More sled fun

Today, Dec 3 2008

I figure it must take a certain mental ineptitude to live in Northern climates. And to have children living in such a climate, well, those people must really be nuts. I often think about cabin fever in the run up to winter, long lazy fall afternoons playing outside for hours on end. Thinking of ways to stay entertained, without spending a fortune, and without going off the deep end and finding when Spring finally arrives that I have accumulated like 30 cats.
This year I had a brilliant idea. One that John failed to see the merits of. Or perhaps he was scared off by the inherent danger... A few years ago we got a skijoring harness for the dog as a way to keep both John and Sampson sane after Odin arrive... Never did catch on.
So this winter, I decided to try having Sampson pull the sled with Odin hanging on. The original plan calls for me to XC ski, I think we may get there, baby steps.
Today was the test run, with me running. To lead up to this a few weeks ago I went for a run with Sampson in the harness hooked up to me. He got a vague idea what the harness was for. Today he got a better idea.
He did not like starting out having to pull the sled from a stop. But did great when I helped him. Odin loved it, and did a great job of holding on.

I will say we are very lucky that Sampson is a pretty smart dog and listens and is failry well trained. There were no near misses with trees, no squirrel chasing, all in all a full success.
Once he really got going I couldn't get ahead of him to take any good action pictures.... Maybe I can get some help next time.

Pardon me for asking

me: What are you eating Odin?
him: A booger. It is good and all gone. I like boogers.

Pictures!

We are in Aurora, MN 55705 for Thanksgiving. It snowed a little the other morning, so we have been playing in it daily. Thankfully Odin likes wearing his snowpants this year.
John's sister, Teresa, and her boyfriend Adam also are up for the weekend... Adam was excited to try his "new" commuter bike with studded tires...

Sick

I am really, really not ready for winter. I know it's kind of inevitable, especially in our Northern climate, but really. I have been sick this week. Yes, for real sick. I even went to the doctor, OK it was a Minute Clinic, but still I went. I was convinced that I had strep throat. Worst sore throat I think I have ever had, headache, swollen glands, and like the constant chills NO other symptoms. Thankfully the strep test was negative. I am even more thankful that Odin seems totally fine.
I just am not ready to be cooped up inside for three months. Yes, there are some days where we can venture outside, but not like summer. It is a difficult transition.
We have signed up for some classes, we'll go to the zoo and open gyms I might get him into more swim lessons, so we will be busy, it's just not the same.

Retraction

It appears that I spoke too soon, and I couldn't be happier. We really did not need that.
Today, 35 rain/snow, we need diversions like playgroup.

Quarantine.

I just wrote the following as an email, thought I might share it here.

so I am pretty sure that we have pinkeye, for like the 1,000th time. I have been doing a bit of reading online and I might try some "home remedies" [saline solution, salt water (same as saline, yes?), homey etc.]and then likely call the doctor in the morning... So what does this mean? We will not be at playgroup, again.
What is up with the bring sick for over a month? I mean really, since the beginning of October he has had something going on. Yes I suppose it would all be coincidence. But really? Cold, sinus infection, random vomiting, now pinkeye? It sounds like he is a day care kid. All of the disadvantages, none of the benefit! I wish I knew what was going on.. He has been super cantankerous also, but I think I would be too if I felt like that for 6 weeks. Ugh.

any tested and true remedies that you know of? In the past we have used tobramycin eye drops. I think I am going to take him in in case this is all strangely connected. Hearing "no" from the doctor will make the $15 co-pay worthwhile. Sometimes the confirmation is reassuring (but we have always left the Dr. with some diagnosis...)

Kitchen floor

Something strange has been going on lately. I mean more so than the normal amount of strangeness. He hasn't been feeling great, and as a result he has started taking naps is odd places. On Sunday he slept on the bathmat (yes, in the bathroom) for almost four hours. Yesterday he looked as if he would nap, but no dice. Today he has fallen asleep on the kitchen floor under the table. Actually his body is largely under a chair under the table. Much like Sampson used to sleep. (Sampson has stopped this behavior either because he does not like the new kitchen floor or the new table).
So there he sleeps. Under the table. I wonder if he will be sore when he wakes up.

Begging for Candy

Halloween. I have fond memories of trick or treating when I was younger. I liked the candy really. Dressing up was all right, but really I was in it for the candy. We took Odin out this year, more for the experience than anything. He will eat some candy, yes, but not heaps and heaps (like I used to do). Way back in September we saw a branded "thomas" train costume at a store and thought it looked a bit sad and way over priced. Odin was smitten, so we decided to make one instead. I thought Paper Mache would be a nice way for him to help make a train costume. He helped with the Paper Mache a little, and did a lot of the painting. It would up being a tad heavy, but he got into the spirit and had a great time. We went out with our neighbors and their two boys. I think it was the stuff great memories are made of, but only time will tell!

little note here, wheat flour makes terrible paper mache.. White flour is the way to go.

Climbing

As a consequence from an earlier infraction today, Odin had to spend quiet time in his room with the door closed. This happens occasionally, but not too often. Typically during quiet time he has the run of the house. (Quiet time is "my time" during the day on account of Odin's no nap policy).
So today I had a lovely phone conversation with a great friend for about an hour. I kept on hearing him, but nothing that caused alarm.
Until I actually made it up to his room and found him sitting on top of his dresser. He opened the bottom drawer (the others have latches on them) and climbed to the top. It is not a particularly high dresser. Maybe about three and a half feet, but still not a place I really want him to be. There are some shelves that are near the dresser mounted to the wall and he had removed the contents of the HIGHER shelf.
It is a bit my fault that I was using the top of the dresser for storage, but still man... It is all cleaned up now and we have talked about why that is a bad choice. I doubt it sunk in. Only time will tell.

Leaf Fall

The biggest advantage about living in a townhouse is not HAVING to do: yardwork, snow shoveling and the like. Although sometimes I feel like a bum watching other people do it for me.
The advantage today was not feeling bad about Odin running, jumping and burying himself in the large leaf pile that I made, knowing that somebody (or a crew of somebodies) will likely come in the next day or so to take all the leaves away.

Look familiar?
Here are the pictures from years past.

Rocky Mountain High

We traveled to Colorado over the weekend for my cousin Justin's wedding. It was in Estes Park, CO up near Rocky Mountain, N.P. It was a fantastic weekend. We hiked, explored, reconnected with family, soaked in the hot tub, went on a spooky wagon ride, and reveled in the mountains for 3 whole days days.
Our rental car turned out to be a Mustang convertible- surprisingly john, Odin and I fit with all of our stuff and Odin was even able to sit in the tiny back seat. Even more surprisingly, John and my dad drove the entire Trail Ridge Road through the park with the top down, even when it started to snow. My mom, sister, Odin and I were comfortably in the other rental car, with a roof.
Odin was a great traveler and really enjoyed the "big BIG Rocky Mountains".

U.P. Challenger 3985

As I was leaving the YMCA on Firday after swimming 2200 meters (thank you very much), I listened to a message from John about an old steam engine pulling through town.
From Union Pacific's website
"Union Pacific Challenger No. 3985 was designed by Union Pacific and built in 1943 by the American Locomotive Company. It is one of 105 Challengers built for Union Pacific between 1936 and 1943 and is the only operating engine of its class in the world today – the largest and most powerful operating steam locomotive."

John was already in St. Paul checking it out and asked if we wanted to come down. We made it to the bridge over a train yard right about the time that it was supposed to pull though. It was stopped about a mile down the tracks refueling. There were lots of other engines pulling through and a few big freight lines to watch as we waited. Luckily there was a huge field just on the side of the bridge so we frolicked a bit. Many other train buffs were present, they were a very friendly sort and it was a really neat feeling of waiting and anticipation.
It took almost 2.5 hours, but we finally saw it. And it was really neat. Sorry no pictures, the camera was at home the whole time. But it was a lovely afternoon, sunny warm and breezy, Perfect.

Pumpkins and Apples

It felt very early in the season for us, but today we went to find pumpkins. Our calendar for October is pretty full so off we went this afternoon.

We bought two pumpkins (45# total) and picked a peck of apples. Hindsight tell us we should have gotten way more apples..

MN River

Trying to to hit the peak of fall colors we went out on the Minesota River yesterday. Planning to camp we selected a stretch from about Belle Plain to Jordan, about 10 river miles, with a few campsites. The river was flowing nicely and we found many nice diversions. Lunch on a great sandbar and we found a great big sand

dune close to our take-out. It was worth the sand in every pocket, sock and hairline, we went up and down twice.

We never did find a site, but had a fantastic day.

Cannon River - goodbye Summer

The forecast for last weekend was perfect. Warm (almost hot) and clear. Being the last true weekend of Summer I thought we should take the canoe out again.
I picked a new river for us, the Cannon. It is one of the closest to us (about 50 miles) that has camping options on the river. So we gave it a shot.
It was a great. The river was a bit shallow for our load, but other than that it was perfect. We didn't see anyone else on the river. Our campsite came just as we needed it. (John and I were tired of getting out and walking the boat). It was a very open long narrow field. There were some trails that went right through the site. However it was not a problem. A group on horseback came through just as we were starting a fire. The horses were not too sure of the canoe or the fire, but made it past without incident.
There were all kinds of bugs at the site. Especially slugs. I don't think I have ever seen so many slugs. They were everywhere.


Does anyone know anything about Shutterfly's Share sites? Any experience with them?

Rain Hike

Last weekend it really felt like fall. Cool, windy and rainy. Here in Minnesota it felt like Spring all over again. We were driving each other bananas in the house so we decided to go on a hike. We all have rain gear so why not?

We all had a great time and had hot cocoa at home!

Fall

The weather is cooler this week. Odin started "school" last week. He is in a program that meets one day a week. It is called a mom's day out program, but all of the teachers there call it school. I think it helps to not confuse the kids. He really liked it. He is very proud of my old lunchbox (the Smurfs) and will hardly put it down.

He goes one day a week for 4.5 hours. It is great. The amount of time is just right. It is incredible how much I can get done (by myself) in one hour let alone four and a half. This winter I will start looking into preschools... But most are only two and a half hours- it's like a big strp


I am pretty sure you can "subscribe" to this blog.. I.E. you click a button to be notified every time I decide to post something. It might just be a good idea, that way you don't have to check everyday (or month) to see if I have posted anything.

Hello July!

We took a trip to John's parents house for the 4th weekend. His hometown has a big celebration with parades and street dances, kids activities and the like. It is also a nice long weekend to see Grandma and Grandpa.
We arrived in the late evening on the 3rd, after the parade. Odin was just going to bed, late, when the fireworks started. He promptly woke up, afraid, and wondered what all the booms were. We then all watched the fireworks display from the deck behind the safety of a screen door (the mosquitoes were fierce).

On the 4th Odin was in his first running race. He came in first of the "unofficial" 2nd heat. The starting gun startled him and he waited to make sure it was not a trap before he started. This way he did not have to worry about being crowded either.




One of the kid activities was the sawdust pile coin dig. Basically there were two piles of sawdust (17 yards between the two) with $4oo in coins buried in them. The kids (sorted by age) wait in anticipation and when the signal is made dug feverishly in the sawdust. It was madness. Odin found $1.25 in quarters. He was wearing an orange shirt. We wondered how the extra coins were sorted out..


Odin got to see some of the big mine trucks at Mine View in the Sky. An interpretive center of sorts about mining on the Iron Range.