Shakopee Jack O'Lantern 5K & Pumpkin Run

Last Saturday was the Shakopee Park and Recreation's annual Jack O'Lantern 5K and kids Pumpkin runs.  Since Kieran has been in Cross Country camp and clubs the last few years (and since he did a 5K a month ago), he wanted to run the 5K distance.  Sarah had to work the race, so I had to run with him...

The first half of the race he spent a lot of time talking about a lot of things...the last mile or so, not so much talking...here we are at about the 2.5 mile mark...he was done talking.

He was tired enough that he said he was not going to race me to the finish line...he said he wouldn't sprint...he lied...I wasn't paying attention and he took off...

The second race of the day was the 5 and under race, so it was Lex's turn.  Sarah was out front pacing the 1/2 mile race, so I had to run with Lex too.  She talks more than Kieran!  Plus, she held my hand for half of the run.

Turns out that Lex was the first girl finisher....so she got her own medal...she was very excited!

The last race of the day was the 6 & up group...time for Dino Luke to run his 1/2 mile race...

I don't think it is easy for him to run (he has to hold the dinosaur's head up) in the costume, but he did it and finished...

It was a nice morning...a little cool and windy, but that's October in Minnesota....

Minnesota Zoo

Last Sunday the high temperature was forecast to be 80 degrees (it got to 85!) so we decided to spend the day at the MN Zoo.  It was a great morning getting to the zoo at 9:00 am...

We headed for Discovery Bay first...the tanks that used to hold the dolphins, now have some endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals...they were bigger than I expected.

You can view them from below and and above, just like you could with the dolphins...

Sarah was especially curious...how do you determine the sex of a Hawaiian Monk Seal?  I don't think we were able to determine it visually...

After Discovery Bay, we went outside for the Northern Trail and the Farmyard.  Being early in the morning, many of the animals were more active than usual, like the tiger...

The tiger was just released to its enclosure, so it was really active...

What was kind of cool and unusual was the brown bear exhibit.  They are off display due to their behavior over the summer (read about it here) which resulted in a broken window, but the zoo was allowing visitors inside the enclosure and explaining how they are designed (it was really interesting).

They explained how the rock is made to look like real rock.  How it is designed to not have any ledges that the bears could get a foothold and climb and other designs...

Inside the enclosure, you could see bear claw marks on the trees and pits that the bears have dug to sleep in...

Of course you could take some goofy pictures too...

On the way out we looked at the snow monkeys.  How long have they been at the zoo?

Great day to head off to the zoo...

Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area

Last weekend was warm, 75 degrees on Saturday, so the kids and I headed to Jordan to take a hike.  We went to the Minnesota Valley SRA, which helped us accomplish two goals:  we got another stamp for our state park passport and we logged a hike as part of the DNR's Hiking Club.

For the hiking club, you are required to hike selected trails in the state park system and look for a password somewhere along the trail.  When you have the password, you can log to total miles hiked with the code.  This days hike was about 5 miles...great day for it....

The colors were just started to turn on the leaves...a couple of lakes or ponds and the river for the kids to throw rocks into...

It was always a race to see who would be first...

Saw some deer, turkeys, lots of birds (including a type of crane I couldn't identify, they were a ways off), some coyote poo...

Kieran tried to call in some sort of animal....

Being such a dry fall, there wasn't much water around, this pathway should have been over some sort of flowing water...

Towards the end of the five miles (after we found the password) some of us tired...

And needed lots of rest...

Kieran - Tooth Extraction

During Kieran's first ever trip to the dentist, when he was 3 or 4, they found an extra tooth during the x-ray.  While the dentist was looking at the x-ray, he said "wow, I've never seen that....".  That was something that both the hygienist and I did not really need to hear.  Turns out, it's called mesiodens, an extra tooth.  This one was behind his upper row of teeth, in his palate.  The dentist figured at the time that the tooth would erupt between 6th and 8th grade and would need to be taken out then.

Well it erupted over the summer and today was the day to take it out....

Here's the before picture, you can see the extra tooth behind his other teeth...

He was pretty scared going into it, both in the days leading up to the extraction and while at the dentist office.  He received novocaine and nitrous oxide to help with the pain.

It was over quick - Sarah took him to the appointment, she texted when it was starting and minutes later she texted and said they were going for ice cream.

Here's the tooth after it was taken out...

And the after picture of Kieran and the 'open' spot...

He's now watching television...might be football weekend for him...

North Shore

Three weeks ago or so, we all went up to the north shore for the inline half marathon and the wheels off half marathon.  We were able to get a reservation at Gooseberry Falls State Park for Friday night but not Saturday so we weren't entirely sure how long we'd be there.  We got to the park as soon as we could hoping to snag a non-reservable site for both Friday and Saturday, but they were all gone by 12:15.

After setting up camp, the gals headed back to Duluth to pick up their race packets, leaving the boys at the park.  We filled the time by hiking a trail we had never done (altogether we hiking almost 4 hours, I don't even remember how many miles)...

The amount of time alone in the northwoods gave Luke time to take more pictures...which he's enjoying.

The trail we were on gives you views of the mouth of the Gooseberry River across from Agate Beach and the Picnic Lava Flow.

And gave Luke time to take more pictures...

To get back to camp, we had to hike through the falls area (too bad...I know)...and Luke took some more pictures...

Kieran isn't always excited about Luke taking so many pictures...

Of course, before getting to camp for the night, the boys had to check out the 'tadpole' place...all sorts of nooks and crannies that are filled with water and tadpoles if you're there in late June...

We woke up the next morning not really sure if we'd be leaving that day or not.  The kids and I were going to drop off the racers and hope we'd be able to snag a non-reservable site for that night.

Getting a non-reservable site was entirely new for me.  The park office opens at 9:00, we got in line at 7:15, just a few minutes before the 2nd group of people.  By nine o'clock, there were at least 8 different groups waiting for a site (turns out there were only 8 potential sites available).

We figured that at 9:00 we get a site...doesn't work that way, they make a list at 9:00 of people who want sites - first come, first serve.  They assign sites at 11:00 and you must be there at that time or you miss out.  So we would not see the race, we were back at 11:00 and got a site for that night...now all we had to do was get to Duluth, pick up Sarah and Maddy, and get back to switch sites.

The second site was a better site anyway...just had to tear the camp down and set it back up again...quick...

Sunday morning we spent walking the falls area.  I happened to bend over to pick up a rock (to try to splash the kids) and found a neat little agate.

Kieran was upset that I found one and he did not...he immediately went to work looking for one...he didn't find any as big as mine (not that it was that big)...

Before we left the area for home, we made a quick stop at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park on a scouting mission.  I had never been there and wanted to get some information (and maybe a new perspective on the lighthouse)...

We'll be back at the park...

A quick dinner in Canal Park and a look or two at the ships (both Salties) waiting to enter the harbor and we were heading home...

Maybe you can make out the red water from the St. Louis River entering the lake...much easier to see in person...