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.

Easter 2010

Sammy really seemed to enjoy Easter this year. The Easter Bunny brought him a new bike and the Flash action figure he wanted. Later in the day we want over to Dennis' house for a wonderful dinner and time with his family. Sammy enjoys being around Dennis and his children: Benton, Kendra, and Avery.

He wants to ride his bicycle, he wants to ride his bike...

Finally, the Flash figurine that he wanted!

(pardon his hair...he just woke up)

Avery and Sammy compare their results...

...from the Easter Egg hunt provided by Kendra...

Benton capably guides Sammy...

Kendra, Avery, and Dennis marvel at Benton on the parallel bars...

Avery shows Sammy how to climb like SpiderMan...

Sammy the bicyclist...

Benton provided a scientific demonstration...

...of Diet Coke & Menthos...

Breaking away...

...or as Sammy says, "I'm picking up speed Mom!"

The truth is out there...and so is Jesse Ventura...

Jesse Ventura is peddling a new book on conspiracies and his signing tour came to Rochester. We took Sammy to see former governor Jesse (the Mind) Ventura. Jesse talked, and talked, and talked, and talked...and talked some more. Sammy lost interest after about an hour and a half, so Michele took him home. Paul stayed (being #140 in line) to have Jesse sign a copy of his masterpiece.

While waiting, Paul sat down at the Barnes & Noble cafe and was immediately befriended by a 9/11 "truther" and his son. The Truther had a hernia operation earlier in the week, but had driven down from the Twin Cities. Apparently when Jesse was at the Mall of America more than 5,000 people had shown up, most likely a conspiracy to deprive the Truther of a signed Jesse book.

The Truther then explained to Paul the complex physics of the 9/11 twin towers collapse...and how it had to be an inside job by Dick Cheny and a squad of 15 French ninjas. And about Florine in the water. And about poison in diet soda. And why fast food drive through speaker systems never work. And why 5,000 people showed up at the Mall of America to prevent him from...oh yeah, already mentioned that. The Truther had also brought a stack of DVDs to give to Jesse...saying he was going to offer to work for Jesse as a researcher for free.

The 9/11 Truther and his son...

...giving Jesse DVDs with conspiracy stuff on them...

(former) Gov. Jesse Ventura

He's like a modern day Davey Crockett...

Christmas Eve w/Shannon...

We've fallen behind in our postings...

Christmas Eve, Sammy's friend Shannon came over for a bit. Here are some photos from that night....

Shannon plays with

what might be the coolest Christmas gift ever...

Sammy takes Shannon for a ride on his wild horse...

Sammy's Fourth Birthday!

Sammy's fourth birthday came quickly...he keeps growing so fast! Since his birthday was on a weekday and all the other kids at school have parties there, we opted to do the same. Later in the day, we went with friends (Shannon, Linda, & Tom) to Jenpachi Japanese Steakhouse. Sammy got a real kick out of the chef who cooked the meal in an dramatic manner.

Spider-Man, Spider-Man,
Does whatever a spider can...

The birthday boy...

Stories at the party...

Sammy waving...

Group photo...

The Jenpachi guy took Sammy's photo...

The only thing burning brighter than the candle,
is Sammy's future....

Super Memories...

Watching the Super Bowl tonight brought back memories of...

A strike...from the mound...

Winter Ice...

This morning, we awoke to a world of frosted ice. I'm not sure what the meteorological cause is (fog that froze to the ground?), but this afternoon I grabbed the camera and tried to take some photos. A good deal of the frosty ice on the trees had disappeared by then, but enough remained to take some photos around town. It was kind of a foggy, overcast day. Not much color at all. The following photos are in color, though on a couple I played with increasing the saturation.

This observation tower is behind our house on the hill...

...part of the Plummer House...

Another view of the "sniper-tower" as some call it...

A line of trees...

The IBM employees park...

A line of frosted trees...

Where I work...

Assisi Heights...

More Assisi heights...

Trees frozen in place at Assisi Heights...

The sky was not blue...

...I cranked up the saturation so you could see some contrast...

...notice the cellular tower at Assisi Heights...

How Sammy's Santa Photo Became His Mug Shot...

While doing some cleaning today while Sammy is napping, I came across this photo we had misplaced from this past Christmas.

Minutes after this photo was taken last December at the mall, our son Sammy made an escape attempt. When attention was momentarily diverted, he dashed into the crowd. Mall security was called in and shop attendants from all stores manned their entrances. When asked for a recent photo of Sammy, guess what security was given?

The fugitive was eventually found a couple of football-field lengths away at one of the exits/entrances in about 10 very tense minutes.

People who approached Sammy said his reply to where are your parents: "Visiting with Santa." Sammy eventually told us that the reason he stopped at the door is because he's not supposed to go outside without one of us holding his hand. Apparently, we had neglected to tell him that he was not to dash away on us at the mall immediately after having his photo taken with Santa.

The suspect was released to the custody of his parents, convicted, and sentenced to an appropriate punishment. He is now on probation.

Note: Check this link to see blog entries with Sammy's Santa photos through the years. It's always been the same Santa guy.

Sammy D

aka

Sammy the Fugitive

Halloween Friends and Family...

Mike, Mayo Brother #1, Mayo Brother #2, and Mark...

...we took them on a tour of the Mayo...

...Mike text-messaged his manager back East...

...his manager asked what he was doing at the Mayo...

...Mike replied, interviewing...

Mike and Mark with the obligatory corn cob portrait...

Pocahontas bailed on us and didn't go trick-or-treating...

Anne figures out Cathy's costume...

Diane's secret ingredient...

Sammy, Shannon, and good eats...

...and a ghost that only appeared in the photo...

Princess of the Night (Brianna),

The Dark Knight -- up way past his bed time,

and Tigger (Becca)...

Smile Diane, you're on Candid Camera!