Water logged in Duluth.

This past weekend we spent a night up at Emma's favorite place-The Tiki Tina Hotel in Duluth (aka The Edgewater.) We have been saving up some birthday and Christmas money and finally were able to find a weekend with nothing else going on and made a reservation. Emma has been talking non-stop about going and our daycare lady told Kirby last Friday that if for some reason we were unable to go, to call her and she would take Emma up there herself. So, apparently Emma has been talking about it quite a bit to Lisa and the daycare family.....

We left Saturday afternoon after picking up Tyler's pal Ryan in the morning. Tyler tends to be on his own when we go to places because Kirby and I take one kid each so we thought it would be fun for Tyler to have a friend to hang out with. We checked in and headed to the pool right away of course..... Here are a few action photo's.

Emma and Logan before they got wet.

Emma having fun.. I know it looks like she's upset but really she's happy..

The boys in the kiddie pool.

Ahhh, my favorite thing... floating around the lazy river. Logan enjoyed this also and we did many circles

.

We had to occasionally watch out for waterfalls, which personally aren't my favorite but I suppose we are at a waterpark which means you are suppose to get wet.

After a good time at the hotel, we decided that the weather was nice enough to take the kids down to Canal Park before heading back home.

We had some leftover french fries in the car and Kirby thought that feeding the seagulls by hand was a fun idea. In this photo the bird just above him snatched it out of his hand and Tyler is trying to get one to 'bite.' Funny thing is that when a bird would come close enough, Tyler would get scared and pull his hand back. :)

Everyone watching Kirby's crocodile hunter skills.....

As you can see the land has some ice on it still but it still made for some nice pictures. Here are the 4 kids.

Tyler and Ryan ventured out on the frozen ice for some adventure.

Logie bear using a rock as a horsey.

Emma Roo......

Thoughtful looking Logan sucking on his sucker from Cousin Ryan.

Tyler in a time out. No, just kidding. He bought a swiss army knife and was trying to carve some wood he found.

Cousin Ryan and his wife Snoop came down to visit us at the park. It just so happened that they had company this week so it was good timing to see Aunt Kris and Dennis from Illinois also. Snoop's Mom was also up for the day. What a good lookin' group!


The Kirby Krew!


It was a nice weekend away and fun to spend time with our family and extended family. Being at the water park makes me anxious for summer to be here and for the Rush City pool to be opened of course. Emma described Duluth as being "beautiful" which it is, even in the winter I have to admit.

Random Thought Day....

1. Week 1 of training for the 5K. I ran 2 miles yesterday at the gym! And the good news is that I felt pretty good the whole time. My only complaint would be that there should be some sort of electronic notebook/pen on the treadmill so I can write down all the things I'm thinking of and trying to remember.


2. I signed up to take a Yoga class on Wednesday nights to replace my Volleyball league night. I've only done Yoga once before and found it challenging to 'still' my mind and focus on my breathing and what I'm doing with my arms and legs. I'm also too competitive as I'm looking around seeing who else can and can't do the pose..... Whoops! I'm pretty sure that was not in the community education class description.


3. We've also signed up Emma and Logan to take a ECFE class on Thursday nights. Not quite sure what it's going to be all about but I'm sure there will be some singing and playing involved and it will be a good reason to get out of the house on Thursday nights. It will also be a good chance for Logan to have his own activity as Emma is still doing gymnastics one night a week. Logan has developed quite the personality in the past few months.
   
4. High School Musical. Okay, I wasn't the first person to jump on the bandwagon for these movies but-in the past 2 weeks, we have rented all 3 of them and they are actually pretty enjoyable. (even Kirby likes some of the songs) Emma loves Sharpey and Logan likes to watch the boys play basketball, dance and sing. I have found myself humming the tunes every now and again.


5. Kirby told me that one of our followers is tired of me complaining about the weather so I won't even post anything about it this time. :) Just know that I'm more than ready for the pool to open Mr. B.R.



6. We are heading to the Tiki Tina hotel this weekend in Duluth for a family weekend. We saved up birthday money and Christmas money and rented a room for Saturday night. Emma has been asking about the Tiki Tina hotel for the past year and now she finally gets to go in 4 days. She loves that "we can sleep there and eat breakfast there and go swimming with the volcano." Tyler has invited his friend Ryan to join in on the fun so we are looking forward to a mini-vacation. Sorry Gunner, no dogs allowed.


7. My oldest brother is getting married in a few weeks-weird! But it's a good thing because Vanessa is cool person and isn't afraid to dish out the sarcasm to my brother when he needs it.
   
8. Did you know that cleaning your house when you have kids is like painting the Golden Gate Bridge? When the workers start at one end of the bridge, by the time they get to the other end, they have to start over again because the paint is already faded where they started=By the time you finish cleaning the last room, you just have to start back over again at the first room cause it's already dirty.


9. Kirby and I are so addicted to watching "Biggest Loser" it's our couple time.
10. Here's my quote for the week as I seem to be running into this quite a bit at work:

"Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

How do people do this?

Kirby and I just agreed to sign up to run a 5K for a little boy named Owen. Yes, I am going to run and I really, really dislike running so this must be important to me. :) Who is Owen? Owen is the 3 year old son of a teacher in Mora whom I have played volleyball with for the past few years. Owen has cancer and has been battling it for the past 2 years of his young life. I can still remember the night at league that Drew was unable to play because his wife was giving birth to Owen.

I don't know how people deal with illness, especially with it occurring in their young children. It's hard enough on me when my kids have the flu or a bad cold. I am so thankful for my healthy children.

Here is little Owen's information on his fight so far.

Owen is a 3 year old boy who was diagnosed with Hepatoblastoma on December 17, 2007. Three days later, he started chemo. In February 2008, Owen had a liver resection. In June of 2008, he finished chemo however that November, he had a recurrence. Since that time, he has had to have a resection in the left lung and also had to have brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor (all in February 2009). Owen will have to go through a year of off and on again chemo.On Saturday, May 16, there will be a benefit 5k walk/run for Owen.The walk starts at 4:00pm and at 6:00pm there will be a benefit dinner/silent auction at the Grand Event Center.

With that being said, if you would like to make a donation to help their family out, let me know. Sometimes, I find it hard to donate to causes without knowing exactly whom it's going to help. In this case, I know who it's going to help and after what they have been through so far, they need it. (Both Drew and his wife are teachers and for those in the field-you know the pay scale isn't that great.) So, if you would like to donate-please do-just send it to us and I'll include it with our registration. The 5K run and benefit dinner is May 16th.

I know that in the past few days I have become more aware of how lucky I am to have the life I have. Even the things that seemed 'big' to me in the past week, don't seem so 'big' anymore. Be thankful everyday.

Children's Museum.

After a Saturday of everyone doing their own activites when Sunday arrived we decided to take the Krew down to the Children's Museum in St. Paul and do some exploring. Every 3rd Sunday of the month they offer free admission, thanks to Target Corporation, so we loaded up and took a road trip.

There are lots and lots of rooms to visit and hands on activities for the kids to try. You must be thinking that if it was free admission that there were a ton of people there; yes there was so patience was needed to survive. We had fun though and here are some pictures from the day.


The turtle tank was a big hit.

Up at the top of the stairway looking down at the crowds.

Tyler and Logan getting a closer look at the turtles.

Emma and Logan rocking out with Clifford.

Tyler enjoyed the 'science' part of the museum. He did comment that this wasn't for 'his' age group but I think he had fun watching Emma and Logan be all crazy.

Mr. Science himself.

Emma and Logan using their rockband skills on stage. Grandpa Tom would be proud as Logan bee-lined it for the guitar.

This is from the Dr's room. Logan was changing the babies diaper.

Pressing buttons!

Logan considering being an airplane pilot someday....

Working at the grocery store.

All in all it was a nice way to enjoy the spring day. Now we can say we've been to the Children's Museum-for free!

Hockey and God - You can't affect "Free Will", Mr. Kirby.

It's unfortunate that I've looked to the film Bruce Almighty for my theological lessons in life. Raised in a family that prayed before meals and bedtime let me know that God was in my life at an introductory level. I only went to church when invited by friends and that kind of sporadic attendance didn't foster a deep understanding of the Bible's stories. 

Since the Marine Corps baptized me as a "Boot Camp Christian", I've tried to take responsibility for my own salvation. Marrying Michele in a Baptist church gave me a good religious jump start late in life. And now that I am a father of 3, we continue to pray before meals and bedtime, only now I see a bigger picture.

Bruce Almighty and Wikipedia taught me that an Omnipotent Divinity does not assert its power over individual FREE WILL. Life is made of choices that we must make on our own. Jim Carrey could not make Jennifer Aniston love him even with the powers bestowed on him by God or Morgan Freeman. "Bruce" learned that you can't make people love you without affecting Free Will. Like Bruce, I am in love with a beautiful woman - Michele will always be my leading lady. Consequently, like Bruce, I cannot affect the Free Will of my significant other. Except in my case the Love that I speak of is a Love for HOCKEY. 

Michele doesn't Love Hockey. (She accepts State Tourney time and the run for the Stanley Cup as our time apart.)

Tyler doesn't Love Hockey. (He tolerates it to placate my ego. He skates like I sew - just enough to get by for a while.)

Emma doesn't Love Hockey. (She loves coloring. Singing. Dancing. - the things 4 year old girls should Love.)

But LOGAN! Logan shows flashes of interest that might take it to the next level. His vocabulary grows daily like an unchecked yard full of dandelions in the Spring. Every day it seems like Bear has come up with something new but "Pay Hockey wit Me?" has been a staple of Logan's requests for a while now. Last Saturday morning when I told him that he was going to the Hockey Game with dad, he shepherded me to the basement with something to show me. As I followed the Knee-High ball of enthusiasm into the "man closet", I realized that he wanted me to get his skates off the shelf for him. He didn't just want to go to the game. He wanted IN the game.

Michele had a volleyball tournament. Tyler was off to a baseball tryout. Emma would have a "playday" at a friend's house. But Logan and Daddy were heading to the Excel for Warroad's run at another State Championship. 

Taking both of my sons to state tourney hockey games on consecutive days felt like I had died and gone to heaven. My eldest, Tyler endured the Friday night AA games enough to enjoy some cheese curds and witness the Cinderella story of the tourney, Moorhead Spuds, win another game. That night will be forever etched into my hockey archives as the night Tyler coined the phrase, "Ouch, that's one Mashed Potato!" after a crushing hit on a high school Spud. I laughed a proud laugh for quite a while on that one.

The next morning my two year old partner was in awe of everything new. Ironically, everything was new to him. Bear saw buildings taller than he had ever seen before. He latched on to my leg as we rode the parking ramp elevator with the view of heavy traffic. Logan had to learn that everything on display at the Hockey Expo wasn't free. And to his surprise, he learned that Charlie Brown's gang played hockey on the east side of St. Paul.

There was a slew of friends and relatives for us to sit with at the game. Uncle Tim's gal pal, Janelle, had been following this Warroad team for the last 15 or so years being as her son, Dane, is a top-line Senior winger.  Al, Barb, Loren, Amber and even Ryan Stutzman rounded out our modest Dane "fan club". It didn't take Logan long to realize that his shy routine was being wasted on folks that knew better. 

Logan's eyes were as big as silver dollars, taking it all in: the lights, the scoreboard, the banners, the Zamboni, the crowd, the band and the theater style chairs that easily swallow 30 pound little guys. At home we play "knee hockey" to no end. 

He's been to the rink to shoot pucks and will pass back and forth with me for hours in the garage. He'll sit and watch lengths of NHL hockey that could not be common for most toddlers. 

But I'm sure nothing could compare to his first live action game being the State Tourney Championship game with Dad's alma matter, Warroad taking on the private school, Breck Mustangs. The "bad guys" jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as Logan ravaged the diaper bag for any and all snacks. The real time hockey players could not compete for the attention of my boy with SpongeBob fruit snacks and boxes of apple juice so readily available. However, the beast woke up when Warroad retaliated with 2 goals 14 seconds apart in the first period. As our cheering section came to life, Logan quickly realized he too played an important role in rooting on his team. End of 1st Period = Warroad 2 - Breck 2.

Intermissions gave us breaks to roam the causeways of the Excel. Logan enjoyed tossing a new puck around in the open spaces and when it got crowded, he happily perched on my shoulders. As the game wore on, The Warriors had issues with the Penalty Box and whether it was their own fault or the fault of the "zebras" is up for debate. It didn't help that the Breck goalie was "standing on his head" as our boys clearly outshot the bad guys. Warroad is known for it's tough, defensive style of hockey and when they were physical, they controlled the game. However, Breck's speed was tough to match and they lead at the end of the second 4-2. (Seeing Janelle's expression tells it all.)

The third period brought  much of the same for the Black and Gold. We couldn't mount much of an attack with skaters "feeling the shame" of the box. Breck continued to buzz and rightfully so as they controlled the final period of play in the biggest game of their young lives. Warroad pulled their goalie with a lot of time left on the clock and Dane shelved the puck shortly thereafter giving them a chance as time ticked away. Breck answered with 2 empty net goals to take home the coveted hardware. 

Initial shock set in for us as we watched the "Cake-eaters" celebrate what we all wanted so much - but the 20th trip to State is nothing to scoff at. This would be Warroad's 6th Second Place finish. Pair that with 4 Championships and even last year, Dane scoring the OT winner for 3rd and I'd say us lifetime Warriors have a lot to be proud of. 

The littlest fan of our group stood in awe of the spectacle of hockey that engulfed his tiny heart. He stoically took in the Award Ceremony without so much as a peep. It was as if he could feel the emotions of the players on the ice that he was rooting for so hard. I spent more time watching my son's reactions to the out-pouring of emotions on the ice then I did actually watching them myself. I was in awe of the 3 foot hockey fan in front of me. He had become that fan without me affecting his Free Will. Hockey has been something that I've shared with all of my kids. But right there in section 117, Logan showed that for now - He Loves Hockey!

Amen Morgan Freeman. Amen.

Thank you Logan.

Thank you God.

Hockeytown USA

Warroad is IN.

Puck drops for the Championship game at 12 Noon - tomorrow.

20 appearances in the Tourney - 4 State Titles.... and another on the line.

Still waiting to see who they play.

Would love a shot at "Undefeated" Little Falls.....

Children 2 and Under are free.

out

Kirby

Tyler and I will be there to watch the Big Schools (AA) tonight. Eden Prairie vs. Blaine @ 6 bells & Moorhead vs. Cretin Derham Hall for the night cap.

Random Photos.

Well, being that winter has shown up once again, I decided to just post some of my favorite photos to brighten up the day. In no particular order........

Tyler and Logan at Lake Elmo Campground.

Tyler wishing he was old enough to drive, I guess this will have to do for now.

Emma and Logan taking a spin.....

Emma and Logan covering their big brother in sand.

Logan the long haired country boy enjoying Daddy's birthday cake.

Happy 4th of July!

Logan enjoying a juice box on the shores of Lake of the Woods.

Emma when she was 2!

Emma and Tyler at Grandma Sharon's house celebrating their birthdays.