Cambria - Thanksgiving 2010

Pergandes made our 3rd annual trip out to Cambria for Thanksgiving. This is a very special trip with our dear friends from California. We rent a beautiful house along the coast and enjoy nice ocean walks, wine tasting in the Paso Robles valley, playing music and games at the house, taking family photos, and enjoying our time together as friends. This year also included a special highlight with a trip to the Happy Acres goat farm where we milked goats and made our very own goat cheese. As usual, the food and friendship was fabulous (and this year gluten-free (but unfortunately not calorie free)). The trip ended with a very wild and coincidental meeting and hug with Grandpa Jim, Grammie Liz, and Kasie at a gas station off the highway! Fun way to end a great trip!

Death Valley - Thanksgiving 2010

Pergandes had an amazing adventure to Death Valley, the largest National Park in the contiguous 48 states. You know it's going to be a great trip when 5 minutes into the trip, the kids tell you that this is the best trip ever. We were amazed at the diversity of the park and did our best to explore it over the course of about 2 1/2 days.

Dante's View - Overlooking the valley and the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere from 5,475 feet.


Badwater Basin- 282 feet below sea level and a vast valley of table salt where the kids ran with freedom through with the wind.


Hike to Natural Bridge, a natural stone bridge of rock that spans a narrow valley. The kids got their hiking legs here and loved the exploration and climbing.


Devils Golf Course - A huge bed of rugged and huge salt crystals balls that are fun to climb and explore but dangerous and painful when you fall (as Presley and Mom both experienced).


Even though it was unseasonably chilly during our visit, the kids enjoyed swimming in the pools fed by naturally warm springs.


Our most adventurous hike through Golden Canyon to the Red Cathedral, where Dad climbed to the top and his crazy family then followed.



Ubehebe Crater, a 770 foot steam explosion crater that the kids raced to the bottom in 4 minutes but then it took a grueling 40 minutes to climb back out (after lots of fun sliding down).



Mesquite Sand Dunes - Felt like we were in the Sahara Desert with miles of Sand Dunes, many over 150 ft. tall. Fun to roll down but the sand lingered in your ears and toes for several days!


Sunset horseback riding along the valley floor, a nice wind down after busy and adventurous days!

Winter is Here

Big day for Presley on her new Penguin hockey team. She was the very first player selected to wear the Sid Crosby jersey, which is given to the player that works the hardest in the previous practice. Might also be a motivational tool to encourage her to stay standing for the entire practice. For her first couple of practices, she spent most of the last half hour of practice laying on the ground. But with a little encouragement (and a trip to Osaka), she finally has done it!


Winter has also arrived with our first snow of the season. The kids are enjoying playing outside and building new snow forts and tools. Here's a picture from the YMCA after school program.

Auntie's Fall Visit

Auntie came to Minnesota for a nice fall visit. The weekend was filled with great games (G-R-E-E-D was a highlight), puzzle making, and reading of fun new books. Auntie also was able to see Canyon and Presley on their new hockey teams (and even attend the opening parent's meeting). We enjoyed a nice dinner out and checked out the new telescope and observatory in Eden Prairie to look at Jupiter and other stars. Fun weekend!

Halloween Fun

All the Pergandes got in on the Halloween fun! On Halloween Eve, Mom and Dad had double the fun with a Wild vs. Blackhawks game followed by a Halloween party that we went to as Blackhawk Indians. The kids also had a great Halloween. Canyon was an Avatar and Presley decided to continue with her costume from last year as a Skeleton Zombie. We started early and went late. This year, the kids shifted to a Pillowcase to catch all their candy. Also visited the most decorated house we have ever seen near their old preschool. Fun night! Happy Halloween.

MEA Weekend

Minnesota is unique in that every fall that have a long weekend dedicated to Minnesota Educators. What I have learned is that it's really just a fall vacation for families and teachers when no one else in the country has the time off. We have finally learned to be part of the game and headed up north for a weekend away with friends. The kids loved swimming in the pool (and in the freezing lake), playing games and cards with their friends, and playing bumper pool. The parents enjoyed nice walks, great bonfires, golfing (Dad), massages (Mom), and relaxing and playing cards with friends.



Presley is also "coming out of retirement" for her first official hockey season. Here she is coming to her first clinic at our home away from home at Velocity Hockey Center.

Valley Scare and Red Cooler Road Show

Valley Fair turns into Valley Scare every October. The entire amusement park gets converted into a park with multiple haunted houses and mazes as well as great rides and great decorations. Canyon had been asking to go for several weeks. We decided to go in the day (pre-scary stuff) and see how the kids did. Presley was excited to be 48 inches and tall enough to ride the roller coasters. Canyon was excited to check out the scary haunted houses. Presley led us through our first haunted house, yelling right back at the monsters. Way to be tough Presley! And way to protect the family!



Dad has been traveling again this fall. His Red Cooler Road Show has become a signature of his travels and a part of his company's marketing campaign. Had to capture this one for the memory books.

Eagle Heights Fundraisers

Back to school means back to school fundraisers as well. Eagle Heights has some fun fundraisers. The first is a Leer-a-thon (Read-a-thon). The kids have pledged to read a certain amount of minutes each day for the month of October. If they reach their goal, we will give them a certain dollar amount to give to their school. For every % they exceed their goal, we will increase the pledge accordingly. The kids are so excited and reading everywhere and anytime they can. What a great motivator!


Another fundraiser is a 1-mile fun run. Canyon and Mom ran the fun run this year. Canyon was excited to run with some of his friends. The race began with the 5th graders, then the 4th graders, then the 3rd graders, etc. Canyon (3rd Grade) passed all the 4th and 5th graders who started before him and came in first out of the entire school. And he didn't even have running shoes on. Way to go Canyon!

Soccer Season Winds Down and Hockey Season Begins

Ahhhh.... Fall is here. The kids had a great soccer season. Canyon played on a traveling U9 team and they had a winning season. Canyon loved both shooting goals and protecting the goal as goalie. He got to play a fair share in all of the positions.



Presley enjoyed her soccer season with Coach Ron on MGM (Mean Green Machines). While they didn't have a winning season, Coach Ron always made sure the girls were having fun, building their skills, and practicing good sportsmanship. Here's Presley with her coach on medal night!


Hockey season is beginning. Both Canyon and Presley are going to play this year. Canyon has an extracurricular program where he gets to play where the Minnesota Gophers play in the big stadium each week. Pretty cool experience. And Presley is "coming out of retirement" to try hockey again. Should be a fun adventure for both!

Grammie's Thank You Visit

Mom owed a Grammie a big thank you for helping us out with our solar panel contract. So we hosted her up for a visit to Minneapolis. On Friday, while the kids were in school, Mom and Grammie went on an adventurous Minneapolis History Tour on Segways. Grammie did great but Mom crashed into a pole. And then we found out that Segway President fell to his demise a day after our tour on a Segway on his home property. Be careful anyone trying this out for the first time! :). On Friday evening, we enjoyed Charlotte's Web at the Chidren's Theater with the kids.


Saturday was a day filled with kids sports. We watched Canyon and Presley at Soccer. The kids played hard. We also enjoyed apple cider and smores at a fellow sun farmer's home.




Sunday was absolutely gorgeous. So we took a stroll around Lake Nokomis, checking out the Art Crawl along the way. And we ended our visit with some Fish Tacos at Sea Salt near Minnehaha Falls. A wonderful end to a nice visit! We'll miss you Grammie!

Dave Matthews Band 2010

Pergandes splurged on Dave Matthews in 2010 with 3 shows in 4 days. We started with a show on the Wednesday, the 15th, in Minneapolis with our pals Kate and Tom who flew in from Chicago. We had a great spot on the floor and he played on and on and on. A great first show for our pals.


On Friday, we flew to Chicago with the kids to see DMB at Wrigley field. Our adventure in Chicago started with an "El" ride through the city and a visit to Grandma Harriet at Harris Bank. And then it was off to the show with our pals Joe and Rhonda. Another great show with a sleepy bus ride home. On Saturday, Trisha got a game of Tennis in with her pal Kim and then we returned for another show with our pals from Ron's work and with Joe and Rhonda again. This night our seats were in the field and we were even able to find Aunt Kimmy! A short but very memorable trip!