There is this phenomenon created by all of the concrete in a downtown area that raises the temperature in the area a few degrees. This can mean that storms will pass around the area and leave the downtown mostly untouched.

Yesterday, the storm did not care about the concrete. It had a path and it was going to stay on it.

At just after 2 pm on Wednesday, we were sitting in our conference room that overlooks some parking ramps. We have a pretty good view of the north side of the city from there. One of my co-workers looked out the window and said "well, that does not look good..." We looked out and saw debris from trees floating above the roof of a 7 floor parking garage.

About 10 minutes later the emergency alert sirens sounded. We ended our meeting and left the room that is mostly windows to find a radio.

We learned that about the time we were seeing the tree debris there had been a tornado touch down on the south end of town.

As of now, nearly 18 hours later, there have been no injuries reported.

This is a picture taken by my cousin Andy. He was in South Minneapolis trying to drive home. He had to pull over to the side of the road since he could no longer see out of his windshield. It rained like this for a long time prior to the tornado and then again after.

Here is a picture from www.startribune.com taken by Richard Sennott. (not sure if it is okay to post this, I will take it down if I am told this is bad :) It is a picture of a South Minneapolis neighborhood where you can really see the damage to the trees. It's a tragedy so many beautiful trees were lost.

It is, after all, Tornado Season. This is the second time in 2 weeks the emergency alert sirens sounded.

How about a little humor to lighten this up a bit...

I was worried about how Heidi would be holding up through this storm. Since she goes to school right down the street from my office she was experiencing the same weather I was.

When we picked her up we wanted to know what she thought about going into the Tornado Shelter but we didn't want to right out tell her that there had been a tornado. We asked her if she had a Tornado Drill or Practice. Shannon asked if she left her room in the afternoon.

This lead to a lot of confusion as we all were expecting her to say she went in the shelter and didn't like it. Instead she told us they did not have a Practice and never left her room. Except for when she had to help Adnon get his puzzles.

Okay...

Then this morning on the way to school she said "yesterday, when we were in the Tornado Warning, the trees looked like they were going to fall over..."

Shawn said "So, you did go into the Tornado Shelter!"

Heidi said "No! We just had a Tornado Warning! We did not go into the Shelter!"

Shawn and I just looked at each other and laughed. I guess we didn't specifically ask if she had a Tornado Warning, we only asked if she had a Tornado Practice so that was the question she answered! Leave it to a four year old to be so literal!!

A Fairy Circle...

The Fairies visited us the other night...



These were just beautiful so I had to take a picture.

A Pinata Party!

Heidi attended a birthday party last weekend for one of her very best friends, Amaya. Amaya's Mom had made a pinata out of paper mache and covered it with tissue paper. I thought this would be a good project for Heidi and I to try so I invited Makayla over and we got all messy!


Heidi had never experienced the fun of paper mache before. She was a little leery about sticking her hands in especially after she saw Makayla and me! We explained that it was basically pancake batter and whatever she got on her shirt would wash out just fine. Eventually she dug right in.


We covered balloon's in paper mache to make the classic Easter Egg look. Then they had to dry. This took a few days.


On Sunday, we invited Makayla, Willy, and Emily over for a decorating party. Heidi put on a pretty dress and got to the decorating! She covered her egg keeping the Easter theme.
Makayla took the more difficult path. That's the difference between a 13 year old and a 4 year old. Heidi just wanted to get it ready to fill with candy. Makayla, however, had the patience to make hers into something special.
Since Emily and Willy did not make the paper mache with us earlier in the week they covered balloons. Emily had specific instructions on how Jess should cover the balloon!
And Willy's went down the stairs. Since he was down there anyway, he might as well bring up the butterfly net - you never know when you are going to need a butterfly net!!
We tried everything to get Heidi's pinata to hang from the garage but it just was not strong enough. It fell after the first swing. Shawn suggested we let the kids whack it on the ground. Heidi liked this idea.
Emily did too!
And as we thought, Willy was the one to make the candy come out.
The kids each had a little gift bag to fill. Heidi and Willy grabbed candy as quickly as possible. They were happy with the invite list of this party - without the added challenge of 15 other kids stepping on each others hands they were able to fill their bags.

Emily was much more picky and was only picking up candy she really wanted. Quality over quantity I guess!

Once they each had a piece of candy it was clear that the girls needed a nap before they turned into a candy monster so the party quickly ended. Emily and Willy went home with bags of candy and Heidi put hers back in the candy drawer (yes, we have a candy drawer, it's where we keep all of the candy she gets from holidays, parades, birthday parties. Out of sight, out of mind really works with her.)

Makayla's pinata ended up being a cat or maybe a pig. It was super cute but the battery on my camera died so sadly we have no pictures. She was happy to fill it with candy and take it home whatever it is.

It's so close!!

The bathroom is so close to being done I can feel it! Shawn said we should be able to shower in there by Monday.

As I mentioned before, the design is based on a display we saw at The Tile Shop in Plymouth.


Heidi has been such a big helper. She loves to watch Shawn and she asks a ton of questions. I think this is great. She is going to be able to do her own home improvement projects when she owns a house!

I love my new sink and vanity! I happened to bring this flower home from work for Heidi. We put it in low ball crystal glass and were carrying it around the house trying to find a place for it. Since our house is in complete disarray right now nothing looked right until we put it on the sink. It looks so perfect there! I think I may do my accents in carnation pink...
The floor adds a rustic southwestern charm. And the giant mirror above the sink is lovely! What a wonderful job Shawn has done!!

Our weekend at Morning Star Resort on Lake Andrusia

This past weekend we went up to Morning Start Resort on Lake Andrusia (www.morningstarresort.net). This is the resort Dawn and her family own. It was cold and rainy on Saturday but pretty nice on Sunday. What ever the weather, we had a great time.

The lake is 11,000 acres and is known for Walleye fishing. It's part of the Cass Lake chain of lakes, connected by the Mississippi River.




Dawn's sister Cindy has this dog, Hunter. She is a really silly dog who is very good at entertaining herself. She spent 20 minutes in the lake splashing herself so she could bite at the water! She swam all over and when she was able to reach she stood on her back feet like a person and danced around. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time!
Heidi and Dawn's niece Faith were instant BFF's. They spent most of the weekend together, riding bikes, running around, playing. We hardly saw Heidi during the day, we missed her! But she had a blast and did not want to come home.

Heidi wanted to ride Faith's bike since her training wheels were hard on the dirt road. Faith was so nice to push Heidi around on her bike.

Then Heidi wanted to try her bike without training wheels so off they came.

But she still needs some help so we will be putting them back on soon. She's not quite ready but she is getting there!
We spent a lot of time with Justin while Dawn was working. It was nice to hang out on the weekend with my brother! He took the girls on the 4-wheeler, which is always a hit with Heidi. Here is a picture of Heidi and Grace on the 4-wheeler with Uncle.

I was not sure what Heidi would think about not being Justin's only niece any more but she really did not care. She really likes Faith, Ariel, and Grace!
Heidi really wanted to go fishing so Shawn and I took Heidi, Grace, Faith, and Mackenzie (one of the seasonal girls) down to the dock.
No fish were caught because four little girls are stompy on a dock and the sure like to talk! It may have also been because we did not have bait...
Shawn helped Mackenzie fix her hook while Heidi checked out Justin's tackle box.
I love this picture. We were all getting on the boat to take a ride around the lake when we noticed all of these Turkey Vultures swarming. I counted 14. Shawn said, "No way there are 14 there! I only count... 14!" HA!
Justin let Heidi and Grace drive the boat on our ride. We filled the pontoon with 5 little girls and 4 adults - Heidi, Grace, Ariel, Faith, Mackenzie, and Madison (Mackenzie's twin sister), Justin, Dawn, Shawn, and me. It was a nice ride. The kids ate chips and then decided to feed them to the fish. It was a bit cold but no one complained.
Heidi and Grace enjoyed acting like monkeys on the counter.
On Sunday, the wind was mostly gone so Shawn and I took out the canoe. It was our first time on a canoe together but we had fun.

The good news is that we never once tipped it! ;)

Later that day Dawn was able to take a break and we went out on another ride.
Heidi made sure Libby was well hugged over the weekend. She also made sure all of the cats were carried around and much as possible.
Libby enjoyed playing navigator. This made me nervous...
And then Libby got cold so I shared my sweatshirt.

We had such a wonderful weekend. We wished it would have lasted longer but we had to get back to work and the bathroom project. And reality...

Another Day, Another Bathroom Post

I am not sure what day we are on in our bathroom renovation but I know we are very pleased with the progress!

First, I need to send a HUGE shout out to Graham for helping with the electrical. THANK YOU SO MUCH! And I am sorry I neglected to mention your handiness in the last post :)

And I am not sure if I mentioned or not but the permits passed inspection and are now closed. The dumpster is also off the driveway. I have no doors on any room in my house and all of the molding in the living room / hallway is gone but we already have the replacement doors in the garage and we just need to pick out the molding. I am so excited to have 6 panel solid core doors on all of the rooms!

Today Shawn started the tile and it looks WONDERFUL!! Here are 2 quick progress pictures. Heidi only helped for 2 minutes before she wandered off to play with Johannah and Briana who are staying with us this week.

Since our shower has been out of commission I have taken to traveling the mile to dad's house most mornings. Both dad and I enjoy this as he has someone to make his coffee and I have coffee before I get to work. I ended up taking a shower after my swim last night and decided to forgo the trip to dad's. Not a good idea, my hair was funny from sleeping on it all night and I missed my coffee. I bet dad missed having me put the pot on!

Once this bathroom is done I will have to have Shawn show me how to program the coffee maker at our house so I can have coffee before work without the mile drive!!

Heidi's Fishing Trip

Heidi, Kristen, Taylor, and I spent a long weekend with my Grandpa at his cabin on Lake Kennedy. We had such a wonderful and relaxing time.

Justin and Dawn were able to join us for the last day and then they stayed over until the following morning.

Since I didn't purchase a fishing license this year Heidi had to wait until Justin arrived break out the pole. She borrowed a Minnie Mouse pole from my aunt and was all ready to go as soon as Justin pulled into the driveway.

Heidi took to fishing right away. It was a beautiful day to stand out on the dock with her uncle!
She ended up catching 6 fish! A few Pumpkin Seed Sunfish (this was her favorite name) and I think a small bass and small crapies.
She is so proud of her fish! I think this is the first one she caught.

After some time the fish slowed down. Heidi took the chance to relax over the water. It was a beautiful day for fishing and relaxing at the lake.