Horse Manure Park

I think the spring colds are finally winding down around here.  Beth was hit especially hard, even missed a day of work.  A lot of mucus has been produced within the confines of our humble abode over the last week.  (I know you wanted to know that.) So today, as everyone is starting to feel a bit better, I decided to get a little project done before I have to head back to work again. We've been talking over ideas with what to do with the playset... what kind of landscaping to do, what we should add to it... and we've decided a sandbox would be an excellent idea.  Grandpa Dau supplied us with a big tractor tire (all good sandboxes have a tractor tire, you know) so today I decided to trek to Menard's, buy the necessary supplies, build the frame and put the sandbox in its place.  I'm no Bob Villa, but it turned out not so shitty.  All that's left is to fill 'er up with sand.  Lots of sand. First step was to find the right location.  After much ...

What do you get when you combine a 10 month old boy and an ice cream sandwich?? A very happy boxer!

Like mother, like daughter.  Ava's last day of preschool...

Just dropped Ava off at school, Neil is still sleeping, so I've got a narrow window of opportunity to update things. What a week of work.  One of the crappiest I can remember.  I can't go into details due to HIPPA, but trust me... it pretty much sucked. There was one bright spot this week.  If you read my last entry ( click here ) I talked about Brian Ray of Paul McCartney's band.  It appears that Mr. Ray personally commented on my blog.  Now, it could very well be that one of my friends is pulling a fast one on me, but I have reason to believe it is for real.  All he'd have to do is look at my profile to get the link to my blog  ...hey, you have to admit it doesn't get much cooler than that, right?! Here is a great three part interview that Mr. Ray recently gave the Milwaukee Examiner. Anyway, just in case Mr. Ray comes back to my blog again, I'd like to personally invite him and the rest of McCartney's band -- as well as that one guy who use...

Hey all, I just had to share this because I thought it was so damn cool.  For those of you who don't know who Brian Ray is, he is an accomplished session musician, and a member of Paul McCartney's band for the past eight years.  We saw him in concert with McCartney a few years ago and he (and the entire band) was outstanding. Brian Ray was the musical director for Etta James' band for 14 years, he was also a member of Boris Pickett's Crypt Kicker Five (of "Monster Mash" fame).  He's worked with just about everyone in the music business, including Peter Frampton, Smokey Robinson, Santana and dozens more before hooking up with Paul McCartney. Anyway, Ray is offering his first album for free download on his Facebook page for a limited time.  All you have to do is "like" his page.  I got the album and it is terrific, so I thought I'd tell him so and thank him for the free download, not expecting a reply from him in a million years.  He evid...

Here are a couple of camping pictures... I posted this one on Facebook, but for those of you who haven't seen it, here are my girls having breakfast Saturday morning (omelets in a bag - yum!) Me and my boy at the playground.  He is actually smiling, but we couldn't get that stupid pacifier out of his mouth! Ava's first time fishing!  Yep, she's having a great time! This isn't a camping picture - actually, I took this tonight after dinner.  Neil has discovered the time-honored tradition of banging pots and pans.  It's a rite of passage.  I'm sure they could hear him in Otter Tail County!

After nearly a week of rain, the skies cleared and we had a perfect weekend for camping with the Kampens.  It got even better when the Budahns unexpectedly arrived!  So all around it was a pretty darn relaxing weekend - maybe not enough sleep - but that comes with sharing a camper with a four year old and a 10 month old.  Plus that, Neil is sprouting his first tooth so he was a little on the crabby side, but he was a trooper for the most part. And best part: no mosquitoes (or very few, I should say).  I bet if we go camping in another week or two it will be a different story. Ava got to go fishing (her first time).  Korey bought her a princess fishing pole and she's still talking about it.  I will post pictures soon (the pics are on Beth's phone, so I have to wait until she gets home tonight).  Yes, Ava has decided she loves camping and she loves fishing.  It is going to be a fun summer.  I told her to ask her Uncle Dale if he could take ...

To Mommy... Happy Mother's Day!  We Love You!

I didn't post this on the actual anniversary because I just couldn't bring myself to do it, but I think I can now. Twenty years ago on May 2nd, I lost my mom suddenly and unexpectedly to a massive heart attack.  I was not yet two years out of high school on that beautiful spring day.  It is amazing how fast 20 years can pass.  Even though it has been two decades now, when spring comes I get this weird sense of foreboding.  Spring is supposed to represent a new beginning; a new life.  But I've never quite been able to shake that feeling of loss when the snow melts and grass becomes green again.  That is pretty screwed up I guess, but the mind can do funny things to a person.  Speaking of which, it is very odd how the brain can work.  A couple of nights ago I had a dream of my mom.  I hadn't dreamed of her in a long time, but I suppose she has been heavy on my mind over these last couple of days and thoughts of her worked into my subcons...

Got back from Duluth this afternoon... we had so much fun, but how can two days make a person so darn tired?  Thank you to Grandma and Aunt Suzette for watching our little tax deductions so we could enjoy a couple days together.  And Happy Birthday to my bride!   I hope you had as much fun as I did.  It was wonderful to get to know you again!  I'm happy to say I still like you a lot. We stayed at the South Pier Inn in Duluth, right next to the famous aerial lift bridge.  Our room was overlooking Duluth Harbor and when we checked in we got a copy of the Duluth Shipping News so we could keep track of the departures and arrivals of the huge ships coming in and out of the harbor.  It was kind of surreal to see these massive 1000+ foot vessels float past your room as you soaked in the hot tub (especially after a bottle of champagne and a six pack of beer)!  They would arrive at the harbor and fill up with iron ore or taconite or even coal and the...