Merry Christmas

Light Graffiti

Saw some cool light graffiti shots on a blog last week. So the kids and I gave it a shot.

Christmas Card Photos

A few that didn't make the cut...

Thanksgiving

CPHS Fall Band Concert

This is from Matt's first performance as a member of the CPHS Concert Band.

Another Cloudy November Day

This cloudy November day put me in the mood to seek out some sunshine. Here's some early morning sun from a not so long ago trek to the mountain bike trail.

Frosty Morn

All Hallows' Even

Public vs. Private Schools

I've noticed something different about our eldest child since he left the small private K-8 school he attended for 9 years. Now that he's attending one of the largest public high schools in the state, I haven't seen his ears in weeks.

I admit there are a couple variables in play. We have the middle vs. high school thing. Then there's the private vs. public school thing. My observations indicate that missing ear syndrome is far more common in public middle schools, while most ears remain accounted for in private high schools. So this leads to my hypothesis. Our public schools ear retention programs aren't working. Lets learn from the successful ear retention programs in our private schools. Whatever they're doing, it works.

Autumn Goodness

Do I have Photo Editing Software?

Is that what you meant about bringing out the color Ranger Paul?

Autumn Morning in Champlin

The pre-blog

Purely by coincidence, I ran across this in the web archive today. The website is long dead, but as you can see, nothing on the internet ever goes away. No matter how obscure. It's like a decade old scrap book, complete with embarrassing commentary for the whole world to see. Not that more than a small handful of people living in that world is even remotely interested.

One thing I found really interesting- this pre-blog even had a blogroll. You would think in a decade I'd find more than 1 additional blog worth linking to. Guess that's the kind of guy I am. Discriminating and loyal. So Paul and Chris - you should consider your inclusion in that blogroll to the right quite an honor.

First Day of Preschool

It was a big day for our youngest daughter. I admit I was concerned when I learned the school district planned to let her ride the bus. But she was certainly bright eye'd and ready to go. The bus arrived at 9:30am and returned our big girl safe and sound by 12:30. We even got an email from her teacher before the bus got back letting us in on the important events of the morning. Like the pizza song Alondra requested at circle time.























Alondra was excited to show Lacey all the fun things she brought home in her backpack. Lacey however, wasn't too keen on the whole idea.

Buddy Walk #2

A whole lot of people showed up at the Buddy Walk today. The weather was perfect. It wasn't all walking though.























There was some dancing and sliding too.





















And a chance to cool off after the long walk. Thanks to everyone who donated!

The New Toy

Here it is Janine. The trail was a little wet this morning.

Portrait of My Girls

This one is a year old now. But for some reason it struck my fancy on this rainy Saturday morning.

Alondra's Second Buddy Walk

That's my Alondra Rose reminding me, her Dada, to get the word out about her second Buddy Walk. This is the biggest annual fundraiser for the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota and it's only a few short weeks away. They do good things. If you can help this year, Alondra thanks you. Donating is easy. Same as last year.

Officially Hitting the Dirt

Finally got around to checking out the official mountain bike trail at Elm Creek with my new toy. Mapped it out on Gmaps Pedometer here. So it turns out over 2 thirds of my route is paved trail just getting to and fro the fun part. But I shouldn't complain. Only 10 miles of pavement is a small price to pay. The fun part is the loop at the bottom left.

The 4 miles of dirt is more fun than I had anticipated. I had only seen small sections of the trail from points that intersect with other trails. And that didn't look too interesting. So I had been playing closer to home on some unofficial trails all summer. Those offer many more opportunities to practice my bunny hops. But I think I'll be a regular on this route now. Even ran into a few unexpected grunts that got my heart pumping pretty good.

Sunday at Andrews Park

Alondra spent a nice quiet Sunday afternoon at the park. It was such a nice afternoon that Matt even tore himself away from Mario Kart for some entertainment that didn't involve electricity.



Though there is a downside to having the big brother influence around. It's a small price to pay.

Suburban Summer Sunset

Another Big Day

It's good to be 3. Especially when it means you get your own laptop. It was getting to be a pain having to share Mom's.

The Big 15

(if i don't mention the drivers permit maybe it won't happen)