Minneapolis Sightseeing

No trip to the Cities would be complete without hitting the falls. It was a perfect day and we grabbed a tasty lunch at one of my favorite places: Sea Salt.

US Bank Stadium is a ghost town now that Taylor Swift is gone.

The falls downtown and Stone Arch Bridge are fun, too.

 

MOA

MB & MB & Grampa Stopped off for a laundry break on their way home from Oshkosh. 1st stop: The MOA!

There is is still some excitement lingering from the Taylor Swift show. 

We hung out with Grampa while the girls shopped and shopped.

 

A Dog's Life

S is really good at just laying around the house. It's one of his favorite things to do.

 

Cat Places

If she fits, she sits.

 

Downtown Walking Loop

One of our new favorite walks is a 2-mile loop downtown. It encircles the St. Anthony falls by going over the Stone Arch Bridge, down the bluffs in Father Hennepin Park, and back across the Hennepin Ave. bridge and Nicollet Island. It amazing how many tunnels exist on both sides of the river where water was used to spin turbines to grind flour.

 

Twins Country Music Night

The Gs came up for a quick weekend of fun. We kicked it off with a Twins night game. 

It was Country Music Theme Night, so the girls got some Twins cowboy hats.

Target field is a lot more crowded this year. Our normal section has been completely full and we have to sit in the next one down the 1st base line. We got spoiled last year.

 

No More Shots

For the last 17 years I've had to carry around an insulin shot. Every time I ate anything, there was an accompanying shot. All day, every day.

That has all changed with the Omnipod wearable insulin pump. It contains three days worth of insulin and there are no more shots! It listens to the continuous glucose monitor (that is also stuck to me) and determines the correct dosage. So far it has been amazing!

 

Shrubbery

Now that the blank canvass part of the backyard is complete, JP is having fun filling in the blank spaces. She put in three dwarf evergreens and some gravel. 

 

Marshall Crenshaw

One of JP's favorite bands from the 80s played at the Parkway, our neighborhood venue.

 

We were the youngest fans in the crowd. Marshall Crenshaw is 69 and looked and sounded great. 

Backyard Stepping Stones

We had put in some stepping stones next to the firepit, but they were just on top of the dirt  JP spent the week finishing them up. She pulled them all out and put in some river rock to match what we have by the house.

It came out really nice and it now looks finished.

 

Pink Guitar Upgrade

When CG moved, he gave me his guitars. I modified the pink one to have some new P90 pickups. The original configuration was the normal three single-coil pickups.

The top pickup cavity had to be enlarged for the new pickup. Had to route out some pockets for the screws, too.

The new pickups and pickguard really changed the look and sound. Pickguard: $12, pickups: $18. The middle pickup is a humbucker I had lying around in a drawer. It's fun to play and it doesn't look like a $100 guitar any more. The next step is to get a "Barbie" decal for the headstock and have her autograph it.

 

Lake Walks

It's so nice having the lake be part of our daily walks. 

 

Brickwork

We spent one of the holiday weekend days finishing up the bricks on the front steps. Getting the old construction adhesive removed was the most challenging part. Now al the bricks on all the steps are solid.

 

Backyard Rodents

 

Rib Weekend

For independence day weekend, CP came over and we smoked up some ribs.

I think I finally have the method down: dry rub, 225° for 4.5 hours. Keep water in the tray and leave the ribs alone.

We also tried smoking some brats. Mmmm Tasty!!

 

Paddleboard

We have been so busy this summer that JP has not been out on her paddleboard. We were able to talk GP into trying it and he actually had fun!

S doesn't care for his lifejacket, but he does enjoy riding around the lake.

 

Smoky Haze

We've had on & off smoke from the wildfires in Canada. On the bad days, we cannot see the buildings downtown.

 

Pride March 2023

We had a nice cloudy day for the Pride March. Last year we cooked in the sun. This year, JP wore a jacket.

The parade goes for three hours. All the big local companies, sports teams, and groups marched.

Afterwards, we hit the beer garden and one of the four stages at the festival in Loring Park.

 

DN Time

The N girls took off and spent the day & night downtown at the Taylor Swift show. We had DN to ourselves and took him out to Excelsior and had dinner on Lake Minnetonka.

The dogs were missing the girls.

 

Noon Twins Game

The N clan came up from Chicago for the Taylor Swift concert. DN & I hit a noon game in the sun. By the 6th inning we had to abandon our seats and find some on the upper level in the shade.

 

Pride Run @ Work

GP & I participated in the Pride Run at work with 100+ other people. Together as a company, we raised over $10k for the Trevor Project.

 

Rose Garden

One of our favorite walks is over to the Lyndale Park Rose Garden. All the roses are in full bloom and the fountains are running.