Saving our PARKS and another swimming picture...

Lillian Dancing and Singing with her Puppy!

Alexa jumping off the diving board.

My mom so kindly drove down yesterday afternoon to watch the girls while Adam and I went petitioning for the Minneapolis Park Board to become a separate entity from the City. My mom was able to pick up the girls, see their school and meet Alexa's teacher, Ms. Tracy. I wasn't there, but I can about imagine Alexa being pretty proud to show off her classrooms.

Adam had dinner ready for them at home, so they were set to eat and play the night away.

Adam picked me up from work and we drove to Minneapolis to a few of his parks to pick up supplies such as a card table, balloons, stickers, tee-shirts, flyers and petitions. We set up shop along the walking/biking trails of Lake Calhoun. A little nervous how things would go, we were quickly discouraged when people just walked on by and ignored us. It took some time for us to warm up and for people to stop and see what we were all about. We had to keep in mind, too, that they were out exercising, some running or jogging and didn't want to stop in the middle of their work out to sign a petition. But, our point was, that if the city kept control over the parks and the residents tax money that was supposed to be going to the parks, things like the trail or path they were walking or biking on wouldn't be there any more. The city has been starving the parks of their money for awhile now, and we're concerned that in the future it could get worse.
We eventually got people to stop and at least listen to what we had to say. Unfortunately for us, a lot of the people who were using the trail weren't Minneapolis residents, whose signatures would do us no good. They had to be Minneapolis registered voters. We were pleased to get 66 signatures, beating our goal of 50 in 3 hours.

I was surprised at how many people were genuinely interested and actually quite educated on the situation. I was happy to see the younger generation eager to sign, as their children could be affected. We want to save our green space, keep the parks and trails, keep the waters clean and have programs and rec centers for children and adults.

There were some who gave us a thumbs up or a hoot and a holler on their way by, just to let us know they supported us. There were others who wouldn't even look us in the eye, in fear we would see them or something. As much as I understood that nobody wants to be disrupted in the middle of their walk thru the park, I wanted to secretly whisper in their ear, "You're lucky you have such a nice path to walk on, hopefully it's still here in the next 5-10 years for your kids to enjoy." Or, "Do you realize that the parks only receive 3-4% of the 8% of the taxes YOU PAY, because the city uses the rest for other debts they owe." Or, "Where do you plan to go for a walk when this area is sold off to pay for other city deficit." Or, "Do you realize that St. Paul has had to shut down 40% of their parks due to the city controlling their money and St. Francis is selling off their parkland to pay off their deficits - Do you want this happening to Minneapolis?" It seemed that most were too busy gossiping with their walking partner, or zoned out listening to their I-pod to care.

We appreciated the ones who stopped by to sign the petition to have their voice heard on the November 3rd ballot. We also want to thank the gentleman (Jason, I think his name was) for putting us on "Twitter". Thanks to those who stopped by to say they would love to sign, but weren't Minneapolis residents. We appreciate your support. For those of you reading from Minneapolis and haven't signed the petition, please go to your closest park and rec center and do so. Your signature puts this issue on the ballot. Go out and VOTE, November 3rd for the Minneapolis Park Board!! SAVE OUR PARKS!

Lillian was sleeping when we got home after 10, but Alexa and Grandma Diane were still awake. We stayed up and visited for awhile, but were all pretty exhausted from the busy night.
The week doesn't slow down from here. Alexa's last day of swimming lessons is tomorrow. I have the day off, so I'll be taking her. I'm so excited to finally get to see her in action. Adam has told me how well she's been doing, but now I can't wait to see her with my own two eyes. After swimming, I will drop off the girls at school and head up to Minneapolis to help Adam with the Peace Games. After that, we'll pick up the girls, head home to load up the car and head out to my parents in Elbow Lake for a long weekend. It's Flekkefest, so we'll be taking in all the activities around town. Grandpa Dick is the Grand Marshall in the parade on Saturday, so we'll be there cheering him on. Sunday we'll be heading back down for Alexa's friend, Mackenzie's Birthday Party at 3. Monday I have a dermatologist appointment right away in the morning to remove a potentially cancerous mole from my left cheek.
Busy, Busy!!!

Have a great weekend - I'll post again on Monday!