Winter??? Now??!

Yikes! After a short, cool summer, we had three inches of snow on October 12! The boat hasn't even been winterized yet... in fact, it's not even winter yet. The recruiter never mentioned this deal! Oh well, this just means we are going to have an early thaw next year...

...Right?

Holly the cat is not amused!

Luke is... NINE!

It is hard to believe, we know, but Lucas Kostik Laingen turned 9 years old on October 2nd! This new millennium kid is an amazing one, to say the least... he is all boy, and is making the most of life, every day! Dad was home for the first time in about 5 years (normally he's at the Army 10-miler in D.C.), so Luke was happy about that... Here he is with his new quarters collection from his D.C. grandparents... and together with his best friends, Jose and Grayden - the "Three Amigos!"

Video Teleconference With Iraq!

The Defense Alliance of Minnesota had its 6th annual "Defense Industry Roundtable" on Monday morning, September 28th, at Lockheed Martin in Eagan, Minnesota. We attracted 225 people this time, and 15 exhibitors. The highlight of the day, however, was the live videoteleconference (VTC) we put together with our Soldiers in Iraq! We were joined by Major General Richard Nash, Commander, Ground Forces South, and Commander, 34th Infantry Division, Minnesota National Guard. Despite the 3-second delay, it was a real honor to connect with our Soldiers on the ground, "getting it done!" Read more about it HERE.

Is Summer Over?!

Over? Absolutely not... Our brief summer may be over on the calendar, and the temperatures may have been below normal most of the year (um... global warming... really?), but we are confident that an "Indian Summer" is coming our way!

Olivia says we have "this much more" left of the boating season!

Go Gophers!!!

Minnesota has a new stadium! The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers' football team has been playing in the indoor Metrodome for a generation - sharing it with the Vikings. But a new stadium has just opened on the U of M campus... Memorial Stadium was dedicated tonight, and we were invited to the VIP reception. There was a flyover of WWI aircraft, speeches, and bands. The first game is tomorrow against the Air Force Academy, and a flight of F-16s and a B-2 Spirit bomber will fly over just before kickoff!

This is a beautiful stadium, and it supposedly has the 2nd largest large screen TV at the open end of the stadium. Pretty cool! Outdoor football will be great, but there will be some cold games late in the season...

A Girl & Her Dog...

Nothing much to say here - just CC shaking off water on the boat... Ahhh.... White Bear Lake...

A Long Weekend...

Sunny and beautiful! We spent some of the long labor-day weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's cabin. There was no humidity, no bugs and no rain... amazing! The kids had s'mores around the fire, and tubed and skied on the quiet lake...

Our 7-foot tall rocket was launched at the park... you can just see the water at the base launching it in this picture.

Luke would rather use the rocket as a bazooka, of course!