Summer scenes

After dropping Sarah off at the sitter's and visiting our financial planner, Erin and I ate pizza at Fat Lorenzo's Restaurant and then took in a view of downtown Minneapolis at a water tower known as "The Witch's Hat."



Sarah has been sharing her new new froggy sandbox with our neighbor kids, whose parents came from Belarus a few years ago. From left are Mark, Daniel, Erin, Karina and Janet. The neighbor kids speak Russian and English, and Karina (who will be going into third grade with Caleb and Lucas) helps translate a bit when we speak with her parents.



Another shot.
It's been slow going for Rich in painting our backyard fence, but it will be worth it when it's finished. Painting with a brush is the way to go ... the sprayer doesn't get the paint into the wood nearly as well.

Jaunt with Jim 2007

Rich just got back from the 33rd annual "Jaunt with Jim Klobuchar" bike ride. This year we rode 400 miles around the Iron Range in northern Minnesota, starting and ending in Beaver Bay on the North Shore. Here's Rich atop the Skibo Overlook with the eastern Iron Range behind him.



At a rest stop in Tower, Minn., Rich climbed on an old steam locomotive with friends Al and Mary.



This year's trip was HOT! We dealt with practically no rain. Here a bunch of us relaxed after lunching on sloppy joes in Cook, Minn.



Here's Rich with old friend Bob Lincoln at the Hull-Rust Mine Pit near Hibbing, Minn. This mine is the largest open-pit mine in the world, and is nearly two miles wide!



A beautiful sunset on the last night of our ride in Hoyt Lakes, Minn.

House gets a facelift

This past week we've had five college kids crawling around our house, giving it a new exterior paint job. We went away from the old "beach sand" yellow and chose a green and white paint scheme Erin saw on a new house in Brooklyn Park. Last Friday we took the whole family over to that house to see it, and Erin even got out and asked the owner if we could use our paint swatches to "borrow" their scheme. This picture shows the completed job, minus the shutters, which will be a dark gray-green.

A walk in the park (front yard)

Sarah has turned into a walking SUPERSTAR!!! Here she takes a spin in the front yard on a beautiful sunny day. Look at that determination ... her tongue's out!



For a daddy, there's nothing like holding your daughter's hand while she walks!



Gettin' cuter every day!