Kiwanis Holiday Lights - Mankato

On Thursday evening, Sarah and I took the kids to Sibley Park in Mankato for the Kiwanis Holiday Lights.  The lights are turned on from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm and is open through December 31st.  If you can make it, we would recommend you go see the lights.

There are thousands of lights, some are set to music, others are static.  You can drive around the one-way street or get out and walk (it was around 30 degrees the night we went, so we walked), there is a skating rink and concessions.  All for free --- they do ask for food shelf items or a small donation.

Who can pass up a sign where you can stick your head through and see a silly image?

They have cartoon cutouts.....this particular one was a hit with one of the kids, can you guess which one?

There are snowmen....

Tunnels of lights...

You can even ride the 'Christmas bus'...

Lots and lots of lights...

Hope you had a good holiday season...

Christmas 2013

Everything started Tuesday night, Christmas Eve - the boys were reminded that they would be able to track Santa Claus throughout his journey by a post from their uncle, David Clemens.  Well, for the 45 minutes remaining before church, both boys never really left the computer so they could watch Santa (keep in mind, he was supposedly in Africa at the time).

Christmas morning was the time for presents at the house.  The one who really got aggressive with the presents was Lex.  It was always....'where's my present'....'can I open that present'....etc.

An example of Lex searching for a present of her own....

Good thing that she got enough Dora stuff to tide her over.....she likes that Dora!  That shirt she is wearing is also a new Dora shirt.

One gift that was really enjoyed (and will probably get a ton of use in the future) was a Nook.  For all of you 'old school' types who pick up books and read them....well, you don't have to do that anymore. You digitally download the books and read them on the Nook.  When you don't have anymore space for books, the Nook is a space-saver.

Luke's Christmas wouldn't be complete without Dinosaurs --- we actually went to the movie 'Walking with Dinosaurs' on Christmas Eve.  Luke really wanted to see it, if you go, the first 10 minutes or so are...um...interesting.

Kieran didn't really stand still long enough for a good picture, how about a picture of him and Luke opening a gift together?

The kids put together a calendar for Sarah with pictures of them throughout the year.  

Lex, of course, had to check it out....caring only about the pictures that were of her!

Kieran was utterly confused that there is a board game that doesn't involve Transformers, football, Bey Blade, etc.  Not sure how the game 'Clue' will go over....

Where ever you are, from our family to yours, we hope you had a great Christmas!  Hope to catch all of you later....

But, what Christmas would be complete without driving to Holiday in town?

It took us about 45 minutes to get to Holiday and back (no we didn't go directly there).  There was no yelling, screaming, panic, etc.  We made it just fine.  Perfect day to drive around town actually, few people were on the roads, everyone was too busy.

Maddy turns 15

Yesterday, Madeline turned 15 years old.  The kids wanted to make her a birthday cake.  The boys had this big idea of asking her what kind of cake she liked when we picked her up from dance last Tuesday.  Kieran and Luke thought that she'd never know they were making a cake, even if they asked her about it -- turns out, both boys fell asleep on the way and never got around to asking her.

It also turns out that it takes about 30 minutes longer to frost a cake when you've got three kids under 7 doing the frosting.  It finally got frosted and yesterday was the day for candles.

There were 15 candles spread all across the cake, it's not an easy task to blow them all out at once.  Luckily, or unluckily, Maddy had help.

Maddy also passed her permit test, so there will be another driver on the road soon.  I would imagine that western Carver and McLeod counties (and their relative lack of vehicle traffic) will be the early driving experience.

Kieran's Tooth

It's not a double post, Kieran lost another tooth last night.  Apparently, when you are 7 1/2 years old, once you lose one tooth, they all start falling out.

He was brushing his teeth and came downstairs saying "dad, I've got a problem."  His tooth was barely attached, with a little blood.  I said that it wasn't a problem, I'd just pull it out.  That was the worst idea possible according to Kieran's reaction, so he sat on the stool holding a kleenex up to his mouth for the blood.  Five minutes later, the tooth had fallen out and I had to reach into his mouth to save it before he swallowed it.

Here it is...not exactly very big...

It was placed securely into the 'tooth fairy' pillow for the evening, which I'm sure she came and took the tooth (actually....I know she, I mean he, came and took the tooth)....

Kieran's beginning to look like a hockey player, or someone whose father beats him.....both are not true, he's just got a money making scheme going....

Santa Comes to Cologne....Again!

The Cologne Lions put on their Christmas in the park tonight.  It started with a candy cane hunt, sleigh rides and a visit by Santa.  We stayed maybe for approximately 1 1/2 hours....did I tell it was -5 degrees (felt like -15 with the wind)?  They were also going to light a Christmas tree....we didn't stay for that....

On the way home, Kieran said this was the real Santa.....apparently the Santa at the bank was one of those 'helpers', according to Kieran...

Santa Comes to Cologne

Well, apparently this is post #100.  What a better way than have pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Choose your favorite out of the four that I took...

Luke was a little hesitant to get near Santa, but nearly as bad as years past (there used to be a lot of tears).
 

It actually didn't take a lot to convince him to get between Santa and Mrs. Claus.
 

Lex on the other hand, she practically jumped into Santa's lap!
 

Everyone made sure to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas and eagerly took the candy that he gave them.  Merry Christmas!

Kieran's First Lost Tooth!

Picked the kids up from Bev's daycare today and the first thing Kieran says was "Dad!  The tooth fair comes tonight!  I lost my first tooth!"  I asked him if he knew it was loose and he said yes.....thanks for telling me Kieran!

Kieran is now 7 1/2 years old, a bit late to start losing teeth, but finally!  I bet he starts looking like a hockey player soon!  Here's the tooth in all of it's glory!

What's the going rate for the tooth fairy?  I can tell you tomorrow, I'm sure our house is not as high as some of the numbers I've heard thrown around lately....

Painting

Sometime this past summer, we moved Sarah's bike and treadmill from the main living area downstairs to the room that had been the office.  The computer moved out to the living room, we'll be able to keep an eye on what sites the kids are visiting now.

The goal then was to patch the cracks in the paint and nail holes, then paint the room.  Since Sarah spends so much time on both the bike and treadmill and the room, she got to decide on the color(s), in return, I would do the painting.

We got around to buying the paint a few weeks ago and last weekend's job was to paint the room.  So it began.

The south wall was decided to be a dark blue.

The north and west walls (the east wall is a wood paneling and is not going to be painted) were going to be a bright green .

The green is really bright when the sun bounces off the wall during the late afternoon hours.  I like the look!

There is only one place where the two colors meet.  The majority of the work is done, there are a few places that need a little touching up, essentially the project is done.

I asked the kids what they thought about the paint - Luke/Lex were completely indifferent, but Kieran said "it's the colors of the Seattle Seahawks!"  Seattle is Kieran's new favorite football team, way more important than the Vikings.

October in Jay Cooke State Park

We went camping for the last time in late October at Jay Cooke State Park, it was actually the last weekend of October.  Daily high temperatures were somewhere in the thirty degree range, while the nightly lows were around twenty degrees.  It was cold.  Good thing we were not sleeping in a tent.

At the state fair in August, we walked through the DNR's camper cabins that are available at select state parks.  Sarah suggested that we should camp in one sometime this fall.  When we got back home one of the first things we did was make a weekend reservation in one of the cabins.  We reserved the 'Shale' camper cabin at Jay Cooke.

This particular cabin had heat and electricity, not all of them do, all the cabins provide the basics for sleeping.  They have a small table and a couple of bunks that sleep 4-5 individuals.

Once we all were settled in, it was time to explore the park.  Of course the feature is the St. Louis River and the swinging bridge.

The bridge had been swept away during a massive flood in June 2012.  A new bridge was built, but it would not open until a week after week left.  It was a sort of 'look, but don't touch' experiences.

But there was still plenty to explore....

We got pretty close to the river....

But were safe the whole time...

We even found a few places where the boys could throw rocks...

We would stay in a camper cabin again, during the fall or winter.....we hope we get the chance.

Raider Football - Update

Back on September 20th, we let you know how much we appreciate Central Raider football.  It was a tough start to the season, losing the first seven games.  Of course we were at every game, whether it was 90+ degrees heat or torrential downpours, we were there (Lex was at 2 games, Luke was probably at 5, while Kieran was at all 7).  Win or lose, playoffs or not....we are there....to support the team....as Kieran says "we're Raiders."

The last game of the year, it began to change.  Wednesday night, before MEA break, the Raiders defeated the LSH Giants....Kieran was really happy.

That win earned the Raiders a #6 seed in the 2AA playoff bracket and a matchup against the #3 seed Zumbrota-Mazzepa Cougars the next Tuesday night.  It was an hour and a half drive, a school night, thirty degrees, but we were there!

It was a back and forth game, the Cougars looked tough....

We made sure to eat our share of popcorn....

Stop with the pictures, I just want to eat!

Things went the Raider way, we score a late touchdown to get within one point and went for the two point conversion and the win.  We got the two-point conversion on a half-back pass back to the quarterback with about 2 minutes left in the game.  The defense held on to win!

Four days later was the Section 2AA Semifinal game against the #2 seed Medford, in Medford.  It's the first game that we've missed in years (we had a camper cabin reserved at Jay Cooke State Park, post coming soon, for a couple of months prior).....but we're happy to report the Raiders pulled off a 35-14 victory without us!

Section final was last night, with a win the Raiders would make the State Tournament and have a matchup against Maple Lake (see the September 20 post to see Kieran's feelings on Maple Lake).  The underdog Raiders would be going against the #1 Seed Pine Island Panthers, at Pine Island.  We rode with Rich Schug and uncle Craig to Pine Island, with the beans out of the fields, some thought it looked a little like Nebraska on the drive.

Rich & Craig wondering (where the hell are we?)

The Raiders were in their road white uniforms, played a great game.  Pine Island fans we spoke to asked "how could this team be 1-7 in the regular season?  They're the best team we've seen all year."

That's right Pine Island, you suck and we're scoring

Even though we played a great first half, we got hosed on a couple of calls in the first half, stupid frickin refs.....but were still tied 14-14 at halftime....

Raiders at halftime

To start the second half, the Raiders got the ball first.  Kieran paid a lot of attention to the game during the second half, he knew the game was close and even he wanted a state tournament berth (he certainly remembers losing out to Maple Lake a few years ago).

Kieran and uncle Craig watching the 2nd half.

The Raiders scored first, putting the score at 21-14 in the second half.  Unfortunately, poor kick coverage allowed Pine Island to tie the score at 21-21 immediately after a long kick return for a touchdown.  (You win some, you lose some).

The Raiders went ahead with a 20 yard touchdown run and kicked the extra point to go ahead 28-21, with 4 minutes remaining in the game.  Pine Island started their drive from the 35 yard line and slowly drove down the field (converting at least one 4th and 1 along the way).  They eventually scored a touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in the game.  They decided to go for the two-point conversion (instead of the extra point, which would have tied the game and sent it into overtime) and made that as well.  The score was now 29-28, with about 25 seconds left in the game.  That is how it remained....

The Central Raiders lost in the 2AA Section Final, no state tournament.  On the way back to the truck, as Kieran and I kept a a distance between Rich and Craig, there were tears in Kieran's eyes when he said "now we have another team we don't like."