Last Day of Summer

We celebrated the last day of summer by taking a couple hours off to hike to the Carver Rapids.  We started at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge near Carver, on the west bank of the Minnesota River.  Talking to people or reading stories, you get the idea that the Carver Rapids are typically seen once a decade or maybe more, but this is the third straight year they've been exposed.

Great day for a walk, no clouds and mid-60s for temperatures.  We left home around 4:00, so the shadows kept creeping, especially when we were in the Minnesota River Valley and the sun was closer to the top of the bluff.

There was a hint of changing leaves, but not much yet.  In a couple of weeks all the trees will be yellow, orange and red.  The lower rapids are a short (3/4 mile or 1 mile) hike, the upper rapids is a much longer hike.  The upper rapids can be accessed from the other side of the river.  With the kids in tow, we opted to head to the lower rapids.

With the shadows creeping in from the west, about half of the river (and the rapids) were covered in shadows.

Kieran and I were able to work our way down to the rock forming the rapids.  The rock is the Cambrian-aged Jordan sandstone, one of the most frequently used aquifers in central Minnesota.

With the slope down to river level being fairly steep, Sarah stayed with Luke/Lex while Kieran and I went down to the river.

Evidence of high water times is everywhere, especially with this large tree that is sitting about 25 feet above the current water level.

Historically, the Carver Rapids limited steamboat traffic up river during periods of low water.

After spending some time down by the rapids, it was time to head back to the car - another walk of about a mile.

If you ever get the chance to walk with the kids outside, you quickly realize it takes quite a while to get anywhere.  They tend to stop to check out everything!  The list yesterday included:  caterpillars, leopard frogs, American toads, baby American toads, grasshoppers, a snake, beetles, etc.

All in all, not a bad way to end summer.  Happy Fall everyone!

Fire Department Training

Think the boys are happy?

Raider Football Games

Fall brings the start of the school year and probably even more important, football season.  Our favorite football team is the local high school team, the Central Raiders, I enjoy watching them more than I enjoy watching the MN Vikings.  It's great to watch the team through Kieran's eyes (and Luke's when he comes to the games).  Kieran has been coming to every game, every season, since he was about 2 or 3 years old.  A few years back, Central played Maple Lake in St. Cloud and the winner would go to the state tournament.  Central lost, unexpectedly (they really should have won) and Kieran crying the entire drive home until we stopped for a late night ice cream at McDonald's (to this day he dislikes Maple Lake and talks about playing them again).

Football season starts with the Raider Bowl.  It's an intra-squad scrimmage where a cheap meal is sold during the practice, it gets quite a good turnout.  We've gone for several years now.

Raider Bowl 2013

The season started this year in Howard Lake, all three kids came to the game in the 90+ degree heat.  It was Lex's first football game and Luke's first since he was really young.  They had a blast, the team lost though.  Week 2 brought Tri-City United to Norwood, but only Kieran came to watch.  Lost again --- Tri-City United is going to win the conference.

Raiders vs. Tri-City United

Luke went with Kieran and I went we followed the Raiders to Jordan.  Kieran and Luke spend about half the time watching the game and the other half running around and playing...just about what it should be.  The Raiders lost to Jordan too.....

Week 4 was another home game against the hated Mayer Lutheran Crusaders (think Green Bay Packers, but worse).  Kieran came along, but no Luke -- apparently he doesn't like home games.  We ate our standard 2 bags of popcorn, Kieran got his Kit-Kat candy bars....but we lost again...

We knew going in this year that it would be difficult season with few wins....but we've had some nice sunsets....here's one from two weeks ago at the Tri-City United game.

And here's another from tonights game against Mayer Lutheran...

Too bad I didn't think to take of picture of the nearly full moon rising tonight....

Homecoming next Friday night versus Watertown-Mayer (we don't like them either), we'll be there....

Nickle Dickle Day Fun Run

Saturday was Nickle Dickle Day in Waconia, part of the day was the kids 1/2 mile fun run.  Kieran had signed up for the run, so we had to get him to Waconia by 11:00 am.  While we were waiting for the run to start, Luke and Lexy's attention drifted to the tank outside the Carver County Historical Society.

We took a short walk to check out the WWII-era, Sherman tank.

Luke and Lex came up with a cheer for him that morning.  It went something like:

Kieran, Kieran he's our guy

He can't run, he walks.

Hey....combined they are eight years old, what do you expect?

Twins Game with Sarah

Last Saturday, Sarah and I had tickets to the Twins game.  The MN DNR and Twins had a promotion all summer long, if you bought a fishing/hunting license you had that opportunity to buy tickets at selected games at a much reduced rate (plus you'd get a free hat).  So on an early September day with high temperatures in the 90s, we went....it was a nice day...

Sarah was excited...it might have been the free hat or the free MN Twins earbuds (essentially headphones, I haven't seen my pair since that night)...

Of course the Toronto Blue Jays scored 5 runs in the top of the first inning (off two home runs) and the game was over before the Twins would bat, they would eventually lost 11-2...but it was a nice evening...

Towards the end of the game, we started wandering around the park to see it from different views...the game was already over by that point....

Sarah had the opportunity for a picture with a MN Twin version of Mickey Mouse or the Statute of Liberty...she choose Mickey (we even had to wait for a group of girl scouts to get out of the way)...

The night could have been worse...the Twins could still have been playing in the Metrodome...

Firehouse Drive-In

Another event that kept us busy this August was the Firehouse Drive-in the weekend of the 16th & 17th.  Each night two movies were shown, the first being geared for the kids and the second is more for the adults.  The fireworks between the two movies are better than the displays put on for the 4th of July.  With Sarah selling concessions for most of both nights, the kids and I were left alone to cause trouble.

We watched the movies outside sitting in our chairs and after the first movie, the kids went to sleep in the car.  Friday night had 'Rise of the Guardians' for the kids and 'Field of Dreams' for the adults.  Saturday was 'The Lorax' and 'Stand by Me.'

Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams

Before dusk and the start of the movies, there are all kinds of things for the kids to enjoy.  There are bounce houses....

Pony rides.....

There are firetruck rides....

Look close...that's Luke riding up front

And of course, these types of signs to play with....

Luke's Birthday

So Luke turned 5 yesterday, he's still going to go to preschool this year (he missed the cutoff date for Kindergarten by being born after September 1st), he'll be one of the older ones in his class.  He was pretty excited to get birthday spankings this year.....strange, but that's Luke.

The birthday gifts actually started early, his godmother Pam brought a huge cake to the house (come on over if you want a piece) and two presents.  One was a 6-8 inch dinosaur that roars fairly quietly, the other was a 12-15 inch dragon that does not roar quietly....thanks Pam, appreciate it.

We asked him, "Lukie, what do you want to do for your birthday?"  He wanted to go to McDonalds and play in the play place.  (The kid would eat McDonalds or Macaroni & Cheese for every meal if he had the chance).  Sorry I don't have any pictures from the play place....let's just say, they played, ate and sweated.

I also missed pictures from cake and presents at Grandma's & Grandpa's.  Luke received a Predacon and a BeyBlade set from them - if you're not sure what either of those are, go ahead and ask Luke/Kieran, unfortunately, I know way too much information about both of them.

After cake and presents, we finally made it home and Luke opened the last of his presents.  I do have pictures of them.  Lex provided as little help as possible....

Luke has always been a fan of Ironman....

Though Dinosaurs are probably his real love (and he will bite, the dimples just get you close enough)....

He can never refuse another car....

Or a hug from Lex....

After a late bedtime because of the birthday, he was still up at 5:00 am the next morning....trust me, I know what time he woke up....

Bear Head Lake State Park

Summer is over, at least Meteorological summer, Astronomical summer carries on for a few more weeks.  August has been busy and posts have been piling up.  In early August, the boys and I went to Bear Head Lake State Park for two nights, it was our first time at the park.  We will be going back in the future, largely because we didn't spend a lot of time in the park, the area has a lot to offer.

But before we got to the park, we made a few stops along the way for me.  First was the 2,700-million year old Pillowed Greenstone.  Greenstone is metamorphosed basalt, basalt originally being lava that erupted on Earth's surface.  Pillows (fairly round or oval shaped structures) form when lava erupts under water.

Then there was folded banded iron formation, maybe the most photographed rock outcrop in the state.

Eventually we made it to the camp and got this set up.  First task after setting up camp was to take a hike to check out the swimming beach (one of the many reasons we'll be back to this park).

Our only full day at the park we spent a large amount of time down the road at Soudan Underground Mine State Park.

We thought we'd have some time to explore before going underground, but we ended up hurrying to make the first available tour, 15 minutes after arrival.  Had to get our long sleeves and fitted with hard hats, the boys weren't sure what was about to happen or what dad had gotten them into....

After a short ride (with about 12 new friends) we made it underground.

And the first thing we did --- we took a train ride --- though at this point, the boys were still be cautious.

When the train stopped, we were finally in the old mine and the boys got acclimated fairly quickly.

Kieran even got to explain to the tour guide how the miners could distinguish the hematite ore from the waste rock ---- hint....it is heavy!

Once on the top again, the boys got to explore the old equipment that the park has available, like the drills...

Or the cars that were used underground....

The hoist itself.

And even the rail cars that would take the ore to Duluth.

Back at the campsite, what would you want to do in 65 degree (and windy) weather?  The boys first wanted to fish (they caught lots of panfish) and then swim.

Sleep came easy that evening after dinner that probably consisted of hot dogs and popcorn.

We will be back!