From our family to yours!

Cat owners will relate to this photo I found online.

We rode the Hiawatha Light Rail Line to Minneapolis last weekend to take in the Holidazzle Parade (think a low-budget version of Disney’s Electric Light Parade with a holiday theme. Oh yeah, and subtract 80 degrees F). While we were there, we checked out the annual holiday display at Macy’s. They convert an entire floor of the building and set up dozens of life-size dioramas with a certain theme — this year, Mary Poppins. We had to wait in line for an hour. It wasn’t as good as the Harry Potter-themed display the first year we were in Minnesota, but hey, it’s a tradition. Right? While we were down on Nicollet Mall, where the parade runs, the girls also posed with the statue commemorating the Mary Tyler Moore show (it was based in Minneapolis, remember?) As you can see from the picture, it looks like they’re gonna make it after alllllll…..

Here we are, getting a midwinter Minnesota tan — standing under the massive heat lamps in a light rail shelter on our way to Minneapolis by train. Man, it was cold. But so far: NO SNOW.

We all went to the unveiling of this year’s St. Paul Winter Carnival button at Como Zoo earlier this month (Art’s on the board of the carnival, “The Coolest Celebration on Earth.” It’s been bringing people outdoors in the dead of winter for 122 years in St. Paul. In the words of Gnarls Barkely, “Crazy.”) At the event, the polar bears at Como Zoo unveiled the button by tearing a blubber-smeared tarp off the artist’s rendering. Cool! There was a kids event, offering music, crafts and, as you can see from Jesse’s picture above, face-painting.

In all the hustle-bustle of the holidays, we’ve been slow to update the blog. Time to buckle down and get to work…..