Running in the Clouds

I just got back from a run with Penlope. It was 39°, with no wind, but we could only see a short distance ahead of us because it was so foggy, and there was very fine mist that we felt as we made our way around our four-mile country road loop. It sounds like awful running conditions, but it was wonderful. We were running through clouds, and the air smelled clean, without the added polluted (but typical) smell of snowmobile exhaust.

I loved it so much that I took a picture of Penelope in her running boots (they're like thick rubber balloon boots that keep road salt off her feet and mud out of my house). This is a picture of a dedicated runner.

Valentine's Day 2011

Monday is not a very good day for Valentine's, but we did our best to make it romantic. There were presents at the breakfast table, but it was also a school day and there was laundry to get started, so I forgot to take pictures. You'll just have to settle for these pictures from our Valentine's Day dinner at Keys Cafe that we had after music lessons. (I did skip my meeting at school tonight though. For love. I missed it for love.)

At the Scene of the Crime

Laura and Karl love taking classes at the Science Museum, and today Laura had a class called "At the Scene of the Crime," in which the kids used various detective tricks to solve a crime. Matt and the kids went to St. Paul early so they could also see an Omni Theater movie, so it was quite the full day. (I had to work. It's ok, though. I've been to the Science Museum many times. I'll be there many more times. I love my new Passat.)



Laura and Karl do not know those people.


While Laura was in her class, Matt and Karl got to hang out together. Where did they go? To Matt's office, so Matt worked while Karl hung out and racked up reading minutes while he stared out the window overlooking downtown. After seeing this picture, I hope for Matt's sake the window washers are coming soon, because it'd be pretty depressing to look out that window all day every Tuesday...


Look! The Science Museum lizard is buried in snow! After this week of 30s and 40s, though, I think he'll soon emerge.

Mismatch Day

It's "I Love to Read" month at school (Laura's favorite school-month of the year), and every Friday the kids get to dress up in various themes. On Friday it was "mismatch day." Laura took it very seriously. Karl's options were more limited, but he got to be mismatched too.

Water Park of America Fiasco

As most of you know, Laura absolutely loves going to the Water Park of America, so when I heard about an American Lung Association fundraiser that involved cheap tickets there, I jumped on it and bought four passes. Then I found out it was on the same day as the Super Bowl. "Yay!" I thought to myself, "it won't be busy because everyone will be watching the game!" Karl, in fact, turned down this chance to go to the waterpark because he didn't want to miss the Super Bowl, so on our way we dropped him off at the Elliotts' so he could watch the game with some fellow sports nuts. Boy was he smart...

When we got there, the lobby was FULL, and there was little to no direction on where to go. We stood in line for almost an hour (even though we already had our tickets, and just needed the stupid wristbands), occasionally asking Laura if she wanted to cut our losses and go across the street to the Mall of America instead. "No! I'm here and I've been looking forward to this for a long time!" she cried. Meanwhile, we stood and waited, watching through the window as the waterpark got busier and busier. When we finally got inside, there wasn't a single chair to put our towels on. People were crowded around EVERYWHERE. We've been to many waterparks over the years, and I've never seen anything like it. Usually when we go to the W.O.A., we easily find a table and never have to wait very long for rides. Today the lines were all the way down the stairs, and if you know anything about waterparks, you know how many stairs that is. After wrestling to get an inner tube (which took a LONG time), Laura and I went around the lazy river. But it wasn't lazy. It was jam-packed with rowdy kids, and we basically got shoved around the loop once.

It was at this point that Laura gave up, and the three of us decided to change into our clothes and head over to the mall, which gives you an idea of how miserable the whole experience was. Laura does not leave waterparks happily or easily.

But we made the best of it. We only did Laura shopping, and that means Barnes & Noble and the American Girl store.


And guess what? We noticed on our way to the waterpark that there was an IHOP right in the neighborhood, which came in handy to further boost the mood of maple syrup's biggest fan.


So in the end the day was saved, and Laura was quite the trooper. Next year when I get an e-mail from the American Lung Association I will write a check and stay home. We won't fall for this rookie mistake again.

St. Paul Winter Carnival/Science Museum

Since last summer, Karl has wanted to see the IMAX movie, "Hubble," and for one reason or another we never got around to see it. It's now playing at the Science Museum's Omni Theater, but it'll soon be gone, so on Thursday we headed down to St. Paul to finally watch it. Laura didn't come with us because she absolutely did not want to see a movie about space. I think she gets that same mind-blowing feeling I get when I try and think about how large the universe is, so it's a good thing she didn't see this movie. It was a fascinating film about the pictures the Hubble Space Telescope has taken, and yes, it made my head hurt trying to comprehend it.

The St. Paul Winter Carnival also was going on in Rice Park this week, which is right on our way to the Science Museum. Karl loved looking at all the ice sculptures.


When we asked him where he wanted to eat dinner, his response was "McDonald's." We vetoed him and ate at Great Waters Brewery instead.