Minneapolis Tourists

Every time we see it on TV, Karl asks why we’ve never visited the “Spoon and Cherry.” So today we swung by Saint Louis Park to pick up Deborah, drove through Uptown and ended up in downtown at the Walker’s Sculpture Garden. Karl got a hold of the camera and ran off to snap some pictures. I was expecting an assortment of geese photos, but was quite surprised to find some pretty cool shots of Spoonbridge and Cherry. Deborah and Laura posing with Hare on Bell on Portland Stone Piers. Yes, Laura is growing taller. Next, we invited ourselves over to the Elliotts’ to watch the Vikings game. Adam was just full of smiles! True to form, the Vikings lost. But we had fun, and our new quarterback is giving us a little bit of hope for the future. Thanks for having us over again, Jason and Angie!

It’s Football Season In Every Galaxy

If you think the Vikings have quarterback issues, just imagine cheering for the team being led by Jar Jar Binks… …or the team that has to defend against a monstrous greyhound pass rush.

Fall Football, Day 3: Family Football Classic

Today, the Elliots hosted the first Family Football Classic. We ate chili, played some touch football, and watched the Vikings do what the Vikings do best.

There's one particular Viking who is popular with this crowd…


The kids had a difficult time deciding whether to watch the game or play outside in the sun.


After the Vikings game was over, Jason worked on routes with the boys…


…as well as touchdown celebration dances. Karl is demonstrating the classic high-step.


Laura was successful in her goal for football weekend — not a second of football watched. She hid out in Colin and Justin’s room most of the afternoon, tearing through her stack of books.


Thanks for hosting, Jason and Angie!

Fall Football, Day 2: Um Ya Ya!

I’ve attended exactly three Saint Olaf football games. The first was in 1989 to see Tanya when she was an Ole cheerleader. The second was sometime between 1993 and 1996, I really don’t remember — it was a home game and I was probably avoiding doing some homework or something. The third game was today.

I set Karl’s expectations pretty low — Saint Olaf isn’t exactly renown for its football program. Our opponent was Bethel University. They were ranked #5 in the nation, they had a bye last week so were well-rested, and it was their homecoming game.

The Elliotts live right down the road from Bethel, so we dropped Laura off at their house to avoid football with Angie and Adam while Jason and I took Colin, Justin, and Karl to see the Oles take on the Royals (why aren’t they the Bethlies?).



Here’s Karl joining in on the college fight song, “Um Ya Ya!”


Though it probably won’t get as much press as some other MIAC game, I think we probably saw the most exciting MIAC game today! The Oles were down by eighteen points at the start of the fourth quarter, but they rallied and scored twenty to win the game — the go-ahead touchdown coming with 25 seconds left to play. The final score was 30-28.

We’ll savor the Oles’ victory because tomorrow we cheer for the Vikings, and we all know how that usually ends up…

Fall Football, Day 1: Rush City Homecoming

It is a glorious weekend in Minnesota. The fall weather is beautiful, the leaves are changing color (they do that up here in the North), and there’s plenty of football being played. Karl and I are taking advantage of all of the football this weekend with three straight days of pigskin fun. (Laura is having fun finding new ways to avoid seeing one instant of football…)

Up first was the big homecoming game between the Rush City Tigers and the Crosby-Ironton Rangers. My mom was there to document the parade. Laura made a sign and had her face painted to walk with her class down the parade route.


The sign has a catchy slogan: “Bengal or Siberian?”


My dad joined Karl and me at the game while Laura invited Oma over to avoid some football. It was a gorgeous, crisp evening for a game.



The Tigers are having a rebuilding decade (until the class of ’22 starts playing…), so we weren’t surprised that they lost 28-20. But we still had a good time.