Life Tips for Nik

At Nik's High School Graduation party I asked everyone to jot down on a 3" x 5" index card a life tip for him. Something meaningful to carry Nik onto the next phase of his life and beyond. I had been meaning to do something with them and finally have some time to collect them into one place. So, without further delay, here are your life tips Nik, use them well!

"Close the lid when you are done on the throne and wash your hands for at least 20 seconds!"

- Julie Culver (my sister, Niks' aunt)

"When tipping at a restaurant, start your tip at 20% and adjust down based on service."

- Uncle Fun (my brother Dave, Niks' uncle and God Father)

"Nik, Always keep your beautiful smile!"
- Rosanna Wunrow (my aunt, Niks' great aunt)

"Nik, you are ready for life. Set goals and reach them and always move forward by continuing to set goals."
- Daryl Wunrow (my Dad, Niks' Grandpa)

"Nikolas, Trust God. One thing I have learned is that things happen on Gods time, not our time and he is always right."
- Tracy Wunrow (my sister in-law, Niks' aunt and God Mother)

"Keep focused. The first semester can be the hardest, it's all downhill after that! Best of luck."
- Noel Worden (Christina's God Son)

"Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer!"
- Dean Culver (my brother in-law, Niks' uncle)

"Enjoy Life! Be yourself. Have fun with your family."
- Diane Renk (my aunt, Niks' great aunt)

"Nik, follow your dreams - listen to others advice but follow your heart."
- John Eschenbacher (my cousin Darci's husband)

"Don't worry, be happy!"
- Emma Wunrow (my cousin Steve's daughter)

One Year Ends...

Christmas is now behind us and the New Year is fast approaching. Our family spent Christmas eve here in Minnesota, enjoying our traditional Ham loaf dinner by candle light. We then exchange gifts and end the evening with Church. On Christmas morning we drove to Waukesha WI for the big family Christmas celebration, this year hosted by my Sister Julie and her family. It was really great to see everyone. The food was also fabulous so I'm now eating less and working out more to make up for it!

I have taken vacation between Christmas and New Years. I've had a bit of free time so I have gone through my images from the past year. I selected a group of highlight images and have added them to the family web site. I hope all my family and friends enjoyed their Christmas holiday. I hope you enjoy the photo's.

2007 Seasons Greetings!

As I sit at my desk gazing out the window, it is clear that winter is upon us. Our current early morning temperature is -8 degrees. We had two winter storms come through this week with almost a foot of fresh powdery snow on the ground and another 2 to 4 inches still to come this weekend. In fact we have already had half a dozen nights with single digit temperatures. If all of this doesn't get you in the holiday spirit, nothing will. Our Christmas tree is up as are all the decorations both indoors and out. I feel so on top of things this year, the extra week with Thanksgiving coming early is such a blessing.

Our first full year of life in Minnesota has been a real roller coaster, filled with ups and downs. For the most part the major challenges are behind us. The kids have finally settled into the new school system. New friendships are developing while at the same time our California friendships are still an important part of every ones life. We survived our first winter in the nations ice box and lived to tell about it. We embraced spring with new eyes, and wondered at the beauty as nature was reborn after the harshness of winter. Summer was a time of warmth and playing in the water and battling the weeds in the yard. And of course fall brought the explosion of color and a crispness in the air as we begin our preparation for the cold that surely would come. Yes, we have come full circle. God has blessed us in so many ways and we are very thankful.

The big story in our life this year was the back surgery Chris experienced in February. As many of you know, she has had severe back problems for many years. I won't go into the detail here, if you want the whole story of surgery and the long road to recovery it's pretty well documented in my blog. The good news is that she is now 10 months into recovery and the spinal fusion is healing right on schedule. When she over does her daily activity, at times, she deals with inflammation, which leads to stiffness and soreness. She is learning each month, how to keep the inflammation to a minimum. Everything she deals with is a normal side effect, but overall she is in very little pain and discomfort compared to pre-surgery. We continue to pray that at the 18 month mark she will be pain free. Since her back is doing better, in late August, Chris returned to her part time job at EAT Catering, a gourmet catering company she started working for back in September of 2006. She really enjoys her job with its many opportunities to learn and grow in her abilities.

Nik is 18 years old now, which just doesn't seem possible! In June of this past year, Nik walked across the stage in his cap and gown to receive his High School diploma as a graduate of Minnetonka High School. We are all so very proud of Nik. He just quietly goes about his business accomplishing anything he puts his mind to. He is now in a program called Transitions Plus which is a 3 year program designed to help prepare him for life on the college campus. One of his favorite classes is a culinary arts class he takes at Hennepin County Technical College. Nik is also very much still a Californian at heart. Even with the weather below zero, Nik will be found walking around the house in bare feet, shorts and a t-shirt!

Alex is now 16 years old and a Junior at Minnetonka High School. His second year in his new environment is going well. He has made several good friends that he enjoys hanging out with. Alex also joined the ranks of the working back in August, working as a sandwich artist at our local Subway restaurant. He has been very good about managing his new found income and is watching his savings account steadily grow. Alex's really big news is that on December 7th he passed his behind the wheel test and now has his drivers license! He is over the top excited. He worked really hard on improving his skills and was able to pass on his first attempt.

Catie is now 12 years old and in 7th grade at Minnetonka West Middle School. Where her brothers took some time to get used to Minnesota, Catie has taken to it like a duck to water. She has many great friends that she enjoys spending time with. I also got her hooked on Cross-Country skiing back in February. We went out skiing at night with headlamps right after the snow stopped last Sunday. She has also taken to Kayaking and Canoeing with me in the warmer months. She is still very artsy and creative and enjoys scrap booking, shopping and exercising her culinary skills in the kitchen. Recently she has started playing around with making videos with her friends that are pretty imaginative.

As for me, there is probably not much that hasn't been chronicled on my blog throughout the year. I really enjoy my job at Quad, having now been there for 23 years. We have a trainee that is working in our office that was born two weeks after I started at Quad. How's that for some perspective? I also enjoy all the opportunities to hike, paddle and ski that Minnesota offers. Alex and I witnessed history when Brett Favre threw his record breaking 421st Touchdown pass against the Vikings.


I am most thankful that Chris is doing so well in her recovery from surgery. That stretch was a pretty scary one for all of us. Finally we are grateful for the many opportunities we have had to visit with family and friends. Special thanks to those that have made the trip to Minnesota to visit us. We look forward to many more visits both home and away this coming year. From all of us, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and continue to pray for peace in the coming year. God's blessing to all of you.

The Wunrow's, Jeff, Chris, Nik, Alex and Catie

Mailing Address: 6361 Melody Lane, Excelsior, MN 55331 - (952) 474-3644
E-mail: jwunrow@gmail.com; cwunrow@gmail.com; njwunrow@gmail.com; ajwunrow@gmail.com; ccwunrow@gmail.com
Web: http://homepage.mac.com/jeff_wunrow Blog: http://jwunrow.blogspot.com/

Graduation at MCAD

As many of you know, Chris' God Son Noel Worden has been living in Minneapolis studying photography at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). Noel comes from a small town in central WI and has a great work ethic. He actually finished his four year Bachelor of Arts degree in 3-1/2 years! Noels Mom and Dad came in town for the graduation ceremony and Noel honored us but using his last two tickets to invite Chris and I. The ceremony was very nice, everything you would expect from a fine arts college. Below are some pictures taken next to Noels exhibit in the art gallery of the school. Congratulations Noel!

It's officially Winter

Well, it's officially winter here in Minnesota. In the last 7 days we had 2 winter storms come through dropping 7 inches of snow on Saturday and 5 inches of snow on Tuesday. Last night we had our first below zero temperature of -8 degrees. I really like the cold. I like how it tingles in your nose and the big billows of steam the waft into the air as you breath. I'm also glad for the cold as it assures all the great new snow we just received will be around for a while. I also celebrated my 47th birthday this past Tuesday. The gang at the office took me out for lunch at Old Spaghetti Factory. After work I battled the snow to meet Chris and the kids at Buca de Beppo were we had a really nice imigrant Italian meal served family style. Thanks to my family and friends for all the cards, phone calls and e-mails wishing me a happy birthday!

Chili Champ

Well, my reign as the Quad/Graphics MN Chili Cook-off champion has come to an end. The competition today was tough. 8 chili competitors from all over the nation...I mean Twin Cities (Nation sounds more impressive) came together today for the annual culinary slugfest also known as the Quad/Graphics Chili Cook-off. The crock pots were all lined up, labeled with only a number. At 3:00 pm employee's and customers of the Minneapolis office gathered, chili bowls and spoons in hand to taste test all 8 chili's and cast our votes for our 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices. Chris even came to provide moral support. Not to mention a potential additional vote! I went with a different chili recipe this year, not wanting to get in a rut. Overall it was a good chili but the Chirizo sausage I used ended up not being as flavorful as it should have been. That's what I get for buying at a gourmet grocery instead of a Mexican market. When the votes were all tallied I was 4th, 1 point away from 3rd. So, no podium for me this year. I was able to feel good about the fact that I had the most 1st place votes. My friend Ron who is a photographer at Quad/Photo won so I happily handed off the coveted Chili Cook-off trophy to him. I'm already planning my recipe for next year, so look out Ron I'm coming for you!

Rock the Vote!

After years of anticipation Nik reached another Mile Stone today. Since the 2000 presidential election Nik has been chomping at the bit to be a part of the electoral process. Now 18, he was able to register and vote for the first time today. While a minor polling day in Minnesota with only school board and 2 ballot measures on the ballot he was still very excited to take his first major step as an adult and let his voice be heard. He is now waiting with much anticipation for the presidential primary in February. There are far too many people in their 20's and 30's that do not exercise their right and obligation to vote, so I'm very proud of Nik for bucking this tread.

Go Pack Go!

I went into the game last night against the Denver Broncos trying to keep my expectations in line. Even though the Packers were 5-1, I knew that Denver was always a tough place for them to play. I just hoped it would be a good close game. One where we would limit our mistakes and try to score some points. If we did that and lost, I would be OK with that. Well, the defense had a rough night. They played tough and times, but also had way too many penalties, especially on the secondary. But hey, Grant breaks out and shows we might just have a running game by recording the first 100 yard game for a Packer running back all season. Then, what can you say about Brett Favre? An 80 yard strike to James Jones for a TD in the first half. Then, on the very first play of sudden death overtime, an 82 yard back breaking bomb to Greg Jennings to win the game. I think you could probably hear me screaming all the way to Denver! I can't believe it, the Packers are 6-1! There is much joy in Mudville this morning.

Blast from the Past

Back in the early 90's while we were living in Southern California one of Chris' favorite TV shows was the Home Show with Gary Coleman. She even got a chance to take my Mom to see a live taping during one of Mom and Dads visits to our house in Corona. During that show, as they were going to commercial break the camera panned the audience and stopped with a close up of Chris and my Mom. A few weeks later a producer from the show called the house looking for Chris. When she had signed up for tickets she had noted in her profile that she was a mother of two living in So Cal. They wanted to know if she would be interested in being on the show as part of a segment on tandem baby strollers. Even though she is kind of camera shy, Chris decided to to it. I mean how many times in your life do you get to be on National Television!?

The whole experience was pretty cool. Since the broadcast was at 7:00 am Pacific (for a 10:00am time slot in New York). They put us up in a really nice hotel in Beverly Hills. They picked Chris up 90 minutes before the show for hair and makeup. I had to get the boys there just before the show was to start. The segment went really well and Chris and the kids looked awesome! Below is a clip that my Dad had recorded in VHS all those years ago. He recently added it to his YouTube library. Thanks Dad for making this little piece of family history and Christina's 15 minutes of fame available on line.

Formula 1 Season Finale

All I can say about the season ending race at Interlagos...WOW!

Can you believe it, Kimi Raikkonen comes from third in in the standings to win the 2007 World Championship! What a great race, and what an amazing season. All Lewis had to do is finish ahead of Alanso, and within 5 places of Kimi to become the first rookie and youngest driver ever to win the world championship and he has a mechanical gremlin that drops him to 18 place early in the race. Watching him carve his way back through the field was brilliant. Alanso, coming into the race seemed to have it all for the taking if he could finish ahead of both Kimi and Lewis. As we've seen though in the second half of the season, he was not up to the task.

My pre-season predictions of 1. Fernando Alanso 2. Kimi Raikkonen 3. Lewis Hamilton were pretty close. Right guys wrong order. My prediction that the championship would be won by less that 10 points was correct, but man I would have never thought that when all was said and done, the top 3 would be separated by a single championship point! Kimi flat out proved be wrong in my statements that he could not be consistent enough to beat Alanso. In the end, Hamilton got into the reigning World Champion and rattled him to the core. Something that not even Micheal Schumacher could do in the past.

Sadly my prediction that Scott Speed would be out of F-1 at the end of 2007 was correct. Based on his consistently out performing his team mate, it was very clear that STR canned the wrong driver. This only proved that Gerhard Burger was a better driver that team boss. I'm also bummed that we have lost our home GP. Indy was never a great track for F1, but it brought F1 back to America and I enjoyed every minute of it. I can only hope that some deal can be worked out in the future to bring the F1 circus back to the States.

I look forward to the 2008 season with much anticipation. Will Alanso in fact end up back at Renault, or perhaps somewhere else? Can Lewis Hamilton follow up his fairy tail rookie season and win the World Championship? Can Ferrari continue it's strong pace and maintain the longest string of dominance in it's 57 year history in the sport? The coming months will tell the tail. I can't wait to see it all unfold.

Congratulations once again to Kimi Raikkonen, 2007 World Champion.

Rocks, Waves and Light

While Nik and I were exploring along the North Shore this week, I played around with shooting some video on my little Canon Powershot. It's not great and I sure wish I had brought a tripod. However, it does give a much better sense of the beauty and power of this amazing place.

Road Trip - Nik & Dad

The kids have off of school Thursday and Friday this week for Teachers Convention. Nik and I took advantage of the time off to do a little road trip. The weather this month has been pretty gloomy. We have had 18 straight days of rain. Today there is a storm that looked like it would create gale force winds and waves on Lake Superior. I thought this would be a great chance to see the Great Lake in all it's powerful glory. Nik and I got on the road on a dreary wet day and headed north for the 2-1/2 hour drive to Duluth. We drove in rain the entire way up, expecting to see a wicked storm on the Lake Superior shoreline. About 10 minutes outside of Duluth, the clouds started breaking up and blue sky and sunshine made their way through. Not the kind of weather we anticipated. However, the lake was still pretty active and got more so the further up highway 61 we drove.

At the mouth of the Lester river just north of Duluth, the rain gorged river raced into the storm driven waves of the lake creating a jumble of waves and muddy brown water. Further north we stopped to take in the scenery of just past peak colored trees with the rocky shoreline and crashing waves. The sound of the storm driven waves thundering against the rocks reminded both Nik and I of the Pacific ocean waves on the shore near Ventura. We just sat and took it all in until the clouds came back and the wind picked up, making the air temp seem about 20 degree's colder than it was just 15 minutes prior. We headed back down to Canal Park in Duluth. Standing near the rocky break water the wind driven waves were cresting at 5-7 feet high. There were two jet skiers in the lake using the large waves as ramps launching their watercraft over 10 feet into the air! We finished off our day with dinner at Old Chicago pizza restaurant before heading back south toward home. Nik commented that seeing and hearing the waves today make him feel right at home. I've also posted an album of photos on the family web site.

Early Fall Paddling

Fall in Minnesota. The leaves are turning from green to shades of orange, red and rust. There is a chill in the air was we begin our slow migration to winter. Well today the weather was actually warm with a high temperature of 88 degrees! It was such a nice day we decided to get out and do some Canoeing. Nik joined Chris and I today on our paddle on Lake Minnewashta. It was his first time out with us. We had a great time, paddling out with the ducks and geese. The fall colors around sunset where spectacular and it was a rare treat to be wearing short and t-shirts in October.

Packers vs. Vikings

September 30th, 2007. I've had this date circled on my calender ever since the NFL schedule was released last spring. I stood in line the first day season tickets went on sale at the Metrodome office in July. My cousin Jon who lives in Sitka Alaska is a huge Packer fan like me. When he and I were visiting over the summer he mentioned that he would love to make his annual pilgrimage to a Packer game be this one. So four tickets is what I got so me Alex, Jon and his son Seth could enjoy the game. The Vikings in an effort the keep their home sell out streak alive forced anyone buying a rival game (aka Packers and Bears) to also buy tickets to a pre-season game so I dutifully handed over the cash (well really plastic) to secure my Packer tickets.

I went into the NFL season with what I thought where reasonable expectations. Based on the way the team came together over the course of the 2006 season and especially the vastly improved defense I hoped that we could pull off an 8-8 or even 9-7 season. My biggest concern was the opening 5 games that included 4 playoff teams plus the dreaded cross-state rival Vikings. I hoped we could get through this stretch with a 2-3 record.

Imagine my joy as the Packer/Viking game approached. The Pack are 3-0. Brett Favre is tied with Dan Morrino for career touchdown passes at 420. Brett is still extending his consecutive start record with every game he plays. Alex and I couldn't believe it, there was a good possibility we would be witness' to history! The excitement began to build.

Game Day. Alex and I don our Packer colors. My well worn #4 jersey never felt so good as I slipped it over my head. Along with Chris we drove to an IHOP near downtown to meet up with Jon, Seth and Aaron to enjoy a pre-game breakfast. We had a really nice time catching up with each other. We got a fair amount of flack from the server and the restaurant manager, both Vikings fans about us being in the wrong state with our Green and Gold colors. The manager actually bet us that if the Packers won, he'd buy us all dinner. After breakfast Aaron and Chris left and the four of us drove over to the stadium.

We arrived at the Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome 90 minutes before kick off. The outdoor plaza was as crowded as I've seen it. There was a pretty equal mix of Packer fans and Vikings fans enjoying the food, music and festive atmosphere. We walked around for a while but the lure of the stadium was too great. We went in and found our seats. The players were just starting their individual warm-ups. There was Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers stretching while talking to one the Vikings assistant coaches. Awesome. Already the stadium was starting to fill up. Every time a Packer player came out the Green Bay fans would cheer. This excitement built to a crescendo as game time drew closer.

In the final minutes before kick off the house was packed. The atmosphere was electric. There was so much anticipation and excitement. Jon turned to me and said, I'm so nervous I can't stand it! The noise level was greater than any event I've experienced in sports. It was actually louder than an F1 race, which is totally amazing.

The Packers are in the red zone on the 16 yard line having driven nearly the length of the field. It's 3rd down with 7 yards to go for a first down. Brett has a hard time getting the team to the line. The play clock is winding down. With 8 seconds left Brett tries to audible. But Donald Lee doesn't hear the play change. As the seconds tick away Brett runs over, yells the play in Lee's ear. The noise from the crowd is deafening. Brett runs back into shotgun position and as the play clock clicks to zero Scott Wells snaps the Ball to Brett. It was then that we all saw what Brett saw, a wide open Greg Jennings on a slant route. Favre hit him in stride with a perfect pass, and a split second later....Touchdown Packers! Number 421!! Brett Favre is the all time leader in career touchdown passes!!! The crowd, deafening before the ball is snapped now explodes in thundering cheers. I leap to my feet, Alex is there, we give each other a huge hug, knowing we have both witnessed history. I turn to Jon and Seth and we exchange high 5's. I have goose bumps from head to toe. I never want this moment to end.

The Packers go on the win the game, a very exciting finish that goes right down to the last minute of the game before victory is assured. They are now 4-0. At that point I don't even care so much that they won. We had come to the stadium than day hoping to be a part of history, a part of something bigger than ourselves. We where not disappointed. Alex summed the day up by say, "You know, only 65,000 people in the entire world will be able to say they actually witnessed this event. And we are here!" Amen Alex, I couldn't have said it better myself.

The Pack are 3-0!

Brett Favre ties Dan Morino with 420 TD passes in his career!

Alex and I will be attending the Packers vs. Vikings Game in the Metrodome next Sunday. We look forward to seeing Brett break the record against the dreaded Vikqueens.

Awesome!!!

Apple Days

In our little town of Excelsior, the final community event of the summer season is Apple Days. This event signals the end of summer and the beginning of fall with a large street fair that pretty much takes over all of downtown. People come from all over the Twin Cites to experience this festival. Chris had a chance to have a booth set up to promote her Swiss Colonies Occasions business. To give you an idea of how well her back is healing, she was able to do setup and tear down plus man the booth for 8 hours and end it all with her back feeling pretty good.

Chris has been going to physical therapy for the past several weeks. They are focusing on flexibility with various stretches to get her back muscles back to their pre-surgery level of movement. The first few weeks of PT left her feeling kind of stiff and sore, but it is now starting to pay off with a string of several weeks of little to no discomfort. The long road of recovery continues to progress according to plan!

1st Day of School

Fall officially kicked off with the kids all going back to school today. Catie is now in 7h grade at Minnetonka Middle School West, Alex is starting his Junior year at Minnetonka High School and Nik is now attending Hennepin County Technical College. As you can imagine they are all bummed that the summer is over, but are also excited to start the new school year too. Catie even allow Chris to walk her to school the first day and take a picture with her good friend Vanessa next to Catie's new locker.

Braces Free

Today marked a day that both Nik and Alex have been waiting for years to arrive. This afternoon, both of them had the braces removed from their teeth. Their smiles are more beautiful than ever. Nik keeps talking about going to Target and buying all the candy he hasn't been able to eat for the last 2 - 1/2 years. The stickier the better! Congratulations boys, now be sure to wear your retainers! Below are pix of the boys posing with their Orthodontist.

Summer Vacation - Day Six

Well, our stay at Larsmont ended today. We finished up with a final breakfast at the Grille and packed up all our stuff. Having been in the same place for almost a week, it take a bit more time to collect everything that when you are in a different place every night. We spent some time on the shore, one last time taking it all in. This is definately a place we will return to. The setting was truely something special. It was a much needed break from our hectic daily routine.

Note: I have updated our family web site with a photo album of pictures from our adventure. They can be viewed by linking to the Wunrow Family website.

Summer Vacation - Day Five

We woke up this morning to news reports of the tragic collapse of the I-35W bridge across the Mississippi river in Minneapolis. Like most Twin Cities residents, we have all driven across that bridge, which gives every one an eerie feeling of connectedness with those that lost there lives in this horrific tragedy. I spent a part of the morning calling co-workers in the Quad Minneapolis office to make sure everyone was accounted for and OK. One person reported that she was on the bridge coming home from and appointment with a client less than an hour before the bridge collapsed. Just one more reminder of the shear randomness of the event.

Today was more of a low key day. With all of the activity over the last few days, Chris' back is feeling pretty tight. At this stage of her recovery, when she overdoes it the muscles in her lower back tighten up, giving her quite a bit of discomfort. The surgeon says that this is normal at this stage of her recovery. So, Chris decided to lay low, catch up on her reading and sit of the heating pad. Alex has some summer school work to do so he stayed behind with Chris.




Nik, Catie and I decided to push our exploration further north along the shore today. So we drove north on MN 61 passing the two state parks with visited on Tuesday with our destination being Tettegouche State Park, just north of Silver Bay Minnesota. One of the things I've really missed since leaving California was the Mountains. I was pleased to notice that the further north we drove from Duluth, the more rugged and hilly the terrain becomes. As we approached Tettegouche, the topography was reminding me more and more of the Appalachian mountains. In fact, the region near the park is called the Sawtooth Mountains. The combination of the more mountainous terrain, rolling down to the lake gave it almost a Pocket Central California Coast type of feel. We spent the afternoon hiking around the area, skipping rocks into the lake and swatting endlessly at the biting black flies that seemed to come out of nowhere today to feast on our ankles. On our way back to the cottage, we stopped off at Gooseberry Falls, this time with swim suits in hand to climb around on the cascading water and let the cooling water refresh us after a warm day of hiking.

This is our last night at the cottage. We had a nice dinner at the Ledge Rock Grille. The food here has been really good. After dinner we spent the evening on the shore, skipping rocks and enjoying the view. The kids have gotten pretty good at rock skipping. It's a major pass time here what with the close proximity of smooth water, smooth stones and plenty of leisure time. We secured one of the community fire pits, one that was right by the water and ended the evening by the glow of a campfire as the final color drained from the evening sky.

Summer Vacation - Day Four

One of the highlights of the Larsmont cottages is the availability of sea kayaks for rent. Today was the day we planned on taking our kayaking certification class, so after breakfast we headed off to the pool. Since the water in Lake Superior is cold (no more than 50 degree's in the summer) it's really important to know how to get back in the Kayak of you flip. The kayaks used on Superior are all closed deck, so they are harder to get back in than the open deck kayak that I use back home. They also have spray skirts like the kind you see on a river kayak, but because the boats are so much longer you can't do an Eskimo role to flip yourself back over. Instead you need to grab a handle to release the skirt, and swim out from under the boat. Alex and I both took the class so we could be qualified to go out onto Lake Superior. Catie didn't have to take the class since she would be in a tandem boat with me, but she did watch from pool side. The sensation of flipping over, being upside down in the water was weird, but instinct (self preservation) takes over and you pull the handle and get out of the boat pretty darned fast! The rest was pretty easy, although I'm sure it would be harder out on the lake with colder water and bigger waves.

After our class, Catie and I got fitted for wet suits and life jackets and heading to the boat landing. The tandem boat they had was big and roomy. I got Catie all set up with you spray skirt, life jacket and paddle. Shoving off I had to walk the boat 10 feet out from shore to clear the rocks and was immediately struck by how cold the water was. 50 degree water is pretty numbing. Mental note, don't flip the boat! Once I got settled in with my spray skirt attached we paddled out on the lake. It was not really a perfect day for Kayaking, with winds from the south east at a steady 15 mph and 1-2 foot waves. From my past experiences on big water I knew that on a windy day it's best to do head into the wind. That way when you reach the turnaround point and you are starting to get tired, you can have the wind at your back for the journey home. Catie as always had a ball. We rode the swells up and down, kind of like our own private roller coaster. Several times waves crashed over the deck of the boat and I was really glad for the spray skirts and wet suits! We paddled for a little more that an hour and landed just in time to return our gear and have some lunch with Chris, Nik and Alex.

Our afternoon activity was Nik's trip highlight. We drove back down to Duluth to take a ride on the North Shore Scenic Rail Road. The NSSRR runs from Duluth back up to Two Harbors in vintage rail cars pulled by a beautifully restored Diesel engine. To make this even more of a highlight for Nik, this as also a trip billed as the "Pizza Train". Each passenger gets one half of a Domino's pizza and a soda. Well, I couldn't eat an entire half, neither could Catie or Chris so Nik and Alex had all the pizza they could eat, plus left overs for lunch! Nik was totally in his element on this trip. Once we had finished eating, he was up and roaming the various cars for the next hour and half. I love watching him explore. The stuff he notices and finds joy in are things that most people would take for granted or miss entirely. It was a nice time for all of us to sit and enjoy the scenery. The pizza was good, the views were great and the time spent together, priceless!

Summer Vacation - Day Three

I woke up this morning about 6:30 am. Since the rest of the family was fast asleep and I knew from experience that wasn't going to change any time soon, I decided to grab a book and head out to the shore. Sitting in an Adirondack chair with a view of the rising son, I settled in to read. The sound of the waves on the shore, and a gentle breeze blowing through the trees, the setting was perfect for relaxed reading.

After breakfast we headed out to visit two State Parks in the area. Heading northeast out of Two Harbors our first stop was Gooseberry Falls State Park. There are several miles of hiking trails as well as a shorter paved walking trail that leads to the lower and middle falls. Chris has been having a really good back days lately so we hiked over to the falls.The views of Middle Falls are spectacular. With the weather being in the low 90's there were quite a few people climbing on to the fall and cooling off in the cascading water. We didn't have our bathing suits with us so we just got our feet wet.

Continuing up scenic Minnesota Highway 61 our final stop of the day was Split Rock Lighthouse. Commissioned in 1905 after a terrible November storm sank 38 ships in Lake Superior it is a string of lighthouses build to keep ore ships from floundering onto the rocky shores during heavy weather. The lighthouse sits atop a 100 foot rock cliff projecting it's light over 20 miles out. We got a great tour of the lighthouse, the lighthouse keepers homes (there were 3 houses, one for each keeper and there family) and the building that ran the huge air compressor that powered the fog horn. The view from the top of the lighthouse was breathtaking.

Summer Vacation - Day Two

Woke up this morning and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast at the hotel. Once we got packed up and the car loaded we ventured out to the S.S. William A. Irvin Ore Boat Museum for the guided tour. The Irvin was the flag ship Ore carrier for US Steel for 40 years after it was launched in Duluth in 1944. It was a working Ore carrier as well as a floating public relations vehicle to wine and dine potential investors while showing them how there money would be working for them. At over 500 feet in length, it is impressive in its size. Until you consider that modern Ore ships plying the Great Lakes are well over 1,000 feet long! The picture to the right is a ship I watched make it's way from Duluth Harbor, under the Aerial Lift Bridge and through the channel to begin it's long journey to Indiana

After a our tour of the Irvin, we made our way to Two Harbors where we checked into the Larsmont Cottages. Our cottage was a one bedroom with room to easily sleep the five of us. With a full kitchen, dinning room and living room with full home theater we were all set to spend the next 5 days exploring the North Shore with the Larsmont as our base camp. The living room was all picture windows looking out over the Lake Superior shoreline, only 50 feet from our back door. Nik was awed by the rugged beauty of the shoreline, standing on the ledge rock and taking it all in. Near the lakes rocky shore was a seating area with Adirondack style furniture. A beautiful view and a relaxing place to sit and enjoy it, who could ask for more!

Summer Vacation - Day One

We started our long awaited family vacation today. As anyone close to or family knows, we all love to travel and explore new places. We have done many big road trips over the past 5 years. This year, since we are still new to the state of Minnesota we decided to spend this years trip exploring one the states most scenic areas, the North Shore. The North Shore, or is the marketing folks around here call it "America's North Coast" is an area that extends from the port city of Duluth MN northeast to the Canadian border. The area is a mix of scenic beauty and Great Lakes shipping with several towns along the shore serving as harbors for the monster ore carrying ships that carry cargo from the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota to the steel mills in Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh.

Our first days destination was Duluth. We spent the day exploring an area downtown called Canal Park. They have done a nice job of renovating this small peninsula of land that touches Lake Superior, the shipping canal and Duluth harbor. Points of interest include the Aerial lift bridge, the Lake Superior Marine Museum and the Floating Museum ship the S.S. William A. Irvin Ore Boat Museum.

Canal Park also has miles of walking paths along the water, lots of good hotels, restaurants, and shops to explore. We spent all afternoon here checking out the sites at the lift bridge and the marine museum, teaching the kids how to skip stones on the water, enjoyed a yummy Mexican dinner (in Duluth, who knew!?) and watching the sun set as large ore ships make there way under the bridge to Lake Superior.

Familyfest weekend

Under the heading of better late than never. I finally have some time to jot a few lines about our adventure last weekend. One of the things I enjoy about living in Minnesota is that we can attend family events in Wisconsin on a far more regular basis. This past weekend for example was the family get together that my sister Jenny and her husband Jack host every year at their house on Lake Winnabago known to the family as Familyfest. Jack and Jenny do a nice job of setting up the event so there is really something for everyone. There were two boats available to give tubing rides to the kids. Ginny Lemke and Dave Wunrow brought their Kayaks, Swimming was available both in the lake as well as in the above ground pool, Frisbee, Horseshoes, sandbox, swing set, well you get the idea. Combine that with good food, a great view of the lake and the setting was right for all to have a nice Saturday afternoon.

Alex and Catie both spent most of the day tubing. One boat driven by Uncle Jack had the smaller or less adventurous kids and the other driven by Uncle Dan had older kids. The later manages his rides so they they always ended, not when a kid says stop, but rather when they were physically thrown from the tube by an especially large wave! This was always spectacular. By the next morning Alex was moving pretty slow from all the fun the day before.

Also during this trip we had a chance to join Chris' Mom for dinner. We brought fried chicken and she provided authentic home made Spanish rice and beans along with fresh tortilla's and salsa. All the kids love Grandma's cooking and Alex kept bugging her for the recipe. Like most of her dishes there is nothing written down, it's all in her head so it was hard for him to come away with the exact ingredients, but it was cute watching him try to figure it out. Later that same evening we joined my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Marge Freitag for a visit and a glass of wine. Jerry is developing a nice wine collection and we enjoyed sharing a glass he had brought up from Tasmania, off the coast of Australia.

Friday we took the kids to Summerfest, the worlds largest music festival held on the lake shore in Milwaukee. It had been 18 years since Chris and I had been to Summerfest and it was cool to be able to share the experience with the kids. Alex being a big music fan really enjoyed the Alternative Rock stage and the emerging artist series. He thought it was cool he might be hearing one of the next big bands. Much like when I had the chance in 1977 to see the Ramones before they made if big in the US. Dave, Tracy, Cory and Jamie met us at the festival grounds and we spent the afternoon together, eating from the huge variety of restaurants and enjoys the sights and sounds of Summerfest.

We were also fortunate the be able to spend the night with several of my siblings and their families. Thursday night we stayed with my sister Debbie and Dan, Friday night we were with my sister Julie and Dean and Saturday night following a full day of Familyfest we stayed at Jenny and Jacks. We are grateful to them for opening their homes to us. We very much enjoyed our time together.

When we lived in CA we were always having to choose between using vacation time and money to visit family or to spend it on travel to parts of the country we had yet to explore. Now that we are closer to family we can do both. What a blessing!

Hurray for the 4th!

My grandfather Alfred Wunrow used to always greet us on Independence day by proclaiming "Hurray for the 4th!" My Dad and I carry on this tradition in the early morning hours each 4th of July. This year, in our quest to see who can get the greeting out first, I was victorious. Every time we say this, we think fondly of Grandpa. What a character.

We celebrated the holiday this year with friends from the neighborhood as well as Chris' Godson Noel. We had a nice BBQ dinner of ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, baked beans, corn bread, cole slaw, and salad. The weather was a bit rainy a few hours before we ate, but after dinner it was beautiful. A perfect night for watching fire works. We enjoyed the pyro display at the Excelsior Commons. The even featured the Minneapolis Orchestra live on stage. There were boats anchored everywhere and people spread out on blankets as far as the eye could see. We had a really nice time, sharing the experience with friends. I've uploaded a few photo's from the evening on the family web site. Hurray for the 4th!

The Fifth Beatle

We had a fun day today. Uncle Gary invited us to his house for a family get together. All of his sons (my cousins) were getting together for Sunday afternoon. Jon was in town from Sitka Alaska with his girlfriend Leslie, Dan was in town from his missionary work in China with his wife Kathy and their 3 kids, Aaron was in town from northern Minnesota with his wife Mary and their two kids and Steve and his wife Martha and their 3 kids made the big trip from St. Paul. It was a beautiful summer afternoon, not too hot and no mosquito's.

Jon and I had to rack our brains to figure out how long it had been since we had seen each other. I think we finally settled on Grandpa Wunrow's funeral, which was almost 17 years ago! I'm pretty sure that it had been that long since Aaron and I saw each other as well. It was really nice reconnecting with all the brothers, but Aaron and Jon in particular since is had been so long since we has seen each other.

The highlight of the day was my anointing of 5th brother status. It felt like Pete Best, the 5th Beatle (anyone younger that 40 may want to google that name!) only instead of being the forgotten Beatle, I was the remembered brother! I felt right at home with all my bro's and my "Mom and Dad" made me feel very welcome. They even asked me to pitch in for Aunt Rosanna's birthday present. Hmmm, wait a minute...maybe this was all a sham to get me to pony up some cash?! Well, either way I'm still glad to be a part of the family.

I had quite a few requests from my brothers to have access to the photo's we took today. So, I've created a photo album on my web site so you can view them. Also for anyone that want's the hi-res images to get prints made, I copied them into the share folder on the web site. You can grab all of them or only the ones you want.

A Boy and his Mac

Anyone that knows my son Nik knows how much of an Apple fan he is. He has had an iPod for over 4 years. He has dreamed about the day when he would also have his own Mac. Both Catie and Alex have over the last couple of years purchased desktop PC's because they wanted a computer and the PC's were cheap. On many an occasion I told Nik if he really wanted a computer he could afford a PC right then. But Nik knew what he wanted and he wanted a Mac laptop. He as been saving for one for over 2 years. Well, after all the graduation gifts were opened, and all the money counted he realized he had enough to get his dream machine. So, on the Sunday after graduation Chris and I drove Nik over to the Apple store in Eden Prairie. There he worked out the specification of the Macbook he wanted, even getting a student discount and some rebate savings. He walked out of the store the proud owner of a white Apple MacBook laptop. It's so beautiful, I totally have laptop envy every time I'm using my IBM Thinkpad and Nik is tapping away on is MacBook! Congratulations Nik on the reward to sticking with your dreams and making them happen!

United States Grand Prix - Race Day

The 8th running of the US Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is completed. Wow, what a race. It was everything you want in Grand Prix. The high drama of McLaren veteran and two time reigning World Champion Fernando Alanso, fighting it out with rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton. In all three practice session and in the first two qualifying sessions Alanso had the upper hand over his less experienced team mate. However, when it really counted in the final minute of final qualifying, Hamilton topped Alanso by a less that 0.2 second. Then today, with the whole racing world watching, Lewis held off repeated challenges for the lead from Fernando and held on for the win. It was his second win in the last two races and the 7th time in his 7 race F1 career finishing in the top three. Amazing! The racing was clean and close the whole way. With the Speed TV broadcast coming in on our race radio's and the diamond vision screen in front of our grandstand, we always knew exactly what was going in at all times during the race. I am know waiting patiently to see of the Speedway ownership and F1 management can come to an agreement on a long term deal for the future.