Here’s a picture I took early one morning just before work.  I grabbed my company’s Canon point-and-shoot to get a photo of a pair of geese walking along the boardwalk next to the William A. Irvin in Canal Park.  Unfortunately, the geese didn’t make the cut as I liked this photo better.

Reflection

A month ago my brother was at our house inspecting our garden and trees in the backyard, offering some tips and advice.  We heard a number of different birds singing.  He said, “Did you hear that?  That was a cardinal”.  First off, I’m not sure why he knows what a cardinal sounds like and secondly, we don’t have nesting cardinals in Duluth.  Well, at least I didn’t think we did…until Sebastian and I saw this guy last week.

Mr. Cardinal

Mr. Cardinal II

I have to admit, it was pretty cool to see him in the sea of green grass on my lawn.  We have spotted him four times now and we also saw his lady friend.  We are fairly certain he and the Mrs. have a little family somewhere in our trees (or our neighbor’s).   I would love to see the kids, but so far we haven’t located the nest.

Guess who was back in the garden?  Seriously?

The Return Of Peter Rabbit

Too bad we spoiled his fun by planting the garden and putting up a fence around it last Saturday.  I’m hopeful that he’s too lazy to dig underneath.  There are plenty of other delicious things growing in the yard and in my flower bed to go through all that work.

I baked bread last Sunday.  Not like my Mom’s awesome bread that you want to slather with butter and homemade jam, but a more European loaf that is good with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh cracked pepper.  I made it to pair up with homemade broccoli cheese soup.  Too bad my timing was off and the bread came out of the oven an hour after we finished eating the soup.

Crusty Homemade Bread

I am looking forward to the long Memorial weekend.  I’m not so much looking forward to all of the rain in the forecast.  We already received 4 1/2 inches this week.  Baseball was canceled…twice.  Our backyard is like a big soggy sponge.  Keep your fingers crossed that the weatherman is wrong like he often is. 

Blue

All Alone

Bush Cherry Buds

Lilac Leaves

Daffodil Ready To Flower

Multiple Buds

The thunderstorms we received earlier this week have brought some much-needed rain.  But a little sunshine and some warmer temperatures will also help to make our spring days more colorful.

Sunny Day

Colorful Sunrise

Picturesque

Mike and Sebastian went to the Timberwolves game at the Target Center last Friday.  Mike’s brother gave them the tickets and they couldn’t refuse – Timberwolves vs. Lakers, how can you say no?  They arrived early and Sebastian solicited autographs from some of the players.

Autographs

Target Center

Happy Fans

They watched a great game with the Timberwolves leading for a good portion of the evening.  The Timberwolves did not win, but made it an exciting match until the very end.

While the boys were at the Wolves game, Sophia and I went to see the UMD Bulldogs during the first round of the WCHA playoffs.  Sophia decided to put a Bulldog tattoo on her cheek and I made signs for her to hold up during the game.

Go Dogs!

I "Heart" Kenny (The Goalie)

Face Off

We also saw a fun game with excitement until the very end.  The Bulldogs scored an empty net goal in the final seconds to win 4-2.

4-2

We watched more sports on Saturday when Sebastian played his final basketball game of the year.  Sebastian scored seven points and had several rebounds and assists.  We had a special fan join us to watch the game.  Papa Tom came up from the Twin Cities to see him play.

Sunday was spent skiing at Spirit Mountain with Papa Tom.  The snow that we had received the week before was melting fast in the near 60 degree temperatures.  We enjoyed the sunny, warm weather on the slopes and ate lunch outside on the deck.

View From The Chalet

Ski Team

Ready To Hit The Slopes...Again

We had every intention to take a picture with the five of us, but ended the day without snapping a group photo.  We will have to ski together again next season so that we get one with Papa Tom on the slopes at age 70 along with the four of us.

14.5 Inches

We woke up to several inches Saturday morning and it continued throughout the entire day.  By evening we had over a foot of snow and by Sunday morning we had reached 14.5 inches.  Mike pulled the snow blower out three times during the day Saturday so that we could get out to two playoff basketball games for Sebastian, register the kids for ski races and make a run to the grocery store.  Sophia had decided on a breakfast dinner for winning the previous snow total bet so we had to pick up supplies.  We didn’t bother to make a bet for this next “storm” since the original forecast had minimal accumulation expected.

The nice thing about lake effect snow is that it is light and fluffy.  Not like the heavy stuff we received during our “blizzard” last week.  Speaking of our blizzard snow, Thursday was warm enough for Mike and Sophia to make this guy during their day off from work and school.

Mr. Snowman

Here’s what he looked like this morning when I was out shoveling our driveway…again.

Snow Covered Snowman

Sophia had a friend over Saturday during our snow event.  Her friend lives just blocks from our house, so it is was a short walk through the snow to get here.  She came prepared in snow gear and with a sled.  The girls took turns going down our newly complete sledding course in the backyard – the one I didn’t think we would have this year since we had grass in the backyard two weeks ago.

Winter Fun

They also tried a couple of runs together on one sled.

Two Person Sled

Wipe Out

They trudged through the deep snow and found a perfect spot to make snow angels.

Expedition In The Backyard

They also found the biggest snow pile in the yard and climbed to the top.

King Queen Of The Hill

Then they slid down.

Weeeeeee!

They got tired from all the play outdoors and cold from the snow filtering in under their snow gear and played inside for the rest of the afternoon.  By that time I think we were all tired of the snow.

Fast forward to Sunday morning, here’s what I saw when I was out shoveling at 7:45am.

Frosted

"White" Pines

Looking Down The Street

After breakfast the kids headed out with Mike to have some fun in the snow.

Sledding

Wipe Out

Sled Boarding

Howdy

Sledding With Dad

Sunday afternoon the kids had their final ski race at Chester Bowl.  The snow actually had ended by this time and the sun came out.  It was warm on the slopes and the fresh powder made for some great skiing.

Last Race

Finished

Here’s Sebastian – he’s the black spot with a red helmet in the center of the picture.

Finale

We hope to enjoy the new snow a bit more before the spring thaw hits.  Temperatures are forecast to be in the 30′s and 40′s this week.  We are looking forward to skiing with Mike’s Dad next weekend at Spirit Mountain and perhaps we can make a family for Mr. Snowman in the front yard before it all melts.