Categories
Out and About Pug Life

Fannie’s Second Visit to Centennial Lakes Park

Several days after picking up Fannie as a two-month-old puggle puppy in Wisconsin, my mom and I took Fannie and Missy to Centennial Lakes Park in Edina, Minnesota, where Fannie ran away for a minute. We took Fannie and Missy to Centennial Lakes Park again today, and luckily there were no problems this time. It’s interesting to compare these photos of Fannie to the previous ones, because she has grown so much in the last three months.

I took these 12 photos this morning between 10:42 and 11:42 a.m.

Fannie and Missy shortly after arriving at the park
Missy checks out the miniature golf course
Fannie and Missy get some rest
Fannie smells some of the flowers in the Hummingbird Garden
Missy, Fannie, and my mom by a weeping willow and the man-made pond
Another photo of Missy, Fannie, and my mom by a weeping willow and the man-made pond
Missy, Fannie, and my mom under a pedestrian bridge
Fannie and Missy stare each other down by the man-made pond
My mom gives Fannie and Missy some water
Fannie looking recharged after drinking some water
Fannie, Missy, and my mom by the man-made pond
Fannie, Missy, and my mom leaving Centennial Lakes Park
Categories
Out and About Pug Life

Fannie’s First Visit to a Dog Park

This morning, my mom and I brought Fannie and Missy to Carver Park Reserve Off-Leash Dog Park in Victoria, Minnesota, for Fannie’s first visit to a dog park. As I say in this post from 2021, this was also Pugsley’s first dog park.

I took these four photos from 8:26 to 8:43 a.m.

Fannie
Fannie II
Missy and Fannie
Fannie III
Categories
Out and About

40,000 Tulips and More at the Arb

I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this morning to see the 40,000 tulips on display.

I took these 12 photos from 8:24 to 9:19 a.m.

Various tulips
Tulipa, ‘Teddy Kollek,’ Single Late Tulip
Tulipa, ‘Yosemite,’ Single Late Tulip
Tulipa, ‘Yosemite,’ Single Late Tulip
Tulipa, ‘Ballade Lady,’ Lily-Flowered Tulip
Tulipa, ‘Belle du Monde,’ Single Late Tulip
Expansive view of the tulip garden
Beginning of the Three-Mile Walk
Quercus rubra, Red Oak
Fraxinus nigra, Black Ash
Mimmo Paladino, b. 1948, Italian, Sud II, Bronze
Unidentified pink-flowering plant
Categories
Out and About Pug Life

Fannie’s First Visit to Excelsior

This evening, Fannie visited nearby tourist destination Excelsior, Minnesota, for the first time.

I took these three photos between 6:34 and 6:40 p.m.

Fannie in the grass
Missy and Fannie stay close together
Missy looks at my mom, while Fannie checks out Lake Minnetonka
Categories
Out and About Pug Life

Fannie’s Misadventure at Centennial Lakes Park

Day 5 of Fannie being home.

My mom and I took Fannie and Missy to Centennial Lakes Park in Edina, Minnesota, for Fannie’s first time this evening.

Unfortunately, my mom dropped Fannie’s leash as she was conversing with other pedestrians, causing Fannie to bolt approximately 100 feet along the man-made pond. Luckily, someone caught up with Fannie and stopped her from going any farther—avoiding a potentially dangerous situation with the water.

These four photos were taken between 5:56 and 6:15 p.m.

Fannie on a sidewalk
Fannie on the sidewalk near a boulder. It was a boulder like this one that helped the Good Samaritan catch Fannie’s leash and potentially save her life.
Fannie and Missy check out some flowers
Fannie on a sidewalk after her misadventure
Categories
Pug Life

Meet Fannie, My New Puggle Puppy

My mom and I drove to Wisconsin today to pick up our new puggle puppy, Fannie (b. February 27, 2024).

I took the photos between 1:31 and 1:34 p.m., and took the video at 1:39 p.m.

Fannie scratching at her new collar
My mom with Fannie and Missy in our front yard
Fannie sitting
Fannie in our front yard
Categories
Out and About

Spring Is Blooming at the Arb

With sunny skies and a high of 73 degrees Fahrenheit, my mom and I made our way to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota, this morning. I took these 13 photos from 10:47 to 11:43 a.m.

Ginkgo biloba, ‘Autumn Gold,’ maidenhair tree
Pseudotsuga menziesii, Douglas fir
In Loving Memory of Dan Ohland
Pinus resinosa, red pine (both trees)
Populus tremuloides, labeled trembling aspen (right) and quaking aspen (left), though both trees are the same species
Placard on the quaking aspen in the previous photo reading, “In Memory of our Beloved Friend Gerry Marshall 2006”
Austrian pine planting
Malus sargentii, ‘Select A,’ Firebirdâ„¢, Sargent crabapple
Forsythia, ‘Northern Sun’
Magnolia x loebneri, ‘Leonard Messel,’ Loebner magnolia
The Peony Pavilion (Chinese: 牡丹亭)
Tops of various trees, including hickory
Mom with a pair of Nikon 8×42 binoculars, a Christmas gift from me last year
Categories
Out and About

Minnesota Surprised With Snow

For the most part, the Twin Cities hasn’t had snow this 2023–24 winter season. It’s by far a winter unlike any other I’ve experienced in Minnesota. Though I enjoyed the warmer days and better driving conditions, I was pleased to see bright snow outside my window when I got up this morning.

I took these seven photos today from 10:17 to 10:35 a.m. The National Weather Service’s forecast office for the Twin Cities is located next to my neighborhood in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

My house
Three conifers with the N.W.S.’s Doppler radar in the background
Backyard of the N.W.S.
Snow-covered tree
N.W.S. sign
Front yard of the N.W.S.
N.W.S. building
Categories
Out and About

50 Photos From the Mall of America

Today, my mom and I visited the Mall of America—the largest mall in the Western Hemisphere—in Bloomington, Minnesota, so I could take photos for my own archival purposes.

I took these photos from 11:24 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.

We parked in the California lot on the second level by Macy’s
Skyway to Macy’s
Mannequins at Macy’s
The entrance to the mall after passing through Macy’s
Nickelodeon Universe (formerly Camp Snoopy)
The LEGO Store
Jerk King
Sugar Factory Express
The LEGO Store II
Mom sitting
Apple Store
Urban Outfitters
Tesla vehicle outside Nordstrom
Caribou Coffee
H&M and Zara
Bath & Body Works
Twin City Grill
Cinnabon
Barnes & Noble
Swatch
L.L.Bean
Fossil
Nickelodeon Universe II
Nickelodeon Universe III
Starbucks Coffee
Nike
Swarovski
Yankee Candle
Spencer’s
IT’SUGAR
Nickelodeon Universe IV
Urban Planet
Nickelodeon Universe V
Nickelodeon Universe VI
Kappa Toys
Apple Store II
Three levels
Coach
Legacy Toys
Wink World
Culinary on North
GameStop
Prince Music Company
Lululemon and Peloton event
Walgreens
Walgreens II
Rainforest Cafe
Margaritaville
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
Three levels II
Categories
Out and About

Winter Lights at the Arboretum

Tonight, I visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota, to see their Winter Lights walking tour that goes through the end of the month. I’ve never been to the Arboretum in the winter, much less seen their Winter Lights display (though I’m not sure if they’ve had it in previous years).

I took a bus in Chaska to get there, partly because the Arboretum was sold out of tickets for parking on-site. A SouthWest Transit employee at the park-and-ride facility in Chaska told me there would be 4,000 attendees tonight—with 3,000 people parking at the Arboretum and 1,000 people taking the bus.

As these photos illustrate, there is no snow on the ground. Furthermore, I recall only two days this fall and winter season when there was any measurable snow on the ground, and they were on October 30 and 31. Needless to say, there won’t be a white Christmas this year. In fact, the two main reasons I went to this event tonight was that it was warm (the high temperature in Chanhassen today was 47 degrees Fahrenheit) and that I wanted to document the brown Christmas, which happens much less frequently than a white Christmas in the Twin Cities. The high temperature for tomorrow (Christmas Eve) is 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

I took these 19 photos from 4:49 to 5:37 p.m.

Arb logo at the Oswald Visitor Center
A reindeer guiding a snowman on a sleigh
Apple
Frosted Romance
Steps leading to the carousel
The carousel
House with a star
Pollinator Path
Miscellaneous lights
Miscellaneous lights II
Winter Village
Winter Village II
Multicolored building (probably the Oswald Visitor Center)
Arb logo at the Oswald Visitor Center II
Apple II (not the computer)
Water Lily Way
Apple tree
SouthWest Transit bus
SouthWest Transit bus II