Miss Minnesota at Nickelodeon Universe

Miss Minnesota at Nickelodeon Universe

Todd Swank’s Diary Entry for November 18, 2012

On Sunday, we were invited to join Camp Odayin at the Mall of America for an afternoon of fun at Nickelodeon Universe.  Miss Minnesota aka Siri Freeh had a bunch of tickets to share with the families of Camp Odayin campers.  The boys were pretty excited for the opportunity.  As Avery commented while we were there, “Everything is Coming Up Swank!”

Siri is a former counselor at Camp Odayin and has been a huge supporter of the organization.  She is a doctorate student in Cardiac Research and her platform for the Miss America competition is "Living Heartstrong".   We know who we'll be rooting for in the big competition this January!

The boys had a great time while we were there, although this kind of activity is a little bitter sweet for Luke since he’s not supposed to go on most of the rides at the park.  So we split up after a while and let Avery get some fun on the thrill rides while Luke and his mom found things to keep themselves entertained.

Avery drug me on some of the big rides like the Avatar Airbender which spins around in circles while it rushes back and forth to the roof of the mall on some vertical rails.  I guess I’m getting a little bit old for these rides because I felt a lot more nauseous than thrilled.

I always enjoy when we have the opportunity to dress up like one another.

On Tuesday night, I flew to Seattle to visit with Microsoft for a couple of days.  One of these times I’m going to actually go over and climb Mount Rainier rather than just stare at from the airplane as I leave town.

On Friday night, we went to watch the Prior Lake High School production of In The Woods.  

Dana is a friend of the family and she was one of the stars of the play.  We were blown away by her singing!

Although we were all a little bit shocked when we discovered that this was going to be one of those kissing plays.  Our delicate sensibilities were a little bit taken aback by this revelation.

Our favorite character in the play was Jack’s beloved cow.  I have no idea how the girl was able to stay in this position for the nearly 3 hour musical, but I have to image her back was getting sore.  She must have been taking a lot of pain pills, though, because she sure was funny!

On Saturday, we headed back to the Boy Scout Christmas Tree Lot to help unload a truckload of Christmas wreaths and another truck load of Christmas trees.  These trees sure are heavy.  If somebody could figure out how to invent an Ultra Light Christmas Tree, they’d be rich!

The boys weren't complaining.  They were like a little colony of ants marching back and forth to the truck to load up on trees and deposit them in their appropriate piles.  It’s amazing how many trees you can move when you get 50 or 60 boys together!