Labor Day at MN State Fair

We made our annual trek to the MN State Fair. (When I say "we," I really mean just "me" since Nikki and the kids usually go a couple other days as well.)

For those who don't know the MN State Fair, it usually averages ~2 million fairgoers over 10 days each year and concludes on Labor Day. Crazy stuff. Usually, the fair is an excuse to spend 10x more on food than you would at any fast food restaurant, but that food has 10x the normal (high) fat content. Perhaps the extra cost is mostly due to the expense and labor of putting the food on a stick. Ironically, there are no pictures of us eating any food at the fair this year. Perhaps - that's a good thing...

What makes the state fair such a draw? Frankly I don't know. It costs our family over $20 just to get in. We spend $30-60 a day on unhealthy food (usually bringing our own drinks to cut down on costs). We walk around aimlessly looking a farm implements, wandering through smelly livestock barns, and trying not to navigate around animal dropping, massive strollers, or people who are paying more attention to the food they are eating food on a stick while wandering the fair than walking itself. Yet, the time goes by quickly and you never feel like you've seen enough and want to go back again to catch what was missed.

So without further adieu', I give you a brief tour of our day at the fair


This is one of the few things NOT on a stick at the fair. The intersting thing about this cow is that the owner lives 2 doors from Nikki's parent's house. This cow is literally parked on the street as I type (I think). With tetes like that, I'm sure it's a great milk producer.

These two pictures above are of a modern Paul Bunyan. This guy cuts up logs into sculptures. I'm really not sure what this one was supposed to be, but my best guess is a fox or raccoon (most likely). This guy was promoting Stihl tools - evidence that just about everything has a sponsor nowadays - even at the fair.


Here's a couple pictures of us on the Kidway. (that's the Kid's version of the Midway at the MN State Fair for those who don't know).



Pictures of the kids in the poultry barn.


We took a break in a shaded area for a little while. This was one of those guys that's acts like a statue until you walk buy. He was walking to the dressing room after his shift was over - freaked the kids out...


This is our new stroller that we took to the fair. It works great. Strollers are a VERY big thing at the MN state fair. Strollers are as essential to take to the fair as taking a ball glove to the ball park when you have seats in the outfield. Many people like to "pimp" their cars and trucks to show off to everyone else. At the MN State Fair, people like to show off their strollers and how big strollers can be. I think I saw a stroller that could sleep a family of 4. Pretty huge.

Our stroller is relatively modest in size. Nikki got a good deal on it via ebay (I think - I just know she got a could deal on it), and apparently this is mega-pimped out as far as stollers go. For starters, there's the pink color - which is apparently very customized - much like an airbrush paintjob on a hot rod. It grabs attention. Then there's the optional/detachable seat in front that allows you to push TWO children in a stroller that would normally seat only one child. Finish the stroller off with dual beverage holders and zippered pouch on the handlebars - you've got one tricked out ride.

With the extra seat on the front, this stroller is still relatively easy to push UNLESS you need to turn or go up a curb. To help Nikki out, I offered to push the stroller most of the day. Yep - the man was pushing a pink stroller around hundreds of thousands of people - in PUBLIC. And you know what??? I was treated like a demi-GOD. I kid you not. I had mothers coming up to me asking where we had got it, what brand it was (I still have no idea), and wondering how we liked it. Our stroller was so popular I had to turn away photo opps and autographs from envious mothers and fathers just so we could see everything else we wanted to see.

Yep - it was a great (and typical) day that could only happen at the MN State Fair.

For Uber-Nerds Only

Do you have a fetish over the Star Wars series?

Do you fantasize over the latest gadgets and consumer technology?

If you answer in the affirmative to both questions, welcome to your nirvana...

Some super-dorks have built a home theater room designed to look like the bridge of the Death Star. Upon reviewing the list of A/V components, they've easily spent a couple hundred grand on on this.

I must admist that the execution is flawless, and I briefly considered scrapping my current plans for the basement remodel to include a similar design...but I prefer to sleep in the same room (or house) as my wife - so common sense prevailed.

Source: Gizmodo

Friendly Neighborhood Spidey

Not only has Karsten lost a few teeth, he seems to have developed some new super-hero capabilities.

Toothless Wonder

Karsten got in a fight again...

At least that's what I like to tell people for fun. Both of his front teeth fell out about 2 weeks of each other - so he's looking pretty tough.

Dilemma: Which MP3 player?

Since I travel a lot, an MP3 player is pretty indispensible. I've had a 20GB 4G iPod for 2.5+ years that has a crashed hard drive since April. I've been waiting for something new to come along, and knowing Apple was supposed to be making major announcements this past week (Sept. 5) had me excited.


Since my old iPod had a crashed hard drive, I definitely want to get a player with flash memory since there are no moving parts, and these are more compact in size as well. (The trade-off to not getting a hard-drive based player is smaller flash memory and higher price.) I also wanted to get a player that did videos (especially for watching episodes of the office, and maybe a couple movies and sports clips.


Apple only got it half right. Ideally, I wanted 16GB of flash memory, so the new iPod Touch is the ideal candidate. There's so much to like: built-in WiFi, a gorgeous 3.5" widescreen, and Apple's flawless integration and operating system. However, the $399 price tag is freaking me out.





The other Apple candidate is the new Nano. Unlike previous versions, this popular player now does videos and manages to do so in a dimunitive size that's about half the size of a credit card (and about as thick as 1-2 credit cards as well). I stopped by the Apple store to check these out, and they are a true wonder. The price is a more modest $199 for the 8GB model.

However, I can't bring myself to get the Nano. I love iTunes and getting podcasts, but I don't want to play Apple's game of limiting features and forcing to upgrade a year or two down the road. Here are some of the featuress that I wish the new iPods had

• a 16GB Nano would be passible
• built-in FM tuner to listen to radio (especially at the health club)
• expandable memory card slot
• larger screen on the iPod Nano

So I think I'm going to get the Creative Zen when it ships. While a 16GB version for $299 will be shipping soon, I'm planning to get the 8GB version for $199 (the same price as the Nano). But the Zen delivers an SD memory slot to increase memory capacity or to view and transfer pictures from my digital camera (a big plus). There's also a larger screen that considerably larger (2.5"). Lastly, the Zen uses a standard min-USB interface, so that means one less cable that I'll need to have for transfers and charging the battery.

While the Zen is larger than the Nano, it's still a tiny player that packs a potent punch and will serve my needs well. If only there were any places that had it in stock so I could pick one up...

Jason B.

I'd be remiss to not pay an added measure of thanks and appreciation to my good friend, Jason. It had been about 13 years since I last spoke or saw him. Frankly, I'm kicking myself for not calling him or trying to catch up with my other high school buddies over all these years. What was I thinking??? While my blog is called "Little Free Time...", certainly I could have found the time somewhere to try to catch up to him. I feel like I missed out on sooooo much....


I'm really proud of Jason and the life he has both personally and professtionally. He's a chiropracter with an established practice in Fishers, IN - so any blog readers in the area should check him out if they have back/neck pain or are just in need of an adjustment. Here's a link to his website. I'm also impressed with how connected Jason is to his community as a respected leader and recognized professional. When we were walking around downtown Noblesville on Sat. night, he seemed to know at least half the people we passed on the street. He seems to have all the qualities to someday be a respectable politician! (if such a thing is possible...)


His wife Tina is first class, too. (not that I would expect anything less... :-)) They make such a great couple! It's interesting that Jason and I each married a woman that's two years older than us, and we discovered over the weekend that we were even married within a week of each other. Great minds think (and act) alike, I guess!


Another highlight for me from the was when Jason played a video from one of the first times (maybe the first?) that I was at his house fishing at the nearby pond. It brought back another flood of good memories, and served as a great reminder of how close friends we were. Thankfully, I can still say we are still good friends as well.


Jason and I have been friends since third grade when his family moved to Indy from PA. We were in the same class every year all the way through Sr. year of high school - and I can still say that Jason is one of the best friends I've ever had in my lifetime.


Hopefully our friendship continues for many, many more decades

Trip to Indy: Our Hosts - Jason and Tina

After our reunion, Jason and Tina had invited us to stay at their house in "historic" downtown Noblesville. This seemed odd to me since no one would describe Noblesville as "historic" during the time I lived in Indy, but it certainly proved to be a fitting description. The downtown district has been restored to emphasize and promote local artisans and small businesses, and many of the houses nearby have been restored to their turn-of-the-century (that would be 20th century) charms.

Jason and Tina's home would certainly fit the description of historic. Their home was built in 1901, and it's absolutely gorgeous. Most of the house was restored before they moved in 2 years ago, but they're still putting their mark on it and restoring/updating a few things as well. They've also done a wonderful job of furnishing the home with beautifully appointed antiques and replicas that complement the character of the home. Nikki and I like to stay at Bed and Breakfasts when we travel without the kids, and their home certainly had the same feel and accommodations as the finest B&B that we've ever visited. Even the store-bought chocolate covered donuts we had for breakfast in the morning tasted better in that house! :-)

The house was even featured in a local historic homes magazine.

Many thanks to our most excellent hosts!!!!!

Trip to Indy: Class Reunion

For most people, I guess it'd be hard to call it a class reunion when only 5 class members show up. But seeing how that's 1/3 the graduating class from our small private school, that's pretty good for getting it set up in just a couple weeks. Hopefully I'll also be able to catch up to a few friends who couldn't make it in the next week or two.

The time spent together was so enjoyable. Nikki and I didn't have our 4 kids along so that we could fit the tub in our minivan, yet I couln't help but wish ours were all there so they could play with everyone else's kids. I have to say that all the kids were very well behaved, and that's a testament to good parenting. In many ways, it made me wish my family and I lived in Indy still - it felt like we'd always been together, and all our wives and children got along really well to boot. I'm really glad we took a group picture with all the wives and family. I'll spare you all the monstrosity if I tried to photoshop my 4 kids into that group photo...

We reminisced as much as we could in the few hours we had together. We talked about old teachers, memories, stupid mistakes, and caught up on what everyone else has been doing. Jason played a video from Bible project that had me crying since I was laughing so hard. We flipped through the old yearbooks as well.

My friends that were also there were: Jason, Kerry, Aaron (Smitty), and Phil. Also in attendance were Jason's parents, Taylor and Marie. Jason's dad was the principal at our school for a few years, and was also my algebra I and II teacher. I'll always remember Jason's mom being one of the best moms whenever I spent the night at ANY of my friend's house. So it was good to see them again as well.

Botton line: every mile to be there was so worth it. Hopefully we can make these get-togethers more of a regular occurence.

Trip to Indy: My High School Alma Mater

Nikki and I also drove past my old high school. It's a private school called Colonial Christian. There were only 15 people in my graduating class: 10 guys and 5 girls. Most of us had been going there for close to 10 years, so we were a pretty close-knit group.

It looks like they built a new wing that add a lot more classrooms and space (second pic). Since we were there on a Sat., we didn't get any tours.

Trip to Indy: Revisiting my Childhood

After checking out of our hotel in downtown Indy, we did a bit of driving around the old neighborhoods and stomping grounds. I thought it would be a good idea to take some pictures of the two houses we lived in while in Indy.

Above is our first house on 98th Street, just northwest of 465 and Keystone Ave. It was a 3 BR, 1 Bath house. The one thing I remembered as we drove by was that the water lines were in the garage and right next to the garage door. There were several years that our pipes froze - even during Indy's mild winters. We never knew who's bright idea that was, but that would seem obvious. Overall, the house has definitely had some upgrades since we lived there, and it certainly looks better than the way it was when I remember moving out.

The pictures above are of our second house in Indy on Village Park South Dr., just east of where Keystone and Meridian merge. Our family built this house, and we were one of the first in this new housing subdivision. This was a 3 BR, 2.5 Bath house with a lot more.

A couple things about this house.

The first thing I noticed when I turned into the neighborhood was that it had full-grown trees. Since this was a brand new subdivision when we built the house and moved in, there were only young trees the whole time we were there.

The second thing is that I'm pretty sure that there still some egg residue on the house from the 16 dozen that my friends decided to skip out of school and drop off at our house. :-) Seriously, when our house was up for sale, my friends though this would be a good idea. The deed was done while both my parents were out of town, and we had 2 showings scheduled the following day. So we were up late trying to clean as much as we could, but my mom got to the bottom of it a made the scoundrels :-) clean up the rest.

ah, good times...

Trip to Indy: First Night

We left for Indy from Minneapolis Friday afternoon, and got into town around 10:30pm local time Friday night.

Since I travel a lot for work, I'm able to accrue frequent traveler miles from hotels, airlines, and car rental companies. We decided to go all out and burn some points at the Conrad Hotel in downtown Indianapolis.

Unfortunately, my camera had a dead battery when we were in our room, so I was unable to take an pics. The room we had was pretty similar to the one in the pic above though. The 42" Plasma was a nice touch, but I was also impressed by the Boston Acoustics Receptor tabletop radio that was playing rich, classical music when we arrived. Most radios in hotel rooms sound like utter crap...but this was nice. LED sconces on either side of the bed were another nice touch.

This was easily one of the top 2 or 3 hotels I've ever stayed. Quite likely the best. The only odd thing about the room was that there apparently was no closet or anywhere to hang one's garments. We never did figure that one out... Still highly recommended if you have to hang your clothes over a chair.

Trip to Indy: the Cause of it All

Our trip to Indy would likely not have happened were it not for this: an Aquatic Infinity VII Whirlpool tub my wife bought on eBay for our basement remodel.

See, I lived in Indianapolis for 12 years - from 2 days before starting first grade in August 1981 until leaving for college in August 1993. My dad transferred to Chicago at that time, so Indy was never home in a literal sense again.

I went back to Indy for my old manufacturing job during the summer of 1994, but didn't get to see many of my high school friends over the 10 weeks or so I was there.

Since then, I've only been back to Indy for a day trip since our old church held a wedding shower for Nikki. My dad and I drove around for a couple hours during the shower, but never managed to see anyone. That was 11 years ago.

Since then, I haven't talked to anybody that I graduated with until Nikki won this tub on eBay, and I called one of my good friends, Jason, who is a chiropractor in a Northern suburb. All it took was a phone call explaining when we were planning to come through, and Jason took care of the rest and set up an impromptu reunion or sorts.

My only regret is that I would have made that phone call so many years earlier.

We Interrupt This Basement Remodel for...

My friend, Ryan - has given up several weekends over the last few months as we attempt to rewire our house and wire the basement remodel - got married today. I couldn't be happier for the guy and his new bride.

Nikki and I got a baby sitter, and drove ~90 mins to get there. The wedding was beautiful, and went off without any hitches that I noticed. What a great time.

They will be on honeymoon, but thankfully we have enough done so that we can start insulating and sheetrocking this week (pending a framing inspection). Thanks to Ryan, we passed the electrical inspection with flying colors this week.

Overnight Camping - Aug 07

We went camping at the Lake Elmo State Park last night. This has become somewhat of a tradition. We typically go with a group of friends from church.

Last year, the whole family went (including Teagan at age 13 months). It was the hottest weekend in MN I can ever remember. Temps well over 100 degrees. So hot...oh, and Nikki was pregnant with Ava at the time. Most families bowed out for the second night (as did Nikki and Tess), but my brother-in-law, Dan, and our two oldest kids (each) stayed for another night. rough stuff.

This year, It was Dan and his two oldest, along with me and my two oldest. It proved to be a great night. Much cooler temps, a few rain showers, but nothing that made things messy. We only stayed one night since Nikki and I had a wedding to attend on Saturday.

Anyway, this is a pic of Dan's new tent where we slept, a picture of Karsten eating his second vitamin fortified donut in the trees, and a picture of Kiera who wouldn't stand still for ANY pictures.

Where are the pictures?? Part Deux

I just noticed that the last few posts don't have any picture of the family or from my travels for work. The reason is that the shutter button fell off Nikki's digital camera a few weeks ago, and thankfully it's one of the few things that our extended warranty still covers. It should be back in another week or so...

In the meantime, Nikki is using my camera to potentially capture any moments with the kids. So enjoy staring at the lovely test pattern in the meantime.