Mother/Daughter Adventure in Boston

After Presley's tournament in the suburbs of Boston, Mom and Presley were able to extend our trip for a couple of days of exploration and one on one time that include history deep dives, running training through the city, segway fun, yummy food, college visits and an awesome finale concert with Macklemore.

Our first day was filled with rain so we made an adventure to Salem and a visit to the Salem Witch Museum to learn about the frenzy and mob mentality -- an ugly part of of US history that I hope we never repeat. We also stopped by the House of Seven Gables and enjoyed a nice tea and treat stop at Jolie Tea Company.



We explored much of Boston on foot -- with walks through the Boston Common, Public Garden, parts of the Freedom Trail and the Black Heritage trail, and North Boston.



We also did some college visits at Harvard and Boston College. Presley don't grow up too fast!



Nice training runs through the new Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway...



A fun Segway touring that took us all over Boston...



And a finale fun night with amazing seats (Thanks Presley) watching Macklemore and Kesha! A great mother/daughter trip!



And while the girls were away, Dad/Son had a nice bonding weekend at home with the pets! Fun pics they sent us on our trip...

Beantown Classic 2018

Presley was invited to play with an 2002/2003 team in the Beantown Classic in Boston (actually Marlborough, MA). This is one of the country's most premier girls hockey tournaments. Mom and Presley flew out for the tournament. The tournament is filled with extremely competitive teams. Our MN team was very young relative to the competition. They ended the tournament with a 1-2-1 record. While they didn't make it to the finals, the team showed real grit and had a blast getting to know each other over the weekend. Here are a couple of pics from the tournament and the girls' off ice excursions.

New England Sports Center (in the middle of a "thickly settled" area)




Northeastern University Campus Tour



Exploring Marlborough - Wayside Country Store for candy and Trombetta's Farm for homemade ice cream



Breakout Room

Grammie, Roxxy, Domino

Grammie blessed us with a 24 hour visit on her way to her class reunion. We had a short but sweet visit.

Roxxy and Domino are settling into a nice routine this summer - playing, tormenting each other (and us), and weaving their way into our hearts. Here are pics from Roxxy's first ride on a boat and Domino being playful in the office.

July 17 - Honoring & Remembering Kate Fronek - #KateStrong

July 17th marked the one year anniversary of the passing of Presley's friend and teammate, Kate Fronek. Her 12U teammates got together to honor her memory and be together. They released 15 teal balloons (her hockey jersey # and favorite color) at Lake Riley. It was nice to see the girls getting together to honor Kate in their own special way.

Grandma Harriet Visit

After we returned home from our family trip to Michigan, we had 5 lovely days with Grandma Harriet, including the 4th of July. We took Grandma Harriet over to the Eden Prairie holiday celebration at Round Lake, where we dipped our toes in the water, played bingo and watched the BMX bike jumping. After that we headed over to Lake Riley to enjoy some evening celebration with friends. Great visits with a great lady!

Returning home with pitstop at Burt Lake in Northern Michigan

The Pergandes decided to drive the north route through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan home. We made a pit stop in Indian River to visit with Eden Prairie friends who have a cottage on Burt Lake. We had a fun day jet skiing, catching cray fish, floating in the lake on a very hot day and ending the day with a visit to the world's largest crucifix and pizza with the Daylor family reunion. Fun day. Excited to return home to Roxxy and Domino who were lucky to have Grandma Harriet taking care of them for the week!

Cottage 2018 & Tribute to Great Granny Kohls

In 2017, we lost our Great Granny Mary Jane Kohls who was 97 1/2 years old ("98 with the last two birthdays coming soon to bring her to 3 digits"). To honor the matriarch that brought our families together every summer at the cottage and bury her remains with Grandpa, the family held a special family reunion with the Kadow, Kleeves, and Kohls clans coming together on Candadian Lakes for a week. We rented two cottages with the Kleeves coming to our side by side cottages to celebrate old traditions as well as create new ones. Everyone had blast reconnecting and enjoying this great family tradition....

The Pergandes drove from Minnesota and picked up cousin Ceci in WI to allow her to be with Nana and cousins for the week. We decided to break up the drive and took the 2.5 hour Lake Express across Lake Michigan. We stopped for pizza at the Classic Slice before our adventure.




Old traditions continued while a couple of new ones were created, including...

Card playing and Euchre tournaments



Kayaking (instead of Canoeing)



Fishing



Family game night



Late night bonfires (with a new massive tree that took 3 nights to burn)



Daily running, walkout and workout crews



Amazing "Pure Michigan" sunsets



And a new tradition created with daily badminton challenges



But the main reason we were all here was to celebrate Granny. We had a nice memorial service at the cemetary and then that night toasted granny with a Budweiser and some "sparkling" fireworks. Love you Great Granny Kohls!

Summer Baseball & Wine Candle Crew

Our summer is full of summer sports with Canyon playing baseball and Presley playing soccer (need to take some pics). I have included a picture of some of Canyon's teammates treating themselves to an icee after a baseball win.



Also including a picture of Mom's candle making crew --- 4th years strong together. Love these Chicks with Wicks!