Grooms Dinner

One of the nicest things about our trip was the grooms dinner because it was held right at our hotel. During this trip I can't even count how many times we were in and out of the van. I kind of felt like those clowns at the circus but this time we didn't have to pack up a diaper bag, we didn't have to place the twins in their car seats, or load Addy back up in the van. The only thing we had to do was walk down the stairs and show up. It was so NICE!!

Doug and Lisa bought everyone a drink with dinner but with Kristi not being able to have one during her pregnancy she couldn't stop with just having one. She had a couple Bloody Mary's which were really good but she really doesn't care for the celery so she passed one off to my mom and one to Karen.

Ever since the twins were born Kristi and I have called Owen, Ryan and Easton, Shawn and now you know why. Besides them taking after us in the looks department they also take after us in the attitude department. Owen has always been content and laid back, like his father and Easton has always been very loud, very alert, and if he's having a bad day he's going to let you know about it, like my brother Shawn.


My mother holding Easton during the dinner.


At every family event my mother always says that we never get a picture of her and her boys.....I think she might be a little crazy because I could swear we always get a picture taken but since we were all there we did make it point to get a picture of all of us together.

We decided we better grab our dad for one as well.

After dinner we decided to head over to the Red Carpet for a couple of drinks. Red Carpet is a bar where both Shawn and Josh used to DJ back in the day. We all spent a lot of time and a lot money at this bar in the past but we also had a lot of fun doing it. Besides doing a little reflection Shawn had a great time catching up with Dorthy, the owner and I had a great time explaining to everyone how we are going to take over Bob's Gamradt's Cabinets and Construction in the next six months and how we are going to become RICH doing so!!! I'm not sure why but they didn't seem to be as excited as I was or even listening to me for that matter.

Kristi and I enjoying an adult beverage.

A family of 4!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!It took 3 different trips to the hospital but Mason Cain Dyk finally decided it was time. He was officially born at 1:01 am on Sunday morning. He weighed 9lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches long. We want to send a big CONGRATS to Matt, Lori, and big brother Andrew on their new addition to the family. You guys look GREAT!!

We are so excited that Easton and Owen will now have a great play buddy to get in trouble with. I'm not sure why but Krisit looks very comfortable holding Mason....Don't even think about it Kristi. CONGRATULATIONS MATT, LORI, & ANDREW

A little detour!!

Alright....it was a 7 hour detour but well worth it. This is how it happen. Before we went camping we decided that we would call my Grandma to see if she would be interested in having breakfast with us before we headed to Sauk Centre but after we ate instead of heading 1 hour south to Sauk Centre we headed 1 1/2 hours the opposite direction to Bemidji State University and to Itasca State Park. I think Kristi knew that I was going to ask her if she would be interested in going to Bemidji because before the question even came out she said, "Yes we can go." I'm so glad she did because we ran into a lot of people that I use to work with at Lakeland Public Television, we were able to walk the campus and see some of the changes that have taken place since I've been there, and I was able to show Karen the tunnels, if your not familiar with the tunnels all the buildings at BSU are attached by tunnels except for about a 150 foot stretch between the dorms so if you never want to walk out in the cold, frigid weather you never had too. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!! so until the next time we are in town, " You stay classy, Bemidji,"

I know it's hard to see but here we are under the Bemidji State arch.

Of course you can not go to Bemidji without seeing Paul and Babe. I say that because right when you drive into town there standing right there to greet you. We actually didn't stop this time but I did snap this picture while we were waiting for a stoplight, not to bad for not getting out of the car.

After spending our next 5 paychecks at the bookstore buying everything and anything that said Bemidji on it we headed over to mosquito heaven...aka...Itasca State Park. If your not familiar with the park it's where the Mighty Mississippi begins. I know the head marker is hard to read so here's what it says, "Here 1475 ft above the ocean the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on it's winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico."
Kristi and I were going to water tube the whole 2552 miles but then I realized I forgot the sun screen and Kristi was being a party pooper so we had to scratch that off the list.

Here Kristi and Addy are walking across the river. It's kind of crazy to think that the Mississippi river starts off no bigger then a little stream, the river starts off being only 20-30 ft wide which is the narrowest stretch for it's entire length. After a little research the widest the river gets is in Lake Winnibigoshish (say that 10 times fast) near Bena, Minnesota where it is wider then 11 miles. The widest navigable part of the Mississippi is Lake Pepin, where it is approximately two miles wide. See I offer education, entertainment, and pretty pictures in my blog.

Another picture of Addy and Kristi crossing the river. I have to give Kristi credit because the rocks that you step on to cross over the river are very slippery. I know they don't look like it but believe me they are and she did it carrying Addy....BRAVO KP!!

I wish you all could of been there to see Karen navigate these rocks. I think I could classify it as SLOW & STEADY but even though she decided to take it slow and easy she some how managed to slip of a rock and get her pants wet. I'm not going to lie. I was rolling around LAUGHING!!! At first she wasn't going to do it but then we told her, "When will you ever get the chance to walk across the Mississippi river again?" so I think we might of actually pressured her into doing it so with that said I have to say we are very proud of her even though Easton and Owen celebrated their 5th birthday while we waited.

Only at Uncle, Kenny's!!

If you want to go on an exciting field trip you need to go to my Uncle Kenny's. He has everything a kid would want to see, tractors, old cars, a military jeep that he is going to rebuild, and a fire truck....that's right a fire truck. I'm not exactly sure why but he decided to buy one when the fire department decided to get rid off some of there older vehicle's.

Here's Addy and I checking out the cab and trying to figure out where the siren is. Look how excited she is.

It still has the official paint on it and everything. He used to drive it in parades but the brakes got so bad that he had to stop doing it. I guess a MASSIVE fire truck with bad brakes don't mix that well with thousands of little kids standing along the street waiting for candy. Who would of thunk!!

Look at this monster. I told him that we should trade him straight up for the van. His reply was, "Alright....It only gets 4 miles to the gallon!" It does have a 250 gallon tank but could you imagine how much that would of cost us to drive this thing from Minnesota back to Seattle at 4 miles to the gallon.

Here's the tractor that he rebuilt. Uncle, Kenny is amazing when it comes to rebuilding old tractors or automobiles. I've seen two different cars go through the process and it's amazing to see the before pictures compared to the after pictures. I'm extremely excited to come back and see how the military jeep turns out.

I think Addy is a little confused here in the sense that this would be a lawn ornament and not a toy. She actually tried to pick this thing up but after a little while figured out that it would be much easier just to sit on it then it would be to move it. Even though she is sitting on it backwards....or maybe she is sitting on it correctly. Who am I to say which is the right way and which way is the wrong way to sit on a lawn ornament. Keep on doing what your doing Addy. You look good to me!!

Addy's experiencing a little off roading

We finally got the chance to introduce Addy to Grandpa, Gene's Gator. Addy had a absolute blast riding/driving it around and it was a beautiful day just to take a little field trip to show her the farm and get a little sun. I think if it was up to her we would of drove it around all day but of course there is only so many places you can go before you need to move on to something else.

Kristi and Addy in the drivers seat on the move.

We also had a chance to take out my dad's 4-wheeler. We pretty much just went around the yard but I think Addy really enjoyed that as well. Here she was telling the dog "OFF" and waving it away.

Addy and I driving up the driveway to my dad's shop.


I'm not sure but I think were doing about 75 right here!

Camping!!

As all of you know the fish selection between Seattle and Minnesota really can't be compared. I was raised on Sunfish, Smelt Fry's, and any other pan fish you can think of were Kristi was raised on Salmon, Trout, and Halibut. Can you even find any similarities between the two? I didn't think so, but when we were in Minnesota we did get the opportunity to go fishing right off the dock for a couple of hours where we caught 22 Sunfish. Thanks to my brother, Shawn Kristi was able to try these magnificent pieces of fish for the very first time. I think Kristi's exact words were, "There OK!" With that being said I'm guessing Kristi isn't going to be trading in a plate of Salmon for a plate of Sunfish any time soon but I do give her credit for trying and hey at least she didn't spit it out and say, "That's the worst thing I have ever tasted." As for me I was in heaven!!

Aunt Angie decided to bring out the sidewalk chalk for the girls to play with. Addy absolutely love it. I think to the untrained eye Addy's project probably just looks like a little scribble on the cement but to me it looks like it was an exact image of the Mona Lisa and if you think about it Leonardo da Vinci finished the Mona Lisa right before he died so she is way ahead of the game.

Addy having a little conversation with Grandpa, Bob and Grandma, Cele. "See Grandpa I started with her face and then I drew the rest of her. I guess I just have this natural artistic talent of drawing people. Not only do I have this artistic talent but as you can see I'm pretty smart as well because if you look closely I tricked Grandma into holding all the chalk making it so she would get her hands dirty and mine stay totally clean....Now if you could excuse me I need to head over and tell my dad that he needs to insure these hands because they are money makers."

I'm not sure why but Addy has no fear of animals or in this case reptiles. Shelby found this baby turtle and as she was showing it to everyone Addy reached right into the bowl and grabbed it and started carrying it around. I'm not sure how many of you guys have experienced trying to get a scared baby turtle away from a 20 month old but it isn't the easiest thing to do. We tried the "please give it here" method (picture below) but that didn't work in fact I think I heard her mumble something like, "from my cold dead hands." or something like that.

Addy is usually scared of guys and won't go to them but for some reason she has no problem with Uncle, Josh. I think Shawn tried all week to get her to even acknowledge him. Shawn would sit there and try to have a conversation with her but she would just sit there and totally look around like he wasn't even there. I'm not sure why but five minutes after Josh showed up she would talk to him and let him carry her around like they were best buddies or something. I DON'T GET IT!!

Here is a picture of Addy and Josh enjoying the sun and the lake.

Kristi and Addy enjoying a little time out out on the dock. Hold on tight Addy!!

Kristi, Addy, and I enjoying a little time by the fire right before making some smores.

Meeting Grandma Linda for Lunch and Spending Time At The Lake!!

Today we finally reached Minnesota but on our way up to my brothers RV park we decided at the last minute to take a detour and head over to Alexandria to have lunch with my mom. We met her at work, ran through Burger King, then headed off to the park for a nice lunch. This gave Addy some time to stretch her legs and for all of us to enjoy some nice weather. Here is a picture of Grandma Linda with Addy. The business that my mom works for sells these crazy and huge swing sets. How AWESOME my mom is at being a sells person. I'm actually surprised we didn't leave with one attached to our roof. Could you imagine a van filled with 6 people, things falling out of the doors, a cargo box on the roof, plus a swing set all driving down I-90...People would of pointed and laughed out loud!!


I think one of the biggest highlights of our trip was on our way to see my brother, Shawn. We drove through a small town called Parker's Prairie. When we were driving through all I saw was Kristi's head zip back like she just saw the most amazing thing in the world. It zipped back so fast I thought she was going to need a neck brace because of the whiplash. When she turn back to look at me all I could see was drool coming out of her mouth. "What?" I asked. "That place back there has 24 flavors of soft serve ice cream....24 FLAVORS!" I knew right then and there that I had to turn around and head back. Again, we of course didn't take any pictures but I had strawberry, Kristi had banana, and Karen had Maple Nut. It was AWESOME so the next time your going through Parker's Prairie, MN make sure and stop and get a soft serve ice cream cone. I mean seriously with 24 flavors you should be able to find one that you like.

The next day Angie and the girls drove up to meet us at the RV park this is where Addy had a chance to catch up with some cousins. Here is Addy with Shelby and Reagan hanging out!!

My brother has an RV lot at this park in Perham, MN. At the park they have these duplex's that you can rent, right next to the water. I'm not going to lie, it did smell a little fishy but it was nice because they were pretty big and we needed the room. I'm so glad Kristi and her mom talked me into renting it because there is no way we would of made it through the weekend in an RV.

My dad, my step-mom (Cele), my brother (Josh), his wife (Laura), and their son (Oliver) met up and spent the weekend. Here's Oliver enjoying the day. I love his shirt....If you can't read it. It says, "I'd rather be NAKED!"

Shelby holding Owen

Before my dad and my brother got to the cabin Shawn took us out fishing. Of course Kristi is the only one that really caught anything. Here's her 21 inch Walleye that she snagged out of the water. We couldn't keep it because at this particular lake you can't keep any Walleye between 19 & 26 inches due to reproduction reasons I guess....All I know is that law is RIDICULES! I'm not huge into fishing but I have to admit it was a beautiful morning to be out on the lake.

Shelby, Addy, and Reagan walking up the street from the lake.

My brother Kurt and my brother Eric, along with Eric's son, Brady and daughter, Paige came up the following day to spend some time with the group. I'm not sure if we got any pictures of that or not. If I did I will post them later because I know I got some of Dad, Cele, and the kids plus I believe I have pictures of Kristi eating SUNFISH that's right SUNFISH!!

Mt. Rushmore & Huron, SD

On the drive up to Mt. Rushmore we found out something very interesting. NO....It wasn't that the President's heads stand over 60 feet tall or until insufficient funding in 1941 the sculpture was going to look like this.....

.....but it was something that I wasn't aware of and that is, we CANNOT, CANNOT give Addy orange juice or chocolate milk early in the morning. I experienced our first kid sick in the car on the trip. It was the first time we had to pull over, get her out, clean her off, change her clothes, clean off her seat and then continue on. It was to say at least an adventure.

Here is Mt. Rushmore right when you walk into the park. This was Kristi's first time being at Mt. Rushmore. I was there when I was a kid and during one crazy adventure with some friends in college but that's a whole different story.

Here we are in front of all the state flags. Yes...we did find Minnesota's and Washington's flag. We took pictures of both of them but I thought I would spare you at making you look at them.

"OK..ADDY for the last time the OLD one on the left with VERY LITTLE HAIR is Grandpa Bob, the OLD one with FACIAL HAIR on the far right is Grandpa Jim, the FUNNY LOOKING one next too Grandpa Bob is Grandpa Gene, and I'm not exactly sure who the last one is but he kind of looks like he is PASSING GAS so I would call him Uncle Shawn."

The ladies in front of the mountain.

Here Addy and I are right before getting back on the road and heading to the Studers.

During our drive we decided to take a small detour to Huron, SD so we could visit the Studers. I met Carrie back in Bemidji during our college days, where we came up with terms like 'The Veggies' and turkey arms. It was also during those times where I'm not sure why but we were happy eating three cheese rotani and mash potato's every night of the week, and one night pretty much drove the whole state of Minnesota in one big circle...oh the glory days. Carrie and her husband Chris also have three kids that include a daughter (Ellie) and twin boys (Alex & Maguire). I'm not sure why but I didn't take any pictures so I had to steal Carries off her site.

Here is Maguire playing with Easton and Owen.

Maguire showing Kristi how it's done.

I'm so mad I didn't take any pictures. We didn't even stop at the towns mascot to takes pictures and that's a HUGE pheasant. Who doesn't stop for that? We did drive by it but we didn't stop. I guess we will just have to do it again real soon and then we will make sure we take pictures.

Our trip in a nutshell.

We are back from our trip to Minnesota. ..OK...we were back a week ago but this is the first time I had a chance to blog. Overall it was a huge success. We did spend a lot of time sitting on our butts in the car, living out of our suitcases, and eating a lot of continental breakfast's but there were more high points then low points. I'll kind of go through what we did and where we went over the next couple days .
The first day we drove to Missoula, MT. The greatest thing about the whole drive was when we stopped at the first rest stop in Montana. I'm not sure why but at this rest stop everyone has there own bathroom...YES!! Your own private bathroom. What Montana genius thought of this...I would love to shake his hand!! Here Addy and I are bringing in everything from the van into our first Hotel. We tried to bring in only the things we needed when we were only spending one night at a certain place but it seemed like we were always running back to the van for something we forgot. Not a perfect system but it worked.


The next day we drove through Montana, Wyoming, & into South Dakota to Deadwod. We had two days in Deadwood which was awesome because we had a time to walk around, do a bus tour, and a little gambling...In fact we almost won $230,0000.00 NO JOKE!!! It's a long story and makes Kristi just SICK every time she thinks about it.

Here is Wild Bills grave site. Kristi and I took the big Deadwood tour. It takes you around town then up to the cemetery where Wild Bill & Calamity Jane are buried. If anyone goes I would highly recommend it.
WAIT A MINUTE....I THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD...NOW HE'S ON A HORSE!!! Here is Wild Bill riding his horse through town. Every night they do this reenactment of Wild Bills assassination. It was alright. I actually had more fun just walking around town and on the tour.

OK....HE IS DEAD!! Here's Kristi and I in front of the sign that shows were Wild Bill was shot. I guess the real Saloon Number 10 burnt down years ago but they do have a marker where it was.

Tomorrow we head off to Rapid City to see Mt. Rushmore then onto Huron, South Dakota to see the Struder family. Stay Tuned!!