Ricky Woods

Last weekend, my family decided we were fed up with working and chores and we were going to have some fun. We found it at 101 Market in Otsego.

If giant bouncy pumpkins, pedal cart races, a petting zoo, a corn maze, potato slingers, a haunted mortuary, a corn pit and animal train rides sound like fun – this is the place for you. (And if you need help in the maze, we’ve got it figured out.)

Check out my photo gallery from the concert!

I have been to many concerts over the years, and honestly this is one of the best I have ever been to. Not only did she have a great set list of songs, but she interacted with the audience a ton.

After the first couple of songs she started to talk to the crowd and her band began playing the intro to her next song (assuming she wasn’t going to say much) and she turned around and said “No, I want to talk, stop playing” which gave everyone a good laugh. She then went on to talk for a good five minutes about everything from growing up, to the story about how she happened to audition for American Idol, and expressed how happy she is to be back out performing. She even chatted with a fan in the front row, he yelled out “My wife thinks your husband is dreamy” she laughed and agreed that she thinks the same of her new hubby Mike Fischer.

The whole show was relaxed and fun. You could tell she was really comfortable there which made for a great performance from start to finish. Speaking of the start, her opening act was Sons of Sylvia and they were also fantastic. The lead singer of the band, Ashley, used to be Carrie’s fiddle player before him and his two brothers became her opening act.

When Carrie comes to Minnesota again, I highly recommend you don’t miss the show!

Also, I am in love with the boots she was wearing that night! I just thought I would throw that out there…you never know who reads this stuff!

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Harmon Killebrew lost his battle with cancer this morning at is home in Scottsdale Arizona while surrounded by family. He was 74.

Killebrew announced he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in December, and last week he made the announcement that he would no longer fight his incurable disease.

Killebrew’s baseball career lasted 22 years between the Washington Senators (the team that moved to Minnesota to become the Twins), the Minnesota Twins,  and the Kansas City Royals. He hit 573 career home runs – 11th most in major league history. Killebrew was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Killebrew family.

The world was brought to a standstill late Sunday evening when President Barack Obama confirmed that terrorist leader Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. operatives in Pakistan.

Americans quickly gathered to celebrate outside the White House, and before you knew it, New Yorkers were gathering in Times Square and at Ground Zero, as well.

We’ve pulled together photos from this truly historic moment. Check them out now.

Prince William and longtime love Kate Middleton tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey this morning. Among the 1900 guests were Sir Elton John and husband David Furnish, David and Victoria Beckham, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron and wife Samantha Sheffield. The royal wedding drew a crowd of thousands to the streets of London and was broadcast to millions worldwide.

My parents volunteer for RAGOM, a Golden Retriever rescue organization. Right now, they are fostering a Mom and her seven puppies. This weekend my two-year-old, Elena, and I decided it was puppy time! Click on the gallery to see all our photos.

My 2-year-old daughter, Elena, and I were inspired to try someone else’s idea for a cookie-stuffed cookie. Boy, were we glad we did because they were awesome! Click on captions if you want to know how it’s done.

When you think of going to a middle school play, you automatically think “How can this possibly be good, right?” I went to the Sartell Middle School production of Oklahoma this weekend and I was blown away.This wasn’t your typical middle school production. This musical comedy could have been performed at The Paramount easily!

These 7th and 8th graders put on one amazing show! Under the direction of Rick Cicharz, they transformed the Sartell High School auditorium into a Broadway production.

The sets were simple, yet elaborate at the same time. From Aunt Eller’s house to the Smokehouse, the attention to detail was apparent from the time the curtains opened to the last bow. I have seen Off-Broadway productions that didn’t have sets designed as well as this one. From what I understand the students and their parents put in a lot of time to get them perfected. Kudos to them!

As far as the young actors and actresses go, they have a great future in theater in my opinion. Curly was cast perfectly as the young smooth-talker in town. Laurey did an amazing job pulling her role off as Curly’s love interest and Ado Annie played up the ditsy town girl to a tee. My favorite character has to be Aunt Eller. To be honest, I thought they had brought in a high school drama student to play the role. With the makeup on, she appeared to be 60 years old and played the wise old lady role better than some little old ladies I have seen performing on stage.

Mr. Cicharz has done a fantastic job with these students to present an unforgettable performance. I hope you take a chance to see a production at your local high school or middle school – you might just be surprised!

Oklahoma gets two thumbs up from me!

The conditions were less than balmy, but the 2011 St. Cloud Polar Plunge was a huge success. Over 500 plungers raised more than $70,000 for the Special Olympics of Minnesota. 98 Country photographer Megan Honstrom was in attendance, snapping pictures before jumping in herself.

Take a rookie driver, put him in arguably the most celebrated race of the NASCAR season and give him the checkered flag in a dramatic “anyone’s race” finish and you have Trevor Bayne.  For his part, the 20-year-old Baynes says his victory still hasn’t sunk in.  Take a look at some of the memorable moments from the Daytona 500, including Dierks Bentley and Brad Paisley‘s pre-race singing.

Hundreds of Central Minnesotans sampled 40 different soups and chilis in the 2011 Cold Spring Jaycees’ Soup & Chili Bowl at the Cold Spring Brewery Distribution Center.

Organizers say more than 2,000 people attended the contest and helped raise money for the food shelf and paralyzed Cold Spring resident Roger Illies.

Soup Division Winner:
Alan Faust with “Al’s texas Chili Cheese Soup”

Chili Division Winner:
Pat Preimesberger with “Preim Time Northern Chili”

Northern 1st Place Prize:
Dan Gillen of Main Street Cafe in Litchfield won the Northern 1st Place Prize of $350 for having Northern beer in his product.

From LeAnn to Reba; here is a look at some of your favorite singers with some of their furry friends.

This year marks the 37th anniversary of the People’s Choice Awards; where fans voted for all their favorites. Check out some pictures from the event last night! The only Country stars that attended were Taylor Swift, Kid Rock and ‘Country Strong’ star Leighton Meester.

It’s been a tough winter so far, with the raging blizzard and global deep-freeze, and all. But the human race perseveres! How? By building cool snow and ice sculptures worldwide. Check them out!

Here are pictures of some of the worst dressed attendees at the first ever American Country Awards on December 6th, 2010.

Here are pictures of some of the best dressed attendees at the first ever American Country Awards on December 6th, 2010.