August 30, 2009
This weekend we had to give Maximus to a new home. This has been a decision we have been fighting for the last year. This past month Aiden’s allergies took a turn for the worse so we knew we had to make the hard choice. Thanks to a great organization called Rescue A Golden Of Mn, RAGOM, within 3 days Max has been placed at a foster home until his new home is determined.
While this has been a sad day on us we know it is the right thing for Aiden’s best interests. We will always remember the smiles and joy he brought to our home. He was there during the hardest parts of our lives and helped us through them. It is hard to imagine coming home everyday and not be greeted by a wagging tail and a slobbery kiss. While that is true I am sure Max will do his best to put the smiles on his new owners faces and bring them the same joy he shared with us for many years.
Max, you will always be in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers.
(Until I can upload pics you can go to his old gallery: HTTP://gallery.fryar.org/ )
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August 5, 2009
Just wanted to write a quick update since it has been a few weeks.
We have been to a number of fairs and events this summer and that has been keeping us really busy. The boys really enjoyed the antique tractor’s and log cabin pioneer village in Hastings a few weeks back.
This past weekend we went to the Washington Country fair, again the kids had a great time and did not want to leave. The car also almost did not let us leave.. At some point the battery acid leaked from Danith’s van’s battery and corroded through the terminal connectors. It was corroded so badly it took a number of hours and the help of her parents to get the correct parts to limp us home. I spent most of the next day grinding off a bolt to replace the terminal connectors.
Last night we were able to go on a family bike ride. I got to toy with a new program on my phone called “Sporty Pal”. This uses the GPS on my phone to track speed and map out the route we took. Below is the 3.2 Mile route through the neighborhood. Looks like a perfect 5K training run, next time. 
Hope to post again soon.
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July 13, 2009
This past Sunday we decided to visit the MN Zoo. Looking at the price list we decided it would be best to become members for the year as we would only need to visit the zoo one more time this year to make it worth it. A pretty good deal if you live near the zoo!
I will let the pictures speak for themselves mostly.. The kids enjoyed seeing the animals that were on display. We remembered to bring a pair of binoculars and the camera. Amazingly the camera’s lens just fit in the eye pieces of the binoculars so I have a few shots of “extreme” zoom. A little blurry as the auto focus could not quite focus, but close enough.
Aiden loved the giraffes the best and Brandon and I liked the prarie dogs.
The boys also loved all the kids play ground areas the zoo has. Now there is at least 3 large play area which is a great feature to let the kids run off some energy between animal sightings. With out these play areas I doubt we could have spend the 5 hours there we did.
We did not have time to hit the indoor water animals so we will save that for our next visit. So enjoy the pictures below.
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June 15, 2009
Wow another month has gone by and I have not updated the blog at all. I guess since this is my blog I do not need to apologize, I have no subscribers paying for regular, timely updates.. But I should try a bit harder to write more posts and keep those that do occasionally read my blog up to date on my family life. So in a nutshell here is what we have been up to..
- More tee ball
- Brandon’s class play – E I E I Oops
- Trip to Green Bay
- Helping out Andersen Windows @ MS150
- Fryar Deck 2009 Project
Every Tuesday and Thursday has been tee ball with Brandon. Him and his team are getting much better at fielding the ball and throwing it to the person manning the bases. They have not gotten may outs but they seem to be paying more attention to it. Brandon’s hitting also has improved. A few times last week he hit balls to the outfield and took the max double play he is allowed. Four more games and he is done with tee ball and advances to coach/machine pitch next year.
In early May all the first grade classes put together a play called E I E I Oops. Basically it is the standard EIEIO song but the cow forgot what it is supposed to say so the other animals need to tell him what he says. Brandon played a chicken, so we dressed him up and he had brightly colored feathers. His speaking part went well, he remembered his lines and spoke loud enough to hear him. And best part is we have the whole thing on tape to torment him on his High School graduation!
In mid May we went to Green Bay Wisconsin for a running event there. Danith ran a 5K and her sister ran a half marathon. This event is cool as not only do the runners finish by running through the stadium, they get brats and beer at the finish line. While there we toured the field, Brandon loved it. We stayed at a water park and both boys did not want to leave. A good time was had by all.
This past weekend Danith’s sister Megan rode in the MS 150 which is a bike ride from Duluth to the twin cities metro. Megan is riding for the Andersen Windows team and we volunteered to man her tent and help provide water and food at the finish line. It was a nice warm day with a gentle breeze, the boys enjoyed sitting and watching the riders and helping where they could. After a few hours the boys had enough and we had to pack up and head home.
This spring as people were pulling on our aluminum deck railings they started to pop off due to the wood warping (Cheap Menards wood). We thought it would be best to rip out those failing railings and replace them with wood spindles before someone got hurt. So at the end of May we ordered the wood and started tearing off the old railings.
At the same time we wanted to resand the entire deck and put a better stain/paint on it. So every free hour has been spend sanding the new wood, sanding the old deck frame and painting the new wood. This last Saturday I rented a large drum sander and resurfaced the decking floor to make it more even and reduce the bumps between the deck boards. It looks nice at the moment but still needs a final light sanding before we start painting the decking.
Today I plan on finish sanding the decking so Danith can paint the decking and a few joists. This will allow me to start assembling the already painted posts and railings. Hopefull we will be done with this project before the end of June!
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May 8, 2009
Well it is that time again, summer sports! This year Brandon has chosen to just be in Tee ball. Last night was his first game and I managed to capture this perfectly timed shot of his second at bat. This year they keep track of runs and outs. The strange rules are that you can only have 10 runs an inning, or 3 outs whatever comes first, and they play 4 innings total. So after the 4 innings we were surprised to say that they tied at 24/24.
Last month Brandon also finished up his bowling league. He got his first real trophy as his team came in second. In related bowling news, we attended a charity bowling event to raise money for MS and Aiden got to bowl for the first time. I have not downloaded that camera yet but he was really cute. He would ask if it was his turn to bowl right after he took a turn. Eventually we got Brandon and Aiden their own lane. During that event I bowled a 210 to take the high game and I also managed to take the high series award and came home with a new tee shirt.
Due to budget cuts, 3M has outsourced their building security with a cheaper solution. This goose and his mate decided it was a good idea to build a nest right next to the main employee entrance at 3M Center. One would sit on the nest and the other would stand by the glass and hissed at everybody walking by. Yesterday the chicks were finally born and they have resigned their position at 3M. I wonder how many crooked plans they foiled in their tenure.
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