Weekend at Colin's

We drove down to Iowa on Black Friday to visit Colin and Amanda. It was nice to get out of Rochester. Amanda is an awesome cook and we devoured most of her Thanksgiving leftovers...sooo tasty. We went for some great hikes with their dogs in the woods. Here colin and Nellie watch as Amanda's dogs run across a cornfield in pursuit of a deer. She was not pleased.

We watched Colin play hockey on Friday night. He was a bit wobbly on the skates, but with a little coaching from Ian, he was quickly doing reverse cross-overs and turning hat-tricks. His hockey gear smells foul.

Ian and Colin spent a good chunk of Saturday burning scrap wood that Colin has been collecting from his house projects. The upstairs of his house is starting to look like a livable area. Still no bathrooms though.

Nellie, one of his dogs.

Mayo Clinic

Posing with the Mayo Brothers.

This is just one of the many beautiful Mayo Clinic buildings, the Gonda Building.

Kitty Photo Shoot

Focused...............................Poised

Grumpy


Ashfield and Rosie doing what they do best...relaxing!

Sleepy

Demure

Vampire

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat! Rosie didn't think this was much of a treat!

Des Moines, Iowa Marathon

Here's a picture of Colin at mile 20 of the Des Moines Marathon. The course was quite nice for spectators. Ian, Amanda, and I drove around the course and were able to see him at the start, mile 4, mile 7, mile 11, mile 13, mile 20, mile 23, and then the finish. Ian hopped in with him for the last 10 kilometers to keep him on pace for 2:50 or faster. The weather was not ideal for running...hot and windy. Nonetheless, Colin ran 2 hours and 56 minutes. Nothing to sneeze at! Look how svelt he is in the picture. Amanda is barely visable behind the mile 20 sign.

Apple Ridge Orchard

Two weekends ago (I know, I'm a little late getting these posted) Ian and I went apple picking about a half hour from here in Mazeppa. It was humid and in the 80s. Not your usual apple picking weather.
We picked 24 pounds of Regent and Honey Crisp apples (you got a significant discount if you picked more than 20 pounds). Ian got to carry them back down the hill (sporting an old Red Sox shirt...Go Red Sox! The MN Twins colors are the same, so I often think I'm seeing a Red Sox fan, when really it's a Twins Fan.) We've been making apple crisps and apple bunt cakes galore!
There were a few farm animals, including this very puffy llama. The view was all corn fields. Typical for here in the midwest.
We drove by this out of the ordinary sign on the side of one of the back roads.

new baby

This is Ian's latest addition to his stable of bicycles. He got the frame on EBAY when his other Serotta was lost by UPS for 7 weeks. Then it showed up the day after he bought this one. It has been sitting in the garage all summer feeling lonely and neglected. He finally mustered the motivation to buy some parts and build up a bike that can't coast...I think it's called a fixie...basically the pedals move all the time and if you try to stop pedalling, your legs get ripped off. He thinks it sounds delightful.

Frontenac State Park

Last Saturday, Ian did a 10 mile race on the trails of Frontenac State Park.

Afterwards, we did some hiking and the views of the Mississippi were spectacular.

On our way back to Rochester, we stopped in Kellogg to visit LARK Toy Company. It seemed to be the only thing there was in the extremely small town. They specialize in making wood and tin toys. There was also a beautiful handcarved Carousel.

Downtown Rochester

View of Downtown Rochester from the Farmers' Market.

You know you are in MN when...

it's mid-September and you:

1. are already wearing a hat, scarf, and mittens on your walk/bike to work.

2. have already put your warmest comforter on your bed.

3. had your first frost already.

It's supposed to be a bit warmer this week....phew!

Rochester Farmers' Market

This Farmers' Market is just down the street from our house. Once we rode back on Ian's bike together. That was an adventure!View of the market from the bike path across the river.

Back to School

Here's where I'm teaching second grade this year. It is the newest elementary school in Rochester (built in 2001). It's about a 10 minute walk from our house, so the car will continue to spend most of the time in the garage. My classroom is the second set of three windows from the right on the second floor.
I survived my first week of school. It was my most challenging first 4 days of school yet. I have been told by colleagues that Riverside has the most difficult population of students in the district and is essentially an inner city school.

Bike wagon

For less than $100 and under 3 hours of labor, Ian manufactured this nifty bike trailer for his commuter bike. It's sweet. It can fit 60 gallons of water or 30 boxes of cereal or 2 cats + accessories. He gets odd looks as he rides around town.

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

We woke up Sunday morning to 2 inches of water in our basement. The rain started Friday evening and didn't stop until early Sunday. Up to 12 inches of rain fell. It's likely to be a rainfall record for the state. Luckily we didn't have much in the basement and closest to the floor were mostly empty boxes and plastic containers. What a mess! We were very lucky compared to quite a few people in southeast Minnesota.

Rochester Waterski Show

Pre-building two 3 tier pyramids

Every Wednesday, Memorial Day thru Labor Day, the ski team puts on a show with ballet lines, pyramids, wakeboarding, swivel skiing, doubles, trios, shoe skiing, jumping, and barefooting. I went to the show last night with my friend Elizabeth. We even got a ride down to the lake by an elder couple on the tailgate of their gator! They offered as they were going to get their mail.
This team performed the first pre-built 4 tier pyramid in 1994. They have a 22 girl ballet line. One of the wakeboarders is only 5 years old and has been skiing since he was 2. He has even started barefooting! The boat travels at speeds of 40-45 mph to pull barefooters! Yikes!
They are always looking for new members. Hmmm...maybe next summer this will be my "something new" to do. It could be fun! I've only been skiing since I was 20, not 2, but practice makes perfect, right?!

Beep Baseball World Series

Beep Baseball is for people who are visually impaired. The World Series is in Rochester this year. I watched Boston play Long Island for about 3 innings Friday afternoon. Whenever Boston scored a run they would all yell, "Beantown, Beantown. How do we hit it? Wicked hard!"

Here's some info about the game:

• 6 innings


• 3 outs per inning per team


• 4 sighted players- pitcher, catcher, 2 spotters in the outfield


• all players wear eye-covering because not all are completely blind
  
• first and third bases -four foot padded cylinders 100 feet down their respective lines and 10 feet off the foul line to prevent a runner from colliding with a defensive fielder.


• the ball (which beeps constantly) is pitched from a distance of 20 feet


• a pitcher must say "ready" just before the ball is about to be released. This alerts all players that the ball may soon be hit. As the ball is being released, the pitcher says, "pitch" or "ball." The batter allows a split second of time to pass before swinging.


• a batter is allowed 4 strikes and only 1 pass ball. The fourth swing must be a clean miss.


• a hit ball must travel at least 40 feet to be considered fair.


• a ball that travels 180 feet in the air is considered a home run.


• when the ball is hit, one base buzzes. The runner must run to it before the ball is fielded by a defensive player. The fielder must have the ball in hand and off the ground to constitute possession. If the runner is safe, a run is scored.


• there are only 6 players on the field at one time. When a ball is hit, a spotter will instantly call out the number indicating the general direction the ball is traveling- One, the first baseman; two, right fielder; three, middle; four, left fielder; five, third baseman; and six, back fielder.

Minnesota Zoo

We stopped by the zoo on our way back to Rochester on Sunday. We enjoyed watching the prairie dogs the most. They were very entertaining.

I was disappointed to not see my favorite animal, the giraffe. The extreme change in temperature from summer to winter limits the types of animals they can have here.

More along the Riverfront

Along our walk we saw several creations that looked almost real from afar.

We crossed the Mississippi on the Stone Arch Bridge.

The Pillsbury 'A' Mill, on the east end of the bridge, was once the world's largest flour mill.

Mississippi Riverfront

We strolled along the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Trail. The flour mills here made Minneapolis a major city. Its 50-year run as the "Flour Milling Capital of the World" came to an end in 1930. Archeological excavations of the ruins continue on the walls, canals, and tailraces (channels that carry away water that has passed through millwheels or turbines) and there are days when the public can assist in the digs.
The sign atop the old mill in the picture on the right reads 'Gold Medal Flour.' We wondered if all of those tall columns held flour. That would have been a lot of flour!


Next to the ruins is the last of the 29 locks along the Upper Mississippi River.

Fun photo

On our walk down to the Mississippi Riverfront we couldn't pass up this photo opportunity.

Minneapolis

We spent this past weekend in Minneapolis to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We meandered through the Sculpture Garden, best known for the Spoonbridge and Cherry.

Council Bluffs, Iowa and Omaha, Nebraska

I just returned from a three day teaching conference in Council Bluffs, Iowa. This trip was a great opportunity to get to know several people from my new school and to see more of Mid-America...corn, corn, and more corn along the highways, as well as lots of those giant windmills (electricity-producing wind turbines)...very cool!
Council Bluffs is on the East bank of the Missouri River across from Omaha, Nebraska. Council Bluffs and Omaha were jumping-off spots, as they were called, for Americans fleeing the economic hardships of the East in favor of free land and opportunity in the West. These emigrants traveled the Missouri River on steamers and got off at these spots. There they spent up to three weeks camping while they purchased necessary items before they hit the trail to Oregon.
There wasn't much to see or do right in the vicinity of the hotel and conference center, except for Bass Pro Shops (which was fun to meander through), a movie theater (we saw Hairspray), and the Horseshoe Casino. I was surprised to find that the slot machines no longer have the handle to pull down and the sound of change clinking into the metal tray is sadly missing....a receipt is now printed (what wasn't missing was the cloud of smoke from so many people puffing away...there were ashtrays in the bathroom stalls!). They also had greyhound racing each afternoon.

We ventured across the river to Omaha, the melting pot of the Midwest and the location of the original riverfront landing site of Lewis and Clark. We spent our time in the historic Old Market which was originally an industrial and warehousing district. It is a very charming place with brick streets, renovated warehouses, horse-drawn carriages, unique shops, and a wide selection of restaurants. The metal canopies in front of the shops and restaurants have wooden flower boxes on top of them. I had never seen this before and found it very interesting and pretty (see in picture behind horse). We relaxed and had drinks at Upstream Brewing Company. We drove by the Heartland of America Fountain with a 300-ft water jet and light show.

This weekend Ian and I are headed to the Twin Cities for the first time. Looking forward to it!