Our New Deck

We started out 3 years ago with some bricks and a plan for a 12x12 patio.... after stacked in the middle of our yard for 3 years, the bricks are now a sidewalk along the garage and Grandpa Larry came down and built a 12x20 deck (with some help from us) in our backyard!

We put Sophi and her friend Natalie to work helping out with the 800+ screws!

We LOVE it!! We sit out there almost every day.

Thanks Grandpa.

Signe Loves To Swing!

Miss Signe would swing all day if she could - It was 84 degrees today, she took a break from playing in her pool to swing in her bikini. Then, she disappeared inside for a while claiming that she needed to put her "Safety Suit" on.....

... and came back to continue swinging in the 84 degree weather!!!

What a kid!?!

Happy Father's Day!

We headed over to Lake Harriet this morning for a little fishing and swimming with Dad on Father's Day! Sophi bought her 1st fishing pole for the occasion (Signe didn't want one).

She pulls in her line and catches.... some salad!

So does Dad! (We were there a little late in the day for the fish to be biting)

While Sophi and Dad fished - Signe played with the worms...

and watched the baby ducks swim around.

Sophi really wanted to catch a fish... she spotted a dead one near the shore that she insisted on hooked!

After many failed attempts, she finally got it!

Signe was done with fishing and we headed over to the beach for some swimming and sandcastle building.

Can you spot the buoy's?

On our way back to the car, we found these soft-shell turtles that looked like lily pads.

We had so much fun - - - wish we had more days like these.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

600+ Brews On Tap!

Neil's been at the National Homebrewers Convention this week and I joined him for Club Night - A glorified beer festival. There was over 600 brews on tap with endless food and people watching. Neil's club, MN Homebrewers Association's booth was an ice house with 20 taps to choose from.

The guys did an awesome job on the build, right down to the view out the window. My personal favorite was the drains made from gutters.


The lines from the back - they had 30 kegs of different homebrews, ciders and meads on hand.

Neil supplied the "Minnowsota Ale"!

My first stop was to get my tasting glass and a pretzel necklace to munch on in between brews. My favorite beers of the night were: Nut Brown Ale from Michigan, Flanders Red from Neil's Club, and a Chocolate-Coconut-Vanilla Bean Stout (outstanding) from Illinois.

Most booths had food as well - The ice house had sliders (500 of them). We also sampled New England Clam Chowder from Maryland, Chicago Dogs and Pulled Pork (that was fabulous) from Illinois and Brats and Sausage from Iowa to name some of our favorites.

The people watching was great - loved this guys "Beer Goggles"! Neil with his buddy Jon.

Some of the booths and costumes were very clever - Ann's Arbor Pub, Michigan - MASH, Maryland

Tiki Bar, Duluth - Construction Site, Iowa... Neil and I even had our picture taken in a barrel going over Niagara Falls at one of the New York booths!

There was also a live radio show going on in the middle of it all. Neil's friend Chris was interviewed because he is the President of Neil's club and was the Club Night organizer.

Our brewing friends, Chris and Patty.

Neil with some of the guys from his club.

It was good night - we had fun and laughed a lot!

Neil checking his limit before we go call a cab! Neil's favorites of the night were... all of them!!

Congrats Graduate!

We headed over to our cousin Mikayla's graduation party today. The girls had fun running around and eating a bunch of Julia's (Mikayla's Mom) delicious cookies (they had a little lunch too)! We snagged the graduate for a picture on our way out.

A Big Day For Sophi!

Sophi, (sporting a great shark hat from her friend Connor), finished 1st grade today!

She had mixed emotions about it - her 1st grade teacher was awesome and a couple of her close friends are going to a different school than her next year - however, she really likes saying that she is a 2nd grader now!

Even more exciting - SHE IS HALFWAY THERE!!! - Notice the shark celebrating in the above Lightbright picture that Sophi made? She has passed the $1000.00 mark in her Save Sharks With Sophi fund raising! Thank you so much to all that have donated! Sophi is having such a positive, energetic response to all that she is accomplishing. We will continue to keep you posted on her efforts... you can also follow along by viewing her blog entries at www.rjd.miami.edu/blog.

Happy World Ocean Day!

Sophi and I found an article that talked about giving out blue marbles to people that show kindness in water conservation. A person would receive a blue marble and then pass it on within 24 hours to someone else showing water kindness. Sophi decided to do something similar to promote World Ocean Day (June 8th). (Knowing that 7-year-olds are going to want to keep their marble), Sophi gave her classmates and friends 2 marbles each with a water conservation tip card that she wrote. Each child could keep one marble and pass one on to spread the word about the importance of water conservation!

Sophi's Water Tips:

1. Don't Waste Water. Turn off the water when you brush your teeth or do the dishes.

2. Don't Litter. Garbage goes into the sewers and then into our rivers, lakes and oceans.

3. Use Cold Water. It takes less energy than hot.

Happy World Environment Day!

Sophi organized a family walk to clean up the neighborhood for World Environment Day! Neil made some cool garbage pick-up sticks for the girls to use. . . so, with their bags in hand and gloves on, we set out.



Later that day, Sophi decided that Oreo pie would help us to celebrate our Earth even more!

Sophi wanted me to remind everyone - Don't Litter!!