Sailing on the St. Croix!

It's summer on the St. Croix River, the beautiful waterway between Minnesota and Wisconsin. That means sailing! Libby and Luke have braved the waters this week, sailing in the 420 class sloops with the St. Croix Sailing School out of Hudson, Wisconsin. The all-day camp runs for a week, and they have already done it all, from "turtling" their boats and righting them, to single-handing, to acting as skipper and even some basic racing...

Happy Birthday, Vern!

Vern celebrated his 80th birthday on Saturday at the Stonemill Farms community center. The whole family, including the Jaye cousins, showed up to honor Vern... he even received one of his "bucket list" items - a glider ride! Many happy returns, Vernon!

Starbase!

Luke was lucky enough to attend "Starbase," a program designed to accelerate 4th, 5th and 6th graders in Science & Technology. The Pentagon-sponsored program is in various cities around the country, and Minnesota has been the leading program for years. It is normally for low-income kids, but during the summer, companies that help sponsor the program can send their kids. The week-long program this year revolved around planning a mission to Mars. The kids designed, built and fired off rockets, worked with computer-aided design programs (CAD), and learned about all kinds of things like robotics, and life in space.

Luke, call sign "White Bear" is pictured here with his team leader, "Sky." Learn more about the Starbase program here.

The Three Amigos - Summer Edition!

Jack's Baseball Team Takes First Place!

Jack's Woodbury Team took first place this year, both for the season (15-0!), and in the last tournament, where they went undefeated again. The coach commended Jack for his work at first base, and for being their best outfielder.

Happy Fourth!

We spent a lot of the Fourth of July on White Bear Lake... skiing in the early morning, then viewing the fireworks from the boat! In between, we benefited from Nancy's wonderful open house at her perfect house on the lake. The kids were able to sail, kayak and water ski!

Rotorheads!

Libby picked a perfect day to tour the Twin Cities by air! She got a half-hour helicopter ride for her birthday back in April, and finally got up in the skies today. She took brother Luke with her, and the pilot agreed to take their Dad, too. We flew the R-44 out of the Anoka-Blaine Airport, and got to see downtown Minneapolis (including Target Field, the still-collapsed Metrodome, the new I-35W bridge and all of the skyscrapers). We then transitioned down I-94 past the U of M, St. Thomas, Minnesota Wire, and over to St. Paul to see the Cathedral, the State Capitol and the Mississippi. Then it was back to the airport, but not before the pilot demonstrated an engine failure and an autorotation into a field... awesome!

Ski Day!

Luke and Libby hit the lake on skis today, now that the water is finally getting warm enough... they look like pros already!