Misty Run Wildlife, 2017

Each year, as more and more fields and wetlands surrounding out home are turned into matching tope suburban houses, the wildlife we see in our backyard becomes fewer and further apart.  We didn't get the camera out fast enough for the fox (one spotting), the eagle (same), or the pheasant (though, he's now such a regular in the neighborhood, I no longer race to photograph him), but did capture these guys, pictured above.  That rabbit, spotted Easter Sunday, was proudly captured and deposited dead on our doorstep by Griff the next morning.  Big G was not popular with the girls that day!

Grand View Lodge

We can't seem to get the weather just right for our year-end family vacation at Grand View Lodge in Brainerd, MN.  The past few years there's been so little snow, that there were fewer activities available... and this year, the bitter cold (never above zero), made it hard to tolerate being outside for any extended period of time.  Nonetheless, we made the most of it and still got out an (XC) skied, skated, made s'mores... though, sometimes only for a few minutes.  Oh, except for XC skiing, as we wound up getting lost in the trail system and our 20 minute tour turned into 90 (and we may or may not have had to bum a ride from GVL's CEO's wife who happened to discover us as dust neared).

This year's theme was "it's a small world", as we ran into four other families we know well (the Thalhubers, Kuhls, Dwyers and Coverts), and spent impromptu time together playing games, at the pool or catching up over pizza.  And, we added a few new activities to the mix, successfully  completing The Great Lakes Escape "Hero or Zero" escape room, saving the city from a bomb thread with just under six minutes to spare, board games and lunch at Big Axe Brewing, and a souvenir pit stop at Treasure City in Royalton.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

The five days of Christmas

Another annual southern MN Christmas road trip is in the books.  The car feels smaller every year, and the duration of each pit stop is always too short... but it's the only way to pack it all in and enjoy the magic of the season with everyone.

The big winner gifts this year were the Jiu Jitsu mat, punching bag, hockey net, Golden State Warrior shorts and Steph Curry book for Sawyer, and for Evie, the gymnastics beam, lock box, iPad and The Brain Game.

Playcation

We spent the day before the holiday madness begins with 2/3 of the Jung girls in St. Paul at Can Can Wonderland, mini-golfing and pinballing.  And, the night prior in virtual reality land while waiting for the Santa line to die down to tell him to come a day early this year!

Katy Perry

Girls night out in St. Paul, headlined by Katy Perry at the X.

Happy 41st

I'm ready to stop keeping track... but, getting spoiled by my girls for a day doesn't ever get old.

Breakfast in bed, one last day of work for 2017, pizza at Psycho Suzy's, and A Christmas Story before bedtime.  Not a bad day!

Golden Girl

It started with tossing the football into the pool for hours this summer, carried into indoor catch this fall, built with Viking hysteria during the season, and turned into S playing a season of flag football with the fellas at the Plymouth dome early this winter.  

She's got a great arm (dad and grandpa were quarterbacks, after all), good hands and is a pretty darn quick flag hunter.  Among my favorite moments of the year were all the "go deep, Dad" and "I'm going deep, Dad" games of warm-up catch with her each week.

Funny, small word tidbit, Sawyer's teammate James (back to the ball in black shorts in picture #2) is the son of Matt Boro (looking on in the Navy coat), a high school teammate of uncle Joe's way back when.

Purple Cheetahs

E's loving her second season of Wayzata "house" hoops.  There's still a wide range of talent, but the top third or so are really starting to piece the game together... crossing over when appropriate, pursuing rebounds, following through with a "gooseneck", and even using an occasional post-move.  E's developing a little range on her jump shot, and is pretty consistently knocking down layups when she gets them (especially on the left side).

I, on the other hand, am struggling with the season.  Coaching supply exceeded demand, and my name wasn't picked out of the hat this season.  Sure, it's more relaxing on the sidelines, but I've really loved coaching these kids.  Maybe next year?!?

MMA

Sawyer's found another ultra physical activity to fall in love with this fall/winter... Mixed Martial Arts (specifically, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Kung Fu).  She's a little younger than most in the class, but holds her own.  There's a fair amount of CrossFit-esque activity worked in as well, which she also loves.  She's getting stronger and improves technique weekly.  

Let's just say I wouldn't want to meet S in a dark alley.

Carolina

This year's Misty Run guys trip to a Vikings away game was to Charlotte, NC for a matchup against Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.  The Vikings had their worst game of the year, execution-wise (dropping passes, missing FGs, giving up big plays, tipped ball interceptions, etc.), but made it interesting scoring 10 points in 2 minutes at the close of the 4th (before giving up a 60+ yrd run to Newton that iced the game).  Panthers 31, Vikings 24.

The city was a'ight, and we painted it reddish-purple, closing down a dance club called Prohibition alongside a couple hundred locals on a holiday costume pub crawl.

New 'do

S refuses to wear braids or pony tails these days, and hates getting hair in her eyes during sports or when running around and playing (and, she's never not running/playing), and finally asked to chop it all off.  She's been thrilled with the new look, loves making Ferris Bueller-style mohawks in the shower, and is as adorable as ever.

Switzerland

Linds went to Switzerland for work, to brainstorm a global strategy for her new brand, Old El Paso.  Turns out OEP means "authentic Mexican" around the globe.  Not much time for sight-seeing, she said... and can't even say what these photos were of (but, they felt photo-worthy!).

Global warming

Backyard kickball and basketball in t-shirts and Indian Summer sunsets in December?  I guess, if being selfish and shortsighted, not everything about global warming is bad.  #actonclimate

5 kids in a tub

The kids broke out hair paint at Thanksgiving this year, which, surprise, surprise, wound up being a giant mess.  This said, if not for the paint, we wouldn't have been able to snap this adorable bathtub shot of the five cousins.  La's got #6 (her second) on the way this spring, so maybe we'll be able to fit one more in here for next year's picture... but, that will probably be the end of this tradition!

The cuddler

Buster's quite the cuddler, on his terms... which are when he wants to sit directly on top of you, or when Sawyer wants to spoon.  He's SO tolerant of the girls getting in "his bubble".  It's pretty adorable, isn't it?

Teddy who?

The neighborhood crew took in the Vikes 24-7 beat down of the supposed best of the NFC LA Rams, in a game that was supposedly going to be third string QB Case Keenun's last.  He cooly threw for 280 yards and one TD, completing more than 70% of his passes... and hasn't looked back since.  This season has been a refreshingly exciting one.  Fingers crossed the Purple finishes strong!

Hockey?

For almost 3 years, S has been begging to play hockey.  As the sport supposedly quickly takes over your life, and is supposedly ridiculously expensive, and as Linds & I know nothing about it, we've changed the conversation and diverted attention as best we could.  But, this year, S wasn't backing down.  So, here we are.  She's a little behind having missed a few years, but is working her little behind off, getting better every week, and loving every minute of it... and so are we.

Note the nod to her idol, Steph Curry with the sideways mouthguard chew in photo #1 above.

BDO IX

The year's Gopher Football Boys Day Out was unseasonably warm and started with uncharacteristically dominate performance (over Nebraska, of all teams) by the U.  We won 54-21.  Yes, 54-21.  We closed down the night, per usual, throwing stones on Bryant Lake Bowl and grabbing a slice in Uptown (Galactic, this year).  In between, we hit up an Irish Bar we were too old for in Dinkytown, and played a few games of shuffeboard at the Herkimer.  We were in Ubers by 10pm and had just a mild headache during the Vikings game the next afternoon.  You might say we're growing up a bit?