Tag Archives: pictures

Skiing

December 31, 2015 Andrew Leave a comment

I finally have a pair of cross-country skis. One step closer to being a real Minnesotan. (Ice fishing next year?) We went out as a family on Tuesday, after our first real snow, and then I went again on Thursday morning on my own. It’s a short, easy trail at Highland golf course, but I’m an unsteady amateur, so it’s exactly what I need.

Beginners at work.

Skiers in action.

Maggie actually has some skis from a garage sale, but can’t make it on a real trail yet.

Arrived shortly after sunrise.

Like that spray tan? (Actually, just wind and exertion on a very cold morning.)

Maggie, Photo

First Ice

November 20, 2015 Andrew 1 Comment

Today marks our first morning of the season with significant ice outside. We’ve had a few frosts and light glazes, but nothing you could slide around on. Griffin, Maggie, Zoe, and Cedar had a blast sliding around before the older kids caught the bus to school. On our walk back to the house, Maggie suggested that I take a picture to send to Mama (who is in iceless San Diego). Good thinking!

Griffin, Maggie, Photo

State Fair 2015

August 30, 2015 Andrew Leave a comment

Our annual pilgrimage to the Minnesota State Fair. This year we were all a bit crankier than usual, but that didn’t stop us from staying for nearly 12 hours (and 17,000 steps, according to my trusty fitbit).

Fair food included (basically covering all of our meals today):

hot waffle ice cream sandwiches (just as good as last year!)
chicken in waffle cones (another favorite from last year)
mini-donuts
strawberry rhubarb milkshake from the dairy barn
hot dogs and pronto pups (verifying that regular corn dogs beat pronto pups)
samosas from the midtown global market
gyros from holy land
cotton candy

Favorite discovery this year was the play area outside the Eco Experience. Sand + water + building supplies = infinite fun.

We thought we’d kick things off with hot waffle ice cream sandwiches.

Divine.

Seriously.

Puppet show. Kinda weird this time, but the kids enjoyed it.

Ram

Lamb

Rabbits

Piglets

Griffin loves this ride.

Last year he was nervous.

This year he had no qualms.

Maggie on her wheels.

Maggie riding a whale (or something).

Carousel

Pilot

Examining the map

Pronto pup

Eco superheroes!

A quieter moment in the agriculture building.

My favorite seed art of the year.

And a close second.

In the skyride

Happy skyrider

As a postscript, in the interest of keeping things real, I should mention that shortly after putting this post together, Griffin puked all over his bed. Besides being gross, it was a good reminder that fair food, though fun, isn’t really what a growing body wants.

(But man, those waffle sandwiches were awesome.)

Griffin, Maggie, Photo

Spring Lake Adventures

August 23, 2015 Andrew Leave a comment

A glorious escape to the yellow cabin with our good friends, Jess, Kevin, Murray, and Olive.

Griffin drew this to welcome Murray.

Squeezed in a bit of D&D too!

Photo

Metamorphosis

August 14, 2015 Andrew Leave a comment

Sarah picked up two wild monarch caterpillars and an egg this summer and we’ve been raising them and releasing the butterflies. Below are some pictures of the process, though not all pictures are of the same individual. (Click on the pictures to see larger versions.)

Monarch egg (from wikipedia because I couldn't get a good shot of our egg) — Monarch egg (from wikipedia because I couldn’t get a good shot of our egg)

Hatchling caterpillar (first instar), with nearby egg casing

Mature caterpillars munching their way through some milkweed clippings

Metamorphosis from caterpillar to chrysalis (pupa):

Over the next few hours, the chrysalis assumed its final form:

The chrysalis darkens and reveals the orange butterfly ready to emerge

Monarch with dry wings, ready for flight

Brief rest on a tree in the yard before flying off over the house

Griffin, Maggie, Photo

Cousins!

August 1, 2015 Andrew Leave a comment

Raven and Max, and their parents, came for a glorious visit during the last week of July. Many adventures were had, some of which are documented below. Click on any photo for a larger version (and a slide-show interface, if you’d like to flip through all of them).

Sequence

Minnehaha creek

The Science Museum

Black Sheep Pizza

Canal Park on Lake Superior

The dock at the Yellow Cabin

Griffin, Maggie, Photo

Tyler & Mieka

July 20, 2015 Andrew Leave a comment

Continuing an awesome summer of seeing distant friends and family, we enjoyed a perfect Twin Cities weekend with Tyler and Mieka. I’ve known Tyler since college, and we became close while working together in the Oberlin computing center. Then we were housemates in Oakland for a few years and neighbors thereafter. (Plus probably a thousand hours of D&D and video games.) Suffice it to say that he has been a rock in my life for the past twenty years and I miss having him nearby. Marrying Mieka, of course, added some outrageously good icing to the cake, and not just because we got to hang out with them at an Italian villa for their wedding. We were thrilled that they could make it to our neck of the woods this summer because they’re preparing for a major move from the Bay Area to Zurich in the coming weeks. Our house marks their eighth temporary home for the month of July.

In two short days we covered a lot of territory without feeling frenetic. Highlights included a Korean rice bowl feast cooked up by Sarah, a walk to Highland Fest with the kids, strolling across the Mississippi on the Stone Arch Bridge, an evening at the Guthrie to see a spectacular performance of The Music Man, a lovely Sunday brunch at The Buttered Tin, and a visit to Minnehaha Falls before heading to the airport. (And despite some hearty meals, I think we can claim a healthy weekend, earning more than 25,000 fitbit steps each on Saturday alone!)

We’re already trying to figure out how we make it out to Zurich in the next few years…

Photos of some of our activities below. Click for larger versions.

A Maggie and Mieka duet

“Let it go!”

Mastering the climbing wall at Highland Fest

Victorious descent

Mieka and Tyler catching some shade at Highland Fest

At the Guthrie for The Music Man

View from the Guthrie’s Endless Bridge

Tyler and Andrew, discussing geeky esoterica

Perfect Minneapolis evening

Panorama focusing on the Stone Arch bridge

Griffin perched on a rock by Minnehaha creek

Maggie enjoying the creek

“I’m swimming!”

Nothing better on a hot day

Grudgingly returning to shore

Serendipitous encounter with Scott who agreed to take the kids for a ride

Learning the controls

Tally ho

Thumbs up all around

Griffin, Maggie, Photo, Travel

Home Sweet Home

July 9, 2015 Andrew 1 Comment

The peas are significantly taller than Griffin at this point. — Peas are significantly taller than Griffin at this point.

Looking forward to an abundance of cherry tomatoes. — Maggie is looking forward to an abundance of cherry tomatoes.

After 32 days on the road, clocking 93:02 driving hours, and passing through 16 states plus the District of Columbia, we’re back home. House is in great shape, and the garden, barely planted before we left, is verdant. Sarah’s first activity upon arrival was to yank out all the weeds.

We’ll catch up on some backlogged posts about the final chapters of the trip in the next few days. We’re all looking forward to sleeping in our own beds tonight!

Road Trip 2015 Vital Statistics

Starting Mileage: 118,454
Ending Mileage: 122,828
Trip Mileage: 4374

Griffin, Maggie, Photo, Travel

Falmouth

July 6, 2015 Andrew Leave a comment

The culmination of our road trip was a glorious fourth of July weekend on Cape Cod with our friends Nate and Christine. (Nate and I went to high school and college together… whoa!)

The original seed for this crazy road trip was planted during the summer of 2010 by Nate and Christine. We were at Karen and David’s wedding (our friends from Ithaca, a few posts back) in Arizona and we had such a good time that we agreed we should do it again (it = hanging out, wedding not required, though it was a good one). Nate mentioned having access to a family house on Cape Cod. We were interested. But then Maggie was born and life got busy and years went by. It wasn’t until this winter that I reached out to see if the invitation was still standing. It was. And a road trip was born.

The house is in West Falmouth, at the southwest edge of Cape Cod. The time here was the definition of relaxation. Tons of room for the kids to romp, an air hockey table, plenty of bikes for all of us, nearby beaches, mojitos, great food, puzzles and conversation in the evening… what more could you want?

The time was made even better by getting to know Nate’s cousin, Emory, and his partner, Ben. They were both awesome in their own right, and were unbelievably good with the kids—seriously, I haven’t had so much time-off from parenting in years. We were all sad to see them go on Sunday, but none more so than Maggie and Griffin who remained cranky with us for days over this betrayal.

We also hit a new milestone for Griffin’s physical endurance: a 16-mile round-trip bike ride to Woods Hole. He was on an unfamiliar “big kid” bike with gears and handle breaks, and he did a fantastic job. No complaints at all. (The photo of him in the two-seater below was on a different, shorter, ride.)

The best part of all of this is that Nate and Christine will be driving through Minnesota in August so we’ll get to see them twice in one summer. Feels almost gluttonous.

Click on any picture below to see larger versions in an interface that makes it easy to scroll through the full set.

The Falmouth house

Dinner on the veranda

Like a Burley, but the kids are in front.

Swan nest by the trail

Ready to go

Bike path to Woods Hole

Woods Hole Aquarium

Dinner at the farm

Teeth

Air hockey with Emory

Air hockey with Ben

Loving mama’s hat

Prepared

Staring at the sea

Happy daddy

Great fireworks view from the balcony

The kids with their new besties, Emory and Ben

Face full of sprinkles before heading inland for the journey home.

Griffin, Maggie, Photo, Travel

Jamaica State Park and Milton

July 1, 2015 Andrew Leave a comment

ice cream stop on the way to the park — Ice cream stop on the way to the park

The new antibiotics were victorious, so after a good night’s sleep at the Worst Western, we resumed our journey to Jamaica State Park in Vermont. Upon arrival, we happily rendezvoused with Mark, Tracy, Cora, and their dog, Holly. The park and countryside were beautiful, and despite nearly constant drizzle, we had a great time—explored nearby paths, played at a playground, cooked up a pasta feast, and finished with smores around the fire. The kids went to bed easily in the tents and the grownups enjoyed some conversation time around the flickering coals.

In the morning, the rain was coming down harder with some thunderstorms coming through. The weather report showed more of the same for the next 24 hours, so we all agreed to cut the camping trip short. We headed to Milton where we stayed in Mark and Tracy’s lovely, and very dry, home.