Gorilla Challenge

In August, The Hubs and I participated with friends in Minneapolis' first Gorilla Challenge. It's an urban scavenger hunt that led us all through downtown Minneapolis on a wild goose chase! We were given 12 clues, and had to correctly answer 10, in 3 hours, in any order. Needless to say, we did not win, but we sure had fun! Here's our hunt!

Clue #5: It just isn't possible to avoid the most obvious Minneapolis landmark of all time, even if it does completely disappear at night. Although you can snap a picture from just about anywhere in the city, for this competition, we want one with you walking on it. Run onto this location and snap a picture doing handstands!

Clue #2: Competitor of the Pioneer Press, this organization has been around under different names, in different families, gone through bankruptcy, and still came out ok. Run to this location that featured Gorilla Challenger earlier this week and grab a picture with your entire team jumping in the air.

Clue #3: Activity Site: Run to this green location in the historic Mills District, run up the spiral walkway, find the Gorilla Staffer and complete the activity. Ryan had to find something specific in the bucket of goo.

Clue #12: Find an out of towner from a state that starts with the letter "I." Snap a picture with them and make sure we can clearly see their driver's license AND state in the picture.

Clue #8: Activity Site: With the new redesign it looks like a convention center! Equipped with a Dunn Brothers and a green roof with grass on top. It's a QUIET location. WALK inside, go to room N-402. Find the Gorilla Staffer and complete the activity. Using NERF dart guns we had to knock over 4 plastic cups from across the room.

Clue #9: It looks like downtown is overrun not just with nonprofits, but with public art too. Find this Family which is a flashback from 1989. Pose with them and add to the collection.

Clue #11 Activity Site: This nonprofit is full of amenities. From whirlpool to racquetball courts, child care, and early learning, facilities and even social services you really get what you pay for here. Run to this location, find the Gorilla Staffer and complete the activity. As a team, sing and do the Chicken Dance, in unison!

Clue #7: Last week they announced a $3 monthly fee for debit card users. Bah! Hopefully no other banks follow. Find their corporate location and give them a stare down out front.

Clue #10: Take me out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd... Go root for the home team at the field, grab someone with a Twins t-shirt, get the entire team to pick them up in the air (at least 2 feet!), with signage in the background and snap a pic :).

Clue #1: Activity Site: Adorned with a fountain illuminated at night with rotating colored lights, this is all that remains of what was once intended to be a majestic entrance to the city. Find the Gorilla Staffer and complete the activity. Throw 2 beaded necklaces around the head of another teammate.

Clue #4: From camps for kids to classes for adults, and even continuing education opportunities for professionals, this location is way more than it looks like from the outside. With the name alone, who knew it had so much inside? There's way more than much ado about nothing here. Run to this location and strike a pose.

Ten on Ten - September

Yesterday was Ten on Ten.

There should be another picture here at 3:00. But with the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the wedding I missed it! So, fast forward to 4:00... 

Ten on Ten

9:00 - Phones are down at work. 

10:00 - Stuffing Welcome Packets for a New Realtor Orientation tomorrow!

11:00 - Finally did my make up for the day...

12:00 - Can't get enough of this book!

1:00 - Loving my new red shoes!

2:00 - Staring at the computer...

3:00 - Snack time!

4:00 - Loan Closing

 5:00 Two for One - Playing with RJ and SJ

6:00 - Jenni's Stampin' Stuff!

Dinner at Eight

The Hubs and I had our first Dinner at Eight evening on Sunday. We had a whole day of doing nothing, and capped it off with a nice late evening "picnic" dinner together on the couch. Our weekend couldn't have ended in a better way. 

We enjoyed Oven-Fried Chicken. I brined the chicken thighs for maximum flavor potential, rolled them in an egg, mustard, and herb mixture, and then into crushed up gluten free rice crackers. It resulted in a super moist, flavorful, crunchy, and perfectly salty piece of chicken that even the Colonial would enjoy! I would dare venture this chicken makes it into the Top Three chicken recipes I've made so far! Normally, this amount of steps would deter me from a recipe for a week night dinner (especially a 2 hour brining process?? Yeah right.), but for a special dinner for The Hubs I'll go to any length. <3

As a side we had Black Bean & Quinoa Salad. This recipe happens to be from Rebekah's blog (A Bit of Sunshine), which is where I learned of Dinner at Eight to begin with! Her pictures of the salad are much better than mine, so go there to see her beautiful stuff! I really liked this salad, though The Hubs didn't love it because it reminded him of the fake snow they have at his work... whatever that means...?

For dessert, and I'm not much of a pastry chef, we had individual cheesecakes with whole (GF) Oreos on the bottom as the crust. A delightful surprise, to say the least! I topped them with a fresh strawberry puree as a tribute to one of my all-time favorite milkshake combinations: Strawberry Oreo. (Seriously, go to Potbelly and get one.) 

What a wonderful night to lazy-lay on the couch, feeling very much in love.

Warrior Dash

Since we Carbo-Fed last night, here's a picture of the Warriors! 

Rousey, Jenni, Ben, Ryan / Rachael, Megan, Katie, Justin

 Check out Facebook for many more!

Endless Summer...

Enjoy some photos from our summer!

We went to Hudson to tour some life sized replicas of Columbus' ships the Nina and Pinta. It was pretty cool! A crew of guys sailed them around the United States stopping periodically to show them off. It was really interesting!

Life size replicas of the Nina and Pinta

Erin and Shirley waiting to go aboard the Nina and Pinta

SJ checkin' out the Saint Croix River

For Dad's birthday Ryan and I spent the weekend in Wausau. Dad and I canned some Chili Sauce (straight from Gram's recipe!) and I made him a birthday pie.

Canned Tomatoes

Chili Relish

 

Dad's Birthday Pie!

Ryan and I spent quite a bit of time at the State Fair this year...

Here's Ryan with 18 inches of Corn Dog... I'm a lucky lady.

Here's Ryan with is favorite... Pickle Dogs

We've spent quite a bit of time with Zennon and Ava. They were such great helpers on moving day!

Robot Ava

Zennon

Ava