Back To School - Are You Ready?

The last minutes of summer are ticking away and it’s already that time of year - the countdown has begun to head back to school. The first day of school day for Osseo School District, which is the public school district for Eagle Ridge Apartments, is Tuesday, September 3rd.

To help you with your last minute preparations, we've listed below the Osseo school addresses and their websites which have lists for school supplies, calendars, forms and other things you may need for the 2013-2014 school year.

As the new school year approaches we know that with it comes every possible reaction for kids and parents: excitement, nervousness, annoyance and complete and utter dismay that summer has come to an end. So the staff here at Eagle Ridge want to try and make it something to look forward to rather than something to dread. 

On September 3rd, we will be having after school snacks here in the Eagle Ridge office for the students to come down after school and grab a treat and a juice box! 

Cedar Island Elementary
677 Hemlock Lane, Maple Grove, MN 55369
763-425-5855
http://schools.district279.org/ci/

Oakview Elementary
6710 E. Fish Lake Rd., Maple Grove, MN 55369
763-425-1881
http://schools.district279.org/oak/

Northview Junior High
5869 69th Ave North, Brooklyn Park, MN 55492
763-585-7200
http://schools.district279.org/nvjh/

Osseo Senior High School
317 2nd Ave NW, Osseo, MN 55369
763-391-8500
http://schools.district279.org/osh/

From all of us here at Eagle Ridge, we wish you good luck on the first day of school and hope it's a good day!

Three More Movies By Moonlight - Mary Poppins Is This Friday

Have you been to the Town Green Friday Movies by Moonlight series hosted by the Maple Grove Parks Department? There are three more movies left in the season! The next movie is “Mary Poppins”, which is playing Friday, Aug 30th at sunset - 7:55 pm.

The Town Green Park is just three miles away, located at 7991 Main St North, Maple Grove, MN. You can bring your own snacks or if running short on time, and they do have a concession booth (no grills permitted, however). There is band-shell stadium seating, or if you prefer, bring your own lawn chair/picnic blanket. For more information visit: http://maplegrovemn.gov/around-the-city/town-green

Did You Know?
You can also perform at the band shell. Visit the city's website for information about signing up to perform there. The application is here:  http://maplegrovemn.gov/around-the-city/town-green/town-green-entertainment-application-form

Walk/Bike Path Route from Eagle Ridge Apartments to Town Green Park

Stay Cool In The Pool

UPDATED: Due to the very warm weather we've been experiencing, we have decided to keep the pool open one more week, until Monday, September 9th. Enjoy the extra time to play in the pool!

It’s a great week for the pool with temps in the high 90’s! We will be closing our pool for the season on Tuesday, Sept 3rd so we can replace the pool tiles without delaying the opening next year. If you are missing any items - please stop in the rental office, we have a large bin of “lost and found” items.

Stay cool and have fun. Hope to see you there!

Staff Dishes On Their Favorite Fair Dishes - Plus Drawing Winner Announced!

Congrats on winning the drawing, Christina!

Please join us in congratulating Christina for winning the drawing for the State Fair gift pack. She won two tickets to the MN State Fair, a Blue Ribbon Bargain Book with coupons for the fair, and $20 to spend at the Fair!

Thank you to everyone who commented on our Facebook or blog pages. We enjoyed hearing from all of you about what you like most about the MN State Fair!

So what does Christina love about the Fair? 

"I like trying new foods I have not had before. Last year it was the deep fried pickles. They were yummy."

We couldn't agree more, there's always something new to try at the fair! And, since we asked all of you what you liked about the fair, we decided to share with you what our staff likes to do at the fair.

Ginny: Anything on a stick! Bull bites, mini donuts and finding cool new appliances for her kitchen.

Kelsey: Corn on the Corb and the all you can drink milk stand! And trying new beers and live music (after the milk settles!)

Coty: Mini Donuts and the Ferris wheel—both at the same time!

Scott: Honey Sundaes from the horticulture building & the sheep barn

Cindy: Cheese curds, foot long hot dogs with the skin on it!

George: Pork Chops

Sam: Cheese curds

Ashley & Jesse: Looking through all of the exhibits and corn on the cob

And The Winner Of The Luau Gift Basket Is...

Congratulations to Kari, who won the drawing for the gift basket full of goodies from the Luau last week. Everyone who attended had the chance to enter their name into a drawing for the gift basket, and Kari turned out to be the lucky winner! We had such a great time visiting with all of you at our annual resident appreciation picnic. We hope to see you there again next year!

Meet David, Your New Neighbor

We are excited to introduce you to your newest neighbor, David, who just recently moved to Eagle Ridge. We snapped a photo of David picking up his keys for his new home at Eagle Ridge Apartments. David says he chose our community because we are in a great neighborhood and that our price was very competitive compared to other similar spaces in the Maple Grove area. We are glad to have you here, David! 

David displaying the keys to his new home at Eagle Ridge.

Mahalo! Thanks For Coming To The Luau!

Our staff at Eagle Ridge would like to say 'Mahalo' (thanks!) for coming and celebrating with us at the Luau yesterday. It was great to spend time with our wonderful residents and bring our community together. We hoped you enjoyed the Divine Swine catering and had a great time. Thanks again for being such great residents here at Eagle Ridge!

We had some really nice comments emailed to us after the luau party. We're glad you all had so much fun!

"Hi. We just wanted to say “Thank You” very much for the great idea of the luau. We enjoyed ourselves & it was great getting to meet the staff as well as some of our neighbors. Perhaps there will be more opportunities like this in the future. Thanks again." 

"Hey Girls and the rest of the Eagle Ridge crew,
Thanks for the luau! The food was delicious and it was nice to meet new people." 

"What a beautiful night for a Luau! Thank you so much, this really makes me feel at home!"

Check out some photos from the event below, and visit our Facebook album for even more photos. While you there be sure to like our Facebook page, and if you have any photos from the luau, please share them with the rest of us!

Going To The Fair? Here's The Eagle Ridge Guide To The Minnesota State Fair

The Minnesota State Fair is just nine days away and we're all getting excited about making our annual pilgrimage to the fairgrounds for some great food and entertainment. The festivities begin August 22 and run through September 2; read on for tips on free events at the Minnesota State Fair and how to purchase tickets and get there.

Minnesota State Fair Tickets Drawing

Now you have a chance to make your Minnesota State Fair experience a little cheaper - we are holding a name-drawing contest for two tickets to the Minnesota State Fair, plus a coupon Bargain Book for the fair, and $20.00 spending money to help you buy some yummy fair food! All you have to do to get your name into the drawing is leave a comment on this blog post or on our Facebook page about what you are looking forward to most about the Minnesota State Fair.

Free Activities

• Lumberjack Show at the North Woods Lumberjack Arena: Daily at 11 am, 1:30 pm, 5 pm and 7 pm
• 2 pm: Daily Parade
• Kemps Little Farm Hands Exhibit- kids can ride tractors, plant crops and milk cows
• “Flippenout” a high-energy trampoline/acrobatic show performing four times daily at the X-Zone
• Laser Light Show Nightly at 9:15 pm

Horse Shows at the Lee and Rose Warner Coliseum:

• English Horse Show: August 22-27
• Western Horse Show: August 30- September 2
• High School Rodeo: August 28-September 2

Leinie Lodge Bandshell Tonight Concerts at 8:30 pm:

• August 24 & 25: Blue Oyster Cult-known for their songs “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, “Godzilla” and “Burnin’ for You”.
• August 26 & 27: Hanson-known for their song “MMMBop”

Buying Tickets And Getting There

Purchase tickets at Cub Foods

Maple Grove Cub Foods
8150 Wedgwood Ln N
Maple Grove, MN 55369
(763) 494-8364

Brooklyn Park Cub Foods
7555 West Broadway Avenue
Brooklyn Park, MN 55428
(763) 424-2510

Make sure to check out Cub Foods or the State Fair website to get your tickets ahead of time at a discounted price. If you buy your tickets in advance they are $9 (reg. $12) and you can get the bargain book for $4 (reg. $5).

Metro Transit Shuttle Locations 
www.metrotransit.org/StateFair

Don’t feel like driving to the State Fair? Take the bus! For $5 you can park and ride Express Buses to the State Fair: buses run daily during the fair, from 8:00 am  to Midnight.

Here's the top 3 closest State Fair Park and Ride locations:

1. Maple Grove Transit Station  - Service every 30 minutes - Weekends and Labor Day only I-94 & Hemlock Ln.

2. Brookdale Square  - Service every 15 minutes 5900 Shingle Creek Pkwy. - NE corner of Shingle Creek Pkwy and Bass Lake Rd.

3. Fridley Station  - Service every 30 minutes Fridley Station Platform

Early Bird Gets The... Rent Credit!

Congratulations to Richard, he is the winner of our Early Bird Drawing this month! We do this drawing every month and you have a chance to be the winner if you pay your rent on or before the 2nd of the month. Everyone who pays their rent on or before the 2nd of the month can put their name put into the Early Bird Drawing. Out of that pool of entrants a random name is selected and the lucky winner gets $50 off of rent for the following month.

So when September's rent comes around don't forget the Early Bird Drawing and get your rent payment in quickly. We all know what the Early Bird gets... that's right, a chance to get $50 off of rent the next month!

Richard won the Early Bird drawing contest - Congratulations, Richard!

Infuse Your Summertime Sipping With Freshness

In anticipation of our upcoming Luau, the Eagle Ridge staff delivered a gift of an infusion water tumbler to each apartment as a part of our Resident Appreciation events. We also included some recipe ideas for how to use the tumbler and give your summertime water sipping some extra freshness! Have you had a chance to try out your tumbler yet? If so, let us know what recipe you like best.

The tumbler is a great way to bring something to drink to the pool - after all it's made of plastic, which is allowed in the pool area, and not glass, which is not allowed. Try out a few recipes, or make up your own, and then share it with us on Facebook or in the comments section below!

INFUSION RECIPES
Step 1: Fill your infusion tumbler about 2/3 full with water, tea, juice, or carbonated water.
Step 2: Prepare your infusion ingredients and fill them into the slotted cup insert.
Step 3: Swirl and enjoy!

Here's some suggested infusion combinations:

Raspberry Lime Infusion
-8 to 10 raspberries
-1/2 of a lime

Cucumber Citrus Infusion
-1 lemon wedge
-1 lime wedge
-4 cucumber slices

Strawberry Basil Infusion
-3 to 4 strawberries, halved
-fresh basil leaves

Orange Pineapple Infusion
-4 to 5 pineapple chunks
-1 to 2 orange wedges

Summer Detox Infusion
-1 lemon wedge
-4 to 5 cucumber slices
-fresh mint leaves

Blackberry Lime Orange Infusion
-5 blackberries
-1 to 2 lime wedges
-1 orange wedge

Repaving Project Is Underway

If you live in the 7000 or 9700 building you'll want to take note of our repaving project that will be continuing

through the rest of the week that will limit garage access.

This Monday-Friday we are completing the repaving of your building’s parking lot. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes and appreciate your cooperation as we keep Eagle Ridge looking its best.

Parking
All residents should exit through the entry door. Please be cautious of vehicles entering and exiting at the same time.

All residents are welcome to park in the parking lot, but please exercise caution around any work vehicles or construction personnel.

If you have any questions, please contact the Rental Office at 763-533-7303.

Have You Met This Family Yet? They Are Your New Neighbors

We have some new neighbors here at Eagle Ridge! Please join us in welcoming Raji, Raj and Sai to our apartment community. We're excited to have them here. They just moved here on August 1st. It's always interesting to find out why our residents choose to make their home here. We offer lots of amenities to make life more convenient and enjoyable, and it seems everyone finds one that particularly suits their life. For this beautiful family, the fantastic view from their balcony and the great location were two big factors.

If you see them around Eagle Ridge please be sure to say hello. Welcome Raji, Raj and Sai!

August Should Make Your Mouth Water

August is a month for fun, really! August is National Family Fun Month. So, what are you going to do this month for fun? Here you can find some other fun holidays in August and we’ll share some suggestions for family fun this month.

August 3^rd – Watermelon Day

Watermelon Lime Frosty (or Margarita) -- makes 2
3 cups watermelon, cubed and frozen
1 ripe banana, peeled and frozen
2 tablespoons agave nectar or maple syrup
Zest from 2 limes
Juice from 2 limes (about 4 tablespoons)
1/2 cup waterBlend all ingredients until smooth, adding more water as needed to keep the mixture moving. For margaritas: add 3-4 shots of silver tequila. You may want to add more watermelon than called for to thicken this up, or to make the drink appear more pink.

August 10^th – S’mores Day

Did you know you can make S’mores in the oven?  Just take a baking sheet, line with foil, assemble s’mores without the top graham cracker and bake until marshmallows are soft and chocolate starts to melt (you have to watch these closely it doesn't take long at all) then just take out of the oven, top with the other graham cracker and enjoy!

August 31^st – Trail Mix Day

Plan a little fun activity with the kids or even a small family get-together and have a trail mix bar.  Everyone brings their own container to take home and they can create their own trail mix wither they want to indulge in the sweets or get a nice variety of healthy nuts and seeds to start their diet off right.

Minnesota State Fair- August 22-September 2

Prices: Adults (13-64): $12, Seniors (65 & over): $10, Kids (5-12): $10, Children (Under 5): Free!

It’s almost a requirement to be a good “Minnesotan” to attend the State Fair every year and don’t we love it!  Get ready for lots of fun, good entertainment and the food; oh the food, there’s nothing like it.

For more information visit: www.mnstatefair.org