The Double Mega Burger

There is a small diner in Columbia Heights called Flameburger. If you have not been there make plans to go there as soon as possible. They have the best burger and onion rings ever! I also hear they have a fantastic breakfast but I have not tried that - yet.

They are known for their Double Mega Burger. It has the following:

1 bun

tomato

lettuce

onion - raw or grilled

4 - 1/2 pound hamburger patties (totaling 2 pounds of hamburger!) cooked to your order

8 slices of bacon

8 slices of cheese

Mayo

Shawn has wanted to try this burger ever since the first time we set foot in the place. Monday, September 21, 2009 was his night.

They are saying - hurry up and take the picture so we can eat!

Holy Cats!! That's a big burger!

I can't believe we ate so much!

I can't believe we ate the whole thing!

I think I am going to be sick...

But I get a button? That makes it all better!!!

YUM!!!

Okay, so not really. It was honestly the best burger I have had but between the three of us we did not eat the entire thing.

Shawn and Heidi ate two patties, the fixings, and the top bun. They also had a few onion rings.

I had one patty with no bun. It has 2 slices of bacon on it and some cheese. It was very YUM! I also had some onion rings.

We brought the third patty home for lunch the next day and gave the rest of the onion rings to Shawn's sister that night.

Two hungry guys looking for food after bar closed could have put that down. A family of three looking for dinner? Not so much.

The Answer to An Age Old Question

We have all asked our self this before. What does 11 tons of sand really look like? Oh, you haven't asked your self that before? Ok. Well, I am going to give you the answer anyway...

It looks like this.
The perfect mountain to scale. The perfect pile to slide down.

Queen of the hill!!

Now, I bet you are asking your self this. What in heaven's name does one do with 11 tons of sand?

That's easy! They fill their 20 foot by 22 foot sandbox 6 inches deep, of course!

But first we have to remove the grass and weeds.

And play with our cousins!! Not much better then some BFF's on a sand hill.

Unless those BFF's are sliding down the sand hill!

Brunch with the Horses

At the beginning of September, Heidi got really sick really fast. She had a small cough for a few days that everyone, including her teachers, though was due to allergies. On a Thursday morning the cough got stronger and by Thursday afternoon she had a temp of 103 and was sent home from school. That night she started to complain of aches in her right side.

Friday morning she had pneumonia. She was given a very strong antibiotic and told to stay home and rest through Saturday.

On Sunday morning she felt much better and was very restless from being stuck in the house for so long.

The men in my family are active in the Zuhrah Shrine. That Sunday morning happened to be their Horseman Club's Brunch. So we headed out to their ranch in Greenfield MN to see the horses.

As we pulled up this horse started it's beeline over to us. It had been across the yard and when he spotted Heidi he trotted over to meet us.

We don't know his name but Heidi enjoyed watching him drink from the fountain and lick the salt lick!
After we ate Heidi wanted to go for a ride. Some of the Shriners were set up in the in door arena to give rides.
Heidi has gone on a few pony rides. The first time we bought her a ticket and she refused to get on. The second time she got on but was very timid. The third time she rode like a champ. The fourth time the pony was not attached to a circle and she rode up and down a path. After that she was sold.

This, however, was her first horse ride. She sat on a horse when we went to Makayla's horse camp but did not ride it.

I was surprised that she got on this large horse so willingly and then rode off into the sun without daddy.

This horse is called Pribo and belongs to a friend of my dad's, Larry.

After a break to check out the rest of the stables, watch a riding lesson in the out door ring, and an encounter with a snake, she was ready to ride again.

I think this horse is called Jedi.
And she is off! She was not ready to go on her own, she would not talk to the horse with the man she didn't know there.

Oh, yes, the snake encounter. How could I breeze by that so quickly? While we were watching the riding lesson in the outdoor ring some people found a snake. They were trying to round it up so it caught our attention.

Heidi and Shawn ran over to help. Terri and I stayed on the bench. Therefore, no pictures.

After someone caught the snake Heidi held it. She thought this was great. Terri and I did not.

I think it's called a Garder Snake. Or maybe a Garner Snake. But not a Gardner Snake.
Any time Shawn and Heidi see something that is drivable they get on it. They try to drive it or at the very least pretend to drive it. When we came upon this tractor in the hay barn they climbed right on.

**Side note, Shawn is wearing my dad's hat because he did not have sun lotion on his head which is now bald.
It was a fun morning out with my parents. Heidi crashed when we got home but I am glad we went out there. She now wants to take riding lessons. In addition to Skating, Dance, and Gymnastics? I think that's a bit much. But we do know people who have horse connections so we may be able to make it a fun hobby.

A Sure Sign Of Fall

Fall means fresh apples! The honeycrisps are out in the stores now and I am excited to go to the apple orchard. Heidi had an apple tasting at school on Friday and will go on a field trip to an orchard on Monday.

Yay! Fall is here!!

I hope next year we can plant a Honeycrisp Apple Tree in our yard. Wouldn't that be heaven?

My Verson of Golf

My grandpa on my dad's side was a golfer. I remember joking with him that golf was just a way to ruin a good walk. I remember the time he hit the same ball off the same tree three times. And I remember him taking me out for a round and Grandma telling me that it was okay to throw the ball if needed.

We had a great time golfing together. Not because I enjoyed the sport. In fact I really don't like it. I had a great time because it was time with Grandpa, Grandma, and Dad out in the fresh air.

Occasionally my work will take us out on some kind of outing to celebrate the end of a project or just to thank us for coming in each day.

Tuesday was one of those days.

It was a beautiful Tuesday to not be in the office but out ruining a walk (by walk I mean riding in a cart). We golfed (or not) Sundance Golf in Dayton. They have bowling there as well but I did not see that part of the building so I am taking the word on the website on that.

I do believe if you are going to the golf course, even if you are not going to golf, you should dress the part. My plaid Capri's and white t-shirt were perfect!

Dan was my driver. I think I was going to be his caddie but it was not long before we both knew that would not be a good idea. And I am kind of bad at driving the golf cart.

Mary Beth was the only girl golfing. She did a stand up job for the ladies! And managed to be out in the sun without sunscreen for 18 holes and not get burnt. Fine job, MBH!!

Franz claims not to have golfed but a few times. I don't know, he sure seemed to be the ringer!

Heidi (my coworker, not my daughter!) followed Dan, Mary Beth, and Franz around. Heidi made sure the sand bunkers were well raked when needed. I walked around and looked for Dan's lost balls. We knew our roles.

These are the fine ladies who made the day extra enjoyable. You would think that when you send all day everyday with people you may run out of things to talk about. Not us! We kept the day full of laughter and enjoyed a quick vent session at the end of the day.

Mark and Rick were in the other 4 some. Looks like they are having a good time!

Scott and Mark were the other half of the other 4 some. Looks like Scott is going to drive off the road!

I think a good time was had by all. I am not really sure who won but that's not what the day was about. A little break from the day to day and some sunshine did us all good! And I can say I "went golfing."

Our Day At The Minnesota State Fair - 2009

We just love the fair. We get up and go very early every year. Our goal is to eat our way through. Since Heidi has been coming along for the ride our trip around the fair has changed. We used to start at one side and work our way around until we have seen everything and eaten everything.

Now we know our time is limited and we need to fit in the kiddy midway. We don't end up in the Grandstand any more. Nor do we make it into the other buildings where they sell all the cool stuff. It's just to much work to push the stroller through the crowds and listen to a small child ask when we will be done. I do miss those buildings but I know they will be there waiting for me when Heidi is old enough to appreciate the randomness of what is being sold (or old enough to want to go do her own thing while I appreciate the randomness of what is being sold).

We also enjoy the fair with Kristen and Taylor. For the last few years we have not "done the fair" alone but have met up with people or brought people along.

What should we do first? This year we went frugal. I LOVE coupons and any time I can save a few bucks I am happy. I picked up the Blue Ribbon Coupon Book at a discount price from management in the building where I work. It was $4 instead of the $5 you would pay for it at the fair. We also purchased our entrance tickets from my building saving us $2 per ticket! Off to a great start!



Where is Heidi going? Maybe we are too slow... But there are just so many things to eat, I mean look at!
Man, did we save a ton and have a great time! And this coupon book encouraged us to try new things. We never payed full price for a soda. We ate things we had not tried before. We went on more rides than we have before. We earned back our $4 in minutes.
I have posted about the Kiddy Midway, the Animals, and Makayla's Ride on the SkyScraper. Here are some more pictures of our day.


There were plenty of places for Heidi to climb. This is a rock outside the DNR building.

I love this bear, also outside the DNR building.

She also climbed the log pile by the Lumberjack show. We are not good about knowing when shows like this happen and I don't like the idea of sitting on bleachers for hours waiting for a show to start but we happened on this show and had a decent view from behind. Heidi didn't really understand what was going on but she liked the log pile!

She liked the logs so much she turned into a beaver...

We also happened on the parade and Heidi got to see Nordy for the first time in person! She spent the entire 2008-2009 Wild Season stalking the Xcel Energy Center looking for Nordy and never found him. Of course we would see him at the Great Minnesota Get Together!!

We also saw her other favorite home town hero - TC!

I was happy to pose with some cows...

Isn't this thing great?! It really should be in my back yard.

At the kiddy midway we crossed our fingers that Heidi was 42 inches tall. At the Kid Farm we crossed our fingers she was not 4 chickens tall. Looks like we have another year or so!

At the kid farm they get to do small tasks that would happen on the farm ending with selling your goods at the farmers market and taking home a little snack. Heidi loved driving the tractor!

Look, more cows to hang out with!

This one was very Minnesota!

And this one was very MN State Fair!

Very cool! This one should be by my fireplace...

Kristen had a good time test driving the big lawn mowers.

And Heidi just kicked back.
The best way to end your visit is with a big bucket of Sweet Martha's Cookies! Yum!

I already can't wait to go back next year!!