The Perfect Tree

We made our annual trip to find the perfect tree. Alex wasn't feeling good so he missed this years outing. When we got to the tree farm, we told them we needed a saw. Sam asked why we didn't bring the chainsaw and we told him it was time he and Emily cut the tree down. After driving around looking for awhile, the kids wanted to ride in the back of the pickup. Sophie got in back first and said "Dad, you did bring the chainsaw with". We had a hard time finding a normal size tree (that's about twelve feet for us). We found a pre-cut tree that would work, but it's just not the same as cutting it yourself. This tree farm has had a lot of problems with deer eating the bottoms of the trees and they said to take the top off a bigger tree. We ended up using the chainsaw, after Em and Sam got sick of cutting by hand, to take the top half of a 25 footer.

Camping

After the Twins game we camped at Bunker Hills Park. Curt and Sue stopped out Monday evening. It is always fun to hang out with friends and family around a campfire. This trip we reverted back to tents, because our pop-up camper does not want to pop-up (or down for that matter).

Bunker Beach

We took the kids to Bunker Beach water park. Everyone had a great time. Sophie loved jumping over the waves!

Keima at MOA

We took Keima to the Mall of America. We took his picture by home plate of the old Met Stadium. When Mitsuhiro (Keima's father) stayed with us in 1977 we went to a Twins game at the Met.

Friends

Alex had a couple of friends stay over. They played a lot of air soft, hung a couple of wood duck houses, played a little basketball, and tried fishing on the mighty Rabbit River (caught nothing).

Sam Mows

Sam wanted to start mowing, so I dug out the 318 and he loved it. He weighs just enough so the safety switch knows someone is sitting on the seat (if he shifts his weight just a little the mower quits). I could not get the hydraulics to work to raise or lower the deck so I took the mower in to get that fixed (it was cutting higher than we like to). As soon as Sam got off the bus today he said "Dad, did you get the mower fixed?" With three kids willing and able to mow(ok Sam is the only one that wants to, and that probably won't last long), I shouldn't even have to ask them to mow this summer, right!? To see how straight he drives, check out the video below.

Mother's Day

We had the annual Mother's Day get together at Mom's. Jack brought a rocket that Alex helped him put together. It was a very nice day and the company was great! The first picture was from the weekend before. Sophie got up early and told me we needed to make Mom breakfast in bed, so we made some muffins. It is a good thing we did it early as Karen went down to her Mom's with Sam and Sophie and then back for the party at my Mom's.

Wings Over Wahpeton

There was a free airshow in Wahpeton today. The pilots all brought their planes and flew as a tribute to the late Gerry Beck from Wahpeton who died flying at an airshow a couple of years ago. Gerry restored and flew many World War II vintage planes. The airport invited all the schools in the area to see to show, and Campbell decided to let all the kids up through 6th grade go. After Alex's baseball game last night, he said he really wished that he could go and I thought it was still too wet to plant, so why not take him out of school to see it. The A-10 and Canadian Snowbirds were highlights (see videos below).

Preschool Program

Sophie's preschool had a little program and ice cream sundaes yesterday. The kids were very cute and they had a blast. Sophie's two teachers are in the first picture.

Twins Game

Sam and Maddie

We went to the Twins vs. Angels baseball game on Saturday. The Twins came through with a 9-2 win. We were 20 rows up, just past third base. The kids thought it would be fun to make a "Circle Us Bert" sign and maybe Bert Blyleven would circle them on television. Bert (an ex-Twins pitcher) circles fans on the TV broadcast. Alex watched the game again this morning, but we weren't circled. Oh well, it was a fun idea!

White Again!

Yesterday's snow total in Campbell was 26 inches. Alex had a couple friends over snowmobiling today since they did not have school. The temperature got up to 36 degrees today and the snow is melting quickly. I have heard the moisture in the snow is equivalent to 3 inches. We are hoping that it doesn't melt too quickly and cause the river to flood again. We don't need any more rain!

River is Down, Snow is Up!

We have snow! Lots of snow! It is very wet and heavy. I've heard 20 inches in the Breckenridge area and it is still snowing. The kids didn't have school today and Emily wanted to go to a friends. She said she would walk, but we didn't think that was a very good idea. Alex cleaned out the shop doors so we could get the snowmobiles out, and he was stuck three times within 5 minutes. He finally figured out that you must lean to turn, and just keep going. Below he is driving in the ditch (on some high ground that we know has no water in it). It is very hard to see because the snow is so wet it melts and sticks to your shield, so we decided to quit until it is done snowing.

Pink Gun Works!

Em shot her gun for the first time yesterday, and as you can see below, it works.

Alex's First Snow Goose!

Alex shot his first snow today after school. After he shot the first goose, he called his friend Caleb, and Alex got another goose.

Sam's Trophy

The first picture is of Sam's Pinewood Derby car for Cub Scouts and the trophy he won. The second picture is of an assignment he did in January. Goals are a good thing!

River Takes Duck Boat!

We woke Monday morning to a full rain gauge (2.04 inch) and a rapidly rising river. The kids wanted to go for a boat ride on Sunday and we pulled it up the bank and flipped it over. The river level was actually going down so I thought it was high enough. With all the rain, the river came up over two feet overnight and when I checked things out in the morning, the duck boat was gone! Luckily it only floated across to the snow/ice (see top photo). Alex and I took the canoe over and reclaimed our duck boat (even the oars were still under the boat).

Sandbagging!

With all the rain and more predicted we decided t0 sandbag the south side of our addition yesterday. We had several friends and family help and were quickly done. Thank you everyone for your help!