Settling in to the Big City

After a solid 50 hours of training in two weeks of camp Caitlin and I are enjoying three weeks at home in Minneapolis. The three weeks here at home is the longest we have been in one place since April.

With an easy recovery week of training I was able to visit the Jerry Gamble Northside Boys and Girls Club every day. Although I am certainly the only red head at the Club it has bee great to be with the kids consistently so that they know that I am not just some random skier guy.

Cooling off and enjoying the fountain at the Mississippi Regional Park

Alexandria and Paige warming themselves up after a big splashing war

The neighborhood kids stop over every day to practice street skiing. It seems like every time I open the door there are a few kids standing there waiting to see if they can practice street skiing. They are getting pretty good at going around the block and it is fun to start and end many workouts with a few cheers.

There is still plenty of work to do around the house here, but the kids have been happy to help out. Gerry and Quinn came over and we picked up all of the sticks and branches from our house and the neighbors house. One of our neighbors has three little girls but the yard was so full of sticks and trash that they were never able to play in it. Not it looks great.

Gerry earned a pair of Salomon running shoes for his neighborly service.

Obstacle Course Races

Practicing Back Flips

Foosball is a serious game at the Club

Afternoon field trip to the Roller Garden. We had 78 kids on roller skates

Can 90 Kids Play Dodge-ball at Once?

Basketball is king at the North Minneapolis Boys and Girls Club. We have six hoops and ten balls and there is always a game being played.

Alison teaching me a few things about Basketball. Research has said that it takes 10,000 hours to master something and the kids at the club are working their way there shooting hoops.

I have some practice still to make with my shooting, but I have been able to teach the kids the importance of being fit and moving on the court. We have also been working on playing fair and honest.

We close the gym down after snack each day to play some sort of new or different game. This week we played the largest game of dodge-ball I have ever played. It was awesome. We had about 45 on 45, but there is a good chance there was more than that. Everyone had a blast.

It is Hot and Humid out so most of our activities have been outside. The LCO Club made their annual trip to the zoo and I met up with the crew to show them around and share with them my love of animals. The Minnesota Zoo has a new Penguin exhibit which was a big hit. It was the first time anyone in my group had seen a penguin. Of course we spent a lot of time in the fountain to keep cool.

Yes, that is a tiger. Only 400 Amur Tigers live in the wild according to a 2005 survey. It is important that we do our part to be good the environment and help protect animals.