We Got A New iPod

Nicole gave me a new iPod Touch for my birthday. It has a fancy little camera on it that allows us to take even more pictures of stuff. Here is a smattering of images since November 16, 2012. 

Birch tree near Long Lake

Adam and TJ posing at Long Lake and using the panorama feature. 

Nicole's open face chicken dinner sandwich. It was very good.  We have a focus problem here. 

Shopping at Michael's where we tested out an acrylic smartphone stand. 

Nicole was caught between sleeping on the couch and sleeping in bed.  As you can see, not everything made the trip.

Nicole and I walking around the Johnson farm during Thanksgiving.

More from the pretty farm. 

Pickles and her preferred water source

Kickin' it with James and Jeremy during a brew day. 

Nicole and Sarah caught in the out-of-focus glow of Twin Cities shopping. 

TJ on rug

TJ in snow

Easily my best shot yet. We were walking around Stillwater during the snow storm and came upon a lawn party.

I'm slowly getting the hang of this camera. It has some severe limitations and is not a substitute for the real thing, but can be fun in a pinch. Last night Nicole and I played around with Snapseed photo editing app and I can definitely give it a thumbs-up.

Our Sometimes Crappy, but Always Fun Twins Games of 2012

Game 1: Royals vs Twins at Target Field 4.27.2012

My sister, Sarah and her friend Brooke invited us to a Friday night game and we were available. There was a light rain, which added to the festive nature of our section. We had probably the greatest heckler of all time in front of us. He was funny, generally respectful, and loud. This was my first time in this area of the park and also my first taste of Surly Bandwagon. Twins lost 6-7 with a Morneau strikeout; a sign of things to come this season.

Game 2: Twins vs Brewers at Miller Park 5.19.2012

Our second annual trip to visit the Mooneys, watch the Twins lose, and visit Alterra for breakfast in the morning. We had homebrews in the parking lot with some of Tim and Ali's Milwaukee friends including Gustavus' own, Erik Tou. Erik wasn't the only good luck charm as I also scored a meat parfait and a GoShot powered children's Pepsi. The lack of a Delmon Young was the difference this year as the Twins won 5-4 in the 11th inning thanks to a Trevor Plouffe homerun.  

Game 3: Twins vs White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field 5.22.2012

Our only game of the year without guests and deep in the confines of White Sox Nation, we were careful not to cheer too loudly. To help keep us quiet, we stuffed ourselves with Chicago-style hot dogs and a cup of corn. The White Sox fans aided in our invasion into enemy turf by practically giving their tickets away on Stubhub.com. It was nice to see them give up so early into the season. Rookie Twins pitcher P.J. Walters threw a 9-inning complete game as the Twins won 9-2.

Game 4: Royals vs Twins at Target Field 6.29.2012

We joined Dave and Erica (sans Amelia) in the Krocak seats to see the Royals again. It's possible that Nicole and I have seen the Twins play the Royals every year for the past 9 years and we are getting a little tired of them. Thankfully, we never tire of Dave and Erica. Their seats are a great place to score a foul ball or get a t-shirt from the sky. The highlight of the game was watching Gustavus veteran, Black Dave on the jumbo-tron failing at Treasure Island Twins Trivia. Twins lost 3-4 as Trevor Plouffe flew out to third base.

Game 5: White Sox vs Twins at Target Field 9.14.2012

Nicole's dad and my dad made the trip from South Dakota to take us to a ball game. It was free stocking hat night so we arrived early enough for batting practice. I scored a batting practice ball, but gave it to random tween just so I could say "Here you go, kid" as I flipped the ball into his glove. Bucket list #253 has officially been checked. It was our first trip to the Legends Club for the season and once again the experience did not disappoint. I love Legends Club. Unfortunately this was the worst Twins game I have ever seen. Twins lose 0-6 as all players decided to play terribly.

Game 6: Tigers vs Twins at Target Field 9.28.2012

Both of Nicole's parents were nice enough to take us to the Legends Club one last time before the end of the season. We needed another game to wash the taste of the previous one from our Surly-stained tongues. The main story-line from the game was Cabrera vs Mauer for the batting title. Just to be nice, Mauer decided he didn't want it by going 0-2 with two walks. Scott Diamond pitched really well for the Twins as the game was scoreless until the 7th inning. Twins win late 4-2 thanks to some power hitting from Ryan Doumit.

I forgot to bring my camera to this game. Enjoy a picture of Cricket as she made the trip with Ron and Deb. 

As far as I'm concerned the Twins went 3-3 this year. It was a great season of baseball with friends and family even if the games didn't go our way. Only four months until pitchers and catchers report.

Downtown Denver

My youngest brother Tyler works in downtown Denver along the 16th Street Mall, so we had time to kill while he finished his work week. I had heard good things about a big blue bear that lives downtown, so we decided to swing by the Convention Center to take a look. Turns out, we were the ones being watched.

This 40-foot bear just towered over us. The sculpture, actually called I See What You Mean, is an eye-catcher. So much fun and so cute! I still regret that I didn't purchase a mini blue bear from the souvenir shop. Next visit, I suppose.

Denver invests in many public art installations. I think it may be tied to building regulations and/or public financing of some sort. Anyway, here are a few more.

Art is everywhere. This particular walkway was lined with sounds of Colorado, just piped straight up through the sidewalk. It took us awhile to figure out what was going on, but Adam finally got it.

Time to find the State Capitol.

I loved this fat little red squirrel! So much cuter than the giant gray beasts we have at home.

There is, apparently, some debate about which step is actually one mile above sea level, but I'm not too picky about labeling. Geologic forces and time will continue to mess with us.

The Denver State Capitol, like all state capitols, is fascinating. This one was unique in that they were able to source most of the building materials locally: granite from Gunnison, sandstone from Fort Collins, marble from Marble, and rose onyx from Beulah.

I know there is a story about why this horse is in the governor's office, but I didn't ask. The rose onyx wainscoting contained many different images throughout the building. This section, below, displays George Washington. Searching for these images is quite popular among the school kids crowd.

The hall of presidents. Someone did a very nice job on the portraits.

The House and Senate were currently on recess, but the galleries were interesting regardless.

 

Adam loves this photo. I look like such a punk. (Really, I was just tired from sight-seeing.)

Free money! Yes, please! 

If you've ever wondered what 30 million looks like, well, here you go. I wish I could grab a few bundles of that cash. Would it even be missed? Of course, then I would be paranoid that I would lose it, and the bank would ask too many questions, I'm sure. Better to stick with what I've got.

We finally found Tyler and had a quick happy hour along Larimer Square before heading out of the city.

I think this is in front of Tyler's workplace, somehow. He was not excited to have his picture taken, but Adam sure was.

Tyler's ride along light rail picks him up in front of this grand building. It's at least a 45 minute ride out of the city, but worth it. You have the beautiful sunset and mountains to the west the whole ride home.