USA vs Honduras

The older kids skipped school today and we drove up to St. Paul for the USMNT vs Honduras. They are in World Cup qualifying right now and the US needs to get some wins. The won the game, but the weather was the biggest story today. It was 4 degrees when the game started, with an even colder windchill. We were all bundled up and I felt bad for the players. It was awesome to see the game and we will remember the experience.

Before the game we spent time together at Mall of America. We played a cellphone version of Marco Polo to help pass the time.
No one wanted to have their picture taken.
Pre-game ice sculpture.
By the field.

Creighton Visit

While Susan had the girls at First Reconciliation, the older kids and I headed to Omaha. We attended the Xavier vs. Creighton basketball game, grabbed some ice cream, and then went for a walk around Creighton’s campus. The highlight of the trip was that Xavier was losing 36-19 at halftime and then scored 19 straight points to start the second half and ended up winning by 10.

Ski Trip with Andrew

This past weekend Andrew and I went to visit Regis University in Denver and then went skiing at Keystone. Andrew did a wonderful job snowboarding. I managed to make it down the hill a few times on my skis.

Lunch Parking Lot
Tunnel in the training zone. This was Andrew’s first time officially snowboarding and my first time on skis since college.
Ready to get started.

Minneapolis Soccer Tournament

This weekend we headed to Minneapolis for a soccer tournament for Mari’s team. We watched a lot of soccer and spent a lot of time hanging out with friends.

Mari must be out there somewhere.
Susan, Lucia, and Rose took a morning off to visit friends: Hope, Sarah, Susan, and Jen.
Saturday was my 40th birthday, so we had a little party in our hotel room.

Boating – V2

Boating went much better this time. It was a little cool, but the water was calmer. It took the little girls almost the whole trip to feel comfortable, but by the end they were having a blast.

Waco & The Silos

Today we made a day trip to Waco to experience the Chip & Joanna Gaines Magnolia compound. We started a a tour of some of the houses they worked on in Fixer Upper and then went to Magnolia at the Silos to experience their store and so much more.

We stopped at Sonic, which has been a trend on our trip. We have been taking advantage of their happy hour nearly every day.
Lucia and Susan, in front of the Silos, waiting in line to get into the store.
Hang out on the lawn.
More hanging out on the lawn.
Back at our house, watching a movie at night.

Lake Travis – First Attempt

Today we tried to go boating on Lake Travis. It was windy and as soon as we made it out onto the main lake we could tell it was just too much. The only reason anyone is smiling in the pictures is because they were happy to be headed back to the dock. We are going to try again on Friday.

  • Mari actually enjoyed it – and she got soaked.
  • Notice Rose hiding on the floor.
  • I had to really concentrate to get us back to the dock.

Touring Austin

Today we headed into Austin to check out some of the sites. We were here a few years ago on our trip, but the weather was not great. Today was awesome – almost too hot.

Pedestrian bridge
Torchy’s Tacos
Torchy’s Tacos
Torchy’s Tacos
Album Cover
Rose and Lucia
Waiting for the bats

Getting settled in

We spent our first day in Austin getting settled in. We are actually staying in a townhome on Lake Travis, about 45 minutes from Austin.

Walking the neighborhood.
At the pool
Table view from the loft
Evening pickleball