Minneapolis '08

Hello everybody hello!!

Welp, it's currently the sixth week of school for me. This semester has gone by pretty fast so far. My work load is about the same as last semester (minus the forty billion papers). I do have some but not near as many as last semester. I have started my first round of tests and projects this week...fun fun!

Two weekends ago, I went to Minneapolis, MN with some UofI students and alumni. Meg invited us up to go snow tubing on Saturday. The trip up was pretty uneventful until we hit Wisconsin. There was a surplus of fog and some snow but I don't think the roads were that slick. It took about 8.5 hours to get there. We left Champaign at 5:00pm Friday, picked up some people in El Paso, picked up some more people in Rockford, and then made it to Minneapolis around 1:30am Saturday morning. Dwayne made us some really good french toast, smokies, and fruit salad.

Here is a picture of Natalie, me, and Gab on our way to the tubing hill.

Then we drove to a hill somewhere in the city to go snow tubing. This hill was probably about a 30 degree incline so it wasn't super steep (which was good since the Sunday school kids came too), but was completely covered in ice with a thin layer of snow. There was a roped railing going up the side so you could pull yourself up dragging a decent sized tube. Since the hill wasn't super steep, you couldn't go very fast so we did crazy stunts to make up for it. We would ride the tubes double or even triple. Some of us surfed down...including myself...yeah that was pretty amazing and a little scary the first time. We would line up 10 to 15 people in a row and play crack the whip as we went down. At one point we had a pyramid going down 3 on bottom, 2 in the middle, and 1 (Gab...) on top! I was not part of that unfortunately. Umm...one time Sarah (my roommate), Gab (an alum) and I went down with me and Sarah making a chair for Gab with our arms and thighs...but we wiped out. Brad went down with two tubes beneath him but that didn't end so well...the bottom one decided to stop abruptly... yep... that's about all the stunts I can think of... WAIT I forgot about me and Heidi's stunt... We went down with Heidi squating on a tube and me on her shoulders...and we didn't fall! That was pretty amazing. Oh and the guys did some trains standing up. I think they tried putting two or three guys standing in one tube, leaning out and holding onto each others arms for balance. Ok I believe that's all the stunts...

After tubing for a couple hours or so, we went to church for pizza and that's where I met up with Teddy (Rustin) and Sharon and Squirt (Grace). I could not believe how much she had grown!!! (that's Squirt, not Sharon) She was probably twice as big as at Christmas. And she was wearing an Illini shirt (blue and orange NEVER pink), grey pants, and little orange Illini socks. WAY TO REPRESENT!!! I think the body parts that grew the most were probably her head and tummy.

She's definitely getting some pudge. Here's a picture of her...

And another...
And yet another! (she smiles a lot and it's pretty easy to get her to)
After lunch, the Champaign crew went off and either ice-skated on the pond behind Meg's house, or went to see one of the 709 girls that lives in Minneapolis and then visited a zoo/conservatory. I, however, went to IKEA for the first time with Teddy and Sharon. They spent most of the time there looking for bathroom furniture whilst I pushed Grace around in her 3 wheeled stroller. It took me a little while to figure out how the front wheel works. Hey those things are more complicated than you think! It was a pretty cool store but not super relevant to my current situation. Maybe if I was living on my own or married or something...but I'm sure it will be a useful store en el futuro. I did think all the little display rooms were cool. It's a very unique way of setting up a store. I wonder if they have it patented 'cause I haven't seen any other store set up like that...hmm...We didn't have time to make it to the Mall of America but that's ok. I'm not a huge shopper but that mall is pretty amazing. There are so many sports and shoe stores there....

After shopping, we went back to Meg's and hung out until it was time for supper. Supper consisted of spaghetti (normal and super spicy), lettuce salad, four different types of bread (probably homemade but I'm not sure), four choices of dessert, and water. So while we were waiting for dinner to begin, Meg had us draw a colored strip of construction paper and promptly sent us downstairs. After a few minutes, she came downstairs and told us that upstairs each place had a piece of paper that matched each of ours and we had to find our places. So we trudged up the steps...many of us were sore already from all the activity...and found our places. Each place setting had a different theme. They were so hilarious.

Sarah (roommate) had a sushi kit complete with a rice paddle, chopsticks, and carry-out boxes. Reid had a huge mixing bowl and giant silverware.

Heidi had beach toys.

Gab had a tin plate and a sketchy looking bottle.

Sharon and Rustin had a candlelit dinner for two (complete with vino) and were served on the best china in the house [bottom]. Mogs used baby utensils and even had a bib [top right]. Nic had a flower pot, watering can for a glass, and a mini garden trowl and rake for utensils [top/middle].
Amber (roommate) used a footlong electric marshmellow roaster (spun in circles) to eat her spaghetti [bottom]. . Blake had a cup about the size of a shot glass and had about 30 refills throughout the meal (I don't think the pitcher left his side) [top left]. I ate my meal from a ceramic bowl and a miniature salad plate and glass [in front of Blake] Other people had picnic ware...
Natalie and Matthew
Mark and Jenny
Meg

Well that's all I got for now. Hope to see all my viewers soon...unless I don't know you...

Hasta Luego,

Su Dodge (or as my college buddies call me, Sprout)