Catchin' Up

I've been antisocial lately... at least online. Everything suddenly seems like such a waste of time and energy. Facebook is so full of meaningless comments and annoying automated messages, email has become simply overwhelming to sort through, and the blog... well, I have been wondering if anyone out there really cares if I write anything or not.

Then my mom calls. She is wondering when the next post would be, the pinewood derby was ages ago. Suddenly, I realize there is someone out there who actually enjoys reading about my meager, lowly life. Someone who has always been there when I needed someone to talk to about the dumb stuff nobody else wants to hear about...

And so, even though Mother's Day has already floated down this year's river, I'd like to dedicate this post to my mom...

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My mom never fails to send me a birthday check, and this year I decided to splurge and actually spend it on something for me instead of throw it in with the grocery budget... So now Spirit Mountain has one more season pass holder. With the promotion they were running, I got the rest of this year for free too, so we were able to get in some good ol' March spring skiing... Thanks mom!

I put together a hike for the kids and their friends with a few surprises thrown in. I drew up a map and we started off looking for adventure...

We had "trolls" blocking bridges,

"Fairies" blowing bubbles over the falls,

And a treasure chest at the end.

The snow was gone by then, but the chill in the air wasn't. Luckily everyone was dressed warm.

Easter was pretty simple this year; we painted plastic eggs instead of the traditional hardboiled ones... they stink less if you happen to hide them too well.

If you've ever watched a VeggieTales show, you might recognize these two...

Following in her sisters' footsteps, Ella recently became good friends with some scissors... I guess it was time for a summer cut anyways...

One warm weekend we went to the beach to dig in the sand. Duluth boasts the largest freshwater lake and sand bar in the world, so we like to take advantage when we can. The water was still too cold to play in, but that didn't stop the dogs...

We also took the dogs to the duck pond to see what they'd do... obvious answer to that one...

There is always plenty to explore around here...just when I thought I knew the woods behind our house, I discovered a new trail leading to the other side of the pond where some kids had been building a fortress of some sort. Sierra said it reminded her of the book "Bridge to Terabithia", so I dubbed it "Terabithia". Solei thinks my habit of naming every nook and cranny of the forest is annoying, but somehow I feel that if I give something a name, it somehow becomes "mine". So far I have a "nook" where the dogs play in the creek, a "little pig's hut" made of sticks, a "lupine lane" that blooms in the summer, an "Old Jalopy" rusting in the underbrush, and various other curiosities along the way...

We discovered a "cat cemetary" near the fortress also... we'll have to keep the dogs away from that one...

Cody discovered a deer leg on our last date-night hike, with the hoof and fur still on it... maybe I will call that trail "deer's demise", and carry a can of bear spray when I go back there...

Often on the trees you can see these funny mushroom things growing on the trees, like this...

There's just something so rejuvenating about a walk in the woods, especially the sounds of the forest... but there was one mysterious noise that always left me baffled. It seemed to originate by the pond and sounded like an engine trying to start, or a basketball thumping on the ground. I met an old man in the woods one day and asked him what the sound was, he said it was a "ruffed grouse". The sound I was hearing was the drumming of their wings. You can see and hear what I am talking about here, it's pretty funky:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruffed_Grouse/sounds

The schools here have had a lot of field trips lately. Sierra went on a river cruise, Solei went to a zoo in Minneapolis, but when Taron's class went to the nature center a few miles from our house, I decided to join in. The weather was a little dreary, but we enjoyed the activities and hike.

Caden turned 9 last month, we held a small family party for him at home since it is an even year...boys in our family have their big parties on odd years (this year it is the girls turn). I made a scavenger hunt to lead him to his big present; a new bike.

One of Caden's recent scout activities was tapping maple trees at UMD. I went along and we learned some interesting info. Did you know maple sap is the consistency of water and has just a slightly sweet taste? I always thought it was thick and gooey like honey... but not so! They have to boil it for days to get it like that. Thanks to my friend, Sandy (who also happens to be my cousins' cousin) for the following photo...

Well, that's all the photos I have for now. I apologize for the dullness in color, spring had not yet sprung when I took these, and winter had closed early for the season so it was that icky, brown, in-between stuff. Not very photogenic. The colors are popping today, so hopefully my next post will be more interesting to look at, but who knows when that will be...