Renaissance Festival - Sep 2008

Some friends of ours, Charles & Stephanie were in the cities last Fall (they live in Washington state so we only see them about once a year). Here are some fun pictures Charles just sent within the last week or two. Stephanie grew up in Brazil so we took them to a Brazilian churrascaria steakhouse called Fogo de Chao and afterwards went to a dueling piano bar called the Shout House. The following day, we suggested they go to the Renaissance Festival and they invited us along so we hung out at the festival for the day. It was a really fun visit. Charles was on a 4 day pass from Ft. McCoy, WI where he was getting ready to ship out to Iraq and Stephanie had flown in to see him before he left. I believe Charles' deployment is over either this month or next.

Epoxy Paint

Kevin put Dad to work over this past 4th of July weekend helping to paint the garage floor using an epoxy paint kit. Half of the garage is done and the other half is prepped and just needs to be painted. Kevin & I will finish the project at some point this week. The finished floor looks great - not sure the photo here does it justice.

4th of July

Here are some photos from the 4th of July. We headed over to Eva's house (my sister) and spent the day with family. Everyone participated in some of the following activities: badminton, polish horseshoes, cards (pinochle). In the evening we went to the Edina fireworks show.

Como Zoo Conservatory

On a day earlier in the week when Kevin was working I took Susan to see the Como Zoo Conservatory. Here we are in the Sunken Garden. They have 5 different themes a year. It's beautiful!

Off to Stillwater for a Riverboat Ride

The last night Susan was here we meet Eva & Andy in Stillwater and went on a Paddlewheel River Boat cruise on the St. Croix. It's a fun way to get out onto the water and see the river.

Day Trip to Duluth

Susan wanted to see Lake Superior so we took a day trip to Duluth, MN. Lake Superior is the biggest and coldest of the Great Lakes and is the largest freshwater lake by surface area, on earth. We ate a great Italian restaurant called Bellisio. After eating we walked the streets of Canal Park and shopped. It was a perfect day, right around 70 degrees. If you look in the background of the picture of Kevin & Susan walking on the street you'll see a glimpse of Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge, one of the most popular tourist attractions in MN.

Flooding in Linton ND

This past March the town my folks live in flooded. We went home to help them gut the basement. Here are a couple of photos showing the devastation. When I was home again just last month I snapped a picture of my Mom & Dad. As you can see they are doing well and things are getting back to normal.