Stockerts Visit the Big City

We did something unusual for us - took a vacation! Although it was quick and close, the Mall of America was fun for the boys. (Yes, I dressed them alike, which seems silly, but turned out to be a great idea. They were easy to keep track of in the crowds.)

We started in the Underwater Adventures Aquarium, which was pretty cool. This is a young alligator.

The main attraction at the aquarium is the enormous shark tank. The viewing area is a long, winding tunnel through the aquarium, so you can see the sharks from all angles. It was pretty cool! This picture doesn't do it justice, but maybe you get the idea.

One of the objectives of the aquarium was protection and preservation of sea life, and sharks in particular. We watched a movie about the mistreatment of sharks and efforts to protect them.

After the aquarium and lunch, we bought our ride wristbands for the amusement park and rode the rides until 10 pm. This park used to be called Camp Snoopy, but Nickelodeon recently took over and re-branded all the rides with their characters. It was actually really fun! The rides are full-fledged amusement park rides, some so intense that we didn't even try them. This one was a vertical drop.

This roller coaster was my favorite.

The Mall of America also houses a Lego store, which features many giant Lego models, like this one of Boba Fett.

The next day we visited the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. That was super fun, too. There are several levels of kid-centered exhibits.

There were the usual dinosaurs and such, but they also had a huge exhibit on the human body, another on germs and illness, and one on weather. Those exhibits were totally hands-on.

The boys loved it.

Here's a sign that we were on a totally American vacation - the hotel we stayed in was right across the street from the Mall of America, but they ran a shuttle bus to the mall every hour from 10 am to 10 pm. We walked a couple of times, and we rode a couple of times. Admittedly, the street was several lanes wide of very busy traffic, but we did just fine, and it was a 5-minute walk at most.

Although we vacationed at one of the largest malls in the country, the only shopping we did was at the Lego store. It was a great family vacation, and I hope we created some lasting memories for the boys.

School's Out

Friday was the last day of school. Northridge ends the school year with a closing flag ceremony, which is kind of nice. I snapped a few pictures:

Connor and his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Towne

Dylan and his 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Ohlhauser

Dylan with his two good friends, Connor and Mack

Now for two weeks of break before summer school starts. Next year will be a big change for us with both boys in school all day.

PC's Number Two!

I'm a PC user myself, but I love the Mac ads, and this one was especially funny.

Enjoy!

New Exhibit at Dakota Zoo

Dakota Zoo's newest exhibit - Little Blonde Boy!

Just kidding. Connor's kindergarten class took a field trip to the zoo on Wednesday, and Brad snapped a good shot of Connor in the viewing pod inside the prairie dog town.

Twins

Northridge hosted a "Twins" Day, in which students could either wear their Minnesota Twins garb, or dress alike with a friend. Dylan's friend, Connor, volunteered to share his dad's referee shirts to dress like twins for the day. The shirt was pretty big for Dylan, but he kept it on for most of the morning.

Dylan and Connor have become very good friends this year, and they are quite the pair. Connor is by far the tallest in the class, while Dylan genetically doesn't stand a chance in the height department. They share a similar sense of humor and many common interests, like Lego. When Connor is at our house, there is a lot of confusion with two Connors. How funny that Dylan's brother and his close friend have the same name.

Cubmobile Races

Saturday was the annual Cub Scout Cubmobile races at the Capitol grounds. I had to talk Dylan into going, but once we got there, he had a fun time, despite the cold weather. The orange car belonging to our den ran like a champ this year, thanks to Travis, who spruced up the wheels and axles.

Each scout gets to run two heats, and our car won all the heats it ran. It's our family's turn to store the car until next year, so we took it home after the race. I told Dylan he should dress it up with cushioned seats and a cool dragon painting on the back.

The smile on Dylan's face after his race says it all.

Fishbowl 4 Sale

Our old house is for sale again. I looked it up online and discovered that there was an open house Sunday, so we popped in for a peek. It was a fun stroll down memory lane, and I was waxing nostalgic about the "good old days" in that house.

Brad and I bought it in 1992 for $48,000; we sold it in 2000 for $68,000. (Did you see what they're asking now?!?) Admittedly, there are new appliances and windows, and the market is going bonkers in Bismarck right now, but that seems pretty high for such a small house with no yard, unless you count the capitol grounds across the street.

I actually liked living on a busy corner. It always felt like we were in the thick of things. We called it the "Fishbowl House" because passersby could see what we were up to. People would say, "I saw you were giving a haircut yesterday," or "I saw you were up late last night." On a quiet evening, we would sit in the front, drink a beer, and watch the traffic roll by.

The house is very well staged for selling. That must be a big business now.

I was surprised to see that the two bathrooms we had remodeled where unchanged, especially because every other room had been painted.

The basement had full windows, which made it so light and not-basement-y.

Brad taught lessons in these last two basement rooms. The current owners sure do have a better sense of decor than we did.

Here are some pics I scanned in of our 7 1/2 years in the house:

October 29, 1992 - the day we signed papers. (Also the day my niece, Kassy, was born.)

Brad and I in the living room, Christmas 1992.

Baby Dylan and I in the (recently remodeled) upstairs bathrom, March 1999.

Brad and Dylan in the drumset room downstairs.


Dylan watching Brad in the marimba room downstairs (girl's red bedroom above).

The dining room decorated for Dylan's first birthday party, October 1999.

Oh yeah, and there's also another house for sale in our neighborhood.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

"Cobrastyle" by Robyn

I caught this on Letterman last week. I found it oddly alluring and totally entertaining. Robyn is a Swedish pop singer who had minor success in the late 1990s. Since then, she has continued to slowly pick up steam.

Here she's covering a song by another Swedish band, the Teddybears, which itself contains a bit of lyric from "Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock. Whew - are you following this? Watch their version, which is also totally entertaining.

Flowers for Coach Michele

Today was my Just For Kix Spring Show day, and I made it through. I held two shows this year because my program has gotten too big for one. It's a good thing that my program continues to grow, but holding two shows makes for double the work, double the expenses, and double the people needed. Thankfully, splitting into two shows also made each one more manageable in length and number of kids.

Every year I recognize dancers for years with Just For Kix. There are always a few who receive a five-year recognition. Last year I recognized my first ten-year dancer, and this year I recognized my second ten-year dancer, who also happens to be my niece, Kassy. That was a cool moment for me. I also recognized my first two graduating seniors. Hard to believe I've been doing this for 12 years and still going strong.