McConnell Open House

 Dale and I went to the open house tonight because the city had a tent set up with dinner and drinks for some of the staff, but the rainy weather put a damper on things. Only a few people showed up, so Dale and I wandered around for a bit.

The air show is fascinating, though we didn't get to see any of the aerial acts during the time we were there. 

 We did go inside this KC-135.

 And saw other cool planes as it got dark. I like this photo mainly because of the cloud formation.

And saw lots of servicemen and their families. Then the cold front blew in and high winds caused at least one of the aerial acts to cancel, so we called it a night, too.

Saturday night with the kids

It's always a good weekend when we get to have Dale's grandkids overnight. We started with dinner at Kyoto Japanese grill.

Soup course.

Onion volcano.

Josie and me in our usual photo together. She's such a sweetheart.

She got her ears pierced today. Quite a big moment.

Then it was over to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream.

Eating on the patio on a beautiful late summer night. Then, home to watch Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Sunday in church

Spent part of my Sunday watching Bret's brass quintet perform a concert at Grace Presbyterian Church. The place was packed for a wonderful performance. Bret is on the far right.

Josie, Luke and Dale watching from the balcony.

Luke was antsy but cute as always!

Rolling on the river

 Got my bicycle out for the first time in about five years today and rode along the river on a beautiful late summer day.

Chris and Charla

Dale and I went to a party tonight to celebrate the 10th wedding anniversary of Chris Shull and Charla Sanderson, who now live in Dallas. Chris and I worked together for about 10 years before he moved. One of the highlights of the evening was the unveiling of a portrait Chris and Charla had taken of them in their Dallas apartment. The photo really was stunning, and perfectly captures the essence of these two crazy cats.

Close up. I think the photo looks like something you would see in Vanity Fair to accompany a story about a sophisticated and urbane NYC couple.

Chris giving his remarks.

Charla.

Chris with Sonia Greteman.

Norm Warminski and Jerry Martin.

Diane McCartney and Dale.

And a shot of this funky piano that Marie King, who lives in the house where the party took place, has in her living room. It is basically an old upright that she decouppaged with sheet music, photos and other papers and documents important to her life. It really is beautiful.

Jazz and a party

Dale and I went to hear a 23-year-old jazz piano protege named Eldar tonight, at WSU. Great concert, including a mesmerizing rendition of Rhapsody in Blue.  The event was a fund-raiser for the Wichita Jazz Festival next spring, which Dale is trying to help organize.

Later we went to a reception for Eldar at the home of Ann Garvey and ran into an old friend, Anita Moore, a realtor who sold us our house.

Ann Garvey with a guest who is being entertained by Ann's conure, a type of parrot that was so beautiful and fun it made me wish I had one.