Sarah visits Union Station; The train ride home

On the way back to Minneapolis on Tuesday, Sarah and Daddy took an quick opportunity to check out the Beaux-Arts architecture of Chicago's Union Station, which was build in 1925. The station was busiest during World War II, when as many as 300 trains and 100,000 people passed through each day. Those numbers are reduced by half today.


An ornate lamppost and beautiful Corinthian columns at Union Station.


Sarah orders Grampa to color.


That little girl really knows how to crash!


As we crossed the Mississippi River back into Minnesota, a woman started playing peek-a-boo with Sarah. Sarah really took to her, and Daddy invited her to sit with us as we rode past Lake Pepin. Lulu was traveling home to the Twin Cities from her first year of college in Illinois.

The new pool

Out of the frying pan ...

One of the littlest ducklings we're caring for loves it when Sarah puts him in her little toy frying pan. If only he knew what it was for ...



Mmmm, mmmm! Finger-lickin' good!



Don't worry, ducky ... I won't eat you.



Can you imagine dodging these guys if you had to go really bad and had to run upstairs to the bathroom? And no, this shot was NOT staged.


Sarah wanted to be in the picture, too...

Girls' night out

It was a beautiful night last night, and after daddy mowed the lawn and spread some fertilizer, he brought Sarah outside to play. Before too long, all the neighborhood girls came over, and Sarah and her new friend Melissa got a ride in Sarah's wagon from the bigger girls.


Sarah and Melissa pose with Lissy, Janet and Mark.


Sarah's friend Melissa is two, and is the youngest of five Russian-American kids.

Ducks, ducks, ducks. Everywhere ... ducks.

The "duck count" at our house is at four and holding ... Caleb is the duck-napper who is responsible!


Sarah and the ducks. She always wants to hold them.


Three of the ducks took a spin on our trampoline.


"Quack quack quack!"


Four ducks at rest. Flipper is one of the bigger ones in front, and there is a really small one in back.

Sarah's preschool

This is the preschool Sarah will be attending in the fall, two days per week.



The playground looks fun!

Flipper comes to visit

Caleb and his friends found a baby duckling all alone in our neighborhood yesterday and brought it home. So now Caleb's room has been converted into a duck playground, complete with huge box for it to live in, and a swimming pool. The duck has been named Flipper ... and now Flipper's new daddy has been tasked with driving to Fleet Farm to see if they have duck food. Later ...


Flipper makes friends with Sarah.

We're all potty-trained!

Success! Sarah finally decided to use her little potty last weekend! Yeah, it's buried there underneath that blanket. She's so proud of herself that mommy and daddy are required to watch her every time she goes, and she likes to go potty about every 30 minutes. Yay, Sarah!


I didn't know models could pose while on the kids' potty. Sarah has only had two little accidents since she stopped using her pull-ups. And she loves the new Dora the Explorer underwear mommy got her. AND the new Barbie doll that she earned as a reward for going potty.


Sarah fell asleep next to mommy on the couch this past week, and Harley snuggled right in next to her.


Awwwwww!

Weekend in Duluth

Erin and Rich managed to work out a weekend without the kids and visited Duluth this past weekend. Here's Erin having lunch at Grandma's Saloon and Grill on our first day.


Rich waiting patiently for his wild-rice soup at Grandma's.



Here's the view from the balcony of our suite at Fitger's Inn on Lake Superior.


We met Craig (left), a pilot friend of Rich's, for drinks at Blackwaters right near our hotel. Craig is also a concert promoter, and he traded some concert tickets and got us a complimentary stay at Fitger's Inn. Thanks, Craig!


A shot of Duluth's breakwater and the famous Aerial Lift Bridge. The roadway on the bridge goes up in the air to allow ships to pass underneath. Cool!

Here's a shot of the Duluth harbor area from the top of the hill. That's Wisconsin back there on the horizon.



Downtown Duluth, as seen from the harbor.



We had temperatures in the 40s and 50s during our visit, but there's still some ice on the lake!



Artsy-fartsy shot of some sand with frost on top of it.


Ummm, Erin ... that's NOT Santa Claus!

This is the William A. Irvin, an old ore carrier that has been converted to a museum. Alas, it was closed until May.



Erin and the car pose in front of the iconic smokestack and water cistern at Fitger's Inn.



On Sunday, we saw the Dutch ship "Medemborg" win the race to become the first "saltie" (ocean-going ship) of the season to enter Duluth's harbor. It was going to on-load beet pulp pellets to take to Morocco.



The "Federal Welland" was an hour behind the Medemborg, and we zipped over to see it go under the bridge after checking out of the hotel.


Rich in Duluth.

Sleeping beauty catches a few Z's before picking up the kids.


Sarah and Grandpa Gordon revel in Easter candy and gifts.


Sarah discovers static on the slide at the big playground in Crosby, MN.


Erin gives Caleb and Sarah a push on the swing.


Sarah multi-tasks while riding home in the car.

Coloring Easter eggs

Sarah colored Easter eggs for the first time last week!



Which came first? The chicken or the egg?



"Cheeeeese!"


Moby and Harley.