Time for a Toddler "Tent"!

"It's time to sleep in my tent!"

We measured Anja today, and she's a whopping 38 inches tall, which means 3T when you're talking clothes, and >97th percentile for height. This also means that her wonderful Stokke crib was getting too small for her. We thought we could make it to 2 years, but decided since we were in the area dropping my parents off for their 32 day trip "over the pond" that it was time for us to take a trip to Ikea!

Anja's first (and final) stop was to the bed with the "blue tent" over it. The others were nice, but clearly, we would be leaving with the blue tent. A few hours later, she was all set, ready to sleep in her new tent. :) Something must have worked, because she actually slept until 7:09 this morning . . . hooray!

Adventure Day

I'd love to take credit for the idea of an adventure day (good 'ol family fun we're talking about here), but I can't. A few weeks ago I reconnected with my good friend Sarah with whom I spent a semester in Crete while at Concordia. We realized we don't live too far from each other and we got to meet her two daughters and their chickens! (Check out their blog "Growing!" in the link to the right). In any case, it's been fun reading about their adventure days and a recent trip of theirs to Tamarack Nature Center, one of my favorites, inspired us to get out this past Saturday and go on an adventure of our own.

Despite a little rain, Anja loved it. We went on about an hour hike through the park and Anja walked nearly the entire way! Here are some photos from our day.

Speaking of Anja . . .

Here's our cutie tonight, pushing around a
half eaten banana in her car. Love it!

Blog going political?!?

Oh the joys of the political season - with the last two posts taking a stab at politics this blog seems to be losing its focus. Thus, Erik has decided to take a stab at a political blog and get the Adventures of Erik, Shana, and Anja back to what it does best: cute pictures of Anja.

http://folkelighed.blogspot.com/

A closer look at snide, sarcastic Sarah Palin . . .

Some of you may have seen or heard about this letter from a resident of Wasilla, Alaska that has gone "viral" all over the internet. After watching Sarah Palin the other night, I was pleasantly surprised that my first reaction to this VP candidate wasn't far from how others view her as well. I can (very reluctantly) take McCain in the White House, but not this one.

Oh the politics

So . . . Shana and I have been sucked into politics again this year. As Obama, supporters I'm certain we are a bit biased, but we're trying to be as fair as we can. Over the past couple days we watched the Republican convention. I have to admit that I really liked John McCain's speech last night (I know there have been some mixed reviews about this speech). What I thought was most interesting was how his most forward looking ideas, his ideas about working together, taking the best from both parties, and reaching out across the aisle (to anyone for that matter) received the most tepid support from the audience. That speech was the John McCain I would support. However, the rest of his party was, at least from my opinion, utterly divisive. I know this is politics and it doesn't take too long for the gloves to come off, but... so much of this just seemed excessive to me.

Now, perhaps the Democrats are just as bad (I'm not naive). Part of me has been looking for Joe Biden's acceptance speech in order to compare it to Sarah Palin's. I don't doubt there will be a similar amount of attacks. However, I couldn't get past her sarcasm and self-righteous smugness. I have to admit she reminded me of Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books. A women who felt she was standing up for "good" and what was "right," but was so self-righteous and arrogant that the only result was, you guessed it, umbrage!

Perhaps my perception is slanted, but it seems to me the Republicans tend to be far more guilty of this bashing - the loudest cheers at the RNC always came from the biggest attacks and insults (they almost seemed just hungry for blood).

I also can't believe some of the hypocrisy. After getting to the point where it was hard to listen to anymore, some comic relief was sorely needed and the Daily Show came to the rescue.



It always feels a lot better to laugh than to get angry and I can't help but remember Shakespeare's line: "There is much truth in jest."

Back to work

As a teacher I start work in earnest this week. As always, it's a bit bittersweet. On the one hand, I'm excited for a new year and new opportunities. On the other hand, summer is over and it is still work.

This weekend also marked Shana's and my sixth wedding anniversary, along with Ron's birthday. Happy Birthday Ron and Happy Anniversary us! After a relaxing evening with Ron, Linda, Steve, Shana and Anja last night I pulled a Shel Silverstein book off the shelf and found this poem that I thought was fun.

Hurk

I'd rather play tennis than go to the dentist.

I'd rather play soccer than go to the doctor.

I'd rather play Hurk than go to work.

Hurk? Hurk? What is Hurk?

I don't know, but it must be better than work.

- Shel Silverstein: A Light in the Attic

A few more from Seattle . . .

Anja and "Uncle Mark" chat it up on the way back from the hot dog joint. Green Lake is in the background.

We had a great time visiting with many friends in Seattle and the surrounding areas. A BIG THANKS to everyone for being such wonderful hosts throughout our stay. We continue to appreciate the many wonderful characteristics of the Pacific Northwest . . . ocean to mountains within just a few miles, tasty fruits and vegetables, and the warmth of the people. Some say there's lots of rain there but we don't believe them . . . we'll have to visit in a month other than August to catch a glimpse of that! Enjoy a few more photos!

Here I am with Eric Meyer, Tacoma's City Manager (ha ha--well third in command in Tacoma's city offices). He's one of our friends from the Peace Corps. Doesn't he look good in a suit? A far cry from wearing the same clothes day in and day out in Kyrgyzstan!

The Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium--a must visit! I'd never been to a zoo and aquarium with such a varied landscape and great view! They had Lemurs too!

Anja loved running with the Beluga whales as they swam by.

BRAVE mama came this close to take a picture, and almost touched it to show Anja how courageous she was. The zoo keeper said that I couldn't touch it---I was sooo disappointed!

The Minnesotans (Mark, his sister Jamie, Erik, Anja and I) went to Zayda Buddy's, a fun restaurant in Seattle that boasts tator tot hot dish! We introduced Adam to it a few days later. As you can see, they even serve Premium Grain Belt beer, a Minnesota favorite.

Another, and another . . .

Anja was fascinated by all of the butterflies . . . she didn't touch any of them either, although it was oh-so-tempting!

We spent another beautiful morning at the Como Zoo on Tuesday. Highlights included cranes (working on the polar bear exhibit), swimming penguins and a trip to the butterfly house. We look forward to a few more of these mornings before it gets too cold to venture from building to building!

Anja found this one right before we exited. Can anyone identify this guy?

I can't resist sharing (another) killer brownie recipe. In the last couple of months, we've made a conscious effort to start using what we have in our cupboards. I came across quite a few bars of unsweetened chocolate that desperately needed to be eaten a few weeks back and tried out this recipe. How did I find it? I typed in "unsweetened chocolate" on Martha Stewart's website and voila! I was presented with yet another great recipe. Enjoy more Rocky Road Brownies, once again, sans topping! I made another batch tonight and they are just as good as the first time . . . yum-my!

Our stack of white chocolate bars are next. This is an easy one though . . . we've already perfected the art of making Martha's Dark-Chocolate Pudding Cakes. Rich and de-li-cious!

Grand Coulee Dam Pancakes and Syrup

We spent the last few days on our Seattle trip with our good friends Adam and Laura whom we met in the Peace Corps. Laura is a fantastic cook and I can't remember the last time we ate so well. This included the best pancakes we have ever eaten. There is also a good story behind the pancakes. The recipe came from Adam's grandma. We're not exactly sure how she got it, but these pancakes were served to the workers who built the Grand Coulee Dam, which according to their website is the 8th wonder of the world! The Dam was built from 1933 to 1975 and is almost 1 mile long and is 550 feet tall. One can only imagine building this in the early 30s and 40s and the hard work it must have taken. I have to imagine that this hearty pancake and syrup combo must have helped! A quick google search found these photos of workers on the dam in the 1930s.

With permission, here's the recipe in it's original. A warning from the cook: be careful when you make the syrup as the soda will react with the buttermilk!

Pancakes:
1 cup oatmeal (real stuff/not quick oats)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ (or oat bran)
1/4 cup powdered milk (optional as Adam and Laura don't use it)
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs brown sugar
2 slightly beaten eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 cups buttermilk

1. mix dry ingredients and add wet ingredients
2. cook at medium-low temperature

Syrup:
1 tsp karo
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter

1.boil for 5 (to 10) minutes. Use a big pan and watch because it will foam up and boil over!

Seattle!

We decided to cash in our frequent flyer miles with Northwest and take a trip out to Seattle. We got to see a lot of good friends and had a wonderful time. We also visited a number of zoos and got to explore the ocean during low tide. Thanks to everyone for their wonderful hospitality. We can't wait to see you all again soon! Here's a few pictures I took in a slideshow format. Shana hopes to post some more photos soon.

Goal of the week

Before we left for Seattle, the Thunder played the sounders here at the NSC. It was by far the best game I've seen them play and they ended up winning 3 - 1. One of their goals was absolutely spectacular and it ended up being the "goal of the week." I found a video of it and had to share it. USL 1 soccer, while not the best, is definitely getting better and it's not all that often you get a goal like this. This is a from a free kick taken by Ricardo Sanchez from around 35-40 yards out.

embedded video removed because couldn't figure out how to turn the volume off and it got annoying to hear it every time you opened the blog (9-1-08)

Launch in external player

Phelps is "Swimming Fastest"

Last night was a big night for Anja . . . it was probably the first time we've given her the go ahead to sit and watch TV. We figure the Olympics are an exception to our "no TV under 2" rule. She wasn't too wrapped up in it, so I think that's a good sign! (I think she's too busy figuring out everything else around her to really care.)

Tonight I said that we were going to watch fast swimmers on TV. She eagerly went downstairs, hung a right passing by the TV, and headed straight towards the book with the fast swimmer (smart kid) on the cover. She managed to grab the 744 page, hardcover book off the table to show us. I grabbed the camera as this was too sweet to not capture the moment.

We pointed out the TV and then explained that Michael Phelps was the fastest swimmer in the world. (Or something like that.) In the middle of the 400 IM, she shouts, "He's bobbing!!!" Something tells me that she's going to be bobbing a little more when we swim now.

Phelps is truly amazing--you don't have to know anything about swimming to get that. We look forward to watching him swim to a few more golds in the coming week!

Gooseberry Falls . . .

We bought our little explorer her first backpack for the trip.
Now she can carry her own snacks!

A week and a half ago, we ventured north of Duluth to Gooseberry Falls with Anja's Godfather, Mark. Half way through the trip we decided that Uncle Mark was a name more suited to him as he's like family to us. We wanted to camp with him at least once before he heads off to Colorado for graduate school at DU. He was nice enough to car camp with us. We're coming around to the fact that we're going to be car camping a lot for the next few years, which has both perks and drawbacks!

Our site was great (site #62---reserve it well in advance), fully surrounded by trees (which helped keep Anja from running in and out of the road like last time), and was quite spacious. We did a lot of reading, kicking the soccer ball around, took a short hike, told stories around the fire, and in general, did a lot of relaxing. It was nice to get away from the buzz of continuous technology for a few days.

The chipmunks at our site were pretty friendly (come on people, don't feed them!). We were shooing them one afternoon telling them to "get out of here" and Anja picked up on it. Pretty soon she was shouting, "Get outta here, chipmunks!" over and over. She's been our little echo lately. I guess it's time to really watch what we're saying! We've started to spell words because she doesn't seem to miss anything!

Thanks for a great trip, Mark! Looking forward to more in the future!

Anja with Mark on the "shores" of Lake Superior.

Skipping (and throwing) rocks with Erik.

At the end of our hike we found a cave and practiced blowing the whistle on her backpack.

GraphJam.com

In the latest Wired magazine there was a little blurp about the site graphjam.com. I don't think you can have much more fun with graphs

more graph humor and song chart memes


more graph humor and song chart memes


more graph humor and song chart memes

more graph humor and song chart memes


more graph humor and song chart memes

more graph humor and song chart memes

more graph humor and song chart memes

Thunder take down the Sounders

It has been a while since I've blogged about the Thunder. To say the least, they have been having a rough season. An eight game streak without a win says it all. To top this off, their coach stepped down. Yet, maybe change is a good thing. They played the defending league champions tonight and came back to WIN 2 - 1.There was also an article in the star tribune today about the supporters club. The above photos is from the article entitled: Dark Clouds add noise for Thunder

Wide Open Spaces . . .

Anja has loved running around the open soccer fields at the NSC this week, so we took her over again last night. Here are a few shots of her running around with Erik.

Animals, Soccer and Spandex

Hey! Hey! We're going to the zoo today!

Anja had a great day today (and in all honesty, I did too). We began the day at Como Zoo, by scoping out all of the animals outside, then ducking in and out of the rain visiting buildings that housed other animals for the remainder of the time. For a zoo with free admission ($2 recommended donation for adults and $1 for children), I was very impressed. It was our first visit there, and won't be our last. Anja seems to like polar bears and they'll be opening an exhibit aptly named Polar Bear Odyssey in 2010, so we'll be back (if she still digs them)! Check Como out if you haven't; it's worth the trip!

A zebra. (Token photo from the zoo--because you have to put at least one animal photo up.)

Anja loved their water table. The floating turtles were a hit, a water toy made by Learning Resources.

Erik has been reffing soccer games all week at USA Cup. His dad started the tournament 24 years ago and it has become one of the world's largest youth soccer tournaments with around 1,000 teams participating. We took Anja to the opening ceremonies, where she got her first glimpse of fireworks and skydivers. It was a memorable night for her as one of her new favorite words is "parachutes!" In between watching races at the Velodrome (see below), we kicked around Anja's new MN Thunder soccer ball (size 1) and cruised around the fields. She's sleeping very soundly right now, probably because we traversed the fields a few times!

This evening's entertainment was a trip to the National Sports Center's Velodrome. Every Thursday evening, May through September, they have track (cycling!) racing there. This too is worth a trip . . . it's racing like you've never seen before. Grown men and women on bikes flinging eachother down a wooden track, cyclists chasing motorcycles, and so much more. If you're ever interested in attending, give us a call!

Our view of the action.

A Beautiful Fourth on Half Moon Lake

Anja ventures out into the deep.

Last fall, the Erickson and the Letnes families, together with another family, purchased a lake cabin on Half Moon Lake in Wisconsin. Yesterday 11 Ericksons and Letneses ventured out for a picnic, canoeing, fishing, some sun and relaxation. The cabin isn't entirely finished yet, but we're working on it. We hope to have a fully functioning kitchen and bathroom in the next couple of weeks.

Anja loved the lake, and I was a very brave lake goer as well. For those of you who don't know, I am oftentimes one of the fastest finishers out of the water during triathlons primarily because I don't like swimming in the lake. !!!

It was a great day to relax and just float.

Anja and Grandpa Ron.

Erik's parents bought this great float . . . my parents (pictured) thought it was the best! You don't even have to get in--what a bonus! (For those of us who don't necessarily like lake swimming!)

Steve and Anja playing "What's this?!" on the deck. (Anja's a curious little one!)

Time is Flying this Summer . . .

Anja doing her best "gopher grin" (from Sandra Boynton's A to Z) after helping bake bread with Erik.

Erik's last day of school was a week and a half ago and time has flown since then . . . we've attended BBQs, caught up with old friends, celebrated Father's Day, baked bread, gone swimming, gone to gymnastics, gone to PT (as in physical therapy--ugh!), visited the dentist, gone to the park, cheered on half marathon and marathoners, eaten at Gordy's in Cloquet (great burgers and onion rings!) and finally visited our new in-progress cabin. Is this really what summer is all about?! We're having a great time, so we guess so!

Here are a few pictures to recap . . .

Anja joined Chalee and Han at the horse shoe pit.


This is Han; what a charmer!

Erik's co-worker, Nick hosted their staff's end of the year BBQ at his new house. Nick and his wife Aimee (from our camping trip) got married last fall. Each table at their reception had a cake cutter. They were laying around, ready to get thrown until three curious toddlers happened upon them. (Yikes!) So, the three curious toddlers each took a cake cutter home with them that day. But before they left, they tried them out in the backyard's newly set horse shoe pit. Game on!

Erik teaching Anja how to juggle on Father's Day.

This past weekend we were spectators at the Garry Bjorklund 1/2 Marathon and Grandma's Marathon in Duluth. My Dad ran the 1/2 and our friend Peter ran the full. Congrats to the two of you on great races!

Anja had a wonderful time watching the boats, dipping her feet in Superior (brrrr!), but most of all cheering on the runners. Whenever we'd say something, she'd repeat it. "Good job runners . . . keep it up . . . looking good . . . " It was sweet.

My Dad at mile 6 of the Garry Bjorklund 1/2 Marathon. Looking good for 63!

Cresting "Lemon Drop Hill" which looks deceptively easy at first glance. If you run Grandma's or the Garry B it's a different story. We handed out Lifesavers while we waited for my Dad to run by. (All you distance runners out there know these are quite delicious after running for a couple of hours!)


Looks like Anja appreciates a well-deserved finisher's medal! Congrats Dad! Grandpa Ron, Anja and Erik enjoy some ice cream during a sun-shower after the race.

Good form! If you look closely, her shirt reads: Future Runner Grandma's Marathon.