Happy Howlin' Halloween

Here's what happens when Halloween lands on a Sunday: Mateo has a pumpkin party at school on Friday, then does in-town trick-or-treating with Jadin right after school; Mateo goes to an awesome Halloween bash hosted by the PTA at school on Saturday with his new friend Brent - games, treats, haunted house, crafts, prizes, the works; by Sunday (today) he is trick-or-treating only at 3 select houses and without his costume. Maybe a little too much too soon, but all good nonetheless.

Happy Birthday Gabby Jan!

73 seems to agree with you, Jan - check out your aura!

This Party's on Fire!

Ocean is Mateo's friend and he just turned 4. His party started at a Mexican restaurant, and then migrated to a fire station where the boys toured the building, rode in a fire truck and sprayed the hose. Mateo came home with a plastic fire hat (and other goodies) - paired with the garden hose it made for some great imaginative play this afternoon. Happy birthday, Ocean!

No School - Conservatory, Too!

"She's naked." Giggle, giggle. Jadin was quick to notice the statue in the sunken garden was unclothed. The boys were mesmerized by the fish and enjoyed "exploring the jungle" of the conservatory.

No School - Trip to Zoo!

With school out for teacher's convention, I took the boys to the zoo to break up the day. Although disappointed there were no crocodiles, they had a great time. Highlights were the huge, huge, huge snake in the water (anaconda), the giraffes, and the big cats. Mateo and Jadin climbed any and all statues that did not have a "do not climb" sign and explored the children's gallery.

Meet the Twins

Mateo's classmate, Jadin, is spending some afternoons with us during the school year. During lunch on his first day here they declared themselves "brothers" (because they're both boys), and shortly thereafter, "twins". How cool is it that they are more aware of their similarities than their differences? They spent part of this afternoon raking leaves, chopping up a fallen tree, and exploring the woods.

Bernie's Bog

Warner Nature Center really outdid themselves at the Fall Color Blast. Aside from pontooning, there was a bug tent, live raptors, bandana stamping, apple crisp ala mode and apple cider - not to mention hiking trails on which to expend the energy apple crisp and ice cream create. We chose to hike around and across Bernie's Bog. Truly a perfect fall day.

The Water Strider

Mateo and I got to ride on the Water Strider today at Warner Nature Center's Fall Color Blast! It's the world's 1st solar power pontoon boat, built in 1999. While we were waiting, Mateo dipped a net into the lake to see what sorts of critters he could find. Lots of snails and very small mussels - some other kids found dragonfly larvae, a water scorpion and a tadpole. After our pontoon ride, we lucked out and hitched a ride back to the nature center on a golf cart :-)

Fall at the Falls

Mateo at Cascade Falls

"Can we go down to the falls?"







Every time we pass the stairway to Cascade Falls Mateo asks this question. More often than not we are pressed for time or the weather is not great or I'm just too tired to even think of climbing back UP all of those stairs. Yesterday, however, I could think of no excuse. So we headed down several flights and had an amazing time.

Castle Danger Retreat

I had the very good fortune to spend a couple of days at Grand Superior Lodge earlier this week. The weather was gorgeous which allowed for a beautiful bike ride to Twin Points beach, hiking at Gooseberry Falls and general lounging by the ginormous Lake Superior. AND the colors between Duluth and Hinckley were incredible.