Lukie School Picture...

 Lukie 2020-2021 School Year, Grade 6...

First School Day for Lukie...

 The last 'first' day of school picture...

He was nervous about moving to a new school...switching classes every 45 minutes or so...finding his way across the building...most of all was not being able to open his locker (inexplicably, when he was taken to open house, he was shown wear his locker was, but not shown how to unlock and open his locker...shocking FYI - I wasn't there)...

Good thing they can carry backpacks this year and I've got time to teach him (though it was probably the reason he didn't take his coat to school that he was planning on wearing...it was a chilly day in MN)...I'll take care of it, he'll be using his locker...the first day was still a success, day two in person is Friday...

Lex though, she was a 'seasoned' pro...day two done...

First Day of School (for some)...

 Today was the first day of school for Lex and I...Lukie waits until tomorrow so he can get his chromebook and online information for the days he's logging in online (every T/R and every other F)...

So the first day of school picture...

Lukie's plan for the day is pretty apparent...back to the couch...some PlayStation and who knows else (from texts throughout the day from him, he took a bike ride with a friend and hung out at another friend's house too)...

Lex smiling so much in the picture isn't all because she was that eager to go to school, she liked Lukie's idea of being funny...

Celebrating Lukie's Birthday...

 We celebrated Lukie's 12th birthday today...who doesn't start a day off with a birthday donut?

Of course we stuck a candle in it and sang to him...

And then it twas time for what he really wanted...a small lego set, a new PlayStation game and a rod/reel...

We've known we were going to have lunch at Rey Azteca's on Labor Day, so lunch it was...

Magnetic Rock...

Heading up the Gunflint Trail, we made a quick stop at the Laurentian Divide.  We had a nice discussion about divides and how water from here flows towards Hudson Bay or Lake Superior...

Waking up the first morning while on the Gunflint Trail, we took short drive to another scenic overlook.  Past Gunflint Lake in the distance is Canada..

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We then took a hike to Magnetic Rock, a large piece of iron formation that glaciers left standing vertically.  The hike is a 1.5 mile, out and back through the Superior National Forest...

Along the way, Lukie and Lex tested whether the rock was magnetic.  Considering the rock along the entire trail was the Gunflint Iron Formation, most of it was magnetic...

There are numerous overlooks that provide great views...

Magnetic Rock.  Lukie and Lex for scale...

And yes, magnets are attracted to it...

The hike back...we tend to take more rests on the way back...

Here they are looking at what I suspect is a stromatolite...stromatolites are numerous in the area.  Stromatolites are fossilized algae and are the reason the iron formation was deposited in the area.  About two billion years ago, the area was under water, under an ocean.  Small grained sediment was being deposited and the water contained lots of iron.  As the algae went through photosynthesis, the iron rusted out of the water and was deposited in the fine grained sediments.  Layers and layers of this built up and now we have the iron formation (the same process happened on the Mesabi Range at about the same time)...

Had to get our selfie...

Way off in the distance you might see County Road 12, the Gunflint Trail...

The views are endless...

We had the trail to ourselves...100 feet from the trailhead, we saw two people beginning their hike...it was a great morning...