Bandshell Nights

More nights than not, there's a band or two playing at the bandshell. It's such a beautiful setting, especially with the sailboat races in the background.

We braved the heat and caught The Percolators. S. tolerates it, and he's always ready to speed home once it's over.

 

Sunrise Dog Beach Guy

Every morning we see the sunrise guy down at the dog beach. He's there every morning in his swimsuit watching the sunrise. One morning he was eating his breakfast and offered S a piece of bacon. He is now on S' list of friends.

 

Cute Bunny

Some days we feel like Wallace & Gommet as we battle the bunnies. They absolutely destroy everything we are trying to grow, but sometimes they can be really cute like this one. S would like to chase and eat him.

 

80s Bands

After downtown, we hit an 80s concert at Uptown Theatre and saw three iconic bands from the 80s: Animotion, Bow Wow Wow, and A Flock of Seagulls. All the bands were all in their late 60s / early 70s and put on a fun show.

The nice thing about the Uptown Theatre (and most of the venues here) is that they are small enough that there are no bad seats. 

 

Father's Day

For Father's Day, we went downtown and hit Brit's for lunch and a walk around. 

Earlier in the morning some nutjob assassinated one of our state senators, her husband, and dog. He also tried to assassinate another representative and his wife, but fortunately they both survived. We did not realize he had been spotted in Minneapolis and that there was a shelter in place going on until we saw it on a bus stop sign. The entire city was on edge until he was arrested.

 

Paddleboarding

We are making 2025 the year of The Lake House. We can walk a block to the lake, walk to the bandshell for live music, and there are no bugs. Why would we fight traffic and drive hours to a cabin?

We got the inflatable paddleboard as a trial. We weren't sure how much we would like it or use it. JP loves it and takes the dog during the week. We broke down and got a nice fiberglass board for this summer from Paddle North, a local Minnesota company. 

We love the new board! We weren't sure how it would ride on the roof, so we took back roads home across the metro. It was fun driving thru downtown Minneapolis with a paddleboard on the roof.

The dog actually tolerates riding around out on the water. It's hard to see, but JP is out ahead of us on her new board.

 

Smoky Sunrise

We haven't had dense forest fire smoke this year like in the past. All the smoke has remained aloft, so we don't smell it. 

It makes for some beautiful pink sunrises. For a few weeks out of the year, the sun comes up to the north of the fishing pier. Six months from now, it will be 90 degrees to the south.

 

Freshwater Abalone

We came across this down by the creek. Not sure if it's a freshwater abalone or what. Back before plastic, the creek was a source of freshwater clams that were used to make buttons.

 

Pedalboard

Now that the kitchen floor project is over, we have a ton of scrap wood that needs to be used for projects. I made a new oak & plywood pedalboard for my garage setup. My pedals were getting trashed being only a 1/4" off the floor. Now they are high & dry and the cables have been cleaned up.

 

Back Seat Pup

S had to ride in the back seat of the pickup for his vet visit. He's not sure about that.