Fort Smelling

I took the day off today to go with Grace and her class on a field trip to the Como zoo and Fort Snelling, or Smelling as they called it.

The weather was a little cool but good for walking around the zoo.

Grace and the Zebras

After a picnic lunch we went over to old Smelling and did the tour. The best part was the dude shooting off the musket.

Mr. Paul's class on top of the round tower

Good trip. Tonight Tami and Andrea took the older kids to see The Hunger Games so Brett and I took the young-uns to see The Pirates, good thing you can have beer in the theater now.

Florida Pictures



The girls and I going for a paddle




Tami and I showing off our tans



Madelyn learning to surf





Getting Ice Cream




In line for Tower of Terror





Hollywood studios





Big Kermie





3D




Animal Kingdom




Waiting in line



A monkey looking for a monkey





The girls at the resort pool





Girls go stand by the gold statue



Surprise!





Easter in Florida

We just got back from a great 10 days in Florida.Alot of R&R with pool and Beach time. Madelyn learned to Surf and tried deep sea fishing. The fishing didn't last long as it was rough and she got sick so we headed in.
We went up to Disney for 3 days and had a blast. So much to do and I am always impressed with their attention to every detail. Top Notch, Top Notch!

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

Back to the grind.

Docking Station

We bought a dock at the boat show today. Another spring and fall project.

Tuna

Here is a video my brother Phil put together of my dad and him catching a Tunny and me catching one a different day with him, my dad and Dillon. They sure fight hard for little guys I could not imagine catching a large Tuna.

Warmer Weather

I spent the last week in Florida with my family. I was able to get up early each morning and go for a ride for a couple hours. It felt good to ride outside without having to bundle up to do so.

The riding on Captiva and Sanibel is all flat and only one route without going off the Islands. I do have a 40 mile ride that I managed to do 5 times while we were there for 200 miles and a little over 11 hours.

We went out fishing on Friday and had some fun. Did alot of kayaking, swimming, eating and sand castle building.

1/28

Tough one today. Broke in the North Loop trail with the pugsley. That is alot of work.

Out at 7 am yesterday on my weekly quest to get a good long mountain bike ride in around St Cloud, Not nearly as good as last week. Colder temps had me struggling to keep my feet or fingers warm. North Loop was very icy from the warm weather and re-freeze and I fell a couple times despite the slow pace. The frozen ground made me wonder if it hurts more to fall on pavement or this, at least the pavement is smooth the ground around the trail has sticks, rocks and frozen dirt chuncks to tear at your skin.

The trail pre-dawn

I tried to ride the river but kept breaking through.

Back up the riverbank to Riverside park.

Snowmaking for skiing

After visiting with Amo who was helping with the snowmaking I decided to bag the rest of my outdoor ride as my fingers were froze so I went home to spin for the rest of my workout and warm up. About a half hour into my spin and an Indiana Jones movie my rear tire blew. DONE.

Today after a quick spin, Church, lunch at Green Mill and a nap I put a coat of paint on the cabinet I am working on for our kitchen then went to hockey where we lost.

Bikes, Basketball and Hockey

I did another outing at the North Loop yesterday morning. I had to be home by 10:30 so I headed out at 7 in the dark with the lights on. I did a lap by my self then Tim met me and we a lap then I did another alone. I then went down to Riverside, through Talahi and rode down along and on the river. As I was riding either a large Coyote or a small Wolf crossed the river in front of me. I captured it on my GoPro camera but haven't been able to get them into Blogger yet.

After a quick shower I went to see Madelyn's Basketball game. The team has had a tough year so far with no wins yet in 3 tries but they are having fun.

Madelyn with the ball

I have been working on a small kitchen cabinet project, they always take way longer than planned.

First Hockey game in three weeks tonight, feels like a new season with that long of a break.

New Years Eve ride

This morning I got out with Charlie, Jim, Mandy, Tim, Mondolach and Corey for a ride at the North Loop. The inch or so of snow made it a little tricky but had a good time. 3 1/2 laps and 2 1/2 hours.

I tried out my new camera and got alot of pictures and a couple videos, I can't get the videos to load so here are some pictures.

Following Mandy

Waiting for CST