A Home in Mound

Boy was it fun to watch today... I always get enamored with large construction vehicles, and the girls and I had a great view to watch some of the action today!

I got the camera out for their second pass... here they come!



Just look at how this thing eats asphalt! Isn't it cool!



And I wanna be this guy for a day... the machine has two steering wheels, and he uses both of them! Here he is on the left side...



Then nonchalantly checks out, and makes adjustments on the right...



Then back to the left side, checking some important readings I'm sure... God is he cool!



Boy, that white dump truck is getting pretty full! Almost time to bring in a new dump truck!



This is where the asphalt gets thrown up from the bottom of the machine, and put on the conveyor belt. The machine went surprisingly quickly, the first pass when they went by the house took about 20 minutes.



Well, that white dump truck was filled and sent off... time for a new dump truck!



Uh-oh! it's a tight corner! I don't think my neighbor would approve of this...



Hmmm... I don't think this truck is going to make that corner.



Hey! Is that the mailbox sitting on the ground there?! I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like this either!



I guess those Star Tribune boxes are sturdier than they look! The guy never could get it off the pole.



Ok... at least he's trying to fix it. Maybe she won't notice.



One of our neighbors, "Can I get by to go home? How should I get there?"
Construction guy, "Very carefully..."



I guess she followed his advice. I really admire how she didn't hit the mailbox.



Well, this guy isn't as cool as the one driving, but I wouldn't mind the job for a day.



Well I don't know about these guys, but the girls and I had fun watching!



PS - I do want to note that I do not sit in my girls room, and watch the neighborhood, and take pictures as a habit. Only when large machinery happens will I be enthralled!

For some reason, I was only able to post 3 pics last night...

Since I'm taking pictures of birds, here's a Robin. I believe this fellow has a nest under the decking of our deck... I'll try to get a picture of it soon.


Now here's a Wood Duck, the male sort I thought I was looking at before. I think the other duck, that was more black and white might have been a female.


The Lilacs get a little more green.


Our Down Syndrome parent group had a pizza party the other day. Here's Maeve sitting with Elly and Alisa.


Here's Maeve and Noah.


I usually either ignor, or chase the Canadian Geese off my lawn, and I don't take pictures of them... except this one must have been doing some cleaning, as he repeatedly kept doing somesaults in the water. Weird huh?


Another boat.... a Kayak I guess.


We often have a heron around here. Here he is on our neighbors dock.

Went and had dinner with the Jans', friends from church. Here's Maeve with Issac and Peter.



Here's mommy and the girls, all dressed up pretty.



A big pontoon. More and more boats always coming by....

Take the family, or some other group, and go see a free movie at a AMC movie theater. AMC is showing kids movies for free Wednesday mornings starting in June...

Details here...

Hat tip to Sue Stock

I'm going on a serious note here. I'm a big fan of Brave New Workshop, and my wife and I try to go when we can. I got the newsletter promoting their new show starting in May, it's call

"Rise of the Celebretards: A-crotch-alypse Now"

Here's a picture from the flyer.



I'm all for making fun of stupid celebrities, or anyone else for that matter. Even people with mental disabilities should be made fun of from time to time... but use of the word retard in this context is inappropriate, insensitive, insulting, and offensive.

I hope the theater will change the title of this show. If you are inspired, please contact them yourself, and share your opinion.

But thought it would be fun to come back with a classic, from last summer...

Another picture from atop the Prudential Center...


Here is Trinity Church, where we went for Easter.


Janet went and walked around Fenway Park the other day.


Here's the Prudential Tower from Fenway.


Janet didn't go to the game... it was their new pitcher's debut... Dice K I think they call him.



Ted Williams I think



Janet walked by the Berklee College of Music



Here was our last night together... had a great meal at this restaurant. We look forward to her coming home tommorrow evening! We miss you!

Another video for mom...

I thought Janet might miss this part... when Cecelia cries uncontrollably after waking from a nap.




Of course... kitty makes everything better!



Maeve wakes up quiet like.



Then flashes a smile!



Maeve dumps out the little people from the storage box.



Cecelia puts them back in...

That's right... it snowed again... Our new lilacs haven't opened yet. Stupid snow.

Here's a couple pictures from the Grandparents... with the girls in their Easter dresses. Very cute.

I got up at 3:40 AM (Boston time), got on my 6AM flight... flew into Minneapolis 8AM (MN time) had a Perkins breakfast, and headed up to Rogers to pick up the girls from Grandma and Grandpa. They looked great, and seemed happy to see me. Again, we really appreciate Grandma and Grandpa's help this weekend.

So we got back home. It was a nice relaxing day... I got some video I hope to put together soon.

I'm having trouble posting pictures... this is an attempt... sorry if the sizes are wierd or distorted..

Here was our small hotel room at the Milner





Janet's room for the rest of her stay this week... much bigger.


Trinity Church, where we went Easter morning.


We went to Smith and Wollensky during our honeymoon... long story... but happened across it in this cool old building. Had to take a picture.

Ah yes... the days of Linkert/Kennedy... contemplating the Cuban Missile Crisis.



Downtown Boston from the JFK Library.

So far we are having a great time, although winter followed us here.... it's VERY chilly! And windy!! We had a nice meal in the North End (Italian neighborhood) last night, and spent most of this afternoon at the JFK Presidential Library - we both enjoyed that a lot (except for the 20 min. movie on the Cuban Missile Crisis, which I, Janet, slept through!). We experienced a beautiful Easter service at a newly restored old (1850s) church called Trinity. Wonderful music, and a very large congregation, packed to the ceiling (we were in the balcony). I haven't been able to convince George Matthew that he needs to walk the Freedom Trail (he didn't bring very warm clothes) . Sounds like the girls are having a nice time at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and slept pretty good for them last night (phew!). We really appreciate their (G&G's) willingness to take them for 3 whole days!

We will try to update again tomorrow, hopefully with some pictures. Tonight we are going out for another nice meal (we hope) at a place we have a gift certificate for.... not McCormick & Schmick's although we keep seeing those all over Boston (like the one we celebrated our anniversary at in Minneapolis). Matt wishes he had brought the g.c. he has for that place here as well. Oh well... next time!

Hope the weather is a bit warmer tomorrow, but if not, we have ideas of spending the day at the Museum of Fine Arts, and another one nearby the MFA called the "Garden" -- it's actually Isabella Gardner or something like that. Anyway, another large collection of noteworthy artwork. Think we'll pass on the Mapparium, and the Aquarium, this time.

Actually saw the first one Tuesday, but I was downstairs and very dirty refinishing our new dining table, and I couldn't get to the camera. This guy looks like he's either fishing, or just making sure his boat was working properly.



I suppose this is the reason why the loon and woodducks don't stick around.



Speaking of which, here's the blown up picture of what I thought was a wood duck...



Here's another pic of a male woodduck I found online, the pic I took might have been a female...

I haven't seen a loon in Mound before (not that I've been here long). I wonder if these, and the wood ducks (which I saw again today) are on their way north?



Here I cropped and blew the image up a bit.

This appears to be a great new program Xcel Energy is offering.

They put a switch on your AC units, and on those really hot days, they'll cycle your AC units off for 15 minute periods to conserve energy. It doesn't turn off your furnace blower, so the air inside the house will continue to circulate. I would guess people would never notice when the switch is off.

And if you think about it, this is a much better idea then losing power in your neighborhood for an afternoon cause the system was overloaded.

The other bonus... 15% off your monthly bill for the months of June - September.

Anyway, check it out if you are eligible...

Xcel Saver's Switch

NY Times article

There are only 4 left in the United States, 34 in the world.

We had some problems with a coffee table we purchased a couple years ago. Since we got the extended warranty, HOM offered to replace them. However, we couldn't find anything we liked, so we got ourselves a new sideboard instead.

Janet and I are going to Boston next weekend, so we'll miss Easter. So we went to Rogers Palm Sunday to send the day with the family. Got to hear Ella's lovely tones with the Sunday school kids.



For some reason, the church had this sax player playing with the songs (hymns). Probably the guys only chance to bring his stupid soprano sax out to play it.


Instead of decorating the eggs, Maeve, puts the dye in her mouth...


Oh! I guess she's painting it this way.


See my mouth Grandma?


Dad doesn't know what to do.


Girls playing downstairs.

Friday...



Today...


Can anyone confirm that this is a woodduck? I know they're supposed to be native to Minnesota, but I don't remember seeing them outside a zoo...