The Natives are Pant-less!

I’m not sure if the older neighborhood children are the best representation of the Minnesota mindset. They are quite possibly unsupervised at the noon hour of a Friday but half of the ones we saw at the park today were wearing shorts. Warmer weather hits for one day and people get a little too excited about the possibility of a full wardrobe change!

I tend not to pay attention to the weather, especially when NCAA tournament basketball is on television during the news hour. Instead I rely on walking outside and thinking one of two things…”I need a coat” or “I really don’t need this coat”. When I checked the temperature today I was happy to see a string of 60 degree days in the forecast. I immediately told Aidan to grab his coat (not his shorts) so we could introduce his brother to the local park.

Aidan was thrilled that the slides were dry and the sandpit surrounding the sit-on digger was without the giant moat that was present earlier in the week. Kellen was delighted by a few trips down the slide with his dad and I was free to play and recreate freely with no adults watching but the FedEx guy taking his lunch break in the nearby parking lot. The time outside ended without incident as I laid out very specific rules with Aidan before we left. Those rules in long and short were, “When dad says it’s time to go, it’s time to go.”

I’ve been studying a new language which is both exciting and challenging. Learning to speak in a new tongue is always difficult and I’ve been at it for a week now…I’m studying hockey. It is my attempt to fit in better with the natives. My intense research has included the use of a hockey game on the Playstation (which Aidan is also very into now…both the sport and anything that involves playing games on the computer or TV). My hope is that I learn enough of the key player’s names so I can act like I know what I’m talking about when people start discussing the sport. I’m sticking with the professional team despite the fact that the Sunday paper had eight pages of local hockey coverage when we visited for our house hunting trip. The phonetic pronunciations on the Minnesota Wild team page are very helpful. Imagine me embarrassing my good family name and displaying my complete ignorance by calling Marian Gaborik “Ga-BOW-rik” instead of “GA-bih-rik” in mixed company. I also avoided the possibility of blowing my cover by discovering the Koivu (KOY-voo if you’d like to join the campaign) on the Minnesota squad was Mikko and not his brother Saku (I actually knew of the existence of the latter).

Aidan’s nap and nighttime routine now includes sleeping with his hologram Speed Racer card from the cereal box, his soccer ball yo-yo (string tightly wound) and his Webkinz beagle. This is in addition to his burpee security blanket and the two Cheerios matchbox cars that he lays on and has laying next to him in that order. The Webkinz was a recommendation from a friend back in Chicago and served as his moving buddy to Minnesota. The fun of the toy is not limited to the cuddly plush but also includes access to a simulated version of the animal which you can play with, feed, etc online. You also gain access to a slew of kid-based internet games that earn you dollars to buy stuff for your virtual pet. Aidan loves it and Rachel and I find the games to be a great end of the day stress reliever whether Aidan’s participating or not. Let’s just say the new swimming pool in our virtual puppy’s backyard was earned through some pretty intense gaming by the parents of this house and not the kid with the canine.