August has been a great month for us, full of fun and accomplishments. Dave finished up his 6th trimester last week (and got good grades, yay!). He is now a "T7", trimester 7, student. One more year to go! And besides all this mice junk going on in our apartment (the saga still continues, but more details on that later...), we've been having a fantastic month with lots of fun activities, relaxing and celebrating!
Last Wednesday, Dr. Suzy and Rob gave me a huge bonus gift for holding down the fort while our office manager was out of town for most of July/August. They gave both Dave and me tickets to the PGA! They knew we love golf and would die to go, especially with the PGA being basically in our backyard this year, so they surprised me with the gift during the morning shift last Wednesday and gave me the rest of the day off. Dave was in on it, too, but he never said anything! He had already cleared out his schedule from work and exams...bad boy! So we went to the PGA from about 2pm til around 7ish. It was so amazing! We got to watch just about all the big namers. The only ones not there were, of course, the realllly good guys (Tiger had already been there at 5am and left before 10am to beat the huge crowds). Phil WAS there, but we never caught up to him. And when we got through the front gate, I scoured the name board for my beloved Ernie Els, but he wasn't on it for Wednesday's practice. :( I was so sad!
Ernie is my favorite because back about, oh, maybe 12 years ago my brother Matt decided to raise a bet while watching the start of the US Open (1997 I think??). Joel, Matt and Eric all said the names of who they thought were gonna win it. I, not being the sport fanatic as they were, had no clue what golf was, how to play it or who any of those guys were. Ernie came up on the screen and the E's drew me in. I remember saying, "E + E forever! That's my pick." Matt laughed at me and said okay. I didn't watch any more of the US Open. The final day, Matt was astonished as Ernie won the whole thing, MY Ernie! I don't remember the exact bet, perhaps a silver dollar coin or a piece of copper, but Matt did pay up because he was so shocked. Since that day, I've kept up on Ernie's progress and everything. So sad that he got 6th overall at this year's PGA..
So I was saddened that Ernie wasn't out there when we got to Hazeltine. But we moved on and toured the course with Rob. Rob had gotten us Clubhouse tickets, meaning we had access to a lot of the buildings. We got to go inside the clubhouse and saw a lot of the stars in there, escaping from the heat. Also got free drinks. Who can complain about beer and cocktails on the house?
After walking all 18 holes and 3 drinks later, we decided to relax at the driving range, where we saw Ryo Ishikawa, the youngest golf prodigy at 17 years old. He was the only one out there, so we stayed and talked for a while hoping others would come to practice. We were in the stands for about an hour when Rob looked over his shoulder while in mid-sentence, paused, then said, "That's Ernie!" We immediately jumped up, I grabbed the camera from Dave, ran down the stairs and took this video:
Then we went down further to get some pictures.
And when I thought the day couldn't get ANY better, he packed up his clubs and started walking out the gate. Rob grabbed my hat and started running. Dave and I ran after him and I snuck in next to Ernie as he grabbed my hat from Rob. After he signed my brim, Dave asked to take a picture.. And he said sure! :D I was a little historical at this point. Couldn't stop smiling and laughing! But it got even better! Ernie had hit a few balls over the fence, so we ran over there and I found one of his balls!! We also got one of Tiger's! It was meant to be. :) Seriously the best day ever, next to our wedding day, Dave! After leaving Hazeltine, Rob and Suzy treated us to a delicious dinner and drinks and great conversation. SO much fun, guys! THANK YOU!!!!
Friday thru Sunday, Mom V and Joel came for a weekend visit. Friday we did some wining and dining after work (Cheesecake Factory for dinner!! And drinks at Majors. Classic.). Saturday, the boys did their own thing with a Twins game and some Mall of America browsing. I took the digicam with us, so Dave didn't get any pics. But he had a really good time and enjoyed being at a baseball game for the first time in a long time. The boys took the light rail over to the stadium from the MOA and it seemed to work out really well.
So while the boys did all that, my mom and I got up early and hit the MOA, but not for shopping. We wanted to check out the Underwater Aquarium which is in the basement floor of the MOA. We had a half off coupon that I got from Subway a few days earlier. We highly recommend going to the Aquarium if you are ever in town and have the time or if you have kids with you. It's amazing! The coolest part was going through their tunnel of sharks, so you feel like you're underwater with them. My mom's favorite was the alligator fish (looked just like an alligator with fins!). It was kind of scary when the sharks flew over head with all those rows of teeth (although the 3 year olds in the tunnel ahead of us were a lot braver than we were!). We also really liked their newest addition, a seahorse exhibit with probably 10 different types of seahorses. They were so cute!
After the Aquarium, we headed out to a matinee at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. I am SO glad we decided to do this! August is slim pickings for shows as September kicks off the Broadway season, so many theaters take a break in the summer months, especially August. But mom found Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat at the CDT. We decided just a few days before they came that we would buy the tickets and do it. The show was ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR! I want to go see it again! It was hilariously funny and the music was just WOW!!! Dave and I are hoping to see Oklahoma at the CDT in the fall. The theater was so impressive that we will be going back as often as we can afford it! :) That night we had dinner at our place, played Mexican Train for many hours, and enjoyed homemade daiquiris. A very refreshing night!
Sunday, before they headed home, we went over to St. Paul to visit the Science Museum. It was the usual exhibits, but we still had a lot of fun going through each floor. Here are some of the pictures we took.
This is a video of Dave finding out how many liters of blood he has in his body. Joel had around 11.3 and Dave had about 10.8. WEIRD, hey?? MAYBE it's inaccurate...maybe.
They headed out back to the U.P. after we finished up at the Science Museum. Next time they're in town, we'll probably try the Art Museum or Natural History Museum.
Right now, Dave and I are on the road driving to Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Art's. Our 1st Anniversary is on Sunday! WOW!! Where did this year go?? We are going to spend 2 days in Bellevue with the family doing some business work, scoping out the area/demographics as we're thinking of opening up in Omaha/Lincoln/Bellevue. Sunday and Monday we are dedicating to US. We'll be staying at a historic mansion in Omaha and will be doing a lot of fun, touristy activities. We're thinking of even visiting a wine vineyard!! Can't wait!
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