Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Father's Day: Camping at St. Croix State Park

This weekend we decided to go camping at St. Croix State Park, near Hinckley, MN. Dina and I love to camp, and last year we didn't go at all since Caden and Rohan were so young. This was a trial run to see how they (and we) handled it, and to make sure we have everything we need for a longer trip to the North Shore later this summer. The weekend went well! We had packed a bunch of stuff on Friday night, then on Saturday morning we got up early and packed the rest and loaded up the van. It was pretty tight, with all five of us, our camping gear, and the dog. We headed out (after a couple of "oops, I forgot..." false starts) and started the drive north. Dina's sister was going to meet us at the park with her two boys, but on the way we talked to her on the phone and realized she was thinking of a different state park, much closer. After getting that sorted out, all was good.

We arrived at St. Croix State Park at about noon, right at check-in time. We'd reserved our campsite ahead of time, which is always a crapshoot when you don't know how wooded and private the campground is, but our site was pretty awesome. We got our tent set up and most of our bedding set up, and started doing camping-type stuff. A few hours later Dina's sister and her boys arrived, and they set up, then we all had good times together. Honestly most of the specifics escape me after I've been camping...it's just nice to get out, make a fire, and enjoy being outdoors with good people. It was hot during the day - 90s - but luckily there was a swimming area at the park. (Caden and Rohan decided to nap in the air conditioned van for that, so I was with them.) Campfire, hot dogs, snacks, fireflies, playing in the dirt, hiking, swimming, lots of laughing - it was a good time. Dina's dad Dean and his wife Karen even stopped by for a while; it was good to see them.

The night was a little rough. It got colder than it does in our house, and Caden and Rohan had a tough time with that, so Dina was up much of the night soothing them in the tent. The boys and I let her sleep in that morning, though, so that worked out.

Let me just say here that campfire breakfasts rule. Pancakes, eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns cooked over a fire are one of life's Good Things. After breakfast Dina and I worked on packing up the site while playing with the kids. Gretchen had to leave right after breakfast; her boys were going to the Saints game with their dad for Father's Day. Dean and Karen stopped by again later that morning; they'd spent the night at a nearby B&B. Sunday was another hot day, but it was cloudy instead of sunny. The last thing we packed up was the tent, and just as we started taking it down the first drops of rain started to sprinkle down. The timing was perfect. We had a good trip home, and put away as much of our gear as we could manage before exhaustion set in. We definitely will return to St. Croix state park to see more of it; it's a huge park with many hiking and biking trails and two good-sized rivers, and I can see our family having a lot of fun there in the future.

It was a fantastic Father's Day weekend for me. I love my family and can't think of anything I'd rather do than spend time with them. Happy belated Father's Day to all the other dads out there!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Fun pics

My wife put some pics up on Facebook...I just had to post some of them here.

Griffin and Dina, with her awesome new haircut.


Griffin met Spider-Man at the carnival on Sunday:


Feeding the llama at the carnival's petting zoo:


Griffin and friend Zaysha got to feed a giraffe at the MN Zoo!


Caden smears frosting in his hair:


Rohan smears frosting on EVERYTHING!

Monday, June 15, 2009

A Just-Barely-Pre-Summer Summer Weekend!

Weekends just don't get any more summery than this. On Saturday we went to the carnival for our city festival, the City of Champlin Father Hennepin Festival, so-named because Champlin is apparently the place where Father Hennepin first crossed the Mississippi in 1680. Dina and I had our three kids in tow, plus our niece Lizzy and nephew Devin. It was a good time - we checked out the little flea market area where local businesses have tents/games/advertising (and our local businesses appear to consist largely of chiropractors...I saw at least two model spinal columns). Then we hit the Tilt-a-Whirl and the older kids hit the Scrambler. Griffin went on a couple kiddie rides (the airplanes and the giant slide) and then we grabbed some carnival grub...hamburgers, a bucket of fries, and mini donuts, washed down with fresh lemonade. Then we walked over to the animals area, and Griffin went on a pony ride, we checked out the "exotic animals" petting zoo, and then Griffin, Devin, and Lizzy took a camel ride, which they all seemed to enjoy (even the camel). On the way back to our minivan, we saw a carnie go into heatstroke, or perhaps have a drug overdose...it was pretty freaky. Then Dina and I took a ride on the Scrambler, and Dina was on the outside...and got CRUSHED by me. She was squished and bent and pretty uncomfortable. Good thing there are so many chiropractors in town. That evening I thought about going to see an area bassist's show, but since we had family over decided against it. Devin and Lizzy went home with their parents later that night.

On Sunday we did some stuff around the house, then packed up and took the kids to the swim beach at Elm Creek Park near our house.



It's a man-made pond with a big sandy beach around it. The water is slightly chlorinated, but not as heavily as at some swimming pools. It's a great place for the kids, and all three had fun splashing around and playing in the sand. Griffin's been taking swimming lessons at Foss, and it really showed...he is so much more confident in the water now, which is awesome. We spent quite a few hours at the beach, so we were pretty wiped after we got home. We ordered pizza and had some more fun with the kids, then the kids went to sleep and Dina and I watched some Law & Order re-runs (and/or dozed on the couch). All-in-all a pretty awesome and laid-back summer weekend.

And it's not even summer yet!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Four years ago yesterday

Four years ago yesterday, my life changed dramatically when my wife and I ceased being expectant parents and became the parents of a perfect little baby boy. When he was born I experienced this amazing mix of joy, fear, wonder, relief, sadness, disbelief, and (most of all) primal encompassing love for this tiny person I'd never even met.

Happy birthday, Griffin!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Be warned...

I know there are a variety of people who read this, so be warned: this just might be a bit of a TMI post. You may want to stop reading now if you're made squeamish by the words "pain," "needles," "doctor," or "vasectomy."

Heh...well, with that introduction I guess you already know what my weekend was about. Ha Ha! Yes, on Friday morning I got a vasectomy. Dina and I decided that our family is just how we want it, so we made the decision. I won't give you all the gory details (though I am somewhat evilly tempted to do so...heh, heh, heh); suffice it to say everything went well and the only painful part of the procedure was the anesthesia injection. The whole thing took about an hour, and they'd given me a Valium prescription beforehand, so I was pretty calm. Lemme tell ya...it's really freaking odd having small-talk conversation with the person who's sterilizing you.

Getting that done meant I basically wasn't supposed to do anything all weekend but sit around and play video games. That was pretty cool, except that there was some soreness and such. Luckily they gave me some Percocet for pain relief, which I did use the first day. After that, cold packs were all I needed. I was very happy that we got our bigscreen TV replaced before this weekend. I was feeling good enough to go to B33n3r's meat & beer party on Saturday (at which my kids kinda took over - sorry about that). It was fun to see everyone there, and now you all know why I was sitting on my butt on the comfy loveseat almost the whole time. :-) I'm hoping things go well at work tomorrow...they should; I'm feeling pretty good now.

And that was the weekend. I promise not to write any more blog posts about my genitals.

Well, not many anyway.

Oops - missed a week

I seem to have missed a week. I blame that on the fact that the weekend I missed was so busy, and that I had my mind on this weekend.

So last weekend (May 30/31) was a pretty full weekend. On Saturday my oldest son had a "swim meet." He's taking swimming lessons (and doing very well), and his school had a swim meet in which the older students actually race, and the younger students pretend to race. He got a ribbon for taking part, which he thought was pretty cool. Later that day there was a family swim, and that little 3-year-old swam a solid two hours without stopping. Unbelievable energy...

Sunday morning Griffin had another activity; he's in a gymnastics class, and each Spring they have a show. He was with all the other kids around his age, and the kids basically showed what they learned on all the equipment. At the end, he got a trophy, and he had no idea that was coming. He was so excited he jumped up and down. He later told me, "this is the coolest trophy I've ever seen." I was very proud of him. :-)

After his show, we got in the minivan and headed for Wisconsin - Wisconsin Dells. We had a one-night stay at the Great Wolf Lodge resort. The place was cool - a bunch of indoor waterparks and one outdoor waterpark, plus lots of activities for the kids and great food in the restaurants. Our room had a queen bed for the adults, and bunkbeds for the kids; the kids' beds were in a little room of their own that looked like a little log cabin inside the suite. Pretty cool! It would have been nice to stay more than one night. The timing was great - school wasn't out yet in most places, so there were hardly any other people at the waterpark. We didn't have to wait for anything...that rocked. I think we'll go back in a couple years when Caden and Rohan are old enough to really enjoy it.

On Monday we spent some time hanging out at the resort, then took our time driving home. We didn't get home until pretty late. The next day we took Griffin, Caden, and Rohan to Pixar's "Up." Great movie! I'll be buying it.

Another item of note - during this week we replaced our widescreen TV. Woo hoo! This time we got a Sony Bravia 46" LCD (the KDL-46V5100):



It's an inch smaller than the LG we returned, but the LCD panel is a nicer panel, and overall we like this TV much better.