Raising daughters and training dogs

One morning last week one of our 6 year-olds was up early. She was wide awake at a time when a dad is usually the only one awake in our house on the Prairie. I get up everyday with Teddy (our 2 year-old American Water Spaniel). Not wanting her to be left out I invited her to come along on her bike while the dog and I ran. I wasn't sure if she'd say yes; but she was excited to be asked.
The three of us headed out. It was a good run and bike, about a mile out with a couple of good hills. Our turn arround was at a large park. The idea, in my mind, was to let the dog run off leash up the hill while our daughter checked out the prairie dog exhibit at the bottom of the hill.
Tough part was Teddy spotted a doe and gave chase. It was one classic moment. I was at the top of the hill with my daughter, still in sight, while the dog was in full chase of a deer on the other side of the hill. In just a few seconds I spotted him on top of the next hill. I called to both the dog and my daughter and neither one listened.
I went to get the girl first and she came with me calling, "Come here boy." After a few anxious moments for dad and daughter our dog came back into sight. When he reached us he was panting hard while smiling a little amused with himself.
We came home just in time to get cleaned up before Vacation Bible School. Not a bad morning adventure.

New Canoe

A week ago my beloved encouraged me to buy a canoe and not just look at it in the ad in the newspaper. I've been considering getting a canoe for about 2 months now. We moved to a new house and we live just a couple blocks from a chain of 5 lakes. My bride's logic seemed clear: it's the end of Spring and we'd have a chance to use the canoe for a whole season if we bought it now and not at the end of the season. The sale price was great and I jumped at it. Tonight was the maiden voyage in the new boat, a red Pelican Explorer DLX. Its a 15 foot 3 seater.

I took the canoe out for a spin at about 7:30. The lake was relatively of boats but the shore was full of people fishing. There were reports of crappies and sunny from the folks on shore. The only folks out on the water fishing were out in another canoe. I saw a few jet skis and boats full of familiyes headed towars home. and a few boats. It was a good first time out tonight. It was great to be out on the water again other than a trip with kids . It's been a good while since I've been out and it was a great hour on the water.

My goal is to get out with my daughters before to long with rods and see if they can start catching fish.

Join Kiva!

Hello!

I did it again. I loaned money to people in places on the globe I will never probably go; but hey it's good to know that a little of the money I have can make a positive impact in a far way part of the world.

I made the loan tonight to someone in Peru using Kiva (www.kiva.org).

Any one with a few bucks and a computer hooked up to the internet can do it. Just go to Kiva's website. Kiva loans support small businesses and as the owners build their businesses they it turn can support their families.

I have appreciated the stories and pictures connected to each loan, that as well as the ratings of the partner lenders who work with Kiva, has been a great asset as I consider who and where to lend money. There's a unique chance to support entrepreneurs by giving them loans at rates commercial lenders would never offer.

Kiva provides brief descriptions of the business and the family who it supports. As lenders we get to decide who to support.

All Kiva loans are managed in country by local microfinance institutions. Its not big banks making the loans, its people in many countries working through agencies already on the ground.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named VIRGEN NATIVIDAD DE LARES Group in Peru. They still need another $3,700.00 to complete their loan request of $4,150.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan to VIRGEN NATIVIDAD DE LARES Group too:

http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=109305

It's easy and it invites a different world view into the way we view money.
https://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=register&_isc=1fb9bf50-4ff1-11de-911c-dc6669dc15d3&_te=inu

Traveling Minnesota with Twins: Mill City Museum

Minnesota's a pretty neat place for kids to discover a little bit of history. From the battle-fields of the Dakota Conflict in the southwest to the mining and forestry sites of the Iron Range there's a lot to see. Besides, my folk's gave us a family membership to the Minnesota Historical Society for the next 2 years; so now we've got lots of good reasons to go and explore all kinds of history.

This past Saturday my older 2 daughters and I joined my folks at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis. The museum's only a few years old and its definitely worth a look or two. The museum was built in the shell of the old Washburn A Mill overlooking Saint Anthony Falls. I explained in advance that the museum was build in a building that had once exploded and been very damaged by a fire. That made our girls very curious.

When they got there they found lots of surprising and wonderful things, fresh bread and chocolate cake samples in the kitchen, water wheels and turbines to play with, and a tour that takes place in a huge freight elevator in the Flour Tower. The girls favorites included a mock up of a table set for threshers, including a classic wood-fire cook stove; a chance to decorate cereal boxes, and a mock-up of the falls and several different kinds of water wheels.

Growing up in Minneapolis, but not living in the city for some time now, it's kind of neat to see that the river's been rediscovered in recent years. My girls will have become big fans of downtown. They like the children's room at the downtown library, the Nicollet Mall, and of course Kramarczuk's Sausages.

As a teenager I remember running along the river with the rest of the South High Cross Country team on both banks until the river roads ended. When I was home on breaks from college and especially in my last years at seminary I rode my bike quite a bit along the river road. It was good then to see some renewal starting in the abandoned mills. It's good to see the progress and great to introduce my family to the city that 2 of their grandparents have called home for their whole lives.