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This coming weekend I have a 3 day weekend. We might go to Mankato for the day. I want to visit the campus and see how much is changed. Maybe I'll stop in and say hi to a couple of proffesors if they're there. There's a few other things to do around town too. Saturday we're going to brother-in-law's house for a 4th of July party. I'm not sure what we'll be doing for fireworks or if we'll even go. The kids haven't gone because it's so late for them. O gets pretty cranky when she's sleep deprived.

I do hope to get a bunch of my book read. I'm reading the fifth book in the Vampire Diaries Series by L J Smith. The new book is called The Return: Nightfall. I'm only about 100 pages in and it's about 500 pages. There will be a TV show on the CW based on the book series. Check it out on IMDB. I'm planning to watch the show this fall.

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Update (May 26): We are still working on resolving this bug. This only affects viewers using IE to view the blog; for right now, blog owners can either move the Followers gadget lower in their sidebar, or remove it altogether. Either action will eliminate the pop-up dialog box in IE.

We will update this post when a fix has been made.

I removed my Followers gadget and it didn't fix the problem. How frustrating! I also changed the site meter code. Let me know if this problem is fixed by adding a comment.

Summer Movies

I have yet to see Angels & Demons. I wanted to go see it but a) The Da Vinci Code ruined it for me and b) we need to find a babysitter for two kids. So it will probably be a movie that we see when it comes out on video. I have heard from people that it is a lot better that the first one so that is a good thing. Although I never agreed with the casting of Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, he not the way I had pictured him in my mind. I think they almost should have gone with a lesser known actor.

The other movie that I am looking forward to seeing this summer is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I have to admit that I did watch the cartoon a little bit in the 80s and I LOVE the first movie. I love Shia Labeouf, although I've only seen him in Transformers, Indiana Jones & Surf's Up. Although I don't know if Sur's Up counts too much because he just did the voice for Cody Maverick. That's another good movie, I'm actually surprised I like it so much. The new Transformers movie comes out June 24th. We're probably not going to go see it for a couple of weeks after it comes out though.

Also coming out this summer and I've been looking forward to it is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, coming out July 15th. This movie was supposed to come out last November and I was bummed that I had to wait so long to see it. I even re-read all the Harry Potter bookad and we're currently re-watching the first 5 movies. The next movie Deathly Hallows will actually be two movies.

On August 14th, The Time Traveler's Wife is coming out in theaters. I read the book and really enjoyed it and I hope they do a good job with the movie. It stars Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. I suggest reading the book it was really well written.

Not a summer movie but a movie I'm really looking forward to seeing is New Moon coming out November 20th. I've read all 4 books by Stephenie Meyer: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse & Breaking Dawn. I am really looking forward to seeing all four books turned into movies.

I did get a chance to see Star Trek last month. I really liked Zachary Quinto as Spock. I kept expecting him to cut someone's head open Sylar style. I'm not a huge Star Trek fan but my dad watched the old ones and I've seen them. But I think it's a good movie for Trekkies and non-Trekkies.

So it looks like I have about a movie a month I want to see. I am definitely going to see Transformers, Harry Potter and New Moon in the theater. The others I might just watch after they come out on DVD. I also heard that Prince of Persia, based on the video game is coming out in 2010. Dan has the game for Wii and it looks interesting. The movie will star Jake Gyllenhall as the main character.

X's Birthday - repost

I've had a couple of people tell me they have had trouble viewing my blog. So I am reposting the last two posts and deleting them. I hope this works.

X had his birthday on the 30th. It was a perfect day, not too cold and not too hot. We had sloppy joes, fruit, pasta salad & chips to eat. The kids ran around outside and played. Then we had a bonfire until everyone left and the kids went to bed. They were both exhausted.

X with O and cousin A:


Getting ready to open his gifts:


O actually didn't try to open too many gifts. X was so fast I barely had a chance to see what he got and who it was from:


The theme was Transformers. I sent out Transformers invitations and put up a Transformers "Happy Birthday" banner. Also I found a Bumblebee keychain that I put on the cake. Bumblebee is his favorite Transformers character.


I also found these little Transformers candy masks to put on the cake. We had funfetti cake with homemade chocolate frosting.


He couldn't wait to start eating the cake and neither could O:




This is his actual birthday and opening presents from us. We got him a Nerf gun with extra balls, luckily they are soft and they haven't hurt anyone. We also got him a new pool for the backyard, once it finally warms up enough. A Dr. Seuss book "I can Read with my Eyes Shut", we've already read it several times. A leapster game, Jedi Math & Surf's Up sountrack. Also a new watch since he'll be learning to tell time in Kindergarten.



Here he is wearing his new watch, he insists on wearing it everyday now.


I can't believe he's five years old already and starging school in just a few short months.

My Cat

My cat's name is Aries Antares and she is a girl. I know she's named after the God of War but we just liked that name. Her middle name came from a friend in college. He was an Astronomy major and there is a star that is red like Mars called Antares. So her name is Aries Antares, which is kind of cancelling itself out. Antares pretty much means anti-Aries. LOL She was born in November 2000 and we got her in March 2001. We found out about a year later that she had Femoral Head Necrosis. Which pretty much means the femur head did not get enough blood flow and died and she was in a lot of pain. She had surgery done where they took the femur head out and replaced it with muscle forming a sling joint at her right hip. If you look closely at her, her right leg is slightly shorter than her left. But other than that she's like any other cat. Except she doesn't jump high much. But we love her and the kids love her and she takes a lot of abuse from the kids. I can't count the times she's hissed at them or bit them (not hard, just a warning bite). But yet she still cares about them and will be worried when they're not home. She was sad last weekend when our bunny, Rascal died. Dan got Rascal from one of my friends as a bunny when we were 16. We later found out his dad and brothers were allergic and I took him until we graduated high school. Then we moved in together and Rascal came to college with us. He's been through several moves and came to our house. He died on Saturday and he would have been 13 years old in November. He lived a good life and we gave him a lot of love. Not to mention the kids loved him too. We buried him in the backyard and I put a little bunny statue over his grave. Rest in peace Rascal, we love you!

Aries stretching:


I caught her mid lick:


Just sitting on the rug waiting:


In our arms like a little baby:

The Bakken Museum

I said I was going to post some pictures from when we went so here they are. The kids had a lot of fun and we did get zapped a few times.

Here is the entrance to the building. This is Dan and the kids walking in.


In the lobby after you pay ($5/person but we had two free admissions so we only payed for one) this thing will zap you. Put your left hand on the knob and as you crank the right hand knob your left hand gets zapped. We all got zapped, except X who refused to touch it.


We stayed here for a while. This is called a Wimshurst electrostatic influence generator.


It creates a 60,000 volt spark between those two ends in the middle. It was pretty cool. You just crank it and can see the spark.


They had a workshop set up where you can learn about electricity. You can hook up lights, motors and fans up to a battery. The kids loved it and we spent a long time there.


This gave the kids an opportunity to play with some magnets and a TV. Do not attempt this at home! They thought it was pretty cool.


Static electricity, we got zapped here several times. You turn cranks and if you got too close you got zapped.


Me and the kids sitting in an old chair.


The Florence Bakken Medicinal Garden






I think I would go back here again because there were a lot of interactive things to do.