The Gordon Mob

We're still alive

2012-02-01T21:36:00.004-06:00

Christmas 2011 (part 1)

2011-12-26T15:34:00.002-06:00

Christmas 2011 (part 2)

2011-12-26T15:28:00.002-06:00

Christmas 2011 (part 3)

2011-12-26T15:22:00.001-06:00

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T19:07:00.006-05:00

It's Halloween night! Here are some of the seven pumpkins we carved!

Sarah went trick-or-treating with mommy and her neighborhood friend, Lissie.

Lucas was the only one of the boys to go out trick-or-treating. Noah and Caleb decided they would rather hang out with their girlfriends. ;-)

Pumpkin carving; School dance

2011-10-31T19:00:00.005-05:00

The boys, their friend Tristin and Sarah got busy with the pumpkin carving.

"Ewwww, GROSS! Pumpkin guts!" Sarah couldn't get enough, and had to carve two pumpkins.

Sarah got to meet Captain Jack Sparrow at her first-ever school dance last week! She was shy, and daddy had to do just a little convincing to get her to take a photo with the pirate.

Is Grandpa helping Sarah eat her pizza, or is he showing her his new manicure?

Sarah and a few of her kindergarten classmates sure enjoyed their first school dance.

Gearing up for Halloween

2011-10-31T18:52:00.005-05:00

We went to pick out pumpkins at Dehn's Pumpkin Patch in Dayton last week, and Sarah got to meet the perfect Halloween kitten! Luckily, we didn't have to bring him home with us!

"Cheeeeese!" It was quite the effort to get Sarah to hold still for this photo ... she really wanted to get out into the field and pick out pumpkins!

The Princess and the Pumpkin ... Patch.

"Pull faster, dad!"

Sarah's dance class even got into the Halloween spirit with a costume night last week. And candy, of course!

Trip to the apple orchard

2011-09-28T22:49:00.008-05:00

Sarah's kindergarten class took its first field trip of the year yesterday! Her daddy and several other moms and dads got to go along with them to the Pine Tree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake. Here are the kids sitting in a 100-year-old apple storage barn waiting for a quick presentation on the apple-growing process.

Julie, our tour guide, showed us how the apple pickers get the apples off of the trees. This particular orchard had around 15,000 apple trees growing there.

The kids got a quick look at the apples going through the sorting line.

Then we had lunch, followed by a special treat of fresh apple cider and apple donuts provided by the orchard. Here's Sarah eating lunch with her friends, Edison and Hope. These were the three kids in "Mr. Gordon's" group.

Just before we headed back to school, the kids took advantage of a quick photo op.

Little cheerleader

2011-09-28T21:56:00.008-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, Sarah got the chance to go to a cheerleading clinic put on by the Osseo High School cheer squad, of which Noah's girlfriend Brenna is a member. That's Brenna on the left, holding Sarah's right foot. Sarah had a lot of fun!

Making friends is easy at cheer clinics!

Sarah gets warmed up the night of the big Osseo Homecoming game. She and the other kids at the cheer clinic got to go out onto the track at halftime and perform the routine they learned the weekend before.

"Dad, is it time to go onto the field yet? How about now? How many more minutes? How about now?"

Here's Caleb messing around with his skateboard. He's really getting along well in the seventh grade at Osseo Junior High.

Back to school!

2011-09-06T20:39:00.008-05:00

After weeks of waiting, Sarah FINALLY got to attend her first day of kindergarten today. Here's mommy putting a few curls into Sarah's hair before we went to the bus stop.

Gotta get a picture with proud mama and papa before the first day of school!

Looks like Noah and his friends Dalton and Jacob went trick-or-treating for their first day of 10th grade. Actually, they're dressed up in the school colors of Osseo High School. If you're looking for pictures of Lucas and Caleb on their first day, Erin completely forgot to snap a photo of them. Rats!

These last two pictures were taken at Sarah's school open house last week. Here she is with her kindergarten teacher, Ms. Loiselle.

Sarah's even got her very own locker! She's trying it out for size.

Minnesota State Fair

2011-08-30T21:28:00.002-05:00

Minnesota State Fair

2011-08-30T21:19:00.002-05:00

Minnesota State Fair

2011-08-30T21:07:00.002-05:00

Minnesota State Fair

2011-08-30T20:56:00.003-05:00

Minnesota State Fair

2011-08-30T20:46:00.003-05:00

Minnesota State Fair

2011-08-30T20:38:00.000-05:00

Minnesota State Fair

2011-08-30T20:19:00.000-05:00

Summer at Bowstring

2011-08-20T19:12:00.005-05:00

Ellaina, Maddie and Ella flew in from Oregon last week, so we got to spend some time with them up at Grandma and Grandma Gordon's house at Bowstring Lake. Here's Maddie hanging out with Ozzie.

Grandpa asked Erin to give him a bowl of kettle corn, but here's what he got ... a measuring cup of kettle corn.

Ella is really enjoying her popsicle! Sarah seems sleepy.

Noah's friend Madi joined us for the weekend, and she got up on water skis for the first time!

Madi and Sarah tubing behind Grandma and Grandpa's boat, the Ella Bee.

Summer at Bowstring II

2011-08-20T19:04:00.007-05:00

Noah turned 15 years old while we were at the lake. Here's proud mommy with Noah and the birthday burger ... er, CAKE that he picked out. It was yummy!

Noah and Madi.

Here's the whole gang except for Rich (taking the picture), Caleb (sleeping or something) and Lucas (visiting his dad).

Madi took this photo. Happy birthday, Noah!

Wow, the cake-cutter lady and the ice-cream scooper dude seem to be taking their work VERY seriously!

Summer at Bowstring III

2011-08-20T18:42:00.004-05:00

Ellaina and the girls watch our favorite "talking dog" video for about the 27th time. "The maple kind, yah?"

Grandma, Sarah and Maddie posing with the nine northern pike Ella caught with her grandparents. Ella didn't make it into this photo because the fish were still alive and flopping around.

The cousins spent HOURS making bead necklaces and bracelets. Fun!

Bikers' BBQ

2011-08-20T18:37:00.003-05:00

We invited several of Rich's bicycling friends over to our house for a barbeque a few weeks ago. Here's who made it!

Cyndie brought a tray of wonderful cupcakes ... thanks, Cyndie!

Lara visits

2011-08-20T17:11:00.004-05:00

Erin's high school friend Lara and her two children visited us briefly after flying in from Seattle on their way to northern Minnesota. Here are Erin and Lara on a very HOT day at Elm Creek Park's new playground.

Dakota, Sarah and Brian enjoyed playing at the new playground despite the heat.

Sarah tries out the rock-climbing wall.

Fourth of July 2011

2011-08-20T15:43:00.006-05:00

OK, these photos are almost two months old, but we visited the Richfield Fourth of July celebration again this year and saw the vintage car show. Here's an old Cadillac ... love the tail fins!

Noah and Caleb got a LONG ride on this ride ... are they about to throw up?

Sarah, about to ride the swings.

WHEEEEEE!

Picnic at Minnehaha Falls

2011-06-28T16:54:00.011-05:00

It was much too gorgeous of a summer day to stay inside doing housework, so Sarah and daddy went to Minnehaha Falls to have a McDonald's picnic and see the falls. Here's Sarah enjoying the shade.

A man and his treasure.

Sarah visits Minnehaha Falls for the first time.

"Dad, how many pictures are you going to TAKE?!!"

Sarah and her neighborhood friend, Melissa, take a run through our sprinkler.

2011-06-27T18:39:00.006-05:00

Rich's outdoor project this week was to install new outdoor lights on our garage, house, and light pole near the front door. Here's Sarah standing next to the freshly painted pole (it used to be white) with the new light fixture on top. Erin picked 'em out!

One of the new lights on the garage (compare it with the picture of the old white fixture below).

The new light by the front door.

Ewwww! I know, I know ... this image is forever burned into your brain!

One of the 20-year-old lights before being replaced.

Caleb's new birdy

2011-06-26T12:38:00.005-05:00

Caleb earned a bunch of money from Grandma and Grandpa Wynne while visiting there last week, and with it he decided to buy a young parrotlet. Aren't they cute? Caleb says he wants to donate his two turtles to cousin Zane, and his three ducks are about ready to move out of our backyard and get out on their own.

Caleb is still thinking up names for his bird. He says "Cooper" is a front-runner. Erin likes "Mojo" or "Gizmo." Rich thinks "Elvis" or "Norman" might work.

Moby the Cat immediately fell in love with the box that Caleb brought his new bird home in. We don't know if it's because he simply loves boxes or if it's because the box had that "just lived-in by a bird" smell.

It's a parade!

2011-06-26T12:32:00.007-05:00

With Erin at work, Lucas still visiting his dad and Noah out doing something, the rest of us were looking for something to do last Thursday. Rich saw that the nearby suburb of Brooklyn Center was having a parade, so off we went! Here are Sarah and Caleb waiting for the parade to begin.

Caleb and Sarah even brought along some bags to collect candy with. They got a fair amount of sweets given to them, along with some Mardi Gras necklaces and even a small sandwich from Jimmy John's.

Sarah even scored a freezie pop!

Sarah hams it up while the Richfield Marching Spartans approach from behind. (That's Rich and Ellaina's alma mater, doncha know.)

Go Spartans! March!

Cyclists visit Bowstring; Steps project

2011-06-26T12:22:00.004-05:00

Sarah and daddy spent last week up at Bowstring, visiting Grandma and Grandpa Gordon. On Thursday night we invited some bicyclists over from the Jaunt with Jim ride that Rich had to miss this year because of his eye surgery. Here are Warren, Rhonda, Steve and Bob with Grandpa G. We had burgers and brats by the lake!

Sarah lined up Grandma's stools and had us play "bus" while the cyclists were visiting. She thought Bob was the BEST driver!

Roger and Rich spent most of their time working on a new set of steps leading down the bank to the lake where the dock is newly positioned. It was a big job, but we got the bulk of it finished before Rich and Sarah had to leave for home.

Sixth-grade graduation

2011-06-09T09:02:00.003-05:00

Caleb and Lucas had their sixth-grade graduation ceremony this morning at Edinbrook. With that, we no longer have ANY BOYS who are elementary students in the house. Here's proud mama with her sons.

Lucas accepts his certificate from his teacher and his principal. The photographer was too slow to catch Caleb's trip onstage ... Caleb practically sprinted across the stage!

Sarah got up early to watch her brothers graduate.

"Junior high, here we come!"

June randoms

2011-06-09T08:57:00.003-05:00

After Rich shaved off his goatee last week to "give his face a break," Erin commented on how much he and Noah look alike with their shaved heads. Here's the proof.

Bella's kittens are growing quickly. Mama takes more breaks nowadays to wander around the house. Guess the kitten box is getting pretty boring.

Bella has kittens!

2011-05-25T13:16:00.003-05:00

Noah's cat Bella, who is only about 10 months old herself, had four little gray kittens yesterday afternoon. They're not even one full day old in these pictures. Sarah has been having fun taking care of the kittens while the boys are in school. Noah has been charged with finding homes for all of the kittens once they're old enough to leave, and Bella is going to be spayed as soon as possible!

Another dance recital

2011-05-22T02:56:00.003-05:00

Sarah's second year of dance classes came to an end on Saturday with the annual dance recital at Osseo High School. Sarah's class performed two dance numbers during the 150-minute show.

Two beauties.

Sarah was proud to receive her trophy this year. "Dad, it's even bigger than last year's!"

Sarah's preschool graduation

2011-05-18T16:13:00.005-05:00

Sarah is an official graduate of preschool after her class held its graduation ceremony today. Here's Sarah posing in front of her school for the very last time.

Sarah and her classmates made their very own graduation caps out of black construction paper, with yarn for the tassels. Here's the entire class posing with their teachers before they regaled us with several songs.

The proud graduates.

Mommy was on hand with Daddy to enjoy the festivities.

Sarah receives her graduation certificate from her wonderful teachers, Miss Jeanette and Miss Joanie.

Sarah's preschool graduation, part II

2011-05-18T16:07:00.006-05:00

After we watched a slide show with pictures from the entire school year, the kids finally got to dig in to what they had been waiting for ... CAKE and CUPCAKES!

The parents all chipped in to buy the cake and some juice boxes. The kids went on an immediate sugar buzz!

Standing in line to get a cupcake.

Sarah and daddy enjoying the sunshine on a beautiful graduation day.

Two proud parents enjoyed the first of what we hope will be many graduation celebrations for Sarah.

Weekend at Bowstring

2011-05-18T15:56:00.006-05:00

Rich drove up to Bowstring last weekend with Sarah, Caleb and family friend Tristin to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gordon. One day we drove over to Sand Lake to do a little bit of fishing.

Caleb caught the only fish of the day, but it got loose before he could land it.

It was a wonderful evening for fishing.

Tristin tries his hand at fishing.

Grandpa, Grandma and Sarah tried their luck fishing off of the bridge.

Parents' day at preschool

2011-05-05T14:35:00.005-05:00

Sarah and her classmates have been working for three weeks on a "special surprise" for parents' day, which was yesterday at her school. Sarah decorated a flower pot, planted purple flowers in it, and presented it to daddy yesterday. Sweet!

Sarah also decorated her dad's piece of strawberry shortcake with a happy face, using strawberries for the face. Yum!

Sarah only has five days of preschool left! Sheesh!

Spring Break, Part I

2011-04-02T12:09:00.004-05:00

Since Erin and I got married in 2004, we have never taken a trip anywhere with the entire family. So last week we packed up the car, threw everyone inside and drove 22 hours to Fort Walton Beach, Fla. It was worth it! Here are some of us on the beach the very first day. White powdery sand, and water that was cool but not too cold.

We stayed at a condominium development called The Breakers that Rich found online. Here is the view from our balcony at Room W509. That's the Fort Walton Beach Pier about a mile down the beach to the east. Costs $2.00 to walk out on it, and some of us did so on Rich's birthday.

Here's the beach directly in front of our building. We spent most of our time swimming, sunbathing and flying kites on this patch of beach.

Here's the beach looking west from our building.

Sarah models her new sunglasses she got for this trip.

Spring Break, Part II

2011-04-02T12:01:00.007-05:00

Even before the kids got in the water on the first day, Noah ended up buried in the sand, courtesy of Sarah and Caleb.

Caleb and Noah, all set to get wet.

After a couple of years of wishing aloud, Sarah finally got the chance to visit a real beach, with real sand and real ocean waves. We kept her fair skin slathered in lots of sunscreen, and even bought her a beach hat after her part got a little bit red.

Sarah and her daddy.

Sarah sprints into the surf. Behind her is our condominium building, The Breakers. We were on the fifth floor.

Spring Break, Part III

2011-04-02T11:31:00.006-05:00

We had a few days that started out cloudy, and one day with a couple hours of sprinkles, but no days that were complete washouts. We just put on sweaters and went out to fly kites!

Sarah is a true multi-tasker. Here she is flying her kite WHILE building a sand castle!

Busy girl hard at work.

Sarah's kite cuts a colorful path through the sky.

Sarah and mommy enjoy some relaxation time inside our condo.

Spring Break, Part IV

2011-04-02T11:25:00.004-05:00

Lucas and Sarah get in some freshwater swimming at one of the condo's two swimming pools. It was right beneath our balcony, so we could keep an eye on them.

Sarah took this picture of her daddy holding a starfish. No, we didn't catch it in the ocean ... It was a buck-fifty at our local beach tourist trap store.

Rich took a couple of hours one day to drive a few miles up to Eglin Air Force Base to check out the U.S. Air Force Armament Museum. They even had an SR-71 parked outside, and here it is. This one last flew in 1976 and had a one-of-a-kind electronics package installed in a special elongated tail pod.

There was also a B-52, or BUFF!

And a replica of a MOAB (Mother of All Bombs). If it had been a real GBU-43/B, there would have been 18,700 pounds of H6 explosive on board. According to Wikipedia, the bomb has been tested twice but never used in combat.

Spring Break, Part V

2011-04-02T11:19:00.005-05:00

Sarah and daddy visit the Fort Walton Beach Pier. It was a sunny day, and Sarah couldn't keep her eyes open very well for this one. We even saw a couple of wild dolphins from the pier!

For Rich's 45th birthday celebration, Erin, Caleb and Sarah took him for supper at a place right on the beach called the Crab Trap. Here's Sarah and her old daddy.

Caleb and Erin can't wait for the food to come! Caleb ate a massive hamburger at this place.

We waited a long time for our food, so we took a lot of pictures to kill the time!

Back in the water again! We washed a lot of swimsuits and towels at the condo during our stay.

Spring Break, Part VI

2011-04-02T11:14:00.008-05:00

One evening we drove six miles east and drove over the bridge into Destin, Fla., to take a two-hour dolphin cruise on a boat called the Southern Star. Here we are waiting to board the boat.

Erin and Rich.

On our way out the channel into the Gulf of Mexico, our captain stopped near a fishing boat that was coming in. The guy on the fishing boat held up this monster fish, but I don't remember what kind it was.

All of the kids on the boat had the chance to drive the boat, and Sarah got to take her turn, too. Way to go, Captain Sarah!

Caleb and Noah spent most of their time on the bow of the boat. At one point, dolphins came up and rode the bow wave of the boat, right beneath the boys.

Spring Break, Part VII

2011-04-02T11:05:00.008-05:00

Sarah and mommy are on the stern of the boat here as it makes a turn to port. Lucas is back there, also, laying down on the bench. He doesn't do too well on boats, despite the dramamine we gave him.

Sarah and a sunset.

We saw quite a few pods of dolphins, but failed to get any decent pictures of them in the wild. Here's the best we could do.

Here's a nice sunset photo.

The captain gave us a few extra minutes in the channel to get some wonderful sunset shots.

Spring Break, Part VIII

2011-04-02T10:54:00.006-05:00

Rich was going to take Noah over to Pensacola one morning, but the 6:30 a.m. wakeup time didn't agree with Noah and he stayed behind. So Rich got to spend three hours alone at the National Naval Aviation Museum.

The museum was awesome, starting out with many detailed models of the various aircraft carriers that have served our country through the decades. This one is the USS Ronald Reagan.

Here are some of the various patches worn by U.S. Navy fighter squadrons.

This is the most historic aircraft Rich came across at the museum. It is an SBD Dauntless dive bomber that is the only known survivor of the Battle of Midway. It dropped a bomb on the Japanese carrier Hiryu, then was chased for miles by enemy Zeroes. It received 219 bullet holes, lost its hydraulic system and the machine gunner was wounded before the pilot made a one-wheel landing back on Midway. This aircraft was also parked on Ford Island on Dec. 7, 1941, and survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was ditched in Lake Michigan during training exercises in 1943 and was recovered in 1994 before being restored and put on display in 2001. Cool!

The museum even had an example of a German Messerschmitt 262, the world's first jet figher.

Spring Break, Part IX

2011-04-02T10:42:00.005-05:00

These A-4 Skyhawks are painted in the colors of the Blue Angels. They have been hanging here in the museum since 1990.

This airplane is a N2S-3, a version of the venerable Stearman biplane. This particular aircraft was flown two times in January 1943 by former President George H.W. Bush during his flight training at Naval Air Station Minneapolis.

This Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the last one flown in combat (over Afghanistan in 2006) before the model was retired for good after serving the Navy for 34 years.

Here's the front entrance at Brentwood Elementary, where Rich attended third grade, in Pensacola.

This is our old house, where Roger, Gloria, Rich and Ellaina lived from the early 1970s until 1975.

Happy birthday, Sarah and Grandpa!

2011-03-18T03:40:00.004-05:00

Today is Sarah's fifth birthday and Grandpa Gordon's 49th (again)! Since mommy and daddy both work today, we celebrated a day earlier while Grandpa and Grandpa Gordon were still in town after returning from their trip to Hawaii. Here's Sarah standing tall in a new outfit.

Grandpa and Sarah posed during our birthday lunch at El Toro Mexican restaurant up the road in Champlin. We even got free ice cream sundaes!

Sarah opens her present from mommy and daddy. She got a Rapunzel tower and doll.

"Cheeeese!"

The Minnesota March Birthday Bunch.

Peyton, Zane and Libby visit

2011-03-18T03:28:00.003-05:00

Aunt Libby and cousins Peyton and Zane drove down from Jamestown last weekend to spend a few days with us. We took an afternoon and drove over to St. Paul to see the Science Museum again. Here are Sarah and Peyton beneath the skeleton of the pterodactyl that hangs over the museum entrance.

Sarah and Peyton practice delivering the news at the science museum's tiny television station.

After the museum, we drove up to Champlin to visit the 5-8 Bar and Grill, where we had Juicy Lucys! For those of you who don't know, a Juicy Lucy is a hamburger that has molten hot cheese at the center of the burger. If you're not careful, it can squirt out and burn your mouth. We all escaped unscathed.

Sarah's dance class had picture night last week. Here's Sarah in one of her two outfits that she will wear during her dance recital in May. I didn't know monkeys could dance!

Peyton and Aunt Erin wait patiently for Sarah's photo shoot to end.

Science Museum of Minnesota

2011-02-19T01:05:00.007-06:00

Rich took Caleb and Sarah to the Science Museum of Minnesota on Friday to enjoy the family membership we purchased earlier this year. One of the things we saw was the signpost that stood at the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park for about 20 years before it was replaced several years ago. Rich and Grandpa G had their picture taken by this very sign on our first Jaunt with Jim Klobuchar bike ride back in 1990. Cool!

Sarah and Caleb are pulling on a lever and making the jaws of this T-Rex skull move up and down. Sarah LOVES T-Rexes!

Caleb took off on his own to enjoy the exhibits for about an hour, so Sarah and Daddy took in the museum. Here's Sarah in front of a skeleton of a triceratops...

... and sitting atop a fake glacier back in the ice age.

And posing next to the actual thigh bone of an ancient herbivore dinosaur.

Science Museum, Part II

2011-02-19T01:00:00.004-06:00

We took in a short presentation on the curse of King Tut's Tomb, presented by a crazy professor.

Caleb rejoined us and he and Sarah did some experiments with a wind machine and a play ball.

Here's Sarah with "Lance," taking his temperature. (His temperature was only 74 degrees when you put it in his ear, but more than 100 on his forehead. Go figure.)

"I want my mummy!" Yes, it's a real mummy ... Caleb and Sarah were fascinated.

Here are Caleb and Sarah in front of a cross-section of a tree that was 522 years old when it was cut down. No, we didn't count the rings ourselves!

Bowling bikers!

2011-02-13T02:34:00.010-06:00

Despite having to work all weekend, Rich managed to carve out a Saturday morning of bowling and lunch with his bicycling friends, whom he doesn't get to see quite nearly enough! We bowled a couple of games at Brunswick Zone XL in Lakeville, then most of us headed to Perkins for lunch. Here are Curt, Cyndie, John, Julie, Mary and Rhonda.

Julie, Curt, Rich and John ... having way too much fun!

John, Cyndie, Rhonda and Julie.

Juuuliieeeeee!!!

Bella the cat likes to sleep high up on our kitchen cabinets. Meow!

January memories

2011-02-13T02:23:00.003-06:00

Noah's hockey team decided to adopt a dress code for school on the days of their games. He and Erin went out and bought him new pants, shirt and tie to wear to school. He looks sharp!

Sarah and her buddy, Grandma G, played cards during grandma's recent visit to the Twin Cities.

Caleb and Lucas turned 12 on January 27. Only one more year of being a pre-teen, guys!

Caleb blew out the candles on the twins' birthday cake. Lucas didn't want to be in the picture, so Caleb took care of business.

Sarah poses in front of the amaryllis plant Grandma G bought for us at Costco last Christmas.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T00:47:00.002-06:00

Christmas 2010, part II

2010-12-25T00:43:00.000-06:00

Christmas 2010, part III

2010-12-25T00:38:00.001-06:00

Sarah and Santa

2010-12-16T02:06:00.003-06:00

Sarah's dance school held a Christmas party on Wednesday, and Santa Claus even stopped by to pay a visit. Sarah FINALLY got up the nerve to sit on Santa's lap, after three years of trying. Looks like Santa needs to work on graying up that mustache, though!

"Santa, I want a Barbie doll, and a horsey, and a Corvette, and a million dollars, and candy, and another horsey."

Can't believe she's going to be FIVE in a few more months. Already?!!

Striking a pose in dance class. She and her classmates put on a short program for the parents.

Blizzard of 2010

2010-12-11T18:19:00.004-06:00

Well, tonight we're stuck inside because we have about 18 inches of new snow on the ground ... the most in the Twin Cities in 19 years.

Yep, that's our mailbox. Any more snow, and the newspaper guy wouldn't have a hole to stick the paper into! The mailman still hasn't arrived today, and it's about 5:30 p.m.

Our house is snowbound! Lucas helped shovel a little bit, and Caleb made a snow fort out back.

Rich has shoveled the driveway two times since the snow started late Friday night, and also made two passes with the kindly neighbor's snow blower. Gonna have to get me one of them soon!

The boys' shortcut to the bus stop has been effectively cut off!

Sarah goes sledding

2010-12-11T18:14:00.002-06:00

Sarah and daddy went to the sledding hill at nearby Central Park for the first time this season on Friday, one day before the big snowstorm hit. Sarah had a lot of fun! We stayed for about an hour, and daddy made a few runs down the hill, too.

Wheeeeeeee!

As kids will do, Sarah quickly made a new friend at the sledding hill. They joined forces and made several tandem runs down the hill.

Yahoooo!

OK, this hawk wasn't sledding with us ... Caleb took this picture about a week ago in the neighbor's yard. The hawk and his buddies have lived around here for some time now, and have left various rabbit, mouse and bird carcasses in our yard for Max and Harley to sniff at.

Happy (Early) Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T01:18:00.004-06:00

Erin and Rich both have to work on Thanksgiving Day this week, but we managed to get both sets of grandmas and grandpas to visit our house last weekend for an early Thanksgiving celebration! Here's Erin "helping" Lloyd carve the turkey. (It was tast-EEE!)

Moby always thinks he's allowed to sit up at the kids' table. He looks BUSTED, doesn't he?

"Yahoo, it's time to EAT!"

Happy Thanksgiving, Part II

2010-11-24T01:15:00.003-06:00

Kathy joined Caleb and Noah at the kids' table, since Sarah didn't feel like sitting with her brothers. Lucas spent the weekend with his father.

Sarah's got the "prayer cube" in front of her and is ready to say grace before we enjoy our turkey dinner.

Sarah with her Grandparents Gordon and Grandparents Wynne.

Hockey tournament in New Ulm

2010-11-24T01:08:00.002-06:00

A couple of weekends ago, the entire family traveled 100 miles southwest (in a blizzard) to New Ulm, Minnesota, for Noah's first hockey tournament of the season. Alas, he suffered a concussion almost as soon as he stepped on the ice, and sat out the rest of the weekend. So no hockey pictures here ... instead, here are Caleb and Sarah beneath the big statue of "Herman the German" in New Ulm while we were out doing some geocaching.

Caleb wanted me to be sure to get a picture of him and Sarah standing atop the hill overlooking New Ulm.

Wow, Sarah really CAN fall asleep almost anywhere!

Fall is going full-speed

2010-11-04T09:59:00.003-05:00

Noah and Caleb have had hockey practices almost nightly for the past few weeks, and they start their games this weekend. The season runs through mid-March, so you know where we'll be until then!

Sarah received her first official "homework" at preschool yesterday. She and daddy read a book about a pig and a pancake, then had to do some fun activities. We have entered a lottery to get Sarah into a STEM kindergarten (science, technology, engineering and math) next fall, and the lottery results will be announced in early February. It would be an all-day kingarten instead of the half-days she would attend if when went across the street to Edinbrook. Fingers crossed!

Trick or treat!

2010-10-31T20:10:00.002-05:00

Dinner with the Kasonics

2010-10-06T09:06:00.002-05:00

Erin's Aunt Gloria, Uncle John and cousin Karen flew in from Seattle on Tuesday night for a visit to Minnesota. Kathy and Lloyd were also in town, and we all met at Olive Garden in Maple Grove for a nice dinner.

Our final Twins game of 2010

2010-10-06T08:55:00.006-05:00

Sarah took her dad to our last Twins game of the season last Sunday.

The Twins gave many of their regular players a day off in advance of their playoff series against the dang Yankees, and wound up losing 2-1 to Toronto in their final regular-season game of 2010, but we still had fun.

After the game, the Twins invited all the kids down to the field to run around the bases. Here we are at field level in the outfield!

Sarah is standing next to the distance marker in right-center field.

And Sarah comes around to score for the Twins!

City cowgirl

2010-10-06T08:52:00.003-05:00

Special thanks to Grandma Gordon for sharing this photo she took of Sarah this past summer at great-aunt Marie's horse farm near Kelliher, MN.

Helping a buddy

2010-09-27T20:23:00.004-05:00

Last week's 10-inch rainfall in southern Minnesota hit hard in Owatonna, where Rich's bicycling friend Steve lives with his wife, Chris. When we found out Steve's basement filled up with four feet of water, four of us drove down on Sunday to see if we could help out. When we arrived, Steve had already been hard at work dragging soaked furniture and materials out into his driveway. County bulldozers and dump trucks were going house to house to clear away the debris.

Suzanne, Julie, Steve and Rich take a break from cleaning out the basement.

The Straight River, behind Steve's house, rose 10 feet in four hours early last Thursday morning. When we were there, it had returned to its banks.

If you look close, you can see how high the water went on Steve's house. The waterline is just below the white siding.

2010-09-27T20:17:00.002-05:00

This house is three doors down from Steve's house, and as you can see, the river punched right through the foundation of the house.

A few days ago, these four would have been under water!

Julie was stylin' in her 30-year-old moon boots!

I'm not sure just what I was thinking here.

Twins clinch A.L. Central

2010-09-22T00:58:00.002-05:00

Rich took Noah to his first Twins game at Target Field on Tuesday night. It was a 6-4 victory for the Twins over Cleveland, and we got to see the Twins' Jim Thome hit his 589th career home run AND Twins manager Ron Gardenhire's 800th career victory. The fact that the Twins later clinched their division (and a playoff spot) only made it sweeter. Go TWINS!

Back to preschool

2010-09-15T11:56:00.005-05:00

Sarah started her second year of preschool on Monday! She's in the Discovery 4's program this year with about 12 other children, including Sammi, a little girl who was in her class last year. Here's Sarah in the car on the way to her first day.

The traditional picture in front of the school before the first day.

It's DRESS-UP TIME!

Summer weekend

2010-08-24T00:30:00.007-05:00

Rich went up to Bowstring last Friday to get the Grand Prix repaired at Grandpa's shop in Effie, and also to spend some time with Maddie, Ella, Grandpa, Grandma and Sarah before heading back home. We spent Sunday in Duluth and had a lot of fun. Here's Sarah on the Duluth breakwater.

Captain Sarah visits the Duluth Maritime Museum on the harbor.

We got to see the James R. Barker come into Duluth Harbor while we were visiting. This happens to be the same ship we saw enter the harbor last summer when we were there.

Grandpa, Sarah and Maddie in front of the Barker as it goes past.

Sarah sitting on an old ship propeller.

Summer weekend, part II

2010-08-24T00:24:00.003-05:00

Ella, Maddie and Sarah had fun throwing rocks into Lake Superior while we were visiting Duluth.

Grandma and Grandpa rented us a bicycle built for SIX while we were in Duluth. It was a good thing Maddie and Uncle Rich were in shape!

We rode the big bicycle out onto the breakwater and checked out the lighthouse.

On the way to Park Rapids to pick up Caleb, Sarah and daddy stopped in Akeley to visit the big statue of Paul Bunyan. He even held Sarah in the pslm of his hand!

Caleb spent 12 days visiting Grandma and Grandpa Wynne and Aunt Libby in Jamestown, N.D. They drove over to Park Rapids to drop him off with Sarah and Rich. Thanks, Kathy, Lloyd and Libby! :-)

Nanny's 90th in Minot

2010-08-11T19:05:00.002-05:00

All six of us traveled to Minot, N.D., last weekend to celebrate the 90th birthday of Erin's grandmother, Myrtle. Here we are filling up Lloyd and Kathy's hotel room and chatting.

Zane showed us the blue tongue he got from eating some candy.

Erin works at pinning a corsage on her grandma Myrt. We finally got to see her new apartment in Minot after she moved a year or two ago.

Myrtle and her sister, Betty, before we headed downstairs for the big party in the dining room of Mytle's apartment building.

Nanny's birthday party

2010-08-11T19:00:00.001-05:00

Zane, Brian, Libby and Peyton snagged a table at the birthday party. Check out the matching blue dresses on Libby and Peyton!

Sarah and her cousin Peyton. They enjoyed eating cake and cookies!

Sarah kept Aunt Betty entertained for quite a while by showing her how Erin's iPhone works.

Myrtle is flanked by her daughters Becky (from New Jersey) and Kathy, as well as two cousins, if I recall correctly.

This is Noah's cat Bella.

Gordon reunion 2010

2010-08-06T10:45:00.005-05:00

All six of us attended the Gordon family reunion last weekend at Dick and Mary Ellen's place on Broken Bow Lake in northern Wisconsin. There was even a garter snake in attendance.

Lucas plays "Chubby Bunny," the game where you stick as many marshmallows in your mouth as you can, then try to say "chubby bunny."

Noan and cousin Alex playing "Chubby Bunny." I believe Noah won the kids' competition with 8 marshallows in his mouth.

Rich trying to get an extra marshmallow up his nose while playing the game.

Arthur and Florence's clan from Indiana. They had the longest distance to travel this year, as they do in two out of every three reunions.

Gordon reunion 2010, part II

2010-08-06T10:37:00.005-05:00

Roger and Gloria's clan, from Minnesota and Oregon. We had everyone in attendance this year!

Dick and Mary Ellen's clan, from Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois.

Roger and Gloria taking advantage of a rare moment of quiet during the reunion.

Ellaina took advance of Gordy and Sonja's offer to baptize Ella.

Sarah fell in love with Brissa's kitten.

Sarah's first soccer game

2010-07-21T21:17:00.005-05:00

Sarah's soccer team, the Patriots, played their first game today against the Rays.

The Patriots took a 2-0 lead early on, then gave up four goals in a row and lost 4-2. Of course, it's not all about winning and losing!

Sarah comes off the pitch to have a quick water break with mom and dad.

"Watch out, Rays! We're ready for ya!"

Sarah's first soccer game, Part 2

2010-07-21T21:13:00.005-05:00

Mom was able to come see part of the game before she had to go to work! And look at all of those soccer fans behind her!

Sarah looks more concerned about looking at the photographer than chasing after the soccer ball!

The coach says, "OK, use your RIGHT hand to give the other players high-fives! No, your OTHER right hand!"

"Good game!"

Random stuff from July

2010-07-21T21:06:00.005-05:00

Lucas, Caleb and Noah hanging out at the pool.

Sarah and Harley have gotten to be such good friends. Harley even lets Sarah baby him and tuck him into a blanket so he can sleep on the couch.

Grandma and Grandpa Gordon paid us a short visit last week. Grandpa read Sarah her favorite book, "Arthur's Teacher Trouble."

Caleb took this picture of Bentley, who's now living with his new family up in North Dakota.

That girl can sleep almost ANYwhere!

Sarah starts soccer

2010-06-21T19:02:00.005-05:00

We signed up Sarah for a month-long pee-wee soccer program to give her something to do this summer, and she started practices today!

Sarah's team is called "The Patriots," and they will play a few informal games at the end of the month-long program. She got a yellow team shirt today!

The team lines up for a dribbling drill with Coach Mitchell.

Putting the balls away after practice. Walking home with Sarah, she told me, "Daddy, the coach gives us too much to do!"

Dinner with Gary and Rosie

2010-06-21T18:54:00.003-05:00

On Sunday night we ate dinner at It's Greek to Me with old Gordon family friends Gary and Rosie. Sarah had spent most of last week hanging out with them at Grandma and Grandpa Gordon's cabin while they were visiting there, so she knew them well. Gary and Rosie bought Sarah a piece of artwork entitled "Little Miss Sunshine," and Rosie signed the back of the art for Sarah.

Rosie, Sarah and Gary with "Little Miss Sunshine," which is now hanging on Sarah's bedroom wall. Thanks, Gary and Rosie!

Gary kept Lucas and Noah on their toes with questions like, "So are you guys in a gang?" Here they are flashing their gang signs.

Jaunt with Jim 2010 (Part I)

2010-06-19T10:12:00.005-05:00

Rich rode in the 36th annual Jaunt with Jim Klobuchar bike ride last week with 150 other zany characters. The trip started with a visit to family friends Shirley and Elmer in Fountain, Minn.

We spent a good portion of our trip in clouds and rain, but at least it was warm! Here's a neat section of the Root River bicycle trail in SE Minnesota, where we spent a lot of our time riding.

Everything was wet the first few days, including these leaves at one of our rest stops in Lanesboro.

Rich, Steve, Warren and Tim hold up a building in Lanesboro.

The Three Amigas: Julie, Rhonda and Mary.

Jaunt with Jim 2010 (Part II)

2010-06-19T10:07:00.005-05:00

Rich, Mary and Ed pose for a shot at the longest bridge on the Root River Trail, just northeast of Lanesboro. Part of the trail near here was washed out in a flood a few years ago, but it was rebuilt.

This is Mary's piece of blubarb pie at the pie shop in Whalan, where lots of us ate. We could sit at the table and watch the hummingbirds at the feeders outside the windows.

Thirsty hummers.

Ed had a bad day. He had a flat tire on the trail a few miles outside of Rushford and spent at least a half-hour trying to find an intact tube that would fit his rim. We finally got him going.

Mary and Rich spent part of the second day finding geocaches hidden along the trail. At one near Houston, our camping stop on the second day, we traded for a brand-new pack of UNO cards that must have been made in China ... they were FLIMSY!

Jaunt with Jim 2010 (Part III)

2010-06-19T10:01:00.006-05:00

We had mostly dry (but cloudy) conditions for riding on the third day, which went from Houston to La Crescent, Minn. Here are Curt and Suzanne enjoying the bluffs on their tandem bike. These two were married at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa, then drove to the start of the ride in Chatfield, Minn. Congrats!

Gettin' a little zany and riding in the oncoming traffic lane to get a picture. Don't worry, there were no cars around at the time!

Rich poses with Jim Klobuchar, the Conductor of the ride.

Al (in Marine green) and his daughter Jenna (in blue) ride in a paceline to a rest stop on the Mississippi River near Brownsville, Minn.

"We made it to the Mississippi! OK, now where are the snacks?"

Jaunt with Jim 2010 (Part IV)

2010-06-19T09:53:00.004-05:00

After arriving in La Crescent on the third day and showering and setting up our tents (in the rain), many of us took a bus across the river to La Crosse, Wis., where we went for a two-hour river cruise on the La Crosse Queen riverboat.

This just HAD to be one of the rowdier tables on the riverboat cruise. We ate pizza, drank pop or beer, and played a wild card game called "Golf." John cheated. ;-)

Julie and John.

A great view downriver from the stern of the La Crosse Queen. We went upriver beneath the I-90 bridge to the lock and dam near there, then turned around and went back down to La Crosse.

On our day off in La Crescent, a bunch of us decided to get in some extra miles and rode across the river into La Crosse again. We climbed Bliss Road some 590 feet to get to the top of Grandad Bluff, where we got a great view of the surrounding area. Here are Bob, Steve, Tim, Rich, Suzanne and Curt.

Jaunt with Jim 2010 (Part V)

2010-06-19T09:40:00.006-05:00

Trying to dry out our tents and belongings proved to be quite a challenge during the first half of the ride. Here, Mary threatens to use Rich's water bottle to drench all of his stuff again.

Our fourth day of riding had us climb north out of La Crescent to an old rail station that a man named Joe Ready had hauled to the top of the bluffs. Here's the view: In the distance are the small town of Dresbach, Minn., and the Mississippi River, nearly 1,000 feet below. It was really fun racing down the hill back to the river afterward.

Jenna and Steve in the paceline from Dresbach to Winona. A few of us saw a squashed rattlesnake on the side of the road!

This is one of the many churches in beautiful Winona, Minn., where we finally got some serious sunshine and dried out all of our tents and belongings.

Rhonda always dresses to the nines for our final dinner together as a group, and this year was no exception!

2010-06-09T12:05:00.001-05:00

All six of us visited the Bowstring Cabin last weekend. The boys spent most of their time on the lake fishing off the paddleboat. Sarah and Grandma G arranged a tea party on Saturday, including table settings and special hats!

Even Lucas got in on the tea party!

2010-06-09T12:00:00.002-05:00

We went to a spring social for Sarah's preschool system a while back ... there was a fire truck there, and it was perfect, since Sarah's been saying for a while that she wants to be a firefighter when she grows up. She even got a fire helmet to keep!

2010-06-09T11:45:00.002-05:00

It was a hot day! We almost had to use the fire hose to put out Sarah's cheeks!

Gettin' a free tattoo at the spring social.

Sarah's first trip to the dentist

2010-06-09T11:38:00.002-05:00

Sarah went to the dentist with her twin brothers a couple weeks back. It was her first trip to the dentist, and she did great! (She wanted the "free" stuff the dentist would give her, like new toothbrush and toothpaste.)

The chair goes back...

Sarah got to wear some sunglasses to keep the bright light out of her eyes.

She was so relaxed, she even had her legs crossed!

Sarah's last day of preschool

2010-05-25T01:41:00.019-05:00

Sarah finished her first year of preschool on Monday. "Where did the time go?" she says.

Playin' with the birthday cakes during the last parent-child play session of the year.

Sarah and her classmate Alexis played in the sandbox.

"Look, dad! This baby can drink two bottles at once!"

Sarah and dad. She'll be attending another year of preschool starting next fall at the same school ... two afternoons per week.

Sarah's last day of preschool, Part II

2010-05-25T01:35:00.009-05:00

Gathering for the final circle time of the year.

The two Miss Lisas get silly during a song about the sun.

There were lots of extra parents and grand- parents at class to watch the kids "graduate."

Our four teachers this past year ... Miss Lisa and Miss Lisa in front, and Miss Debbie and Miss Wendy (the parents' teacher) in the back. Thanks, ladies!

Sarah receives her preschool 3-4 certificate from her teachers.

Shakopee Shakedown

2010-05-25T01:29:00.010-05:00

Rich and Sarah were invited to go on a 33-mile bike ride from our friend Laura's house in Shakopee this past Saturday. Here are Al, Curt and Suzanne (on their tandem) getting ready to get started.

Sarah got to ride in her Trek Go-Bug trailer behind daddy!

Sippin' on some juice during our first rest break.

"Are we there yet, Dad?"

John, Curt, Suzanne, Al and Laura chilling out at a McDonald's in Jordan. We had to wait there for 90 minutes while thunder, lightning and a pouring rain pelted the area. Sarah got to play in the kids' play area inside and got all sweaty!

Shakopee Shakedown, Part II

2010-05-25T01:23:00.005-05:00

Mary, Sarah and Rich ... still waiting out the storm.

This picture is supposed to show the mud that got kicked up onto the trailer (and some on Sarah) after the rain passed through. Sarah was a real trooper and hardly complained at all during the 33-mile ride.

The gang poses at Laura's house after we finished hosing off our muddy legs, bicycles and trailer.

Laura prepared us homemade pizzas with pasta salad and other fixin's after the ride. YUM! Thanks, Laura! Your 1850s house ROCKS, too.

After the ride, Sarah got to hang out with older brother Noah, who was visiting from Moorhead for the weekend.

Erin's birthday!

2010-05-17T18:30:00.004-05:00

Today was Erin's 29th birthday (again). We all went out to eat supper at Famous Dave's BBQ, except for Caleb, who apparently had things to do.

Cheeeese!

The free birthday ice cream came with a sparkler on top!

Don't get TOO close, Sarah!

Hurry up and take the picture! We want to eat ice cream!

Sarah's dance recital

2010-05-17T18:25:00.009-05:00

Last Saturday, Sarah and her classmates had her first dance recital at Osseo High School! Here she is on the way to the recital.

Mommy helps Sarah put on her tap shoes before heading into the dressing room.

Awwww! It was a special day for Erin, who said she has waited for YEARS to do girly stuff like this with a child of hers.

"So am I cute, or what?"

Grandma and Grandpa Gordon were able to attend the recital as well. We missed Grandma and Grandpa Wynne, who had to stay in Jamestown ... but we send lots of love with these pictures, and we promise to share the DVD of the recital that we ordered, so you'll be able to see all the dance numbers. :-)

Sarah's dance recital, Part II

2010-05-17T18:20:00.006-05:00

After the recital, Sarah received a bouquet of flowers that her family bought for her. She's wearing her ballet dress in this picture ... she and her classmates got to perform two different dances during the two-hour recital, which included dancers of many levels and age groups.

Sarah and her proud papa.

Cheeeese!

And cheese again! By the way, we tried to get Caleb and Lucas to come with us to the recital, but they wanted NOTHING to do with it! :-)

Preschool field trip

2010-05-17T18:14:00.000-05:00

Nature hike

2010-05-17T18:09:00.001-05:00

Sarah's first trophy

2010-05-05T19:02:00.000-05:00

Sarah's dance season is winding down, and tonight she and her classmates received their trophies! It was Sarah's first. Yay!

Twins game with Grandma and Grandpa G

2010-05-05T02:09:00.004-05:00

Sarah and daddy took in their first NIGHT Twins game of the season at Target Field on Monday with Grandma and Grandpa Gordon. While waiting for the gates to open, Sarah and Grandpa posed in front of the larger-than-life statue of former Twins superstar Kirby Puckett.

Sarah and Grandma sat in the huge Twins glove outside Gate 34.

Checking out the Home Run Porch above right field. Oh, the Twins ended up beating the Detroit Tigers, 10-4.

Before the game started, Grandma and daddy walked around the upper deck of Target Field in search of food. We stopped and took this photo of Section 304 (center), where Sarah and Grandpa waited. They're that little pink spot toward the upper part of the section, as they were using Sarah's pink blanket to stay warm. Hi, Sarah!