many scenes where Chris Pratt (and others!) was able to make a dinosaur pause from attacking by simply holding up his hand. Beyond dumb. 

Sarah: A lot of time has been spent in the garden this month – pulling weeds, mulching and tending to seedlings brutalized by heat and southern Minnesota wind. I started The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon and began playing the final chapter of one of my favorite video games, Raft. We spent a ton of time with family and friends this month, which was a refreshing change of pace after a busy (and unusually long) planting season.

Sean: A big month in the Oyaas household. Rosie and I officially wed at the end of May, and after an amazing wedding, we immediately took off to Bali for a two-week honeymoon. I couldn’t have asked for a better getaway and am of course incredibly grateful for the RSI team who filled in for me while I was able to enjoy this special stretch. Beaches, ATV’s, spa days, sunrise hikes up volcanoes… it felt like a dream. While away, I knocked out Aldous Huxley’s, A Brave New World – not exactly a great vacation/getaway read, but it had been on my list for far too long. We also ran through Amazon’s Outer Range, a sci-fi/new-age western mashup which I highly recommend. I’m now well rested, getting settled back into the workflow, and looking forward to the next adventure that awaits!

Anna: My binge recommendation of the month is The Dropout on Hulu, which dramatizes the true story of Elizabeth Holmes and how she built a fraudulent billion-dollar blood testing company, Theranos. I found the portrayal of the whistleblowers fascinating, as well as the role of the free press in exposing Holmes and Theranos – and even the complex character of Holmes herself. Isaac and I enjoyed Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Bad Batch on Disney+, which brings us up to speed with all new Star Wars content (we’re nerds). While trying not to melt in the Alabama heat, we tried a new tapas bar on Main Street called The Social, where the brisket mac and cheese and the strawberry butter cake earned high ratings from us both. We also headed down to the Destin, Florida area with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece, where we crossed an important item off of our bucket lists: feeding alligators at Fudpucker’s Beachside Bar & Grill.

Cullen: Tough to think of a better way to kick off summer than hooking my personal best northern pike on my first day of fishing all year. It felt great to be back out on the water, and now I’m more anxious than ever to revisit some of my favorite Minnesota lakes. My wonderful friends also surprised me for my 24th birthday weekend by making the trek to Madison, which was highlighted by a long float down the Sugar River and the worst sunburn I’ve gotten in many years. 

I spent most days hotter than 90 degrees devouring the first act of Stranger Things season four, the final season of Peaky Blinders, and the incredibly funny Shoresy. Now I just need to carve out some time to finish The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. 

Kaylee: I traveled back to my previous home of Berlin to visit some dear friends. Even a couple friends who had moved away were also in town, so we all just soaked up time together, ate good food, and frequented our favorite summer activities. After that, I moved on to Belgium to visit one of my dearest friends. A not to be forgotten highlight there was getting a behind-the-scenes tour of the European Parliament.

Will: This month, I finally finished Peaky Blinders, the British crime drama, and I would certainly recommend it. After being a fan for years and having spent much of that time waiting for each new season, it’s a bit odd to be done, though I am looking forward to the spinoff movie. I’m reading Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski, which is interesting after reading some of his poetry. Since Father’s Day, I’ve been giving my dad the gift of free labor and working on a few painting projects around the house. So far, he’s been happy with the results. Kate and I joined a friend in spending a day at the Twin Cities Pride March and Pride Festival. It was jam-packed, and it was great to see such a vibrant display of our cities’ diversity. 

Some of my college buddies and I are moving to St. Louis Park in August, so I’ve been slowly getting furniture and other apartment essentials figured out. Kate, some friends and I have been touring local breweries – Steel Toe has a good selection, but Utepils is the favorite so far between its great beer and comfortable patio area. I would recommend checking both out. 

Leah: This month I traveled around the State of Minnesota. I went up to St. Joseph and visited some friends from school and then went up north to a cabin on Big Sandy Lake. There was great weather before it got too humid, so it was enjoyable to be outside. I also made it up north to Duluth and got to take in the North Shore beauty with a few hikes and bonfires, which resulted in more mosquito bites than I can count. I ended my month celebrating my cousin at her bridal shower which was super fun and the first one I've been to! A great month of traveling and celebrations!