The Boys of Summer

Gunnar and Hans are both into sports, sports, and more sports. In the summer months they can be found playing soccer on Monday and Wednesday evenings and baseball on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Hans's soccer team did GREAT this year, only losing one game very early in the season. Hans quickly set himself apart as one of the three scorers on the team and scored a total of 15 goals during the season. Gunnar's team struggled early on but ended the season on a high note tying and/or winning their last 4 games. Gunnar also managed to put the ball in the net when he was able to convince his coach to put him up front. Both boys are looking forward to next summer and more soccer!

As for baseball, I bumped Hans up to Cub ball this summer which meant that he and Gunnar were on the same team. While their team was not all that successful (they lost far too many games in the final inning!) both boys showed great potential at the plate. We had many Sunday mornings of batting practice over at the local field - it paid off well on the field!

A weekend at the Nelsons Cabin

We spent another wonderful weekend up at Sue and Rob's cabin over the 4th of July weekend. The boys managed to start the weekend out on a high note by taking off in the canoe and getting stranded on the other side of the lake (luckily it is not a large lake). Watching Sue and Ben attempt to rescue them by paddleboat was pure entertainment. Thankfully, Rob showed up and cruised over in the fishing boat to bring EVERYONE home.

The boys also enjoyed tubing all around the lake and they were able to get some fishing in from the dock. Gunnar announced that next year he'd like to do more fishing from the boat...he had much more success fishing from the boat last year.

As has always been the case, we enjoyed wonderful feasts and great conversation. This year, the excitement centered around the antique level that Rob found in Hackensack. Hysterical. All in all, it was a truly fabulous weekend with good friends!

July 4th at Lisa's!

As has been a tradition for years, we spent the 4th of July at Lisa's house in Chanhassen. This year we started off our day watching the Chanhassen parade. That was a lot of fun and we saw Lisa, Dave, Jenna, and Calvin Kirkbride go by in their golf cart! That was fun!

After a wonderful afternoon of visiting with friends, having water gun and water balloon fights, playing baseball, eating, eating, and more eating, we settled in to watch the 4th of July Fireworks (from Lake Ann) right from Lisa's side yard.

Our goal is to always scoot out of town before the Excelsior fireworks get done, so that we can get back to St. Cloud at a decent hour. We were fairly successful at this goal this year. :)

The Girls Weekend!

As has been the tradition for 5 years now, I went away for a Girls Weekend with some dear friends from high school and college. This year we drove down to southeast Minnesota for a weekend of biking and relaxation along the Root River Trail. We stayed at a B & B (the Coffee Street Inn) in Lanesboro, MN. It was wonderful. We enjoyed being able to relax right outside our rooms and have a glass of wine or a beer before heading out for the evening...however, getting the wine bottle open was not always that easy (see picture of Katie for testament of that fact).

Friday night we hit a local restaurant that overlooked the Root River. We all enjoyed some wonderful food along with great wine. Saturday we biked the Root River Trail from Lanesboro to Preston. Preston wasn't much to speak of, so Lisa and Katie continued on to Harmony (they wanted hills). Tracy and I were not in the mood for hills, so we biked back to Lanesboro and relaxed until the other two returned. Saturday night we hit the local pub. What a riot that was. We got our order in for pizza at the place next door to the pub just under the wire. Then we enjoyed people watching, pizza and beer throughout the evening. There was a guy there who looked remarkably like Orn...the killer was when this guy got up on a chair to dance. Can't really see Orn doing that anytime soon! Sunday we spent the morning biking the trail in the other direction (towards Rushford). It was a gorgeous morning and a great way to end the weekend!

Nathels' Graduation Party

Nathel (my niece and Goddaughter) graduated from Minnetonka High School this year. Caroline and Gary had a fun graduation party for her at their house. It was a gorgeous afternoon where the boys were able to play croquet in the back yard. Many were able to make it and wish Nathel the best on her next adventure - Cordon Bleu Chef school starting in July!

Fathers Day

The night before Fathers Day this year we had Gina Halvarson's Graduation Party to go to out in Mound (Gina is the daughter of a high school friend of mine). We decided to make a weekend of it and got a hotel room in the cities. So, Orn started off celebrating Fathers Day in our hotel room opening his presents. We then went to Lake Harriet and enjoyed a leisurely walk around the lake. We followed that up with a nice lunch at California Pizza Kitchen at Southdale before heading out to Caroline and Gary's to celebrate Fathers Day with Poopschkin and other members of the Meldahl clan. It was a great day - orchestrated by the man of the hour in this family, Orn.