Monday, August 27, 2007

We Ran Our First 5K!

Panod and I have officially run in a 5K! And we didn't even come in last! We did the milk run at the state fair yesterday & it was a really fun time. Grandma, Bumpa, Taylor & Ian were all cheering us on as we started and finished the race. And then we spent the rest of the day going in and out of the fair together. I think that this is something that we'd like to try and do again next year, but we'll have to see.

The scavenger hunt has been going well. The items are getting revised daily and everyone seems to be enjoying it. It can get really funny when we all see a limousine going past our houses and we all start to yell out, "Number 18! I see number 18!"

I have posted more pictures in our state fair album from yesterday. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring the camera for the 5K in the morning, but there are sill some really fun pictures from the rest of the day. There is also a live web cam here from the Star Tribune web site. And I've found a new state fair web site here.

The excitement of the day yesterday: we parked a car worth $181,000 on our lawn!! And they left us the keys!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

The Fair Has Arrived


It's here, there's no denying it. The Minnesota State Fair is upon us. The first day (Thurs. 8/23) was really slow since it rained most of the day, but the weather has been sunny and 78 degrees since then. Panod and I are taking this year slow and easy in terms of the number of cars we are parking. Simply being with neighbors, and the kids and watching all of the crazy things we see out here is what we enjoy the most. I have some pictures to share and we'll be adding more to this album as we begin to spend more time in the fair. New this year - Panod and I have decided to make a fair parking scavenger hunt for the neighborhood. Each neighbor will check off the wacky and wild things on the list that are worth a certain number of points, and at the end of each day we will add up the points and announce a winner. Also new this year, Panod and I will be running in the 5K milk run tomorrow. Grandma and the kids will be there to cheer us on.

Wish we could somehow post the smell of the fair to share. We wake up to and go to bed with the smell of fried food & grilled onions for 12 days.

Here's a sample of the scavenger hunt that the neighborhood is working on today:


BONUS Bingo Sheet 1 Y/N
1
street musician or Art (donation guy)


2 + Superman, BK guy or other character


3 + guy handing free sample


4
spot Donald (our neighbor) wearing shoes


5 + Family dressed the same


6
child on a leash


7 -1 vomiting or peeing fair goer


8
Sweet Martha (+), Cheese curd or cheese on a stick worker


9
stranger looking at Mike's 77 Camaro


10
airplane ad or helicopter


11 -1 loud drunk girls/guys

12
Pedicabs


13
Fairgoers asking for directions (eg Boy Scout parking)


14
Police - horse patrol


15 + ticket scalper


16 + Parking enforcement van - old guy


17 ++ clipboard bus lady


18 ++ limousine


19 + park an expensive
car (+ $100 K) or new car


20 ++ park a hybrid


21
pickle hat, pig ears or other fair hat


22
scantilly clad woman/man


23
extremely large stuffed animal


24 ++ taste stranger's fair food


25 ++ see, meet (+) or park (++) a celebrity




Complete by 11 PM


TOTAL (Yes) = ___________


TOTAL Bonus (+) = __________

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Mother Nature Hits Como Park, Again!



It is just like the Mother's Day storm a few years ago - maybe even worse. The amount of tree & home damage here in the park is heart breaking. The weather radio woke us up at around 3:30am. The storm's winds were at their worst as it came into the metro area. Our home only lost a section of fence panel - no trees on the house this time around! There is a building on the fair grounds that lost its roof - all of which ended up impaling the houses across the street on Snelling Ave. The kids are O.K., Toby is fine, but we could all use a nap.

6:15pm update -- here is a link to an impressive slide show on the Pioneer Press web site.

9:35pm update -- here is a link to some more pictures from my new favorite local blog, myprontopup.com

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Meet the newest family members!


My cousin and his wife have just given birth to their first children! Meet Alexander (left) & Veronica (right)! Born @ 38 wks, weighing 6 lbs & 5 lbs. 8 oz., respectively. With a mixture of west coast creativity and southern hospitality these two angels are going to be so much fun to watch grow up. Mother & babies are doing well.

Congratulations Jason & Janice!!

Monday, August 06, 2007

Sand Lake '07

It's that time again! Sand Lake - the annual UrbanPlanet retreat up on the Iron Range. We were very thankful to my A&P instructor who allowed me to take the final on Friday, just before we left to head up north. Otherwise, the final was on Monday (today) & I would have stayed behind to study all weekend.

We got to our destination just after 6pm on Friday, and we were the last to arrive. Our short time there just flew by. I think that one of the best parts about this annual event is watching how the kids are all growing up. They are (nearly) all old enough to run around together and play boys vs. girls, while the adults get caught up and relax. The food was amazing (as always), and the keg wasn't all foam by Saturday night. We missed Mary & Emmy - they had to leave early on Saturday & Panod (PK) went through some serious McMahon withdrawl.

Thank you again to Mary and David and their girls for sharing their little slice of heaven for a few days!

Sand Lake 07

Also - as promised - some pictures of the kids taking swimming lessons...
Swim Lessons 07