Tag Archives: summer

Griffin, Maggie, Oliver, Photo, Piper, Video

Introducing Piper

June 20, 2020 Andrew Leave a comment

The latest addition to our family is Piper, an eight-week old goldendoodle puppy. We picked her up on Monday, June 15. Griffin and Maggie describe her like this:

We just got a puuuuuppppy!!!! She is a goldendoodle and she is a really great sweet dog. We named her Piper and she loves to play but doesn’t really like her crate yet. Piper loves outside, especially the bush. And she loves digging besides the house. She sleeps a lot and she rarely barks unless she’s scared. She is the cutest thing ever!

The “bush” that they mention is a clump of phlox at the edge of our yard; she likes to nap in the shade there, nearly invisible.

We had been idly considering a dog at some point in the next few years, but were in no rush. Like many people during the pandemic, however, we realized that the requirements of social distancing and a summer without many of our usual activities is an excellent time to focus our energy on a new project. Puppies are a lot of work, but we’re enjoying the journey so far.

Pictures from our first few days together followed by two short video clips:

Playing in the yard on a hot afternoon.

More backyard fun.

Griffin, Maggie, Oliver, Photo

The Day After School Ended

June 6, 2020 Griffin 2 Comments

Hi there. Today was an awesome day! We woke up at 7:30. We did our video games. Then we had an awesome breakfast of waffles, eggs, sausage, and raspberries. After that we went to SPA (my dad’s school) and my dad went into the building while we played in our hammocks. Then my dad went home with Oliver and made a picnic lunch. Then they came back and we had made a caterpillar home! Then we rolled down the big hill and went home 🏡.

The hammock. When Andrew found the kids here, they exclaimed, “This is paradise!”

Photo, Sarah, Video

First Triathlon

August 12, 2018 Andrew Leave a comment

Sarah rocked her first triathlon! She’s been training up for the past few months for the Minneapolis YWCA Women’s Triathlon. The event took place this morning — a blazing hot one — by Lake Nokomis. The whole family (including Jeff and Pam) was there cheering her on from start to finish. As Sarah posted on Facebook earlier:

It still hasn’t totally sunk in that I just completed my first triathlon, but I did! 500 yard swim, 15.5 mile bike, 3.1 mile run, finished in 1 hour, 41 mins and 31 secs. I am super happy with my time, and so thankful for this body of mine. Also thankful for my friend, Keely @keschallock who I got to finish with unexpectedly, and @noquitfitoutdoorfitness who have sparked a love for outdoor fitness and have been immensely supportive and positive through all my training! What an amazing event!

Dawn before the race.

Sarah’s swim wave prepares to start.

After the race with a top cheerleader.

Sarah and Keely.

Oliver was a spirited supporter too!

Griffin, Photo

The Eighth Wonder of the World

August 24, 2011 Andrew Leave a comment

Just an hour from the Twin Cities lies a site that is definitely cooler than the Colossus, more magnificent than the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (who’s heard of that anyway?), and nearly as charged with New Age Energy as the Great Pyramid. Plus it is toddler-friendly, has pink picnic tables, and is totally entirely FREE.

See for yourself:

At first glance this mid-size, older model fridge might not appear to be in the same class as the Hanging Gardens, but look more closely:

Are you kidding me? In post-Jerry-Garcia America there’s an unlocked, unattended refrigerator filled with Freezee Pops and a “Suggested Donation” sign? Even after wandering the rest of this amazing, soul-salving site, I think this fridge did the most to reaffirm my faith in humanity.

Ok, enough shenanigans. It’s taken me a while to post the pics, but earlier this month we drove out to the Franconia Sculpture Park with Griffin and had a fabulous day. For those of you not in the know, it’s a 20-acre site in the middle of nowhere (by urban standards—cornfields all ’round), filled with incredible, humongous modern sculpture. Places like this make Minnesota oh-so-easy to fall in love with.

Here are some of our favorite pictures. Click to expand.