Grammie's Birthday Weekend Celebration

Grammie and Aunt Kimmy came to Minneapolis for Grammie's birthday celebration. We started the weekend with an evening on Lake Minnetonka. Grammie proudly wore her life jacket while the kids tubed around the lake. On Friday, we had a girls day starting with morning massages, a workout at the gym, and an afternoon lunch at home.


On Saturday, we started the morning at Canyon's baseball game. After the baseball game, Canyon had a birthday party. While he was at his party, we ventured off looking for frisbee golf. Instead of frisbee golf, we decided to hike to the top of the large ski jump (that was restricted to public access but didn't deter us).


Saturday night, the girls headed to Basilica block party for a fun night of music with Green River Ordinance, Matt Nathanson, and Hold Steady.


Sunday, we celebrated Grammie with a gluten free birthday cake and her first round of frisbee golf. What an adventure. Grammie and Ron made a great team.



And last but not least, Canyon lost his 8th tooth on Monday. He pulled it while playing 4-square at the YMCA summer camp. Dad missed it so we captured it on the film. And yes, the tooth fairy came that night and put a $1 under his pillow.

Cousin Get Together in MN

The Chicago Kirchens, Utah Kesslers, Minnesota Pergandes and Annie Crawley gathered in MN for a cousin get together. The kids and adults had a blast hanging out. We enjoyed tubing and fishing on Lake Minnetonka, bonfires and smores, a Twins game, fireworks in Eden Prairie, late night games of Imaginiff, and boating on the St. Croix River for the first time. Some memorable moments include Bob's large Pike catch, Canyon losing his glove after a drumming party outside the Twins game, Natasha's unfortunate collision with the basement door and 13 stitches, and getting our tow rope wrapped in the boat engine. Looking forward to another memorable get together in 2010!

End of June Highlights

Ron and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on June 26th. We are planning a fall get away with just the two of us. But to commemorate the day, Ron and I went out alone on Lake Minnetonka as a couple to reminisce about our lives together and also celebrate the lives we have today. It was a wonderful day and celebration of our love.


The end of June also brought the end of soccer season for the kids. Canyon celebrated his end of season with a team party at his coach Leslie's house. And Presley was excited about her end of year because she scored 3 goals on the last day and she was able to help "Coach Ron" hand out the medals to her teammates.



June 2009 has been a cold summer month relative to other summers. So we weren't able to bring the kids out onto the boat for the first time until June 28th. The wait was well received. The kids loved the Viper Tube. This week we also enjoyed a Block Party at our church, the Upper Room, where Canyon and Presley loved dunking their teachers in the dunking machine and getting their faces painted.




Finally, Presley hosted some catepillars in a butterfly house she received from Grandpa and Grammie Liz. Over several weeks, she watched them eat and then turn into cocoons and finally into painted butterflies. After a day as butterflies, she set them free so they could be much happier.

Summer Solstice is Here

Lots of updates this week.....

This week I was able to join Presley on one of her school field trips to Westwood Nature Center, where we saw lots of wildlife, including baby geese, painted turtles, a live bee hive up close and personal (and those pesky mosquitos)!


This past weekend was also a beautiful day for baseball. Canyon's team did great (and Canyon helped get 4 of this team's outs!). He has a great team (the Phillies) and a great coach (Coach Bill).



This weekend was also a big day at Presley's Rookie Camp. The high school baseball teams were there to demonstrate and help out the coaches. The kids are always so excited by the older players. Presley also received a medal where they announced her name. The big highlight was the surprise when we saw Canyon's favorite Twin, Joe Nathan, at Presley's Rookie Camp, with his child. Canyon and Presley had Joe sign their hats and Canyon was lucky enough to help Joe Nathan sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" with some friends.





Finally, Ron and I hosted a long overdue party, appropriately themed Summer Solstice, to celebrate one of our favorite seasons and the completion of our basement. We hosted ~ 80 friends, enjoyed some live acoustic music, and toasted to our newly completed basement!

End of the School Year

The school year has come to an end (even though it doesn't feel like summer yet). Canyon had a great 1st grade year with his teacher Senora Goldman. Presley will still be at Hopkins this summer but will miss her best friend Ben who she has been great buddies with since she was a toddler. Now that summer has started, Presley is enjoying Rookie Camp baseball and Canyon enjoyed his first Friday off with Mom. We went to French Regional Park for a hike, rock climbing, playground fun, and a picnic lunch. It was fun Mom/son "date".

Auntie and her Rainy Visit

Auntie came to visit the weekend of June 5th. She said she was going to pack "light". Little did she know that she was coming to a rainy, cold Minnesota with lots of outdoor kid activities. Both Canyon and Presley had baseball and soccer ALL day on Saturday. She watched under her umbrella during the baseball games and then enjoyed one on one time with each of the kids in a warm house. She did Easy Bake Oven with Presley during Canyon's soccer game and played Slamwich with Canyon during Presley's game. During her visit we also did lots of reading and even enjoyed a visit to watch Canyon read in his classroom.

The Kids in their Moments

Summer season for the Pergandes actually means kid season. The kids are moving into their own and keep us very busy along the way. Presley recently completed her gymnastics season with a real gymnastic meet with routines, scoring, and ribbons for real places. She shined on her floor routine (with a 3rd place showing). We were so proud to see her excitement and not be afraid to have the attention on her. She also recently started her first soccer season with Dad as the coach of the Lightning Bolts. She is a great listener and even scored her first goal this past week!




Canyon is also enjoying fun baseball and soccer seasons. Here's a picture with his Philly teammates for a post game pizza tailgate. Canyon also recently earned his first "paycheck". He was selected to be in a General Mills marketing campaign for Box Tops for Education. I am not sure if he loved taking the photos but he enjoyed the money, the treats, and the games. It was a fun adventure.