A Bathroom Transformed!

I finally got around to painting and updating our main bathroom on the second floor (the one the boys share with guests when they visit ;>). It was a fun project in that it didn't really take that long AND I was able to take advantage of paint I already had on hand! I used some leftover paint from our guestroom for the area by the sinks and leftover paint from our entryway and hallway for the interior part of the bathroom. This all worked because I found a shower curtain (and matching rugs and nightlight) that worked with the towels the boys and our guests use. What a deal! I had always envisioned doing a lighthouse theme in that bathroom, so I was very happy when I found one that worked for the colors we already had on hand. Both boys were happy with the choice too as they thought I might go all 'girlie' in that room if given the chance. Gunnar helped me with some of the painting. What a trooper!

I also updated the hardware in the bathroom since the bars where the towels hung were about 10' off the ground and so a bit impractical (ya think?). The boys now love the hooks for their towels, and the rings out by the sinks don't seem to overwhelm the walls like the old bar towel racks used to. I must thank Jon, my neighbor, for coming over twice to help me install the new hardware. Jon's very helpful when there is a beer or two on the other end!

The only thing left to do is to blow up some pictures that I took this summer while we were out on the Oregon Coast. I've got some great lighthouse shots, so my plan is to frame them in an appropriately rustic manner and finish off the room with some artwork.

Fall in Minnesota

We've just finished a glorious fall weekend here in Minnesota! Both boys were occupied with friends this afternoon, so Orn and I took advantage of the freedom and went for a long walk. It was such a glorious afternoon that we ended up going a bit further than we had originally planned, so the last mile or so we were hoofing it as fast as we could! We had to get home in time to grab both vehicles to head in opposite directions to retrieve the boys! Too funny - we did about 7 miles in just less than 2 hours, so right now I am ready to hit the hay!

Before I sign off though, the pictures are from a couple days ago when I found Hans up in the tree in our front yard. Now that I'm "picture blogging" I ran in the house, grabbed the camera, got a couple shots of him, and THEN yelled at him to get down.

St. Olaf Homecoming 2008

Today was a truly glorious day to travel on down to Northfield to take in the St. Olaf Homecoming football game against Carleton. While we got away from St. Cloud late on account of the boys swimming lessons, we were still able to get to Northfield by about halftime of the game. The only bummer was that I got there too late to get the standard homecoming coffee mug - of course the good side of that was I didn't have a coffee mug with apple cider in it to attract any bees this year. That is always the bad side of the coffee mugs given away at homecoming.

The picture of the boys and I in front of the harvest display was taken when we first got to campus inside the student center. Gunnar was very cute as he and I walked inside (to find a bathroom of course)...he looked up at me and said, "Mom, I'd better start getting to know my way around here so that I don't get lost when I come here." He is bound and determined to be an Ole down the road. We're quite happy with his aspirations.

Both boys LOVE watching the football game since all the kids are allowed to watch the game right from the sidelines. They even brought along their football for some postgame action with Mom on the field. I ran into Gina, my friend DeAnn's daughter, who was at Olaf to watch her boyfriend play for the Ole's. Gina is a freshman this year up at UMD so it was a lot of fun to get caught up with her regarding her experiences as a freshman Bulldog! She's a great kid and is going to go far in life! :)

After the game, Gunnar, Hans, and I threw the football a bit out on the field. Just as I attempted to launch my first throw to them I heard a rather sarcastic remark regarding my ability from right behind me...of course it was Bob Klefsaas, my softball coach from when I was an Ole. He was going to hear the postgame wrap-up as his youngest is a Freshman on the team this year. The Oles are having a good season so far, but somehow they managed to lose (to Carleton!) yesterday! Oh well, it was still a wondeful day to spend wandering around the campus taking in the sights and the fall colors.

We checked out the new Science Center! It is truly amazing! The views from the top floor were rather spectacular. It is located right next to Old Main (which I believe is the original building of the college from back in 1874). Gunnar and Hans always enjoy hearing the story of how their Grandpa John brought a donkey up to the top floor of Old Main when he was a student there. The obvious question I get each time is "Why would Grandpa John do that?" Ours is not to question why! ;) I love the picture of Gunnar in front of Old Main...when he heads down there as a student 10 years from now, I'll have to drag that one out of the archives!

Hans's 1st Grade Fieldtrip to Fairhaven Farm!

Orn and I were able to take advantage of our flexibility over at the university and BOTH go along with Hans's class for their first fieldtrip of the year. What fun! It was a very brisk morning, but beautiful just the same. The farm was located about a 20 minute drive outside of St. Cloud - right in the middle of Lake Wobegon country. Gorgeous!

I think Hans enjoyed having both Mom and Dad along. It was especially good that Orn was along since this farm specialized in fruit production and Orn is the fruit fiend of the house (followed closely by Hans). They both enjoyed the opportunity to pick grapes, raspberries, and apples and eat as they pleased. Hans also enjoyed the fact that his buddies who are in different 1st grade classrooms were also along with their classes for this particular field trip. He got to hang out with old friends like Evan and Matthew, along with Richard (who is in his class).

The farm had created a maze in a corn field which was a lot of fun to attempt to get through. It seemed as though Hans and Richard (and thus me, Orn, and Carolyn -Richard's mom) spent the entire 'maze-time' on one end of the maze, but it was still a lot of fun! All the kids got to pick a mini pumpkin or gourd to bring home - Hans was especially proud of his pick

The Minneapolis Bike Tour!

We had quite a fun weekend in Minneapolis! The boys spent Saturday night at Uncle Brad's house (Brad is a friend of mine from high school days), while Orn and I had a night on our own (we were staying at my brother John's house). We enjoyed a wonderful Indian meal at Namaste (on Hennepin around 24th or so) and an impromptu visit with Travis and Terri. The night ended watching the opening show of Saturday Night Live - too funny!!

On Sunday, Lisa met us at my brother John's house around 7am. The three of us hopped on our bikes and coasted down to Parade Stadium where we met up with Katie and other friends of hers. We all participated in the Minneapolis Bike Tour (a 14 mile or 37 mile bike ride around the Twin Cities to raise money for the Minneapolis Parks). We had planned on doing the 37 mile route, but since I have yet to fully recover from bronchitis I had to cut back to the 14 mile route. The others all did the 37 mile trek. Orn and I had a great ride (we both could have easily done more, but it was a very relaxing ride as it was). The picture is us at the end enjoying some much needed water.

After we had cleaned up back at John's house (and had a nice visit with John and our other nephew Kyler) and the others finished their bike ride a bunch of us went out to lunch before we hightailed it back up to St. Cloud. A very fun weekend indeed!

He's 50 and signed up for AARP!

Today was Orn's actual birthday. I was howling as he happily signed up (via the Internet) for AARP by about 6:30 this morning! Talk about being ready to be a member. He rather gleefully informed me that I am NOW a member of AARP by being his spouse - not sure what I actually think about that! (^_^)

It was a great birthday for Orn! His new department surprised him with a celebration this morning. I was invited to it, so I popped over there for a nummy piece of cake after teaching my morning class.

This evening, after taking a birthday call from Norway (my cousin Sigrid), the 4 of us went to Granite City Brewery for dinner. We had a very pleasant meal. Orn and I could chat while both boys obsessively watched the Vikings/Packers Monday night football game. After we got home from dinner Orn opened up his gifts. He is now fully prepared to become a full-fledged golfing member of this family. We're looking forward to taking the boys out golfing soon!

Orn's 50th Birthday Bash!!

What a party it was last night to help Orn make it through the final days before he can legitimately sign up for AARP!! We had about 50 people here at the house to celebrate Orn's 50th! What fun it was! The theme of the party was Mexican - not because of Orn's book on immigration but because I had tomatoes coming out my ears from the garden. We had homemade salsa's and various other dishes to eat throughout the evening, along with various types of cerveza's and wine of course!

It was so much fun for Orn and me to see friends from the Twin Cities and friends from St. Cloud along with most of the Meldahl clan all come together and have a great time getting to know each other! While it turned out to be a spectacular evening it was COLD so we had our outdoor fire pit going all evening out on the patio. Many people braved the cold weather to sit and visit out by the fire. :)

The cake was the hit of the night as far as all the kids were concerned. It was consumed really quickly! We never did have Orn open the many cards and gifts that he received, although the picture that starts this blog was a party theme appropriate gift! Lisa had visited the AARP booth at the Minnesota State Fair and put together quite the collage for Orn! Orn did open that out by the fire before the party ended. Lisa had left by the time Orn opened it, but those that were here enjoyed it immensely. The supplies that Sue and Rob provided for Orn's later years will come in handy some day...no description necessary for those items! My mom and dad gave Orn a beautiful print that he intends to put in his new office over at SCSU, possibly later today. The rest of the cards, wine, etc. were opened on Sunday morning. Orn was very touched by all the warm wishes AND all the wonderful wine, beer, etc.

As Orn said multiple times last night and this morning, "This was the BEST birthday I have ever had!" Thanks so much to everyone who made the evening so very special for him!

The 1st Day of School!

September hit, the weather turned cool, and school is in session!! Yesterday was the official start of school here in St. Cloud, but since Hans only had a 20 minute orientation session yesterday, we treated TODAY as the first day of school! The bus comes 2 minutes earlier this year than last and you would think it was an hour earlier! We took some pictures on the porch and then Hans took off for the bus stop (at the end of our cul-de-sac). Good thing he did as the bus was on it's way! Gunnar, Orn and I took off running and I was able to get one shot of them as they ran onto the bus.

So, this afternoon I left the university a tad early to make sure I was home well before the bus. Of course, now the bus was about 15 minutes late! I got some pic's of the boys as they came off the bus, both grinning after a great start to the school year. Yesterday Gunnar reported that his first day was 'awesome.' Today was reported as being even better than yesterday! Why? Because it was OUTSIDE RECESS today. Some things never change. Hans reported that his favorite part of the day was also RECESS!! They're both enjoying seeing friends that they've not been able to see much over the summer. School is good...at least in 1st and 3rd grade! :)

A HOT Labor Day Weekend!

We have experienced quite a HOT Labor Day weekend here in Central Minnesota! While many of our neighbors high-tailed it to their cabins for the last weekend before school starts, we spent every afternoon over at the pool. Fortunately for us, we have quite a few friends who are also NOT cabin owners, so we had a BLAST hanging out with Andrea and Jason (Josh and Evan), Mary (Andrew and Matthew - poor Jeff had to work), Diane and Otto (Gabe and Sophia), and others that we ran into over at the pool. It has been a wonderful way to spend the last official weekend of summer!

We also took advantage of the driving range and enjoyed getting some hits in. One of our goals as a family is to take up golf and hit the links this fall!