MEA 2018 - Last stop U of W Madison

We arrived on Friday night in Madison to be able to attend the University of Wisconsin vs. University of Illinois football game on Saturday. We took a school bus from Lot 60 to the football game and saw one of the craziest games ever with blizzard like snow conditions (in mid-October nonetheless). Illini were getting crushed so we left after 3 quarters, and unfortunately missed the 3rd quarter "Jump Up" tradition. We had a nice dinner in town watching the final game of the Dodgers/Brewers series and then ended our trip with a campus tour on Sunday before heading home. Productive and nice family weekend!

MEA 2018 - College Visit Tour - Day 2

Day 2 of our midwest college tour brought us to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This is Mom and Dad's alma mater and it was so fun to take a walk down memory lane. Not sure if the kids were excited to be there or not but they got more energized when we got to spend some time with cousins, Alex and Natasha. Now they are both ready to visit U of I - but next time without the parents...

Campus tour with walk by Alma Mater (Canyon wouldn't join the picture)



We stayed at the Illini Union, which was so great to be right on the Quad



Visits to dorms and apartments and a nice lunch with the cousins



Tour of newly rebuilt LXA fraternity with one of Ron's fraternity brothers



We drove to Madison that night. And guess who's staying at our hotel? The Illini football team!

MEA 2018 - Midwest College Tour - Day 1

For MEA 2018, the Pergande crew got in the car for a midwest college tour. Our first stop was in Libertyville, IL to visit our good pals, the Haddons, who opened up their home to us. So nice to catch up and see how the kids have grown. Great family, great times!



Our first stop was Northwestern University. Canyon loved running into his good pal, Jack, on the tour. What a beautiful campus!



Before heading to our next stop, University of Chicago, we had a quick detour to see Gene Denk, Ron's godfather. So fun to see him and his beautiful garden with Koi fish and over 30 birdhouses.



University of Chicago, was probably Canyon's least favorite but it was still a great tour. We made a quick stop to see President Obama's house (< 1 mile from campus) and we were pleasantly surprised with the beauty of the campus.

While Mom, Dad, and Canyon were at University of Chicago, Presley played with Aunt Kimmy. After the tour, we enjoyed a nice dinner at Reggie's with Kim before heading down to University of Illinois.

Fall Family Fun

NHL season has begun and Presley and Ron continued their father/daughter annual tradition of going to the Wild/Blackhawks game together. The Blackhawks lost but they still had a special night.



Enjoyed a nice family walk on a neighborhood trail with Roxxy and our neighbor's dog, Jozy. These are the moments that Mom cherishes.

Powder Puff 2018

Each year, Eden Prairie High School hosts a girls flag football game to raise money for charity. The freshman play the sophomores and the juniors play the seniors with the boys football team acting as coaches and the football coaches acting as referees. Additionally, between games, they feature a Senior Dudes Dance Team, which is coached by the senior girls dance team. Its a super fun night for a great cause. This was Presley's first year and over 450 girls participated in the night. Presley was prominently featured in the game, taking every punt return for her team as well as getting a running back opportunity. Super fun to watch but much more physical than it is supposed to be with Presley getting knocked pretty hard in the last play of the game. As expected, the older girls won both games. It was a successful night, raising $30,000 for Muscular Dystrophy. Next year will be the Sophomores turn and Canyon has said he is going to do join the Dudes Dance Team. Can't wait!