September 22, 2007 South Dakota State University Jackrabbits

On September 22nd, my friend Jennifer and I road-tripped the 4 hour drive from St. Paul, MN to Brookings, SD to see the SDSU Jackrabbits play Texas State in the Beef Bowl. Of course SDSU won the football game (38-3), but the reason I was there was to see the "Pride of the Dakotas" Marching Band take the field at half-time. They did not disappoint!

We enjoyed some tail-gating before the game with my SDSU freshman-year college room-mate Holly and her boyfriend Cory. It had been about 3 years since I'd last seen Holly, so it was really good to see her again and catch up a bit. After the great game, Jennifer and I went to Skinner's Pub on Main Street to enjoy a few libations... it was a good night!

The next day we met up with my Mom & Dad and my Aunt Diane & Uncle Rodney at Cubby's on Main Street for lunch before we went back to St. Paul. (I had a mouth-watering buffalo-ranch-chicken-wrap!) The weather was beautiful, so we were able to sit on their back patio and enjoy one of the last wonderful September days. I also got to show off my new 2002 Saab to my family before we left town to drive back to Minnesota. :)

Check out the video of the "Pride of the Dakotas" that I took with my digital camera. It was the first video I've ever taken with my camera - pretty cool!

September 15, 2007 Minnesota Renaissance Festival

On Saturday, September 15th, I spent the afternoon at the Minnesota Resnaissance Festival with my niece, younger sister, and brother-in-law. I had been to the Festival once before, about 15 years ago when I was 17. I ate a roasted turkey leg and a breadbowl of beer cheese soup - SO GOOD! :) We watched a jousting tournament, a royal parade, and fire jugglers. We also looked over the many artists' ware, including jewelry, swords, paintings, ceramics, and things made out of glass and pewter. I bought a ring made of copper.

Of course it was fun to treat Jade as a princess on this festive afternoon, so she scored a pair of butterfly / fairy wings to wear. Isn't she cute? She also got a butterly necklace, purple sparkle facepaint, and a dried flower & ribbon wreath to wear on her hair.

At the end of the afternoon, we came upon a rock wall that Jade wanted to climb. It was about three stories tall, but fearless Jade was very excited about the challenge. She climbed all the way up to the top and sounded the horn. I'm so proud of her!