First Camping Trip - 2013

Last year, the boys and I slept in the backyard in our tent during the third week of March.  That was definitely not to be this spring with the winter stubbornly hanging on well into April.  This week started with another 3-4 inches of snow and ended with 3 consecutive (and counting) days above 70 degrees, the story of Minnesota always contains our ever-changing weather.

Well the forecast for the weekend looked great and we had decisions to make, do we 'camp' out in the backyard or off to a state park somewhere.  Honestly, when Saturday morning came around I was voting for the backyard, though I was out voted (and I gave them numerous opportunities to change their minds).  Between class, training, work and the Cologne Fire Department steak fry - Sarah was to be gone most of the weekend.....so off we went.

We ended up at Flandrau State Park in New Ulm, The decision was between four parks within the Minnesota River Valley.  Being late April, I didn't expect much of a crowd at any of the parks.  I asked the worker for recommendations of a site that would keep us away from most of the other campers, he said that he was keeping people away from the 'rustic' campground, but that we could use it as long as we didn't need electricity or water.  We tent and had brought our own water so it was perfect.

We had the run of the entire campground, the kids were busy off running around doing whatever they wanted without concern for the world.

We did have to deal with two cars who drove into the rustic campground and then left, not sure if we scared them off or not.

I said we were alone....right?

Really alone....we did share the campground with one other visitor.....

Every hour or so, this turkey would wander through the campsites looking for food.  The kids loved following, chasing, watching, etc. the bird all through Saturday night.

So much so that by about 7:00 at night Luke and Lex wanted to go to sleep, they kept bugging me about it and I turned them down each time.  Eventually they would get in the tent at about 8:15 or so.  Kieran said all day that he wanted to stay up until he saw the first star, but he gave in at 8:15 as well.

Actually, this was the first night in a new tent.  The tent we usually use is the REI Hoodoo 3, by far the best tent I've ever used (it will be my personal tent when the boys start sleeping in their own tent), but it only fits three people.  We had to borrow a tent last summer when Sarah and Lex came camping with us and would have to in the future as well.  So earlier this spring I had a 30% coupon from REI and used it to get a six-person tent, the Base Camp 6.  It seems to be a much bigger version of our favorite tent, vestibules on both the front and back again and tall enough that I can stand up in the center.  At least we have something that can be quickly used if the camping bug strikes us and we grab our gear and go.

Of course when we were hiking down by the Cottonwood River or checking out the sand pool on Saturday, I didn't have my camera with to take pictures.  The plan was to go on longer hikes along the river Sunday, this time with the camera in two, but Lex woke up sick.  Running a fever and throwing up (four times), we made breakfast and packed up so we could get home and she could feel better.  We will be camping again, Lex included, sometime soon.  Actually the boys and I made a goal of camping at some point during seven consecutive months this year (April is done and we've already got reservations for June and August), so we'll see how that turns out.

Collecting Sap from Maple Trees

Even with the prolonged winter/spring this year, Kieran and I have not had the opportunity to do any helping with the maple syrup process.....until yesterday.  Even Luke came along, his first time helping collect sap.

The process has changed some since last year when Kieran and I helped to set things up.  Gone are the long tubes carrying sap downhill.  Now the individual maple trees have a several gallon bag hanging from the tap.

Of course, some of the larger trees still have several taps drilled into their trunks, meaning there may be several bags hanging from the trees.

To get the sap from the bags down to the road requires buckets....and someone to carry those buckets.

Of course, once those buckets are filled with sap, it's too heavy for Luke to carry.  Keep in mind there are a lot of bags to collect sap from....most of which you need to walk uphill to get to and then carry the fully loaded buckets downhill.

But the boys both had fun helping, out in the last remnants of snow (I hope) of the year, even though Luke tripped on a stick and landed face-first --- leaving a cut beneath his lower lip and another cut inside his mouth.

View the video if you like to see the fresh sap dripping from the tap.  The sap was dripping directly onto the ground, we were too focused on getting the video to think about catching the sap in a bucket.

Back in the garage (or the 'sugar shack' outside) it's time to process the sap, meaning you have to boil the excess water off, leaving the syrup behind.  Rough estimates are 40 gallons of sap equal 1 gallon of syrup.  Yesterday we collected about 75 gallons of sap, bringing the season total to around 290 gallons.

For a another video showing how we collected the sap yesterday.  It's not rocket science....

Spring Break 2013

Spring Break 2013 is coming to end....back to school for everyone on Monday.  We got away to Duluth for a few days late this week.  We stayed at the Edgewater Resort and Waterpark up on London Road, everyone seemed to have an okay time (if you plan on going...take the stairs, not the elevator).

The hotel provided a couple of pools, a lazy river, a waterslide and a slide dedicated to tubes.  Basically enough for everyone to have fun.  Luke proved to be his typical self, it took a little time before he got comfortable going down the slides (he really doesn't like to be splashed).  There were several kiddie slides that he was able to enjoy (as well as everyone else).

Lex also proved to be herself, fearless and determined, always wanting things her way.  She does not have an aversion to being splashed.

Kieran was.....well....Kieran, after a few tears here and there, he figured out he'd have fun.  He enjoyed waiting for the large bucket to spill on him and everyone below (Luke would hide during these times)...

We were able to get away for a few hours to head up the shore to Gooseberry Falls State Park, where we'll be camping in a few months.  It was nice seeing a different perspective of a waterfall we know so well.

Closer to the lake, the area that the boys call the 'tadpole place' (in late June, every pool in the rock crevices is filled with tadpoles) was covered with a winter's worth of lake spray that had frozen on most surfaces.  Many inches of ice covered almost everything.

Back at the hotel, we kept swimming.  Even though Kieran is not the strongest swimmer, he found a way to walk over the water that was almost four feet deep.

Before leaving Duluth for home, we had to visit Canal Park, taking in the sites of a fairly frozen harbor.

Ice-breaking began a few weeks earlier, allowing 'lakers', those ships dedicated to traveling the Great Lakes to come into and out of the harbor.  We missed a port record by a few hours, late on Friday night, the first 'saltie' was due to come into the harbor.  Salties are ocean-going ships that pass through the St. Lawrence Seaway.  This was the first time a 'saltie' passed under the Aerial Bridge before April 1st, thus a record, who said this winter never wanted to end?!

Just a few more months and we'll see this bridge again (of course....minus the snow and ice)....

Snow Day!!

What's with the big snowstorms at this point of the year?  Last year, February 29th to be exact, one that winter's largest snowfalls canceled school.  Well....March 5th was the date this year...somewhere in the range of 6-10 inches of snow over the last two days canceled school for two-thirds of the state.

The boys came outside around 7:30 to play while I shoveled snow (for the second time), they stayed out until about 10:00, until they were "freezing cold".  They were able to push through the cold while playing with a few neighborhood girls.  After naptime, Lex joined the boys outside to play.  Sorry about the poor quality camera phone pictures.

Luke playing in the snow...by himself

Luke has always been okay with being apart from the crowd.  He spent a lot of time building mound of snow that he said was a clown...I didn't see the clown.

Kieran shoveling 'trails' for Lex so it would be easier for Lex to walk

 I prefer if the boys play with their shovels somewhere other than near the driveway.  Before knowing that school was canceled for the day, I spent 30 minutes from 4:45-5:15 shoveling the driveway, within minutes of being outside Luke was shoveling snow back on the driveway.

See.....Kieran's 'trails' work

One problem with Lex, when she falls down in the snow, she still is not comfortable getting up by herself.  She just sits and whines until she gets what she wants....which is what she also does inside I guess.

'Trails' make walking easy for little legs

Lex was really happy while playing outside....until Luke put a shovelful of snow on top of her head, most of which went down her back.  Fifteen minutes after the shovelful, she and I were inside.

Luke pretending to nap outside

Just a few more weeks and most of this snow will be gone.  Forecasts call for 40 degrees and rain/slush by the weekend.  No more snow days this year.

Minneopa Falls

Saturday morning the kids and I went to Minneopa State Park just south of Mankato.  Even though the area had 5+ inches of snow the day before, we sort of expected the paved trail to the falls overlook to be plowed (we know now that it is not plowed, though the parking lot was).

The hike to the falls overlook is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 mile....it was a little difficult for Lex, we moved slower than the boys would have liked.

The bridge over Minneopa Creek, between the 10-foot upper falls and the 39-foot lower falls was completely replaced (trust me...it needed to be) last fall.  In my mind it is safer now, the boys can't lean over the railings of this bridge.

While the boys were off throwing each other in the snow, Lex took some time to actually look at the falls.

Eventually I was able to get the boys over so I could get a picture of all three kids.

I took two pictures of Luke, Lex, and Kieran together by the falls -- I have no idea how both of them turned out okay (no one mad, crying, blinking, hitting another, etc.).

One more picture of just the lower falls, because of the dry conditions we've had since the middle of last summer, this creek has been mostly dry since at least September.  It wasn't much of a surprise to see the falls  without much ice.  The little bit of snow that we have isn't going to make much of a difference in the ground moisture when it melts, especially if it all runs off when the soil is still frozen.

Altogether, we spent a couple of hours at the falls, until the kids were soaked and cold.  Trust me, the moment the kids realize they are cold occurs almost instantaneously....

Pinewood Derby - the races

Here's a video of one of the races (sorry, but I'm pretty sure it's sideways and I couldn't rotate it).  Kieran is sitting with his back to the camera a the end of the track.

The day was pretty successful.  Kieran won 'Best Design' out of all the cars (total of 39).  That was unexpected!

Above is a picture of Kieran holding his car and trophy for best design with the other two big winners (best engineering and fastest car I think).

Out of his den, Kieran took second place in overall speed.  I figured he'd get a trophy in this category, the top three fastest cars in each den got a trophy and Kieran's den has four members.

All in all, I think Kieran had a good time!

Pinewood Derby

Kieran is in Cub Scouts this year and one of the activities that they do is the annual Pinewood Derby.  Kids make a vehicle following a set of guidelines that will be raced, with awards given for fastest car, best paint, etc.

Well Kieran wanted his car to look like Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, of Transformers fame.  So it took a bit of work and was completed last night (Wednesday).

Kieran did the type of work that one could expect of a 6-year old.  The design was his (he didn't do the exact measurements, but the rough outline), he did some of the sanding, painting, helped with grinding the axels down, etc.

The derby is Saturday, we'll see how it goes.

Christmas Gifts

Christmas Day is getting more and more fun as the kids get older.  Part of it is probably that they are getting old enough for the gifts to be useful or playful for everyone.  The boys have been counting down until Christmas for well over a month and have been anxious for Santa's visit.  Thinking that the kids would be awake early on Christmas morning proved to be wrong.  They slept in until sometime after 6:30 am, usually the boys are awake by 5:45 am or so.

During the video, here hear both of them yell 'Ratchet' a couple of times, then Kieran stands up and gives a fist pump while saying "Finally.....we have Ratchet!"  I laughed and have watched the video numerous time since (partly because I remember a similar video of me receiving an Atari video game system.

If you are asking what 'Ratchet' is....well....Ratchet (and Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, etc) is an autonomous robotic organism from the planet Cybertron, which you can call an Autobot for short.  The enemy of all Autobots are the Decipticons lead by their leader Megatron.

Merry Christmas