he's home!

Early this morning, Katie, Osten and I picked up Anders at the River Falls High School parking lot after his many day adventure to Orlando, Florida. We're letting him rest today, but I'm eager to see him and ask him how his adventures were tolerated.

Today we are enjoying our last day of spring break with Osten hosting his buddy Coulter for a play date. I'm soon to head out with friends to run a 7 miler and then have our Call Committee meeting. Katie is rocking some pretty french braids and Brad is out running errands.

So happy our Anders Cole is home safe and sound!

the egg and I

This morning, we check out of our hotel room pretty early and decided to dine at the Egg and I in Minneapolis. I had a really delicious Kamikaze pancake and I'm planning on eating the leftovers for lunch soon.

Osten and I discovered the fun of snapchat this week. It's been fun making funny faces!

When we got home today, we walked Lovey, friend Sara's dog and walked all the way to the UW River Falls Falcons football field where Osten ran up and down the field and then strolled down to GameStop to pick out a video game.

He was going to get a baseball game, but decided it would be fun to get a basketball game instead.

day 6 of Spring Break 2019

Yesterday morning, we packed up and headed west again to spend some time in the big city and cheer on our MN Twins.

First we ate at Five Guys in Woodbury. We then drove to the Foshay Tower in Minneapolis and checked into the W hotel. Then we walked to Target Field 0.6 of a mile away and got in line to enter the gates. Katie, Osten and I got new puffer vests--Brad declined his vest. We then got to our seats in section 110 row 15 seats 7, 8, 9 and 10. We arrived plenty early so  had time to get some beer and peanuts, a bottle of pop and some sunflower seeds. I also got two programs and a pen so I could score the game.

 fancy hotel room...

 Nicolette Mall waiting in line at the game and taking our seats at the game

We saw Justin Morneau throw out the first pitch, saw two fighter jets fly over the stadium, a 100 year old Veteran raise the flag, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in the crowd, Roy Smalley preparing to announce for Fox Sports, a friend from River Falls on the big screen with her son and the twins win their home opener!

After the game, we walked back to our hotel where we lounged before heading Manny's Steakhouse for dinner. Our waitress introduced Brad and Osten to the umpires for the game and also ordered us a really yummy dessert on the house.

Osten was charming all sorts of people all day. He had a man give him a batting helmet, exchanged high fives and fist bumps with the people in our section, had two waitresses exchanging handshakes with him at dinner. He is a charming guy and garnered us a fair amount of attention yesterday.

After dinner, we tried to go to the top of the Foshay, but the observation deck was locked. We tried again in the morning, but it didn't open until after we were leaving.

It was a pretty stellar day six of Spring Break 2019

cool in the pool

On Wednesday morning, Osten, Brad and I went down for breakfast and then immediately visited the hotel pool. Osten spent over an hour swimming back and forth across the pool and setting fun challenges for himself. I read a little of my book and snapped a few photos.

We drove home to River Falls where we dropped Brad off at his office, ate lunch at Mariachi Loco and spent most of the afternoon cleaning. I went through cds and books and ended up donating two bags and one box to Good Will. Katie did a great job of cleaning the breakfast nook and kitchen floors and I did a deep clean of the bathroom, living and dining room.

I'm hoping to get all the windows clean yet this week and wash down kitchen walls.

Spring break is pretty incredible!

overnight in Minneapolis

On Tuesday, March 26, we bid farewell to Grandma B and drove to the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis. We checked in and got ready to go to the Guthrie Theater to see Cyrano de Bergerac. I wasn't sure how Osten would like it, but he seemed to enjoy it the most out of our group.

We dined at a really yummy restaurant called Spoon River. It is committed to the advancement of organics, the support of local growers, and serving the freshest most delicious food possible.

We got to the theater via bus and by walking. We ate dinner on our way to the theater and then took and Uber ride back to our hotel after the show.

Photos: Katie and I getting some refreshments on a morning walk in St. James--photo with Grandma before leaving her apartment, riding the bus to the theater, 2 photos of dinner at Spoon River and lastly us at the Guthrie Theater                           

 

 

farm house reno

The home where I grew up is getting a face lift. Brother Kurt has been busy creating an open concept in his living room/dining room and kitchen. It's kind of hard to remember what it looked like before.
The first photo is a photo from Christmas in the spot where photo two was taken:

Karen, Cory, Kurt, Kent, Kyle and Mom at Christmas 2018

The soon to be former sink area

Cory and Mom in the former kitchen

Kurt in the living room and Cory standing on the soon to be island

Brad, Cory and Kurt having conversation about the renovation

heading south to St. James

Today, we woke up at the property on North Second Street, picked up Katie from a sleepover, stopped in to get a quote from a sign person in Hudson and then headed south to see Grandma B. We are now headed to the Hometown to see Kurt, Vance, Kaitie, Cory and Mom for dinner.

movie Sunday and first robin

On Sunday at noon, our family saw the new movie Wonder Park and as we were pulling out of the parking lot, we spotted our first robins!

on the road south and north

Anders boarded a bus at 6:30am in the River Falls High School parking lot on his way to Orlando, Florida. The RFHS music department sent 4 buses loaded with 200+ passengers south and east. I'm hoping Anders sends a few photos, but still waiting for the first one.

Meanwhile, Brad, Katie, Osten and I traveled north to Grantsburg to help celebrate Brent's 43rd birthday. We spent much of the afternoon hanging out at Brickhouse Brewery in Grantsburg while the kids hung out with cousins at Ibby's and Brent's houses. We sat on the patio of Brickhouse Brewery and enjoyed the sun and mild temperatures.

Then we had meatballs and cake for Brent's birthday party in the evening.

the long awaited break is here

For the past few weeks, Osten has been waiting for this day. Spring Break started after school on Friday, March 22.

happy belated birthday Ivy Marie!

Dear friend Ivy Marie celebrated the big 45 yesterday and our friend Julie posted this picture from who knows how long ago. Wishing Ivy a blessed year and may we celebrate together very soon.

spring is here!

At 4:58 today Central Daylight Time Spring descended upon our fine city. I was out for a jog with friends Maggie, Michelle and Sara. We had our 2 miler and it felt great! I ran in a short sleeved shirt! Our class was able to switch the calendar over to Spring for our season this afternoon...pretty special. 

musical concert

Tonight we will be enjoying the musicality of our singing and euphonium playing son.

Here he is before the concert:

update-
WOW.

He sang beautifully and he played his euphonium perfectly. Thanks for shining like a star Anders Cole.

The Chamber Choir and Wind Symphony were in fine form.

Their lineup

My favorite song of the night, either Variations on a Korean Folk Song (our class is performing same song at our Spring Program) or Spirited Away. Spirited Away was Anders favorite.

Goodbye Gals was favorite of both of ours for choir.

grey morning

This morning looks pretty grey right now, but there is hope for sunny skies!

We ran our 6 miler yesterday afternoon so today is a rest day. I decided to get up anyway and head over to Anytime for a little cardio. Feels good now.

happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is looking a little overcast and relatively free of commitment. I do plan on going for a six mile run with my friends Sara and Abby at 5pm and then have a Call Committee meeting at 7pm but the rest of the day is up for grabs between church this evening. I think we plan on heading over to the house and painting in the room we prepared yesterday but we shall see.

In any event, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick circa: 390-460 AD Patron Saint of Ireland

new phone for Momma

Yesterday, I got my new phone. My former phone had been acting up and sometimes losing ability to take photos, sometimes losing ability to play sound so I decided it was a good time to upgrade. So we kept the old phone and just purchased a refurbished phone from Cell Phone Repair.


So far my phone has been working well and now Osten will have my former phone to play games and watch videos when we're at home. I know he's going to be pretty excited.

Here are my first two photos: 

Katie hanging out in her room 

Brad and I starting painting the upstairs bedroom at our office on 2nd Street

He's currently spending the night at friend Mr. Wil's house. Wil had his 9th birthday party yesterday and when I went to pick up Osten, they asked if Osten could spend the night. I figured, we're right across the ally so if anything comes up in the middle of the night, we will be covered. They should be coming over soon to deliver so we can head to 10:45am church service.

Last night, I got a chance to play Bunco with a group of friends outside of town. I snapped a couple photos of friend, Tim who had rolled a Bunco so was wearing the obligatory head wear.