Water Park Getaway

Once a winter Addie's family tries to make it to a water park for the weekend.
February is a good month to go. The winter is getting long and cold, and cabin fever starts setting in. There are few days that we can get outside to play, and a change of scenery is in order. February is also Addie's birthday month. It is a good way to spend some time together as a family around her day.

We went to a casino/hotel/waterpark about 2 hrs from our house. We left right after school on Friday and returned Sunday afternoon. We spent the entire day on Saturday in the waterpark - taking breaks to rest and eat back in the hotel room. We also went back to the water park for a few hours on Sunday morning before we left.

The relaxation, warm hot water, and "sunny" atmosphere really does do a lot to lift the spirits. Having fun doesn't hurt either.

Water slides, the lazy river, swimming pool, kiddie area, and hot tubs were a great way to spend the weekend and to beat the winter blahs.

A Sledding We Will Go

Today, as a family, we went sledding

While the temperatures were not ideal
about 15 degrees F

and the snow condition was a bit icy

We still had a great time.

Ice Fishing

Addie went ice fishing with her dad and brother. They went to Red Lake, MN. If you Google a map of Minnesota you will see the Red Lakes, as they are very large.

They drove up Friday night and slept in the fish house. They fished all day Saturday and returned late Saturday night.

Walleye was the fish of choice for the weekend. They caught a dozen fish and kept 8 of them.


Here is a pic of the ice hole that you fish down inside the house. The house has a small woodstove that keeps it warm.

Do the lakes freeze hard enough to ice fish? Do people partake in this sport?

Suffering to be beautiful

Over Christmas Break Addie got her ears pierced. Her mom had given her permission to get them pierced when she was 7 but Addie wasn't ready until a few months back.The opportunity arose and we grabbed it.

Her mom's only stipulation was that there be two ladies there to pierce both ears at the same time because she remembers very well how hard it was to have the second ear done after feeling the pain of the first.

Addie made it through quite well, and only flinched a little.

But a smile quickly rose up after she saw the final product in the mirror.

Which Way to the Witch?

Halloween has come and gone.

The candy bags are full.

The costumes tossed aside.

The pumpkins are rotten.

Addie was a witch this year.

Almost as cute as the Humbug Witch

But, it is hard to be as cute in real life
as an illustration.

These little rugrats come close.
Addie - Witch
Aiden - Army Guy
Keegan - Fisherman
Tryllen - Batman

Fun was had by all. I wonder what Addie will be next year? She has been a cheerleader, an Asian Princess, Butterfly, a cat, and others we have already forgotten. I also wonder how many more years we have before she no longer wants to dress up.

Do you only celebrate a Fall festival, or is there Halloween and Trick-or-Treating there too?

Pumpkin Carving- USA

Tonight we carved pumpkins
-Jack-o-Lanterns-

This is the first year Addie
was willing to scoop most of the
inside out.

This was also the first year Addie was allowed
to use the carving tools to carve her own pumpkin.

Addie's signature is a heart nose.

I think these are the best
Jack-o-Lanterns yet.

In order from left to right pumpkins were carved by :
Mom, mom, dad, Keegan, Aiden, Addie, Tryllen, Aiden&mom
Addie and Tryllen later made a two sided pumpkin- one happy, one scary

From 1200 to 12,000 ft ina week

Buller has been from here to there and back again.
We left Minnesota with Buller in tow on August 13th.

We drove from Minnesota to Pierre SD the first day. We stopped at 1 am and slept for 4 hours in the hotel. Luckily Buller and the kids had fallen asleep long before that in the van. The next day we were back on the road by 6 am. We drove until we reached Colorado. We were determined to reach our destination quickly. That night we stayed in Idaho Springs, CO. We camped in a tent by a small (very small) spring feed stream that is part of the hot springs there.

We drove across the entire state of Colorado the next day. Driving from the Plains to the the top of the Rocky Mountains and back down the Western slope toward Grand Junction, CO. Once in Junction we finished the last 100 miles by heading South down two canyons. We finally arrived in the small town of Naturita, CO.

The next six pictures were taken on the last 100 miles. It is a scenic by-way. It is one of my favorite drives ever, and one that the kids did well on considering that one side of the road is a straight 1000 ft drop (I actually don't know how far down it is, but it is a straight drop down) and the other side of the road is a sheer 500ft cliff up.
Red Rock is the feature attraction in Gateway, CO. Center point of the two canyons.
Buller felt at home. We had a hard time getting him back in the van to reach our destination. We finally convinced him that where we were going would be lizard heaven. That is we had him convinced until he ran into a lizard friend (can you see the lizard? he is brown.) Like all lizards we had to trick him. Was he ever that naughty for you? Maybe it is the little lizard that persuaded him?


The kids became very good at lining up for pictures by the time the trip was over.

Looking at the spring. We visited two natural springs and filled our water bottles. The water is fresh and clean as it is filtered naturally through the mountain.



The Dolores River

"Fairy Palace" behind cabins that we stayed in. Does this rock look magical enough for fairies to live in?

The first place we went (daytrip) was Ouray. There is a hot spring swimming pool there. After visiting a water fall, and having a picnic in the park, us and 20 friends enjoyed the rest of the day in the springs going from the very very hot part of the pools to the freezing cold water slide area and back and forth.

Part of the Cascade Falls, in Telluride CO

The next day was spent in Telluride. This town was known for it's mining. Today it is more of a tourist area. After a yummy lunch at the bakery we went up to another waterfall (or as close as little legs can get us) and then road the gondola to the top of the ski area and had a look around then, back down for ice cream in the car on the way back to the cabin

Buckeye Reservoir in Utah. Natural lakes are few and far between in Colorado. Reservoirs are man made lakes. (can you see Buller hanging out in the sun?)

The water level had dropped so low that the shore line had become quite muddy. The kids found this quite fun. Addie's suit still shows the "fun" in each mud spot stain today. Good thing we have a new one for next year already. No worries.

We are ready to head back across Colorado. Picture taken in front of the little cabin we called home for the week. The van and trailer were repacked and ready to go. Our next destination was Estes Park.
We had a great trip. Including several days in Estes National Park where we finally tracked down a herd of elk. We went from our elevation of 1200ft up to 12,000ft. and back down again. We were gone for 14 days.

Buller has now been to Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota (we had him waving as we went past your grandparent's area), Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah. He has seen forests, prairies, mountains, semi-arid desert, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, mountain streams, and waterfalls.

If you look back through the blog, you will see that Buller has been to school, he has been camping, and hiking, biking, down the Mississippi River in a canoe. Buller was at family celebrations, and listened to bedtime stories snuggled in a loft bed.

He has watched Addie go from second to third grade.

He traveled short distances - to Grandma's, Headwater's of the Mississippi, in town for a statue walk, or just to the couch to watch t.v.

He learned about Earth Day, and how to fish and garden in Minnesota. He cooked a hotdish, and learned about fashion. He read favorite books, and packed school lunches.pictures of taking pictures

He has been busy.
Yes, we even showed him just how big Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox really are.
But, we have a problem.
Buller won't get out of the van. He has been clinging to his Colorado river rock on the dashboard of our van since we returned. Seems he misses Denmark, and he misses you Sabin. Buller wants to come home. Although it is a strange time for a robin to fly North (most are gone for the winter now) we are wondering if Early is ready to fly the coop too?

Addie has a brilliant idea. She doesn't want to shut your blog down, rather keep it open and post on it when you two have something you want to share. Halloween and Thanksgiving, Christmas, Addie's birthday - there are lots of things coming up. Thing to share. When you want to. I think it is brilliant.

What do you think Sabin?

Buller Finally Made It!

My main goal for Buller when he arrived in the States
was for him to make it to the
Headwaters of the Mississippi River.

On Sunday July 19, 2009 Buller arrived at this location. Luckily for our cold blooded friend it was a lovely day out. Those have been few and far between in the great state of Minnesota.

The Mississippi River runs the length of the United States. It starts just outside of Park Rapids, MN at what is now a State Park named Itasca. It then travels North to Bemidji and then starts heading South toward Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.The Mississippi flows out of Lake Itasca and travels 2552 miles before becoming part of the Gulf of Mexico and eventually part of the Ocean. A man named Schoolcraft was the person who discovered the correct source (as others had been named as such) and the short story is on the sign below.

Remember Sabin: click to enlarge it
so that you can read it better

We try to make it to Itasca State Park at least once a season if not more often. There are miles of bike/hiking trails, camping, boating, fishing, dinner cruises, naturalist programs, swimming, shopping, restaurants, etc. Plus it is one of the last great stands of old age/ untouched forests in the area. Almost everything else has been logged at one point in history.

Here is a collage of our time at the headwaters. I will first point out the upper left and lower right pics - these are from a 10 mile canoe ride that Addie's mom and dad took down part of the Mississippi on Friday. You can read about that here. Buller came along for the ride, but due to the rain and cold he stayed in dad's jacket.

From there I will start at the top left and continue to the right and around
1) Loon - Minnesota state bird. Came up right in front of our canoe
2) This is a shot taken at the Lake Itasca swimming beach - across the lake is the headwaters. You can barely see people walking across
3) My feet (mom) on the rocks of the headwaters. Imagining the water going across my feet will eventually be in the ocean
4) All four kids sitting on the Headwaters
5 &6) A shot of people walking across
7) Buller basking in the sun on the rocks collecting memories
8) Rocks to send to your mom out of the Headwaters - they will be making the return trip with Buller
9) Canoe trip - cousins in the canoe behind us
10) Heading down the path toward the river
11) The kids and dad walked from the Headwaters to the first bridge.
12) Dad holding Addie's brother's homemade boat he was floating down rocks
13) People from all over the world come to see this
14) Ducks and ducklings on Lake Itasca
15) Buller on the log bridge
16) Addie sitting in the headwaters
The middle pic) Buller hanging out at the Headwaters of the Mississippi sunning on the rocks.

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Sabin -
Ask your mom if she ever made it to this place?
Did her family take a trip here?
Does she remember it?
Are the pictures hidden in your granparent's basement ;)