Raider Football - Update

Back on September 20th, we let you know how much we appreciate Central Raider football.  It was a tough start to the season, losing the first seven games.  Of course we were at every game, whether it was 90+ degrees heat or torrential downpours, we were there (Lex was at 2 games, Luke was probably at 5, while Kieran was at all 7).  Win or lose, playoffs or not....we are there....to support the team....as Kieran says "we're Raiders."

The last game of the year, it began to change.  Wednesday night, before MEA break, the Raiders defeated the LSH Giants....Kieran was really happy.

That win earned the Raiders a #6 seed in the 2AA playoff bracket and a matchup against the #3 seed Zumbrota-Mazzepa Cougars the next Tuesday night.  It was an hour and a half drive, a school night, thirty degrees, but we were there!

It was a back and forth game, the Cougars looked tough....

We made sure to eat our share of popcorn....

Stop with the pictures, I just want to eat!

Things went the Raider way, we score a late touchdown to get within one point and went for the two point conversion and the win.  We got the two-point conversion on a half-back pass back to the quarterback with about 2 minutes left in the game.  The defense held on to win!

Four days later was the Section 2AA Semifinal game against the #2 seed Medford, in Medford.  It's the first game that we've missed in years (we had a camper cabin reserved at Jay Cooke State Park, post coming soon, for a couple of months prior).....but we're happy to report the Raiders pulled off a 35-14 victory without us!

Section final was last night, with a win the Raiders would make the State Tournament and have a matchup against Maple Lake (see the September 20 post to see Kieran's feelings on Maple Lake).  The underdog Raiders would be going against the #1 Seed Pine Island Panthers, at Pine Island.  We rode with Rich Schug and uncle Craig to Pine Island, with the beans out of the fields, some thought it looked a little like Nebraska on the drive.

Rich & Craig wondering (where the hell are we?)

The Raiders were in their road white uniforms, played a great game.  Pine Island fans we spoke to asked "how could this team be 1-7 in the regular season?  They're the best team we've seen all year."

That's right Pine Island, you suck and we're scoring

Even though we played a great first half, we got hosed on a couple of calls in the first half, stupid frickin refs.....but were still tied 14-14 at halftime....

Raiders at halftime

To start the second half, the Raiders got the ball first.  Kieran paid a lot of attention to the game during the second half, he knew the game was close and even he wanted a state tournament berth (he certainly remembers losing out to Maple Lake a few years ago).

Kieran and uncle Craig watching the 2nd half.

The Raiders scored first, putting the score at 21-14 in the second half.  Unfortunately, poor kick coverage allowed Pine Island to tie the score at 21-21 immediately after a long kick return for a touchdown.  (You win some, you lose some).

The Raiders went ahead with a 20 yard touchdown run and kicked the extra point to go ahead 28-21, with 4 minutes remaining in the game.  Pine Island started their drive from the 35 yard line and slowly drove down the field (converting at least one 4th and 1 along the way).  They eventually scored a touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in the game.  They decided to go for the two-point conversion (instead of the extra point, which would have tied the game and sent it into overtime) and made that as well.  The score was now 29-28, with about 25 seconds left in the game.  That is how it remained....

The Central Raiders lost in the 2AA Section Final, no state tournament.  On the way back to the truck, as Kieran and I kept a a distance between Rich and Craig, there were tears in Kieran's eyes when he said "now we have another team we don't like."

Pumpkin Carving

So what do you do when one kid is sent home from school with a fever (Kieran) and another (Luke) comes home from daycare feeling icky?  Well, we carve pumpkins I guess....the big day is tomorrow!

Kieran got his hand right in there and started pulling all of the innards out.  He gave the following directions:  triangle eyes and nose, rectangle mouth with two teeth.

Luke though, he's never liked pulling the seeds out.  He took one look and asked Kieran to do the dirty work.

Kieran said he would only if Luke would stay and watch....done deal I guess.

Luke's directions were:  triangle eyes and nose, rectangle mouth, and more teeth than Kieran's (that certainly got a reaction).

We've got one more to carve, but Lex doesn't seem too interested at the moment.  Not our best work, but at least we will have some for tomorrow.  

Happy Halloween!

Luke's First Dentist Appointment

We just got back from Luke's first dental appointment.  He was the typical Lukie, didn't say a whole lot, but was busy observing everything.

Here's a picture right before the cleaning started:

And here's one as the cleaning started:

Good news is that he had no cavities (Kieran was in the next room at the same time getting two small cavities filled).

State Fair 2013

Was thinking last night about a few pictures that we took while at the state fair and then remembered we never put them online.  It was Kieran's first time at the fair.  Before we begin though, let's take a look at what the weather was like on that day:

Yeah, it was hot....but it was actually cooler outside than it was in any of the buildings.  Once we got past the heat and the dew point, Kieran had to do all of those 'fair firsts', like a pronto pup....

And wearing some sort of free headgear....

Even Sarah was excited for the free headgear....

Kieran wanted to take the Sky Ride, so we bought a one-way ticket and got a ride from one end of the fair to the other....

With all those 'firsts' out of the way, we got down to seeing the fair.  Everyone thinks of baseball when at the fair, right?  Well Kieran did and he played a little ball.  Sarah was shopping for a t-shirt and I was hiding in the shade while Kieran played.  He even hit one out of the park, a home run!

Kieran really liked watching the bees at the exhibit on honey (that, or the rotating fan helped him rest)...

We even got to see what Kieran would look like a little older, a female....and covered with bees...

Kieran found a ropes course for kids and spent about 30 minutes getting set up and working his way through it...I sat in the shade and tried not to die.  First he had to gear up!

Then he had to climb 10-15 feet to the course itself.

Once on the course there were numerous obstacles to work his way through --- things like the bridge, swinging steps, the tight rope, the hour glass and the swinging ropes.

If you ask him, he wasn't nervous at all, but there were a few times that got him a little concerned...

He stumbled once, but quickly caught himself and continued on...

After 8-9 hours at the fair, it was time to head home.  Kieran wanted one more time on the 'Giant Slide' and thought it was a good idea for me to go along (it was still around 98 degrees and there were a lot of steps, so he did it himself).

Can you find him?  He's the one in the green shirt....

Still haven't found him?

Surprisingly, Kieran didn't sleep on the bus ride back to the car (I would have).  Overall, he had a great day.

Homecoming Week

Last week was Homecoming for Central --- dress up days were:

Monday - Pajama Day

Tuesday - Crazy Day

Wednesday - Jersey Day

Thursday - Class Color Day

Friday - Raider Pride Day

Kieran dressed up for each day, so did Luke and Lex had to as well.  Here are a few pictures of the week.

Crazy Day #1

Crazy Day #2

Crazy Day #3

Crazy Day #4

Crazy Day #5

Jersey Day

I don't have pictures for pajama day (not that exciting anyway), class color day (picture Kieran in red, Luke had to wear red too) or Raider Pride day (both Kieran and Luke wore their Homecoming 2013 shirt).

The football team lost 28-21 Friday night, it was another game they could have and should have won, but didn't.....

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....