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November 4th, 2008Oskar Learns to Ride His Bike
November 2nd, 2008
Yes! He did it! He rides his bike! Wahoo!!!!!!!!
What started as a time killer before getting a hair cut this evening ended in one of those rights of passages that sets Oskar forward in a new realm of independence. He’ll tell you himself he’s not too good at starting yet and he’s going to figure out sharp turns tomorrow. He expects it won’t take too long since he figured it all out in about an hour this afternoon.
Gretchen and I are both very proud of him.
It’s getting cold here
October 17th, 2008Fall is officially upon us here in MN. The overnight temps are not yet below freezing, but they are in the 30’s. Oskar and Xavier are doing well. We made a trip to the Rochester firehouse #1 with Rainbow school a few days ago. We got to hear a real call come in and see the firefighters jump into action. Xavier has decided he does not want to me potty trained and would like to continue wearing pampers. 
Egg is heading to Virginia next week to assist NWF with a server migration, helping NWF phase out the equipment he originally deployed over 5 years ago now.
We Must Have Made a Wrong Turn in Albuquerque
October 6th, 2008
Alyn Family in Petroglyph
Since the trip is a working vacation for me, I wasn’t able to head to the Zoo with the family today but I think they had a good time. Here’s a couple of photos to tide you over until I upload a bunch to Flickr.
Balloon Glow
Sunset over Albuquerque
April Roundup
April 30th, 2008Busy month and clearly I’ve been slacking in my informational duties. Gretchen started the month with a trip to the beach to visit Vince and Jan while I stayed behind and finally made sense of my office. Spring sort of sprung and we did a bunch of cleanup in the yard only to have a whole mess of branches blow down the next day! The city cleared out the alley quickly and cable and telephone service were restored in short order. There are still wires draped in the alley and the Rizza’s fence and natural tree barrier will take some time to repair though.
We took the boys to see the Harlem Globetrotters after a successful elementary school game that featured the staff vs. 5th graders. Both games were a lot of fun although Oskar was frustrated the Globetrotters spent so much time talking instead of playing the game. Xavier seemed to enjoy it… or at least he enjoyed the candy ;).
Gretchen had a birthday which Oskar and Xavier made a cake and pinata for. The effort spanned a few days but was enjoyed by all. The cake had a slightly deformed shape after sticking to the baking pan, but we shoved it back together and hid the seams with frosting and it tasted just fine!
Oskar also joined Cub Scouts and attended his first Den meeting this past Tuesday. He’ll be joining the Wolf Pack officially in mid May but will participate with the Tigers now. I’m not sure how much fun he’s having yet, but I’m having a blast. So much so that I started a little campfire with the boys in the back yard this evening. Next time we’ll have marshmallows.
Gretchen has also instituted Friday night Pizza night featuring some most excellent home made Pizza that she’s been making. Gretchen and Oskar have also been working hard at Montessori work. Oskar is working hard as a first time pupil for Gretchen as she masters the materials.
Both of the boys are recovering from cases of pink eye and everyone is being hit hard by the seasonal allergies.
Last but not least, I opened my homebrew that I made WAY WAY WAY back in January for the first time. Despite being heavily over carbonated it tastes pretty good. It takes a couple of minutes for the head to go back to liquid though 
Next time - I’ll move it to the lagering shelves much sooner.
Trying to get a hold of us???
April 10th, 2008
A big storm blew through today and as a result, we’ll be without phone service until the 17th (or there abouts according to Quest). It was due to a downed tree collecting the telephone wire on it’s way down. Took out cable TV/internet as well, although Charter has restored that. If you need to get a hold of us call our cell phones. Lots of photos below. Read the rest of this entry »
Nickelodeon Universe, Mall of America
March 26th, 2008
Yesterday Gretchen and Pammy took Erik and Xavier up to the Mall of America to explore and the kids of course fell in love with Nickelodeon Universe, the theme park that replaced the Snoopy/Peanuts park earlier this month. A great time was had by all and Erik was the great uncle taking little Xavier on as many rides as he was able to. More photos after the link… Read the rest of this entry »
Rochester Photostroll
March 19th, 2008
Yesterday the boys and I went for an after dinner walk / photostroll around the neighborhood. I snapped off a few pics on my cell phone here. I love the old prairie style architecture that’s so prevalent here - oh and the kids are cute too! Read the rest of this entry »
Gretchen Hired
March 18th, 2008Starting this fall, Gretchen will resume teaching at Rainbow School here in Rochester. This is exciting for two reasons, 1. She’ll be able to get back to work and 2. Xavier will be attending there as well! She’s still working through her Montessori course work and will be finishing that up right around the time school goes back into session.
Egg Mentioned in NY Times
March 17th, 2008
The New York Times is running a fluff story about Honesty Box today (something I’ve done a little work on ). The short piece by Joanne Kaufman, touches briefly on some of the important questions surrounding anonymity online but doesn’t get into anything substantive around policy or moral and ethical considerations. It does however give a nice background on what Honesty Box is.
