Mississippi

Hiked around St. Anthony Falls and over the stone arch bridge today. It's right downtown Minneapolis and the site of the original town of St. Anthony. All the flour mills started there because of the water power available from the falls.

Dabbing Tuber

Nicole getting getting cocky before her tube ride.

Storm clouds

Yesterday was beautiful but the rains are here this morning. Hopefully not an all day thing.

Bass Boy

We don't don't have a lot of luck with the fish yesterday but dylan caught the biggest one.

Reflecting

Maddens

Beautiful night in north Hernandez Minnesota.

Up North

A high of 64 today, but that didn't stop Sam, Mae and I from getting in the lake. Refreshing to say the least.

Balance

Not the kind of balance needed to hit a good golf shot or excel at gymnastics but the kind that helps you live a productive life. Both boys do that well by doing by getting good grades, playing an instrument, participating in all types of sports and being generally a nice people. Sam got recognized by the faculty for being the most balanced person in eight grade this year. I'm sure Dylan was right up there as well.

Here's the official definition of the award.

Sam embodied the International Baccalaureate characteristic of "Balance." The IB Learners profile states, "they understand the importance of intellectual, physical and emotional balance to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others."

Skol Vikings!

We had it all this season. Three proficient passers, a great running game, a long game no one could match and a stingy defense that scored almost as many points as the offense. This was likely my last coaching gig and I couldn't be happier I ended it on top with these gentlemen.

Heisman

Dylan was our biggest threat on the ground. His speed and cutting ability made it tough for the defense. He also has an extra gear when he gets outside and scored an important running TD in the championship game. He also caught a lot of passes and was our third QB. No team could get anywhere on his side when he played cornerback and he had the most sacks on the team with a half dozen safeties, including a huge safety and final drive stopping sack in the championship game.

Anchor

Sam played safety on just about every down this Spring. It's the furthest back position and has the job of recognizing the play getting to the ball quickly. Not many teams got the ball over him during the season and he picked off around a dozen passes. He also played a all of offensive positions and was our second QB. He threw, ran and caught many TD's.

Another Championship

The boys brought me another NVFFL championship on Saturday. The played two great games, beating the Bears 34-14 and the Saints 20-16. The saints game was a tight one with some great defense on both teams. We beat them in the Fall when they were undefeated and have been gunning for us ever since. They didn't beat us in four try's this season and they were pretty bitter. Oh well, we are done with flag now so the league is all theirs going forward.

Night Out

I went out with Thom and Donkey on Wednesday. Good times catching up on a very nice night in DC. I don't do happy hour that much anymore.

The Ref

Sam filled in for a missing referee for a game on Saturday. He said he only got a couple comments from coaches but handled them well. He may do this as a job this Fall.

Jenna

They were both looking good before the dance.

8th Grade Dance

Dylan went with Jenna. Sam went with his brah's. they looked good in their new suits.

Pops Concert

The final middle school concert takes place on the back parking lot of the school. Band, Orchestra and Chorus all belt out a few tunes to cap off the year. Orchestra did a Led Zeppelin tune and the band covered a Queen song among other hits. We picked up their new suits afterwards in preparation for the 8th grade dance.

Head Start

The boys have been busy the past couple weeks and it's going to continue all summer long. They have begun attending spring football training at their future high school and have officially been selected to the JV summer basketball team. It's basically means they will have one or two practices and/or games every day of the week for the foreseeable future.

Here they are learning how to be linebackers. It's a likely position for them if they learn to hit, which comes later.

Runnng Wild

The boys had a great game this morning in a 35-21 win over the Falcons. The win give us a first place seed in the playoffs in a couple weeks. Sam picked three passes and pulled off an impressive one handed catch the end zone to seal the game late. Dylan had a TD and a safety that turned the tide on a close game. He really had two safeties in a row but the first one was spotted on the half yard line, incorrectly in my view but he went right back at the QB and got him again. That safety gave us a 1 point lead and the ball. It also gave us the ball and momentum which we used to roll up the Falcons.