Tour de Fat

Tour de Fat on Saturday in Loring Park. Monte participated in the bike parade. Ani and I drove down to join in on the festivities.

Parade coming in

Even Ani got a wrist band saying she's 21!

Everything New Belgium at this place

Enjoying ice cream later that night while Dad was out w/ Hagen at the Basilica Block Party. They biked there. Of course. :)

Fourth Festivities

Our 4th of July weekend was spent at Turtle Lake with the Miller's. Always a good time!

Ani loved the water and her "boat"... and her sucker.

Farewell, Rosenblatt

Ah, the last year the CWS will be held at Rosenblatt Stadium. So sad. In the words of a 30-year season ticket holder that we ran into... "I'm disgusted!" The new stadium being built in downtown Omaha won't be anything close to the feel and charm of Rosenblatt.

We were lucky enough to buy tickets 15 minutes before the TCU/UCLA game on Friday for under face value - and to top it off, they were in the shade! That was a must. Otherwise, I really think I would have had 2 Dirks brothers passed out next to me. TCU's right fielder was from my home town so we were rooting for them. They did win on Friday, but had to play UCLA again Saturday, which they lost.

View from our nicely shaded seats

Monte, me, Tim

We also had a belated birthday celebration for Ani - when we sang "Happy Birthday" this time, she was very excited. For her birthday party a couple weeks ago, she bawled her eyes out when everyone began singing to her!

And we utilized the handy self-timer for a family photo before leaving to drive back to Minneapolis.

TeStrake Visit

We had TeStrake's coming at us from all sides last weekend! My parents came up from IA and my uncle Don and cousin Ann came to see the new Twins stadium so we met up with them too. We had a really fun time, but just wished the weather would have been better.

Ani's birthday extended even further with more gifts from Gammy & Papa.

My parents, me, Ani by the infamous Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture

Monte, Ani, me, my mom, cousin Ann, uncle Don and my dad. Can you tell they're brothers??

Singin' Sensation

Happy 2nd Birthday Ani!

A return trip to the Malt Shop for a birthday sundae (just like last year for her 1st birthday!) donning a new outfit from Aunt Marcy & cousin Meggie.

Skuut bike from Dad (she doesn't reach the ground yet though -- hopefully soon!)

New, spunky outfit from Uncle Tim.

And even a gift (a book) from Jardin Magico, her school.

And I still haven't given her my gift yet (nothing huge, but I know she'll like it - sand shovels and bucket for playing at the park!) We're having a party for her this Saturday at the park up the street where she'll get balloons, cupcakes, and play time with friends. Lucky birthday girl!

Talented Friends

We have talented friends. Over the past few weeks, we have taken advantage of these said friends and their talents by paying them to create the wonderful things that they do. And we're very happy customers!

Friend #1: Cory Thorson, owner of Whoa-tos! Photos printed on wood. I had Cory do one for Monte's birthday a couple years ago and we just had him print another one of Ani with one of my mom's cats at her house. They both originally are rustic-looking photos, so they transferred well onto wood.

Friend #2: Beth Schultz, amateur photographer. Beth took our engagement photos 5 years ago and we were so pleased with them that we hired her to come to the Bahamas and take our wedding photos there too. A couple weeks ago, we had her take some family photos around Lake Nokomis. Again - extremely pleased!

Friend #3: Jason Larson, husband of my college friend Melissa and maker of pretty much any outdoor game you can think of: Cornhole (bean bags), Giant Jenga, Kuub, to name a few. We just picked up our customized Cornhole boards and handmade bean bags - it's always Panthers vs. Cyclones in our house!

If anyone actually reading this is interested in any of their services, we'd be happy to pass on their info. It's quality work for a reasonable price - and it's nice to help out a friend.