Katie is learning her ways :-)

Recently, Katie walked into my parents room and hugged my mom.

Katie said,

"Mommy, you great!"

Then she walked up to my dad.

"Daddy, you great!"

Then she asked both of them,

"Can I have cake?"

Katie is learning her ways! :-)

I pulled this bead out of Katie's nose tonight...

There is a saying: "You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."

My version of this saying is that you can't pick your kids, but you can pick your nose and you can pick your kids' nose. Tonight we learned that we can also pick beads out of Katie's nose. How and why it got there in the first place, we'll never know. I'm just glad that I was able to pull it out with tweezers without a trip to the emergency room.

Why We Love Mom....

We celebrated Natasha's birthday today. McKenzie and Jacob decided to make an extra special gift for "mom" this year with a book they wrote with reasons why they love their mom. Some of the reasons were that she listens to their problems, helps them when they are hurt and takes them to the park.

The above journal entry literally brought tears to our eyes. It sure is nice to have well adjusted kids!

Lakes Bike Ride with Jacob

Jacob got a new bike a couple of weeks ago. He and I have gone on a couple of 10 + mile bike rides already. This week we drove to South Minneapolis to ride the Minnehaha Creek bike paths to Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun. We got to the north side of Lake Calhoun, about 1/2 hour from the van, and it started to pour rain. We waited the storm out under an overhang near a small pavillion/cafe. The sky made for some pretty pictures on our return trip. Here are a few pictures from our ride.
Minneapolis Skyline from Lake Calhoun.
Jake at the Big Green Chair at Kenny Park.

We finished the night with some Grand Old Creamery Ice Cream!

Cookie Crisis

Our nation is in a serious crisis, a cookie crisis. I grew up watching Cookie Monster and even had a Cookie Monster puppet (I cut a hole in the back of his mouth so I could feed him cookies). I think my brother had an Oscar the Grouch puppet. I'm not sure what our parents where telling us with that gift selection, but that's another story. Anyway, it appears as if Cookie Monster has sold out to big fruit. Thankfully, Stephen Colbert, our nations pre-eminent political journalist, if you ask me, has brought this story to light in this exclusive interview with Cookie Monster himself.

Deckert & Van Loh is a great place to work...

Sometimes the office staff needs to be reminded what a privilege it is to work with me. If not, I hear that H&R Block and the Air Force are hiring. So this Office clip is dedicated to those at the office who are so privileged to work with me(you know who you are).

Katie's 3rd Birthday

With Katie's birthday on July 5th, it is hard to follow the excitement of Valleyfair and late-night fireworks with any fanfare suitable for a 3-year-old's birthday party. On top of that, we are always tired after a long day at Valleyfair, especially the birthday girl.

We decided to take Katie to a cool playground called Chutes and Ladders driving all the way to Bloomington along with her cousin Teagan. Not having been there before, we had no idea that the playground was better suited for kids 5 or older. We decided to "bail" after 15 minutes and went to get dinner at McDonalds where there happened to be a more suitable playground for 3-year-olds across the street. Katie and Teagan had a great time.

Natasha made a special birthday cake for Katie made up of her favorite donut holes held together with frosting!

Katie watches carefully as Mema lights the candles on her birthday cake.

Here is a video of Katie blowing out the candles on her cake. It turns out that she needed the help of a little hot air from her Mema! (Did I say that?)

Here are a couple of pictures of Katie opening her presents.

Portraits of Valley Fair

Mema with Kiera, Kenzie, Jake and Karsten.
Katie.
Jake and Kenzie.
Natasha and her mommy.
Katie and Mommy.
My nephew, Idris, giving the thumbs up on the day.
Cousins' table at the family picnic.
My nephew, Arkin.
Callie
Cousins: Jake and Karsten.

Annual July 4th Trip to Valleyfair

We had another great day at our annual Mason Family Fourth of July trip to Valleyfair.

Every day at Valleyfair should begin with careful planning. Here, Katie plans out her day riding on her favorite rides.....
...the Bumble Bee Ride with cousin Teagan.....
...the "Mild Thing" roller coaster...
...and the Frog Hopper.

Prudent amusement park patrons are careful to read the warning labels before subjecting themselves to the "inherent risks" of riding amusement rides. Here, we are reminded that certain rides are "dynamic" and "thrilling." My nephew Karsten barely meets the height requirement to ride Steel Venom.
Steel Venom launches riders at speeds of 68 mph within seconds!

Kenzie was brave enough to try it this year...and survived!

Long days at Valleyfair can be tiring, unless you have alternative transportation........
Here, my brother-in-law Aaron rides either the "Hurricane" or "Cyclone", as I recall.

Katie just chills out in her stroller.

Any Fourth of July Celebration is not complete without fireworks. Valleyfair offers some of the area's best.

So you show up a half-hour early to stake out a spot to watch fireworks, but there is always some schmuck who comes at the last minute, or after the fireworks start, and then stands right in front of you. Here was our view (discreetly blurred).

Grand Finale

The long day takes its toll even on those who got to ride in strollers all day...

My niece Ava crashes on her mom's lap....



Katie finally succumbs to heavy eyelids on the trip home!

Super Bowl XXXVII--U2 Tribute to 9/11 Victims and Heroes

Our country's sense of nationalism and pride has diminished greatly since the months following "9/11", arguably the greatest tragedy that will be experienced by most Americans today. In the months following 9/11, when sports could have become a guilty pleasure and less important than the heavier issues our country was facing, the sporting events instead created a welcome diversion from the after effects of the 9/11 attacks and served to unify a hurting country.

During the half time show of Super Bowl XXXVII, an Irish Rock Band paid an emotional tribute to the victims and fallen heroes of the 9/11 attacks. Musical tastes aside, Bono and U2 made what is perhaps the most memorable half-time performances in Super Bowl history, if not one of the more memorable patriotic moments in sports history.

Rick Monday Saves the Flag

A lot of the patriotic moments on this list are here because of what the accomplishments represented to America. But Rick Monday's contribution was far from theoretical as he saved the American flag from being burned at Dodger Stadium in 1976. No matter how you feel about flag burning from a legal standpoint, this was a special act of patriotism that meant a whole lot to a country in turmoil. In fact, the crowd was so moved by Monday's actions they broke into an impromtu chorus of God Bless America. After all, if the Ol' Stars and Stripes can be torched on the field during America's favorite pasttime (with Vin Scully calling the action, no less), where is it safe?

See the link below for the rest of the list of memorable patriotic moments in sports history.

by jonpyle, Yardbarker, Special to FOXSports.com