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 (+) = __________

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

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!!

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

Summertime Pics

A spider web that Taylor & I found Friday afternoon on the slide, in the front yard

There's something that was left out of the last post. I found more pictures last week, and realized that the pictures from Back to the 50’s hadn’t made it on the site. It took place just about a month ago & it is something fun for those of us who live near the fair grounds. There are 10,000+ cars from the 1950’s (and older) that flock to the fair. Our neighborhood usually ends up standing on Snelling Ave. Friday night to watch as most of the old cars come streaming out of the main gates and burn their tires for us spectators. There tends to be one spot on Snelling & Nebraska where some teenagers will throw down bleach and encourage the rubber burning – and it works. The white smoke flies and we all make a lot of noise to show our appreciation. We have also started to see some cars that throw large fire out of their rear pipes, too! Not a lot of pictures this year, but they are still fun.

Back to the 50's 2007

We were finally able to get pictures of what the kids are up to this summer! Taylor’s tennis pictures are from a tournament that she was in last week. She was able to play her heart out and win 4^th place in her division! She may be called in this week to fill in for the 3^rd place winner because they may not be able to make it to the divisionals since it sounds like they might have to go on vacation. Go Taylor!!

Taylor Tennis 2007

Ian is on the green team this year for t-ball. He is showing a lot of interest in hitting the ball (right-handed!) and playing in the dirt while he’s in the outfield. His throwing skills are also coming along nicely, but mostly he’s just having a really fun time.

Ian t-ball 2007

We didn’t get any pictures of swimming lessons yet, we’ll have to do that during the upcoming week.

And then there was the fun we had with the neighbors this week when the kids each got a little stomp rocket set. We figured that these $3 toys would keep our two kids busy outside for a couple of hours, and stomp rockets don’t require any batteries. We were wrong – but it in a good way. The neighbors got in on the action and there was a stomp war to see who could make the rockets go the farthest.

Stomp Rockets

The weather here has been really pleasant, but we are supposed to be getting some heat and humidity in the coming days. Just since I started typing this post the humidity has begun to climb.

Summer Fun

Thank you for putting up with my having to put the blog on hold for a few weeks. My summer A& P course has turned out to be highly demanding, and our time has been spread thin. I have been keeping up on things that the kids have been up to since May, and we have a ton of pictures to share.

The end of the school year for both Taylor and Ian was filled with the usual excitement and joy that summer time can bring. I was able to capture Ian’s last day just down below, and Taylor has a good number of pictures that she took with a disposable camera, so I don’t have those up. Most of Ian’s pictures are of him and his best friend, Julian. Julian’s parents have decided to have him go to a different school next year, so I took quite of few of the two of them together.

Ian's Last Day 2007

That very next day after school let out brought us to what has become an annual event in our house – Como Town! The kids and I spent the entire day there and we took a few pictures, too.

Como Town 2007

There was also the neighborhood lawn mowing event that was brought on by one of our neighbors who bought a riding lawn mower for his cabin. We all thought it was the coolest thing ever, and our neighbor Kris decided that she would try mowing her lawn with it since it should only take about half the time. It really was funny!!

Neighborhood Lawn Mowing Experience

Ahh yes, and then there was the rainbow that Taylor and I got pictures of. These were from about a month ago (6/7/07), and we had a blast taking these just over the neighbor’s roof and on the parkway.

Rainbow 0607

The Fourth of July was a blast. We spent the day in St. Anthony Park where the kids decorated their bikes and rode in the parade. Then, my brother and his family joined us for some hot dogs on the grill & some kid races. Kane was adorable (as always) and Jen taught us that smores can actually be made over a charcoal grill! Love you guys!! Check out the pics on Rob's site.

I know this is a short update given the amount of time that has lapsed. The kids are in some fun summer activities right now – Taylor has tennis lessons every morning (she has a tournament this Tuesday), Ian has t-ball every Monday evening (he’s on the green team this year), and they are both taking swimming lessons on Tuesday & Thursday evenings. The swimming is going very well for both of them – Ian finally passed level 1 (third time’s a charm), and Taylor has now advanced to level 4! We will be taking pictures this week of them doing their summer activities & I’ll be sure to get an update posted next weekend. Thanks for checking in!

**Favorite quote of the week: "You've got gunk on your os coxae!"**

Taylor's 11th Birthday

Taylor enjoyed celebrating her 11th birthday over the course of a week. On Friday the 13th we had a small celebration at the house with just the four of us. She opened presents (mostly Dr. Who, Webkinz, money from family, and some much anticipated books) and had cake after we ate dinner out at her favorite Chinese buffet - Panda Garden Buffet in Roseville. Later on that weekend we had the neighborhood kids over for a pinata.

Taylor had an earth day birthday party with some of her friends that following weekend on Saturday the 21st at the Harriet Alexander Nature Center, in Roseville. It worked out really well because the nature center also celebrates their birthday that day with a parade, tree planting ceremony and cake! Grandma was nice enough to come and help us out, too. Taylor says that her favorite part was when the girls, Ian and I all took a walking adventure on the floating platforms that wander through the marshes of central park. Some of the platforms didn't float so well and we ended up sinking in a couple of times! The girls thought it was hilarious! We also saw ducks, geese and many species of bugs. **A HUGE thank you to Debbie Cash and the volunteers at the nature center. You helped make Taylor's day wonderful and educational!** Please check out Taylor's birthday pics below:

Taylor's 11th Birthday

The trick with planning any kind of outdoor party in Minnesota this time of year is that the weather can go from snowing one day to 80 degrees the next. It was a little unnerving when it snowed just about a week before Taylor's party, but I did get a picture of the snow in Como Park. It was the wet, sticky spring time snow that really makes for fun photography. And better yet, it melted away within 48 hours after it had fallen.

Taylor and Ian both celebrated their school carnivals over the past week. They both had the usual cake walks, moon bounces, fishing ponds and the like. Nobody won any cake, but they both saw their friends at each one of their schools, and they each won some candy.