January
Emerson had her first choir concert (post COVID).
Spent a long weekend in Florida. We enjoyed some beach time as well as ice cream at our favorite place (The Royal Scoop). Another memory was singing "I wear my sunglasses at night" with the kids while driving at night. We had food at Fort Myers Beach (this was before Hurricane Ian later in 2022). The next weekend was the complete opposite as we were snowmobiling at the Cabin and had dinner at the Thayer Hotel.
We had a few dinners with friends this month. We also spent an afternoon shopping downtown at Jennifer's favorite boutique (she bought a Betty White t-shirt) and then we had drinks at the Hewing Hotel and dinner at west-end.
I continued organizing the basement and selling some of my old things on eBay (that were just taking up space). Two things of interest were an old Popeye toy/game that sold for $750 and a lego darth maul for $830. Who knew?
February
Kids threw a few small parties / sleepovers in our basement with their friends. We had several dinners with other couples (trying to be more intentional on staying in touch and reconnecting with more friends). We also had a small Superbowl gathering at our house to watch the big game. We drove to see Kites on Lake Buffalo (however no wind meant no Kites) so this year just us driving on a frozen lake - picture from last year for reference).
Emerson had her first theater performance (Matila). Nathan stopped home from college for a weekend and we continued our new tradition of breakfast at The Original Pancake House before he leaves to drive back to school.
We enjoyed some hot-tubing as well as Lauren and I drove to the cabin (on a Tuesday afternoon) to go snowmobiling since high school had a 2 hour early release as we got 9 inches of snow. Yes, ironically, we passed a school bus stuck in the ditch. Ability to go snowmobiling on a moments notice would not have happened if I still had my corporate job.
We all went to the Imagine Dragons Mercury Tour concert but wasn't quite the same vibe as their last concert. We also started watching academy award nominee shows (Passing and The Power of the Dog).
March
March started off with my parents coming to visit. I was able to meet up with some old work colleagues. We watched more Academy Award Nominee movies (CODA/West Side Story). We also attended the spring festival at Schramhaus (Jen bought a goat shirt). With car and toy prices still increasing, I decided to sell my 3 collector/sports cars as well as two of my snowmobiles and a trailer. Fun times but ready for the next toy so need to make a little room...
Nathan and I planned a spring break trip a week before spring break after his plans changed and now he was available. We went to AZ, UT, NV. First, we flew out to Vegas and spent a day walking around the sites/casinos and watching some March Madness basketball games, then we rented a car and drove to Zions National Park in Utah. We did some hiking around Zions National Park and stayed in a Yurt. The next day, we went mountaineering in the Slot Canyons. Next, we drove to the Grand Canyon and spent some time hiking around and taking pictures. Our last stop was Arizona for the Mecum auction before returning back to Las Vegas for our redeye flight back to MN. One week and 1,000+ miles on the rental car with many scenic views as we passed thru 3 states (much of it listening to Nathan's choice of music - Kanye).
Then a week later, I left for Spring Break with Jennifer and our girls. This was a trip originally planned for 2020 but was postponed due to COVID. We enjoyed staying at Club Med in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The girls had a blast hanging out with other teens and doing lots of activities (circus, volleyball, tennis, dancing, water games, paddleboarding). We also did a snorkeling excursion one day on a catamaran sailboat trip to Soana Island Beach. If was kind of rough waters so we didn't get the full snorkel opportunity but we were able to see some starfish. Overall, great family time and a little time at the adult only pool for me and Jennifer.
April
In April and May, Emerson had her last few Middle School choir concerts.
Jennifer and I made a trip to NDSU to visit Nathan at school. We stayed at the Jasper hotel (our favorite) and ate at the Boiler Room restaurant. We were able to meet Nathan's girlfriend and we played cards (Wizard) together one night. We also toured the Bridges where Nathan is going to be living next year.
Easter weekend - Nathan was home from college. Friday night we all (5) went to Good Friday service at church and then to Joey Nova's to have pizza (our family's tradition for pizza on Friday for many years). Great 'adult-like' conversations in the car, at dinner and back at home. I really savored being in church on Easter and Good Friday with all 3 kids. Feels like an opportunity whose window is closing. After church on Easter, we hosted a family easter celebration at our house with Jennifer's parents and her sister's family.
Jennifer was on girl's weekend at our cabin. The girls and I did some nostalgic things (donuts on Saturday morning at the Donut connection). I watched a movie with Emerson and we ate Cane's chicken. Lauren and I went out for sushi.
May
Celebrated Cinco DeMayo with friends (had some Margaritas) as well as had several other nights out and dinners with friends in May.
Lauren stated Lacrosse - so we attended numerous Lacrosse games during the season. Emerson had her final band concert in middle school.
Attended a Minnesota Wild playoff game with a friend. They scored a few goals but didn't win. I drove to Fargo to get Nathan and move him and his stuff back home for the summer.
We hosted a church gatering at our home to get people back in church post COVID and a chance for others to meet our new pastor. Later that month, we also celebrated Emerson's confirmation.
Jennifer graduated from University of St. Thomas with her Master's Degree in Education and plans to start full-time as an Elementary school teacher in the fall. Unfortunately, her graduation was the same day and same time as Emerson's confirmation so we didn't attend the graduation ceremony but we celebrated with a special dinner at Axels and then a cake at home!
I took a driving trip to Chicago (picked up my Dad) and we drove to Indianapolis to hang out with my older brother as well as go to the Mecum car auction. We also enjoyed some Lou Malnati's pizza that had just opened near him. I really appreciated being able to spend some 1:1 time with my Dad during the drive.
We spent memorial day weekend at our Lake Home getting the boats ready by cleaning and launching them in the nice weather. Jennifer's parents joined us for dinner at the Thayer Hotel. We played games on Friday night with the kids called 'most likely too...' Lots of laughs especially when the card "most likely to fall asleep" happened when Jen had already fallen asleep on the couch. It's fun to see the kids really enjoy being with each other now that they don't get to see each other as often.
June
We wrapped up the school year with the final CMSW choir concert for Emerson. I volunteered at the 8th grade appreciation day. We had last day of school breakfast with friends at our house . I picked up Emerson from school on her last day (middle school). Next year will be high school for both her and Lauren.
One of my summer goals was to teach Lauren and Nathan how to drive a manual transmission car (as well as how to back a trailer and drive a boat) so I picked up a basic 2 door wrangler. Manual transmission, cloth seats and yes manual roll down windows. It's name is Clutch (not very original but fitting). Figured it would be a fun activity we can do together especially when we're up at the lake for long weekends.
Fun with friends! Earlier in the month it was the new Tom Cruise Top Gun movie Maverick and dinner with friends. Later in the month we went to Floyds with Friends. We also did the Excelsior art festival with friends (with drinks before and after dinner) as well as dinner at Coalition.
We had several graduation and birthday parties in June. We also did a bonfire one night at a friends house. Mid month, we dropped Lauren off at airport for her 2 week European school trip.
Jennifer's new bronco finally arrived. We ordered it back in 2020. Fortunately, despite price increases we are locked in at the 2020 price. Our garage might have too many jeep like vehicles now...
July
Weekend with kids/their friends and Jen’s parents at cabin. Lot's of fun things to including tubing, grilling, wakeboarding, more learning to drive clutch, games, fireworks, etc
Week long vacation with Indiana Maass’ and M&D at the cabin. Lots of fun activities (tubing, nertz, wakeboarding, spicy jerky, boggle, bags, teaching my niece how to drive a stick shift, sunset cruises, dinner with G&L at Thayer hotel).
Last minute, we took a quick overnight trip to the north shore (Jen and I) to see northern lights. Not dancing lights but pretty colors in the sky.
We had a couple more weekends at the lake. One with Lauren and her friends as well as Jennifer's parents and another weekend with some friends. I started playing tennis with the girls as the tennis season and tryouts start next month. We also did a fun night out with the kids at TopGolf before Nathan goes back to college.
August
We took at trip to British Columbia, Canada with Jennifer's parents to attend her cousin's wedding. Before the wedding, we visited Whistler for 3 days. There we sumitted Whister Mountain via Ferrata and did an e-bike adventure around town. Then we visited Victoria Island for 2-3 days where we visited Butchart Gardens and went on a whale watching tour. Then, we returned to Vancouver for the wedding, explored downtown and visited Granville Island. It was Lauren's birthday while we were on vacation, so we took her shopping downtown Vancouver as well as enjoyed a nice dinner to celebrate.
We celebrated Jennifer's birthday at the Grocers Table in Wayzata and then took her shopping downtown Mpls. Jennifer's friend Julie made her a really cool chair for her new classroom. Girl's were busy with CHS tennis team try-outs. Then we had friends up at the cabin for a weekend with tubing, wake-boarding, cards, and margaritas. Then we started getting ready for school. Finished with Lauren driving around in Clutch. We had a great day sharing/teaching and being together as we did some final errands before school starts. Then I also did some errands with Emerson to get her ready as well. It was fun to spend time with them and hearing their thoughts on school/schedules/friends. Girl's tennis team started before school (both practice and matches).
You know we’re nearing the end of summer when its MN state fair season! Most seem to either love it or hate it. We went 3x this year (probably just making up for the last 2 years of no concerts/fairs). Once with the girls, once with friends to a Wallflowers concert and once with other friends to see the comedian, Jim Gaffigan show at the Grandstand. The new Tot Dog was my favorite food!
September
One last celebration at the lake as we spent part of labor day weekend with friends. Wine, margaritas, bonfires and lots of laughs/memories.
The annual tradition our 'end of summer' celebration (breakfast out on Labor day to journal all our memories of the summer). Then school started for Jennifer as a fifth grade teacher at Clover Ridge. Lauren started Junior year at CHS and Emerson started Freshman year at CHS.
The tennis season is short but had some of the nicest weather in September for practices and matches. I really enjoyed being available to watch almost all of the matches this year.
We celebrated Jennifer's mom and her 17th year as a survivor of ovarian cancer. MOCA is a great organization and we look for ways to sponsor and help them. This was teh annual MOCA walk.
Friday nights and high school football seem to go hand in hand. Both girls enjoyed going to the games with their friends (often dressed in whatever the 'theme' was for that game. Fun times!
Lauren has a flexible schedule this year so we sometimes are able to grab lunch together. We also caught a late season car show in Chanhassen. Jennifer and I went to a fundraiser at Schramhaus to support our friends raising money for the Chaska /Chanhassen Ski Team. Also, beautiful fall days and skies good for running around the lakes...
October
Met some friends at tequilla butcher for dinner. Curling season started. we met some other friends for dinner in Victoria. We went to Schram a different weekend with friends. Girls went to homecoming game and dance. Lauren had a date and Emerson just went with friends.
End of season Tennis banquet.
Lauren was recognized for making the deans list. We volunteered packing some food for a local charity. Over MEA weekend, the girls went to Florida to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Jennifer and I went to Fargo to visit Nathan at school.
Marcus Mumford (formerly Mumford and Sons) concert with Wade and Sara at the Palace Theatre in St Paul Minnesota.
We took the girls to see SIX (the musical) at the Ordway in St Paul. Six is a British musical comedy with a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII, presented in the form of a pop concert. Very good, original and funny!
Carving pumpkins for Halloween and the annual Hallooween neighborhood parties. Always a blast!
November
Janes Addiction and Smashing Pumpkin Concert with Jones’ at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul. Dinner beforehand at Patrick McGovern.
Wig party at the Jones’ (after Halloween - nothing more to say!)
Nathan's birthday, friendsgiving, thanksgiving and then the vikings game on thanksgiving day!
Hanging out with friends (Camerons/Jaxs) at Grocers Table and COV in Wayzata. Lots of laughs!!
Annual tradition of taking a family picture in front of the decorated Christmas tree. Family picture for Christmas Card.
December
Family weekend - - made krumkaka (jennifer and I) and kids made gingerbread houses.
Visited the holiday lights at the MN arboretum with Jennifer's parents.
Annual Batalden Christmas gathering at our home...
Chicago trip to celebrate Christmas with IN Maass’ (theater, wizard, euchre, tenze, roll out sugar cookies, lazer tag, billiards, family feud and Mario kart, candle making and of course Portillo’s.
