[* To be sung to the tune of I Love Paris in the Springtime. A pick up hockey game at Noonan’s park yesterday (Saturday) afternoon. Yet another beautiful winter day in Vacationland USA. But we get ahead of ourselves . . .]
[Jami, Danny, and Tom arrived for “vacation” on Thursday. Jami immediately dove into a 2,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of Casablanca. She quickly discovered our card table was too small for the project. A trip to Menard’s produced a 4×4 hardboard necessary for the task.]
[Aha!]
[Aha! Again. 😉 ]
The web site following provides live camera coverage of the new high school construction. The above photo was saved from that site. The supervisor and I decided to pay a visit to the school yesterday (before Noonan’s park). We called the kids back home when we got there – they saw us on the computer and saved the series of photos of me walking around the place. The 1st one I’m waving up at the camera – as I was coming back to the car, an unmarked vehicle drove through and obviously (?) took photos of us and our license plate. Can you provide bail money? (OK, just kidding, I think.)
The new high school: http://www.alexandria.k12.mn.us/Page/4137
[We asked the kids if they could see us. They told me to wave. I looked around for where I thought the camera would be . . . and waved. Hi everybody! 🙂 ]
[I wandered south for photo ops . . . with the security camera keeping me under surveillance. The obelisk in the center of the photo is obviously a 3-story elevator shaft.]
[I think I’m heading back to the car here.]
[Indeed . . . as the “patrol” comes through.]
[Approaching the car – the supervisor messing with all “my” settings on the radio.]
[Please let me in?]
[Fleeing the scene! 😉 ]
[Later, that evening . . .]
[But we came to document construction progress . . . this is the first time stuff is rising above the ground. I have reason to suspect this is the peforming arts center going up.]
[From the Pioneer Road entrance, looking west.]
[The crane will be used to measure the leaping abilities of the volleyball team.]
[Wave at the camera! Looking northeast.]
[And so I begin my walk.]
[Looking west. I’d like to reserve seats in the front row, please.]
[Grand Arbor, southeast.]
[Northwest]
[There’s a separate wall on the left side of the photo? A stadium facility. (I suppose I could research this . . . but who has the time?)]
[Artsy shot to the SW. Taking a chance the sun doesn’t burn up my electronics.]
[North, with the Alex watertower in the distance . . . and the supervisor in the car listening to Harper’s Chord.]
[Grand Arbor is visible through the slot looking SE.]
[I think I see our seats!]
[The unknown wall.]
[Circling around from behind, NE.]
[North.]
[Looking NW as heading out the South exit to Pioneer Road.]
[And then we drove by Noonan’s.]
[Looking SE from the circle at 9th & Maple.]
[The goose population is way down at this time of year! 😉 ]
[Serious pond hockey – full goalie pads.]
[The ole give and go?]
[Maple Street – a personal favorite.]
[Every kid who grew up in Alex has a scent memory of the warming house – wet wool mittens on the heaters! 😉 ]
[The duck house.]
[Family skating – kids in strollers.]
[By this morning, the monster puzzle was completed.]
[The participants re-enact the placement of the final pieces!]
[And Tom and Jami qualify for the jigsaw Hall of Fame! 🙂 ]
[And the supervisor hung her Christmas mosaic with care . . .]
Got [an Uncle Dick expletive], it looks like it is going to be huge! I don’t want Alex. to grow. I want it to stay the same. Who can forget those hard and very uncomfortable bleachers at Jeff. Sr. High? ~ Gretch
Up next: Opening presents? 😉
p.s. The grandson is majoring in computer graphics technology with a minor in computer sciences at Purdue. No sense in wasting a perfectly good resource. I put him to work “cleaning” up our computers. Seriously, my old lap top is now faster than ever. See, education is a good investment! Thanks, Tom 🙂
