Northwoods Vacation

Today was the first day of fishing with my dad in Boulder Junction. We each caught around 40 smallmouth bass. Mostly smaller ones but still very fun. We both went for a bike ride when we got back to the hotel. After dinner I sat out at the picnic table and checked email. While I was sitting there three deer walked by about 30 feet away:


Deer


More Deers

NVGP / Teddy Bear Park

Saturday I went on a ride from Joe's house with Joe, Eric, Todd and Paul. 80 miles to North Branch and back. Great weather for a ride. Afterwards Holly, Lilly and I spent a couple hours lounging on the boat and then ate on the patio at Maverick's. Holly and I sneeked down to the dock to watch the Father Hennepin Days fireworks after dark.

Sunday Holly rode out to Stillwater with Madonna and Amy to watch the final stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix bike race. Lilly and I drove out to meet them, watch the race and play at the Teddy Bear Park. The race is crazytown as hundreds of people line the super steep hill (18% - 24%) and scream at the riders as they grind past. The second time up the hill one girl dropped her chain and I ran out to push her until she got going again. A little hard in flip flops. Melissa, a local girl we've ridden with did well racing with the pros. I'd imagine it'd be a pretty cool deal to toe the line with the current national champion. It was great to see Dave Hemstad.


Teddy Bear Park


Very nice park


Lilly likes to climb

Lilly's Birthday

Lilly is 5 years old today. Wow, that seemed to go by quickly.

Lilly's birthday party consisted of the Father Hennepin Days parade in Champlin with some time at the carnival after the parade. After that she had one of her friends from the neighborhood sleepover. They camped out in the sun porch.


Lilly, Madison, Kanene


I'm a sucker for burritos


Spinning Dragon


About to be scrambled


Scrambler


After the slide

Grandma & Grandpa Rotach Weekend

My mom and dad came up to visit this weekend. With them here both Holly and I were able to get out on the Saturday morning ride. Joe met us at our house and despite the 45 degree starting temperature was sporting a short-sleeved skin suit. Yikes. I tossed a long-sleeved jersey and leg warmers at him and we took off.

We had a great 60 mile ride with the rain holding off until about 10 miles from home. Nice to be out together.

Mom and Holly ran some errands while my dad and I trimmed some trees and hauled two pickup loads to the compost site. We then had a salmon dinner and went to the movie "Up". Very fun movie. Squirrel!

Sunday we went to the book store and Lilly got a birthday puzzle from Grandma and Grandpa.


Dino-mite!

Chutes and Ladders

Holly put in 50 miles at an average of 18.7 mph tonight. Fast ride on a 70 degree day with no wind. Perfect.

Lilly and I went to "Chutes and Ladders" park (actually the play area of Hyland Lake Park) in Bloomington.


Where was this when I was 5?


Mmmm...Spongebob.


I was getting no glide.
Even with Swix red.

911

Today I called 911 for the first time. I was riding home from work on 85th avenue in Coon Rapids (right by Wal-Mart and Target) and saw a pickup pull out in front of a 23 yr old guy on a motorcycle. Not 50 feet in front of me. The guy in the truck just didn't see him. It was really surreal for me as I kept thinking I must be missing something. I kept telling myself, "There's no way that guy just pulled out like that." Eventually there was a cloud of tire smoke from the motorcycle and a little shimmy as he almost brought it to a stop before hitting the side of the truck. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet so the only apparent damage was a deep scrape on his knee. "I've never seen a kneecap before," says the guy as he laid on the pavement. Me neither. The police showed up, took a statement from me and sent me on my way. I was a little nervous on the remainder of the ride home. Be careful out there.

Luna Plants Wedding

My college roommate (and best man in our wedding) was married this weekend in Pella, IA. His wife is Lacey Luna of Cuba City, IL. They have a 5-month-old girl Ellie who was born with a congenital heart defect requiring surgery when she was 2 weeks old.


Holly and Lilly with little Ellie

The wedding and bachelor party went very well. The wedding also doubled as a 10-year reunion for a large group of our friends who met at Iowa State. Very fun weekend. Great to see everyone again, reminisce about old stories and hear a few new ones.

Part of the bachelor party involved racing mini sprint car go-karts. The picture below is of Cory (the groom) and his brother Jarrod (the best man). Notice the sign in between them. The groom is a car guy and he took the big race.


Goofballs

Cory and Lacey make a great couple and with little Ellie, a great family.

Boating Season Has Started

I scrapped the ride tonight to get the boat in the water. I was able to get a decent ski run in on very flat water. The water was a little cold but I was fine once I was up on the ski.


Lilly doing "circles"


Boo snuggled up


It's at the dock

Memorial Day

The weather was amazing this Memorial Day weekend.

Saturday, I woke up early and rode long with Larry, Mike and Dave H. We met Jorge, Andy and Melissa downtown and rode to St. Paul with them. Thanks Jorge for the coffee! After getting home I spent the afternoon in the yard picking up stuff blown down from a windy week, mowing and weeding the landscaping. Holly sat on the dock and read while Lilly and the neighbor kids played in the river all afternoon.

Sunday Holly woke up early to do the "Chili Dog" ride with Carol, Mike and Dan. Lilly and I went to church and then played at the duck park on the way home. After lunch I waded into the river to adjust the boat lift and remove the latest bunch of driftwood. The river is easily warm enough to wade and swim. The kids saw I was in the water and decided it was swimming time. After Holly returned from her ride she watched the kids and splashed in the river with them while I uncovered the boat and changed the oil in both engines. I also squeezed in a quick bike ride in the park while Holly and Lilly watched, "The Incredibles."


Lilly at the Duck Park

Memorial Day Holly woke up early again to go on a shorter ride with Cindy. Lilly and I played around in the boat pretending to clean it until mom came home. Holly and Lilly went on an REI run while I ran a long one in the park. My ankle didn't hurt at all so I'm optimistic it's healed. I spent the afternoon cleaning out the inside of the boat and washing and waxing the hull.


Shiny Boat

The good news is the boat is ready to be put in the river. The bad news is we're busy enough this week and weekend that it'll probably be a couple weeks before we do.

We finished up a great weekend eating out as a family.

90 Degrees and 100 Pounds

It was 90+ degrees both Tuesday and Wednesday this week. It made us wish the boat was in the river. The plan for this weekend is getting the oil changed in both engines, washing it, waxing it and getting it in the water. Dave Hoglund volunteered to ski behind it to ensure it's running correctly. Just the kind of guy he is.

My dad has lost 100 lbs on his diet! Unbelievable. I'm so happy for him.