Fellowship at the U of M

I am privileged this year to be one of the Executive Leadership Fellows for the University of Minnesota's Center for Integrative Leadership - a joint effort of the Carlson School of Management and the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. This is an exciting opportunity to bring to bear applied leadership experience in an academic environment. Each year, the program "...selects highly accomplised leaders from the public, private or nonprofit sectors to enhance the academic environment of the Center by sharing their professional expertise, through writing projects, original research, student consultation, faculty engagement, and teaching related to cross sector leadership." See this year's three Executive Leadership Fellows HERE...

Wisconsin Dells!

After six years in Minnesota, we finally made it to the Wisconsin Dells, the typical MEA weekend getaway! It was not too crowded, and we had lots fun in the water... including riding the really fast and infamous "toilet bowel" slide!

It was especially fun, because we went with our good friends and neighbors, the Varelas! We had a great time together, and we played games late into the night in our rooms... We even learned a new version of the traditional board game, Pictionary - La Pictionaria!

Here's Dad in a series of photos showing how NOT to get up on your knees on a boogie board...

WIPEOUT!!!

Despite some car troubles on the last night, everyone played hard, and got good and tired!

The ride home reminded us just how beautiful the Upper Midwest can be in the fall!

85 Degrees in October!

Wow - what a fall day in Minnesota! 85 degrees and sunny all day. We took yet another cruise up the St. Croix river - this time from St. Croix Bluffs all the way to Hudson... and we did it under 5 m.p.h. the whole way because the river is a no-wake zone - the heavy rains from a week ago have raised the river nearly 10 feet, and lots of shoreline property is flooded.

You can see the flooding in Hudson - our boat is "anchored" on the blacktop surface of the parking lot near the boat ramp - all of which is now underwater!

Hooray for Global Warming!

It hit 80 degrees today, in the middle of October in Minnesota. Good thing we didn't winterize the boat yet! Here we are on the beautiful St. Croix River - all of which is a no-wake zone because the rains from last week have brought the level up 6 t0 8 feet!

Luke is 10 Years Old!

Wow! It is hard to believe, but our youngest is now in the double digits! Luke turned 10 on Saturday, and he and his friends - Ethan, Jose and Grayden (and big brother Jack) went to the Minnesota Air National Guard Museum on the air base for a party!

Their tour guide was Stan, a naval aviator and combat-tested pilot from the Korean War - he flew the awesome Skyraider. Stan showed the kids some incredible aircraft, and told some really interesting stories about aviation!

The kids even tried on some old helmets from World War I and World War II! As they were sitting in the C-130 cockpit, they saw a jumbo jet taking off on the Twin Cities International airport's runway, bound for Narita, Japan.

The afternoon ended up at Fudrucker's for some awesome burgers and root beer... then it was home for cake and a movie!

Brother and Sister were down with Luke turning 10, too!

Happy Birthday, Lucas!!! We are very proud of you!

Jack Needed by Varsity!

Jack was called up to the Varsity soccer team on Thursday night! The East Ridge High School "Raptors" needed him for a critical game against the Park High School of Cottage Grove. He was awesome, playing under the big lights at the high school...



Jack's nervous soccer Mom and Dad were really nervous - other parents could tell that we were "goalie parents..." But Jack played the entire game - PLUS two overtime periods, and didn't let a single ball by him. The game ended in a tie, 0 - 0.