Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Ninjas On Parade - Gawd, I love the Onion!


Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Unnoticed Once Again

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Fun with Gandpa

We are out in Wacuta with Grandpa.

Coming soon

Trying again

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Family Fun Night and a Day of Rest

Last night, we attended the Family Fun Night at a local elementary school. It's a fundraiser for the PTA. The theme was Hawaiian Luau.

The girls got all dressed up and were ready for some fun. Parents at this school get all kinds of fun things to do like bingo, mini-putt and dancing to keep everyone busy. I take pictures to help the school with the year book.

There was also a silent auction. The students put together a really cool assortment themed baskets. Brenda was bidding on a few of them and came up with the winning bid on a basket of gardening supplies. I think we might just plant a garden in the spring!

It was a fairly late evening, since we didn't get home until almost 9, but that didn't stop the girls from gettng up earlier than they do during the week. Why is it, that no matter what's going on, I can't get the girls out of bed during the week, but on Saturday and Sunday, they are up at the crack of dawn?

Today was a pretty lazy day. I actually took a nap! It was interupted when Ashlea asked me if I was sleeping...it was the best 20 minutes I've had in a long time! Does anyone else's kids just have a 6th sense about when you are sleeping? Brenda can take naps for hours and the girls will leave her alone...I just don't get it.

Tomorrow, we will be join K, G, Kt and S for Grandma's birthday party. I'll have tons of pictures for that. We are also planning on getting to Red Wing in the morning. Grandpa J is going to take me and the girls up to the family hunting grounds for some fall picture taking. That's sure to hit my photo blog!

Halloween is just a couple of days a way! It's my favorite holiday of the year. Next weekend, we will be hosting a Halloween/Poker Party. I'm really excited for that. Costumes, poker and good friends, should be awesome. Most of this week will be pretty busy getting ready for the party. Posts might not come as regularly as I hope....but we'll see.

The political season is heating up and the Supreme Court is in session. I can't wait!

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Friday, October 26, 2007

It's Friday?

Where did this week go? It seems I just posted yesterday. Oops.

This week has just flown by. I assume it's because Brenda has just started working in earnest on her thesis. I'm so proud of her. This is a huge step for her. This has also meant that I'm back to editing her papers. And let's be honest, I'm not into medical terms. For anyone out there that's helping their spouse or loved one through a higher ed program in the medical field. Learn your Latin! I may not now what the word really means, but at least I can tell what part of speech it should be and make sure that part of the writing is correct. (Think "The patient presented with accute itis. Just make sure its used correctly. Let her do the spelling.

Emilea is really turning the corner on her homework, or she's snowing us better. She's been taking a lot of initiative lately. This is new for her. Again...another girl to be REALLY proud of.

Tonight is the family fun night at Emilea's school. We've gone to this in the past. It's a lot of fun. People dress up and then there are lots of games to choose from.

We had our first meeting for the school yearbook yesterday. This should be fun. I really like doing the pictures and the design...I just need to keep people around me that like to actually lay the pages out. Brenda loves it...so I'm good for that!

K and G...you guys OK? I haven't seen anything for a while. You are probably just as busy as us.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Tommy's Back!

Let's welcome back to the mainland Tom and his new bride Tammy.

Saturday night, We packed up the minivan and drove to Dan's house and hung out with Brenda's family.

It's been about 4 years since we've seen him.
K! Everyone is looking good!
Welcome to the family Tammy!
And before we go...Dan...you are nuts! That's gas in that bottle. You heard me...gas. The fumes coming off the fire were making us sick...maybe going down the street and getting some fuel from the airport would have made for a more intesnse fire...just a suggestion.

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Tweite's pumpkin patch!

Friday, October 19, 2007

A vacation

A nice quiet lunch at Leo's Pizza

Oh my. What a day from

This has been some day. It seems like it has been raining for at least a week.

This is the view from our bedroom window. Our parks low spot is just filling up with water. This is as soupy as we have ever seen it.

Today and tomorrow are off school days in all of Minnesota. It's the weekend of the state teacher's union convention. Apparently, it's important enough that every school I know is off for two days.

So in honor of this event. Brenda and I took the kids to the Twin Cities for a day of shopping and fun. So far so good.
We went to the Mall of America. Traditionally, we go the weekend of July 4th. On this weekend we go to home plate in the Park At the Mall. For those of you that don't, there is a plaque in the floor of the park that marks the spot of home plate from the old Metropolitian Stadium. As a huge Twins fan, I find this special.

Well, this year...no such luck. These next two pictures show the current state of the plaque. Not sure I'll be getting a family picture here any time soon.

This really didn't stop us from having all kinds of fun today. I took Emilea on her first big kid ride at an amusement park.

This is the big precursor to Daddy getting his long awaited right to take his kids to Valley Fair or some other large amusment park and scare the bejebeeze out of each other.

Ashlea got to ride on her favorite ride, the ferris wheel.

The smile you see here is the reason parent take their kids to parks like this.

We also took the girls to the Rainforest Cafe, or as Ash calls it, The Scary Place. Mom and Dad got to go to Ruby Tuesdays for a fantastic supper, but the Volcano at the Scary Place is a fun way to top of dinner.

Brenda found her planner for 2008. Many of you Moms will understand this. Organization of dates and times is critical for a family. Dad...he just uses gadgets that never need replacing, but Brenda, its a valuable as her limbs.

As iPhone owners we enjoyed some quality time in the Apple Store looking for new accessories. Those new iMacs are cool...might be keeping that thought in the back of my head.

We packed up and left for home. The planner was actually purchased at Burnsville Center since B. Dalton was the only place in MN that had the planner. We were heading home, in search of a restroom, beverages and snacks for the ride home. We opted for the Kwik Trip in Apple Valley. This proved to be a bad decision. When we were leaving, the front driver's side tire was thumping. CRAP! What the heck is wrong now. Our van has a tire pressure warning system that should be going off if I was flat, but it wasn't. The tire wasn't flat either...it just had a very large screw and washer STUCK IN IT!

FAN FRIGGIN TASTIC!

I phone a buddy for some advice about what to do. I didn't want to pull it out for fear of an instant flat. I got a can of fix-a-flat just in case, and following the advice, we drove on to see if it would fix itself...it did. It snapped off maybe a quarter mile away. And then the tire raced me to the nearest gas station...would it go flat BEFORE I could get there.

I just made it. Thanks to Chrysler for making such a wonderful spare tire changing system. Well, lets just call the entire time, frustrating. We made it home on the spare and all are safely sleeping. Thank Goodness!


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Thursday, October 18, 2007

Hmmm...how's that drainage plan work?

I think the city needs to rethink the drainage plan for the park. It
rains and we get a lake...every time.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Let the iPhone Sing!

It's just been announced that the iPhone will be getting 3rd Party Apps! Halleluiah!

From the mouth of Steve (assumed to be Steve Jobs...yeah right) an SDK will be released in February to allow other developers to write for the platform. Let's hope this works...for me the disappointment with the progress of the iPhone has been a bit disappointing.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Will it ever stop raining?

I'm not really sure how you check on something like this, but our house may now be considered on lake front property. The park behind us is VERY wet! Hmm...at least the sump just keeps running.

Tonight, it's back to poker league. I'm now in 8th place in the league. Good enough for regionals, but I'm a ways a way from being a league champion and skipping regionals. That would be sweet! I'd love to go to state again.

The only problem with league tonight is Ash was up at 3:30 AM. She missed us and wanted to watch TV with Dad and Mom. Her idea was not well received, but not before I found myself wide awake with nothing to do. I'm thinking if I kept a bottle of scotch next to the bed, that might help...but I doubt it. Brenda and I stretched the usual morning routine to accomodate some extra Zs, but we'll have to see if the last longer bet with Bodie25 is enough motivation to keep me winning.

Speaking of Bodie25, we had lunch with him and Mrs. today. The have ultrasound pictures of little Bodie25...the little bugger is a blob now! Congrats guys!

Watch for a new post tonight or tomorrow morning on the state of poker!

Saturday, October 13, 2007

The week that was...

I really had been trying to post more to this blog. This week has been a lot of fun and very busy.

For starters...it's been a good week for poker. I've actually been having a lot of success again. I finally went really deep at poker league again. It's been a long time. I think after this week, I will certainly be in the hunt to go to state again!

The girls have also been busy. Brenda is preparing to go on a nice vacation from work. This will be awesome! E continues on in the 3rd grade. She seems to have even more homework than ever before. That pretty much sums up her evening. Ashlea will love getting to hang out with Mom for a while.

If the weather is dry tomorrow (and I'm not exactly believing it will), we will be taking the kids to the pumpkin patch with my brother's family. These are always great photo ops and the kids have so much fun!

Today, I joined some of my friends that are photography nuts. We went to Frontenac State Park for the morning. Sunrise to about lunch. That will pretty much keep me busy tonight, sorting through the pictures, looking for the diamonds in the rough.

Now...to just get G and K reading this again. Oh well...maybe someday.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Good Bye Lew...

It was made official today that Lew Ford would be seeking free agency and shopping other teams.

I doubt anyone was suprised by this. 2007 was not a good year for him. His bat just wasn't there and he's never been a great defensive outfielder. In fact, some of his mistakes out there cost the team some games.

It was fun while it lasted. We all loved yelling "Llllleeeeeeeewwwwww!" Thanks for 5 years and good luck in your future. It was nice while it lasted.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Using the iPhone to send Google Hosted Mail

I've got an account with google to host my domain names email. When the iPhone was first released, it could check these accounts, but I was unable to send any email without getting an error. With the release of firmware 1.1.1, I'm now able to send email from those accounts.

I'm not sure if this is an undocumented feature of 1.1.1, but somehow, the port number got added to the smtp.google.com and that fixed the problem. So cool!

For those of you still trying to set this up, use the host name smpt.gmail.com:587 and the same log in information described in the documentation. recent:[youremail@address] and password. Everything now works!

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Nightlife Review - Whisky Bones Roadhouse

Last night, I joined my shutterbug friends for the review portion of the Photo Safari - Cityscapes. Earlier in the day, Mark I. had requested we join him at the Whisky Bones Roadhouse in Rochester. I thought I'd share a little review of the joint.

Last night, we went to see the band Reverend Raven and his Chain Smoking Altar Boys. If you like Chicago blues...these guys will satisfy ya! They were fantastic. The $5 cover charge was a small price to pay to see these guys!

As for the venue, a blues band really fit in. The interior is quite impressive for Rochester. It's open and roomy. Seating just about everywhere. The staff was great and attentive to everyone's needs.

Even with this great music and comfortable surroundings...there was one thing that was really missing...FOOD! Oh my goodness some ribs or wings would have been fantastic! I thought this was a roadhouse. Our waitress told us a kitchen was in the works...lets hope they get it soon or we might need to change the name to Starving Whisky Bones.

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Monday, October 01, 2007

Nummy!

Now that's the face of someone enjoying a donut!