Lunch break

The gophers seemed to be taking a break from their digging along Cliff Road....

Loving congratulations!

This graduate was getting some special love and attention from a mini admirer! Congratulations to the graduate!

Guest photographer: Michael Proebstle, Creative Legacy Images.

Beach bum

Ted was sporting Australian Aussie Bum swim trunks at Schulze Beach. Summer has started - head to the beach!

Bridge into calm

At Holland Lake, you can fish off this wooden dock. The water was like glass under a blue sky!

Morning water view

What a beautiful view of Jensen Lake but look at all the lily pads! 

Got mulch?

If you need landscaping materials such as boulders, mulch, dirt and/or compost, then drive over to Gertens Eco Center on Yankee Doodle Drive east of Lexington Avenue to fetch your supplies. 

Coffee break model

It was mid-morning at my office and as luck would have it, I spotted an Eagan Supermodel posing in front of a brand new Mercedes in our parking lot. Timing is everything! 

Super senior achievers

Four Eagan High School seniors were recognized on Wednesday at the Eagan Rotary weekly lunch meeting as "Students of the Month." Rotarian Michael Proebstle has run our club's  recognition program for the past four years and honored 36 students.
(Left to right: Morgan Kuehn - March; Madeline Gore - April; Rotarian Proebstle; Alexander Anderson - January & Alyssa Axelrod - May)
Congratulations! 

Scholarship glee

Simon Barnicle posed with his parents, Lois Pallmeyer & John Barnicle, at the Eagan Foundation scholarship breakfast held at Eagan High School on Tuesday morning. This year's 93 recipients split $74,100 in awards.
This annual event started back in 1991 and since its beginning 1,046 college scholarships valued at $885,000 have been presented to Eagan students. A campaign "Climb 2 $1 million" kicked off on Tuesday with an addition goal of $100,000 annually to be given to extraordinary students. 

Get the point?

Health Partners had its mascot, a big needle, meeting and greeting 5K runners on Saturday morning.  What do you think?

Picking plants

Our shopping cart at Bachmans in nearby Apple Valley had annuals, perennials and a big pepper plant. Now to plant them all...

Ready, set....run!

Over 350 runners gathered at the starting line on Saturday morning at the Eagan Community Center for the annual Eagan 5K Fun Run!

Nate X 2 - Nate Johnson (right) congratulated Nate Leckband (left) on his men's 1st place 5K run time of 17:30 minutes. Not pictured female runner Riley Dalheimeyer ran the 5K in 22:23 minutes for her women's 1st place time. Congratulations to both of them! 

Got bike?

I spotted this cool motorbike sitting in the morning sunlight.  It must have been a great way to get to work for someone on Friday! 

Girls' Night In

Some of my wife's friends gathered at our house for "Pokeno," a fun group game which involves eating treats, adult drinks, laughing, exchanging small gifts, gossiping, being silly, etc.  "No boys allowed," they told me from our kitchen table!

From Bangkok to Eagan

This handmade, Thai silk weaving from Bangkok, Thailand now hangs on my office wall. It's hard to believe I was in Asia less than a week ago! 

On the lookout

I was filling up my wife's car with gas at the local Holiday gas station when I spotted this topless blond! We had perfect weather to drive around town topless on Monday! 

Better brown barn

Finally Casper's renovated "Cherokee Restaurant" has reopened after suffering a major fire in 2011. The main barn structure is now a dark brown and wonderfully restored.  See other Barn Charm participants here.

Buddhas & tuk tuks

After 5 days in Japan, Eagan Rotarian Michael Proebstle and I traveled to Thailand to attend the annual Rotary International convention.  Thailand is a vastly Buddhist country with elaborate temples. 

So many Buddhas lined up - it made for an artsy photo. 

A cool tuk tuk driver waiting for a customer!

We saw Wat Arun temple on our river boat cruise.

Just outside the Golden Buddha temple...

Eagan Rotarian friend Michael with a Buddhist monk. 

Riding the quick river boat taxi.... exciting & efficient!

Exploring the Flower Market....

We were right behind them, strolling along!

East of Eagan

Asauksa Temple in Tokyo, Japan 

Arrival in Gero City, Gifu Prefecture > I was a Mombusho English teacher for two years from 1989 - 1991! Yoko Mizuguchi and Hiroko Imai, former English students, picked us up. 

Kuniko, a former English student, performed the Japanese Tea Ceremony for my Eagan Rotarian friend Michael and me. 

Yuko played her Okoto instrument for us.  "Sakura" (Cherry Blossoms) is one of the most famous Japanese songs...

Michael and I stayed at Yoko's traditional Japanese house complete with a beautifully groomed garden!

The train station ladies greeted us in Hida-Hagiwara.  Such beautiful uniforms!

Hiroko posed on an old bridge in the old town of Takayama. 

One of the temples we visited in Takayama.

Yatai (wooden float) museum in Takayama City. These are used annually during the spring and fall festivals. 

Final dinner at Yasuko Kondo's house.  (Left to right: Kuniko, Leif, Yasuko & Yoko) Yasuko arranged for me to run weekly English classes in the second floor of her husband's medical clinic back in 1989. 

*** Tune in tomorrow to see the second half of my trip in another country in Asia! 

Back to familiar

I've been away for 12 days, out of the country. On Friday afternoon, my plane flew us over Thomson Reuters, then I knew I was back in Eagan. Tune in tomorrow for foreign travel photos....

All stacked up

Sometimes it feels like everything is piling up and it's difficult to keep up with the pace.  Do you ever feel that way?

Ready for bedtime

These big toys were parked along Covington Lane by 6 pm; they were waiting to work the next morning on Johnny Cake Ridge Road. 

"Unwelcome" message received

See other Wordless Wednesday meme contributors here.

Shop for summer

If you need some fun clothes for summer for yourself or your kids, why not head over to Old Navy to pick up a few extras!

My 3 year blog anniversary!

Since May 7, 2009, I have been running the Eagan Daily Photo blog.  I've met many nice local people and also City Daily Photo bloggers from around the globe.  Here are some of my blog statistics:
Over 73,000 unique visitors from 164 countries with 291 blog followers and an average of 3,500 hits per month.  (This yummy ice cream pie was bought at Ring Mountain Creamery & Cafe') 

Who's in charge?

Our 6 year old's stuffed horse, Blueberry, sometimes likes to drive our Hagen Wagon.  Is that so wrong?

Suburban Decay VII

Deflated. Dejected. Decommissioned. Deprived. Defiled.

Lunching at Byerly's

People were enjoying their lunches out in front of the Byerly's grocery store on a warm Wednesday. 

Bath-time

Our Hagen Wagon needed a bath so off to Paradise Car Wash we drove... Do you wash your car by hand?

Off & running

Running enthusiast and new store manager, Brandon Fox, is racing to get the new Eagan location ready for its May 9th grand opening at 3344 Promenade Ave - Suite 102 (near Old Navy) just off Yankee Doodle Rd. Running Room is a 27 years old, Edmonton, Canada based company with this as its 10th US location.  Run over if you're looking for shoes, apparel, accessories, nutritional items and electronics - all geared for casual and competitive runners. Get running with their free running clubs: Wednesdays, 6 pm and Sundays, 8:30 am.