MN Stars

E was invited to join the MN Stars AAU program this off-season, as was excited to build relationships with new teammates, step-up the competition level and extend her basketball season into the summer... and then COVID hit.

But, after weeks of virtual team meetings, video practices, and several outdoor, socially distanced skills sessions, the team finally gained clearance to practice with contact and eventually, on July 1, received state clearance for indoor sports to resume with minor modifications (mostly to fan numbers, time allowed in the building, fan spacing and coach/fan mask requirements).

It was so fun to see the giddy smiles on the girls warming up prior to their opening tip at the Bloomington Shootout, their first time back in uniforms, back in competition, and back playing the game they love at full speed in what felt like forever.

E was quick to fit in an has emerged as a floor general, helping take care of the ball and direct traffic on O, in particular.  She's a pass-first player with great court vision, but had a few nice scoring bursts as well.  Her first AAU bucket was the above 3-pointer, in a game the team lost by 1 to the MN Fury. 

Hamel Baseball

Baseball was one of the first sports to resurface post-quarantine... in pods... with shortened practices... with cautious rules of engagement, e.g. no use of dugouts, no seeds/gum, no sharing equipment (like catcher gear), et cetera.  

As time passed and states lifted more and more restrictions, abbreviated seasons opened up.  No stands, distanced fans, no umps behind home plate... but, man it felt good to return to action, to see the kids PLAYING again, and to bring back some Americana to our lives that have been so disrupted.

S quickly emerged as one of Hamel Red's most vocal team leaders and a very heady fielder, and has occasionally caught defenses off-guard with her bat.

Brace Face

Between Mom's "shark teeth" lowers and Dad's (repaired) upper fang, at least one of the Backer kids was destined to be spending some time in the orthodontist's chair.  Poor S "won" that lottery.  

This said, she sure looks a whole lot more adorable than I ever did with her under-construction smile!

Duluth

And, to close out the (4th) holiday weekend, the gang took a socially distanced day trip to Duluth. 

We pit-stopped at Toby's for donuts, Banning State Park for a hike along the Kettle River and dip at the base of the Wolf Creek Falls, the Lift Bridge for takeout lunch from Northern Waters Smokehaus, beers at Bent Paddle's new tap room patio (the girls didn't exactly love this part), and to see the spectacular views from atop the St. Croix State Park's abandoned fire tower.

On our hikes and swim we saw many deer, including a tiny fawn, otters, red and black squirrels and even a beaver... and caught many more frogs, toads and crawfish.

Money to Blow

With COVID concerns shutting down nearly all coordinated city displays of fireworks, neighborhood residents purchased up quite literally every legal and illegal firework from sellers for miles around and put on an uncoordinated display that was impressively fun... and loud. 

Lanesboro

The crew headed south with G'pa Tom for a hot & humid day on the trails in Lanesboro to kick off the July 4th weekend.   

We started the day with a donut at the Lanesboro Pastry Shoppe (that were more scone-like, which catalyzed a tantrum) and an 8-mile bike ride on the Root River Trail (where E slipped off the trail and disappeared into the tall grassy river bank drop-off ), grabbed takeout from The Bite for lunch, tubed the Root River (where my brand new waterproof case let in just enough water to kill my iPhone) then headed 5 miles northwest on bike for dessert at the world famous Aroma Pie Shoppe (only to arrive 15 minutes after it closed).  Needless to say, it was a quiet bike ride back to the the car... and an even quieter car ride back home.

All said, a fun day trip... and a new "PR" for both Grandpa and the girls covering 18 miles by bike on the day.