Grand Rapids, MN

Now it was Presley's turn for an out of town tournament. Both Mom and Dad were able to come watch her play. The 12UAs did not win but they played hard and fun was had by all. And we saw the best of Grand Rapids, including: dancing in the locker rooms and chuck a puck at the Grand Rapids hockey arena, lunch and Dubsmash at Toivos, great pics and a visit to Judy Garland's childhood home and museum, double decker pizza at Mad Dogs, and kid and adult fun at the Saw Mill Inn. Fun tourney weekend!

Ron Turns 49

We celebrated Dad's birthday this week. Mom and Dad spent the day with some of Dad's favorite things. We started the day at the gym where he got to start off with a nice swim. We then went to Al's for breakfast. Ron then took us to his favorite guitar spot, the Podium, where he played guitars, got his guitar restrung, and Mom met Ralph, a super fan of the Podium. We finished off his day with Gina Maria's pizza, present opening, and a parking lot party before Canyon's hockey game! A fun day of celebrating Ron!

Spirit of Duluth Tournament

Mom and Canyon had a nice mother/son weekend together in Duluth for his hockey team's tournament. We kicked off our weekend with a great brunch at Amazing Grace Bakery and Cafe. Mom did get a flat tire after dropping Canyon off for his first game but it was the best way to get a flat tire. She found a service station that was able to fix the tire right away so she didn't even miss a shift of the game. While the boys didn't end up where we wanted to be in the tournament, the weekend was still filled with lots of fun team meals and events. The weather was beautiful and Mom was able to take a 4 mile walk along the lakeshore. A highlight was a trip to Bentleyville, a huge (and free) light event on the lakefront that is put on the city with characters, hot chocolate, cookies, popcorn, marshmallow roasting, and of course Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Fun weekend!

Christmas Tree Decorating

For the first time ever, the Pergandes put up their tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. We usually don't get our tree up until the week before Christmas. We picked up the tree at our local hardware store and then had a nice family decorating session. It was Presley's year to put Santa on top. However, the bummer was the tree looks dead even before we put the ornaments on. However, we didn't have enough energy to return the tree. Just can't keep the lights on when we are not at home. Still looks good from far away. Maybe next year, we will cut our tree down!

Jim Fessler Comes For a Visit

Ron's college fraternity brother, Jim Fessler, came to MN for a visit and to watch the Illini play the MN Gophers in football. The boys had a pretty crazy and fun day with a fun game, lots of guy bonding and adventures, and ending with one of Canyon's Bantam AA games. Thanks for the visit Lumpy!

Early Season Hockey Activities

Both Canyon's and Presley's hockey seasons are off to a good start. Presley's team is a pretty young 12UA team. While they may not have a winning season, they are bonding well as a team. Presley's team got the opportunity to skate on the ice and cheer on the University of Minnesota Women's hockey team (NCAA 2015 Champions) at the beginning of one of their home games. Before the game, Presley went out to eat with some of her teammates in Dinky Town. At the game, her team stood in the tunnel as the players took the ice. Then her team then got announced to the crowd and skated onto the ice. It was a fun night. They got some fun selfies with Goldie, the team mascot, and watched a pretty amazing game!




Canyon's Bantam AA team is an experienced and strong team and is ranked as one of the top teams in the state. The Thanskgiving Weekend tournament was Eden Prairie's "Test of the Best Tournament". It was an amazing tournament and the boys knocked off the #1 ranked team in the state to win the tournament! Fun win with a fun feature in the local Eden Prairie and MN State Hockey papers.