CivicFest During the RNC!

The Twin Cities are putting on "CivicFest" during the Republian National Convention this week. It is meant to showcase presidential, American and Minnesota history, and get people thinking about civic-minded things, especially those who are excluded from the RNC's proceedings.

It is in the Minneapolis Convention Center, and includes an Air Force One fuselage, presidential limousines, First Lady dresses, a Medal of Honor exhibit, a large mockup of the White House and lots of interactive things...

Luke was able to recite the presidential oath of office (with his Dad acting as the Chief Justice of the U.S.), and he received a free DVD of the action.

And, of course, we met some dignitaries like Abraham Lincoln, and this year's candidates... As you can see, we don't play favorites!

Jack Sails a C-Scow

Jack and his friend Kanad went out on Bald Eagle Lake on Saturday morning, on my friend Ricardo's "C-Scow." The C class is a 20-foot cat rigged boat, similar to the 38-foot A-Scows that I sailed earlier this summer on White Bear Lake.

Our boat was in the shop this weekend... so this was the next best thing!

This is a really fast boat, even in light winds, thanks to its large, flat sail, and very shallow draft, that lessons the drag.

Jack and Kanad really showed their skills learned in sailing camp this summer, as they raced against a few other boats of the same class in 15 knot winds.

You can learn more about the century old C-Scow class boats, popular in the Midwest, HERE.

Friends on the Lake

White Bear Lake has become one of our favorite places to go with the boat... here, the kids are enjoying time on the water with their friends -Libby with Taylor, and Luke with Grayden.

LBL in the News!

Dad was in the Twin Cities after the 42nd annual Threshing Bee, and he spent a beautiful evening with us in the boat on White Bear Lake. When we docked for dinner, we went in to a local pizza place - where we saw L. Bruce on the local news on a TV in the corner. The cashier looked at the TV, and then him... and she looked like she was seeing a fugitive on the news! On Monday evening, we had a nice reception at our house with about 2o friends, including the commanding officer from our commissioning in 1983 (Captain Doug Menikheim) - where Dad was the commissioning speaker. We spent Tuesday visiting the Minnesota Historical Society, where Dad donated some things from the Hostage Crisis days of 1979-1981. You can see some local coverage of his visit to the state HERE. Lots of people we know heard his hour-long interview on Minnesota Public Radio, and truly enjoyed it!

The Butterfield Threshing Bee

The 42nd annual Butterfield Threshing Bee was held this weekend. Dad came to Minnesota to see what has changed. The weather certainly had, for the better, after last year's complete rain out of the Bee. The kids helped with the threshing of oats on P.K. Laingen's original threshing machine!

Dad found a local newspaper from 1981 kind of interesting!

Vern came along, too! Here are the kids making braided rope...

We had a fun day on the prairie! Here is Arvid driving a restored John Deere, Libby exploring the cats in the barn at the Laingen farm, Dad and Luke watching the tractor parade, and the kids driving Arvid's new "Gator." Curt's daughter "Kinzie" is with them. ...OH, and true to tradition, we launched rockets - about 12 times - and none of them got stuck in Arvid's trees this year - sorry, no photos!

Veteran for McCain!

This is a non-partisan blog... for the most part. I visited McCain AND Obama campaign headquarters here in the Twin Cities on Friday... and I have to say that at McCain HQ I was showered with free bumper stickers, yard signs and a t-shirt. The folks at Obama HQ had a few bumper stickers - for which they were charging $3.00 for 2 of them.... And "Veterans for Obama" paraphenalia was nowhere in sight. I'm just sayin'...

Jack Turns 14!

It's almost scary to contemplate, but Jack is, in fact, 14. He can get his learner's permit to drive in a year. We're really not OK with that. Oh well, he is a great kid, and we're very proud of him. The quote of the day from yesterday was from Jack: "Why should I celebrate... it's not like I remember this day!" Well, we certainly do, from Laura being stuck in the elevator in the hospital (in labor!) - to his 10-pound arrival, three weeks early!

Gayle was there for Jack's birthday, which was fitting... she is really responsible for Jack's name: as we were driving into Jacksonville, Florida, several months before he was born, Gayle saw the "Welcome to Jacksonville" sign and said, "Hey, how about Jackson?"