Painting

Sometime this past summer, we moved Sarah's bike and treadmill from the main living area downstairs to the room that had been the office.  The computer moved out to the living room, we'll be able to keep an eye on what sites the kids are visiting now.

The goal then was to patch the cracks in the paint and nail holes, then paint the room.  Since Sarah spends so much time on both the bike and treadmill and the room, she got to decide on the color(s), in return, I would do the painting.

We got around to buying the paint a few weeks ago and last weekend's job was to paint the room.  So it began.

The south wall was decided to be a dark blue.

The north and west walls (the east wall is a wood paneling and is not going to be painted) were going to be a bright green .

The green is really bright when the sun bounces off the wall during the late afternoon hours.  I like the look!

There is only one place where the two colors meet.  The majority of the work is done, there are a few places that need a little touching up, essentially the project is done.

I asked the kids what they thought about the paint - Luke/Lex were completely indifferent, but Kieran said "it's the colors of the Seattle Seahawks!"  Seattle is Kieran's new favorite football team, way more important than the Vikings.

October in Jay Cooke State Park

We went camping for the last time in late October at Jay Cooke State Park, it was actually the last weekend of October.  Daily high temperatures were somewhere in the thirty degree range, while the nightly lows were around twenty degrees.  It was cold.  Good thing we were not sleeping in a tent.

At the state fair in August, we walked through the DNR's camper cabins that are available at select state parks.  Sarah suggested that we should camp in one sometime this fall.  When we got back home one of the first things we did was make a weekend reservation in one of the cabins.  We reserved the 'Shale' camper cabin at Jay Cooke.

This particular cabin had heat and electricity, not all of them do, all the cabins provide the basics for sleeping.  They have a small table and a couple of bunks that sleep 4-5 individuals.

Once we all were settled in, it was time to explore the park.  Of course the feature is the St. Louis River and the swinging bridge.

The bridge had been swept away during a massive flood in June 2012.  A new bridge was built, but it would not open until a week after week left.  It was a sort of 'look, but don't touch' experiences.

But there was still plenty to explore....

We got pretty close to the river....

But were safe the whole time...

We even found a few places where the boys could throw rocks...

We would stay in a camper cabin again, during the fall or winter.....we hope we get the chance.

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.....