watch out Venus and Serena.

A friend once asked me "What is there to do in Minnesota?". For some reason all I could pathetically come up with is "Uh, there's the Mall of America". Why I said that is beyond me. I don't even enjoy the Mall of America. Go ahead and call me un-Minnesotan, see if I care. Crowds make me nauseous (I put my fear aside for concerts and stake conference), and for some reason my family likes to go at the busiest times possible. Like Christmas shopping season. I don't mind it (for a short time) if it's in the middle of the day and school is still in session, so it's next to empty. And that's about it.

What I failed to mention is that Minnesota is filled with opportunities to take advantage of the great outdoors through various activities. In every season. Hiking, fishing, swimming, skiing (water and snow), wake boarding, snowboarding, canoeing, and so forth. Whatever outdoor activities you enjoy, I'm sure you can find a place to do it in Minnesota. Except surfing. Maybe you can in any state. But Minnesota is pretty much the only place I have ever lived, so that's all I can say.

Every summer my family makes goals to become more active, and do things outside. We usually make it to through a bike ride or two, and then return to the gym and hit the treadmill or whatever kind of cardio equipment.
This summer we have made the same goal, yet again. This time we have included tennis. There are about four different locations that have at least two tennis courts within a mile of my house.

In order to jumpstart our new tennis mastering goals, my mom and I got a tennis racquet for my dad for Father's day, and a few cans of tennis balls. So Sunday evening after our Father's day festivities we walked up to the park in order to test out his new racquet and play the first of hopefully many games of tennis. Little did I know how awful we both were. I'm sure dead tennis stars would be turning in their graves if they could only see the shame we did to the sport.

But it's the effort that counts, right? We have not given up! Before you know it, we'll be tennis champs. I even convinced some friends to play with me the other day. Be on the lookout for Christine Fleming at the next Wimbledon. I'll be the one kicking trash and taking names.