Quarry Hill Nature Center Cave Visit...

This Friday Sammy went to the Quarry Hill Nature Center for a cave exploration. His friend Shannon came as well as Tom, Linda M, Jessica, and Linda R. The staff and volunteers put on a great tour with some dressing up as animals: a great horned owl, a raccoon, a bat, and finally a skunk.

Sammy...

A naturalist with a Screech-owl...

Sammy and Shannon spot something (or someone) in the tree...



The crowd looks up...

A Great Horned Owl perched in a tree...
Told us many things except...
how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop...

Michele & Sammy...

Shannon & Linda...

A hungry raccoon...

Entering the cave...

This cave was dug out of sandstone...
...heck, just read the photo itself...

Inside the cave...

Sammy enters the cave...

It was pretty dark in there...
...the flash on the camera suggests otherwise...
...Sammy with a flashlight...

A silly skunk demonstrates what skunks do...
...but using a water bottle instead...

Michele & Sammy...

Angry taxidermy inside the nature center...scary!!!

And under-fed bat...

Sammy raking the leaves...

This past week Sammy helped raking the lawn...

Sammy the raker...

OK Sammy, get to work...

Sammy helping the leaves to fall...

Sammy finally raking...

Sammy no longer raking...

The Schwan's guy came by and Sammy helped out...

Corn Cob Portrait of the Month...

My sisters (Diane is not in the photos...she was busy making paper toys for Sammy) came to visit this weekend and brought Jayd along. Jayd is a lot of fun and was very helpful with Michele's sewing project...Sammy is going to be Robin Hood this year for Halloween.

Sammy working the politicians...

Today Minnesota Gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer was in town to meet with Sammy. Also in attendance was congressional candidate Randy Demmer (yeah, similar last names). Both worked hard to earn Sammy's support...

Sammy & Tom Emmer...

Sammy & Randy Demmer...

Randy Dammer & Sammy...

Picking Apples With Shannon...

Today was a perfect autumn day. We went to Mazeppa to pick apples with Shannon and her parents Tom and Linda. A beautiful day. Here's a video and then some photos...

Sammy the Goalkeeper...

Today Michele took Sammy to soccer lessons and this is what Michele saw...

Roof Work Part 1: A Crooked Garage Roof

Big week at our house. Replacing all our roofing with standing seam metal roofing. But first we have to straighten the roof on our garage. Here is what it looked like before work started yesterday (Sammy helped)...

We had a lot of rain in Rochester...

September 23, 2010: Rochester MN gets in the area of 10" of rain. Here are some photos and videos of the Zumbro River as it passes through town that Paul took.

Fishing with Poppa...

Last night we went to Sylvan Beach for dinner. Then we went to the dock where Poppa took Sammy fishing...and Sammy caught his first ever fish!

Sammy fishing with Poppa...

Sammy the Ring-Bearer

This past weekend Sammy traveled to New England to be the ring-bearer in his aunt's wedding. While Michele was tirelessly helping make the wedding a success, Paul got to spend a good amount of time with Sammy. Here are some photos and video clips from the weekend put together...

The 2010 Family 500

This past week Paul's brother David and his family came to visit. Yesterday, we went Go-Karting for the first Family 500 since 1994. Here are some video clips quickly put together.

National Train Day 2010...

Today we went up to St. Paul with Diane & Mike to celebrate "National Train Day." Sammy enjoyed all the trains and later we went to lunch at a place called "Cupcake."

"All aboard!!"

Sammy re-enacts a scene from "North by Northwest"

Mike & Diane in a passenger car...

We suspect this van made the evening news...

...don't mess with trains!

A brand new GE locomotive...

Engineer Sam....

Barreling down the tracks...

Sammy inspects the locomotive's engine...

A hobo's life is not appealing to Sammy...

Cupcakes at a restaurant called "Cupcake"

The kitchen of "Cupcake"

Sammy outside the restaurant...

Sammy wanted to ride a train...

...so we took him on the light rail...

Biking with Shannon...

Today Shannon came over for a bike ride with Sammy. They rode over to Soldiers Field, looked for bugs with magnifying glasses, and had an overall great time. A serious product defect occurred (Sammy's training wheel unexpectedly came off) but we believe with time and a good tort lawyer, he'll be all right.

Mantorville Theatre with Family, Friends, and One Stranger...

Last night we went out with family & friends to have dinner, celebrate a few birthdays, and watch a Mantorville Theatre production of Neil Simon's "Fools." Dinner at the Hubbell House Restaurant was tasty as ever.

We occupied the first two rows of the Mantorville Opera House. One seat was already occupied by a curious lady, so we sat around her. Michele sat in the second row with Sammy and Paul sat in front with the mystery lady. At the Mantorville Theatre shows, in particular their melodramas, the audience is supposed to participate by booing at the villain, cheering for the hero, and sighing for the heroine. Last night when the crowd would boo the villain, the mystery lady would cheer for him and then look at Paul. Strange night in that sense.

During the play (which is a light-hearted odd-ball comedy), a character has no fish to sell so she sells flowers claiming they are whitefish. When she tells this to another character, at just the right moment, Sammy blurts out loudly, "That flower is NOT a whitefish!" to which the audience laughed. He made several outbursts like that throughout the night, at just the right time, to add to the laughter of the evening. At the end of the show, the cast stands outside and shakes everyone's hands. When Sammy came out, the cast (no kidding here) broke into loud applause for Sammy. Apparently they were laughing like crazy behind stage at his outbursts. Maybe Sammy will be in a future production there...his timing is uncanny.

Ulysses S. Grant once stayed/ate at the Hubbell House...

The birthday cake...

Amanda, Sean, and Anne...

Sammy runs to Linda and Michele...

The Mantorville Opera House...

Our group filled up the first two rows...

1st Row (l-r): Mark, Bernie, Mystery Woman, Diane, Mike F., Sonny, Barb

2nd Row (l-r): Mike, Georgia, Linda, Michele, Sammy, Amanda, Anne, Sean

Guess where we went today...

Today we drove up to the Twin Cities to the Michele Bachmann/Sarah Palin rally (for Bachmann's reelection bid). We met up with Paul's sister Anne & Sean. About 10,000 people were there.

We somehow ended up by where a mini-TV studio was set up. Turns out it was the FOX News stage for Hannity. Before the event started, Hannity came out to shake hands and sign books. We just happened to be by the portable metal fences, so he came right past us. Michele shook his hand. Hannity tried to shake Paul's hand--twice--but Paul was not paying attention (off in deep thought or such). Finally, Hannity put his hand on Paul's shoulder, grasped it, and said thanks for coming. One thing we agree on, the TV screen does add like 5lbs to the person.

There was a steady stream of state luminaries who spoke. Various congressmen, Governor Pawlenty, etc. Finally Michele Bachmann and then Sarah Palin. It was a fun event. Pawlenty is a pretty decent public speaker actually.

When we left. we had a minor incident at the parking garage. When we went to exit, the attendant asked for the receipt. The driver of our car had no recollection of having been given one when we paid on entry. A tense standoff ensued with our driver reluctant to pay anything more than we already paid. The supervisor spoke to us over a speaker and said we had to pay a full day fee (on top of the $9 we paid to get in to the garage) absent a receipt. But eventually the supervisor brought up the gate for us to leave. Later at home, we found the receipt. So it goes.