A snowless Soltice

The holiday season kicked off with laughter and green grass.  After some cold in the late fall the recent temps have been too mild for any lingering snow and with Christmas fast approaching we are hopeful for enough fluff to play in.  We made the made dash out of GB on Friday afternoon, cramming pizza into our mouths and heading out into a three and half hour dark tunnel before arriving to a housefull of festive spirits and holiday smells. There were hugs and laughs and everyone stayed up late enough for the day to feel like two.  Saturday morning was time to bowl, the teams had been hacked out the night before with much consideration.  Judy and Daryll came out with Santa cookies to share and Karen was close in tow.  The kids were in and out of the house, continuing with some woodland version of cops and robbers.  We spent some time in at Action city, and Merrick thought he lost his playing card after our first round of Lazer tag....he found it later and said it was just really far down in his pants.  Minus one for swipe cards.  A little ice cream snack before heading back for a wonderfull ham dinner and a naps for a few.  The gifts were open, but not at blazing speed and there were plenty of smiles to go around. Sunday, Irene stopped out to say hello and had a parade of kids to walk her back to the car, a full platoon of whiffle-ball batted knights in various intergalactic battles to defend her should the need arise.  The ride home was noneventful and the little ones napped.  Amy had enough energy to even help the kids build gingerbread houses when we got home.  They don't look exactly like the ones on the box, but they kids sure enjoyed it!

Baskets and Ballets

The season is booked with concerts and singing, with the kids' voices twinkling and ringing.  With one concert left tonight, we usher in the new year right, but first we must finish this this year with Hollars and cheers.  Alas my rhyme times has ended so I can tell you all about elf we have befriended.  Herbie, the shelf elf continues his nocturnal mischif and rewrote my dinner menu to include a significantly greater amount of high fructose corn syrup, but that is what the menu says so that is what we had to eat as well as the car candy the Grandma brought over.  Grace and Sophia doubled up on their Christmas concerts and spread them between two counties.  The caroling continued into Friday morning with Merrick's sing although he wasn't too happy about trying on his concert clothing.   Ella sings tonight so we are going out for a pre-concert dinner.  Friday night Merrick had a halftime show during the high school basketball team and he hammed it up for the crowd.  Saturday was the first weeekend day in months that we could sleep in and the house was quiet until 8ish, several hours later than normal.  There was plenty to do for the season as we worked on our Christmas gift list.  We did find some time for Grace and Ella to put a kind word into the Big Elf's ear while we were at Home Depot.  It was a busy morning, but we found time to put on our best attire (and we looked great) and headed to the ballet, for a mid-afternoon showing of Nutcracker Ballet.  It was a great show and wonderful to watch the intentive gaze of the girls.  A little early dinner and a nearby restaurant and we headed back home for some cookie baking...it was on the dinner menu so it was required.  Sunday was rainy and foggy so we were trapped inside, but on a high note we were able to complete our shopping and just have the wrapping left.  Looks like this weeks forecast again calls for a high chance of busy, but we greeting it with sugar plum cheeks and candy cane smiles!!

'Tis the Season for Magic

 
Well it was a weekend of Christmas magic and a tooth fairy tossed in for good measure.  Friday was St. Nick day, so he made a stop to fill the stockings of the kids with shirts and toys and plenty of candy.  The kids were told not to wake us up until 7 in the morning before they could dig into their stockings.  So promptly at 6:30 am we found them all sitting on the stairs giggling in anticipation and eagerness.  We had spent some time the previous night the foyer of the grocery store ringing bells for the Salvation Army.  The kids sang carols and few people could pass up the kettle with the allure of four caroling kids and wishes of Merry Christmas.  Saturday Merrick had basketball practice and will put on a half-time show at the high school next week.  When that was over we headed out to cut down our Christmas tree.  I took a wrong turn on the way back, but maybe that was from the overstimiluation of what is in essence the Disneyland of Christmas tree farms.  Acres or trees and masses of humanity clinging to mascoted reindeer, gallons of booyah and hot chocolate.  It was almost a scene out of a hollywood dystopian Christmas movie.  That being said we got a great tree and all the kids took several cuts to help bring it down and then took turns shouldering it back to the machine that shook, wrapped and bailed the trees.  We set up the tree but it sat unadorned until Sunday as we had to head out to the botanical gardens and the festival of lights.  It was very beautiful and there were plenty of heavy eyelids by the time we returned.  Grace lost a tooth so we added to the collection of magical creatures that come into the house this weekend.  The elf on the shelf, Herbie, also has alread moved around to three different mischevious locations including his most recent perch on the tree with new ornaments for the kids in honor of themselves as the "GEMS" club.

A montage of a fall

 


It has been a whirl-wind of a fall for all of us and little time for outdoor adventures.  There was Halloween complete with Santas, Skiers, Skeletons and Ninjas but even with trick or treating that barely counts as outdoors time.  In short we have been moving and now we are all under one roof, it is sure to be our best adventure yet.  There were boxes to pack and haul, there were doors to sand and repaint, and we did it all.  There is a little left yet and by that I mean a lot, but the main floors and bedrooms are workable enough for our family and we are looking forward to the winter season to get our outdoor swing back in full action.

The Finalities of Fall

It was likely the last wisp of summer as the forecast is set to become more winter like in the coming weeks.  It was t-shirt temps in the late October sun this weekend however.  Merrick had basketball on Saturday morning and I think Friday was filled with domestic chores and cleaning.  I know it was for the TR crew as we continue to downsize our roofline footprints.  Saturday found us with some

seasonal chores to attend to such as raking the leaves and then buying pumpkins and halloween costumes.  We buried the garden and pulled up the last few plant stakes, putting the plot to sleep.  Merrick wrote a letter to Grandpa telling him that he was going to be a "ninja" but his inventive spelling of the word, "niga" may confuse the trick or treating image that Grandprize pictures. The kids carved pumpkins with traditional faces and less than traditional emoticons and text-language, and given the standard chaos of activity we have yet to put a candle in any of them, although they are proudly displayed on the front stoop.  With family pictures planned for Sunday afternoon there was plenty of hair and clothing that needed attention, but it was all worth it during the hour long photo shoot with the kids eating up the lens. Monday started off as Mondays are supposed to.  The radio station was off the air so none of the alarms went off, Merrick's water bottle had leaked all over his backpack and saturated the box of chocolate pudding that he had to take to school for the halloween party as well as everything else in his pack and everyone looked a little weary from the weekend.  Merrick went to sleep at about 6:45 and rumor has it that Grace too had a set of pretty tired eyes come Monday evening. Sophia and I used the 'down-time' to make up a batch of spaghetti for Tuesday's family meal.

Mentor Weekend

No Deer to show from the Weekends hunt with Sophia, but that was but a smaller goal wrapped inside of a much larger purpose.  It was an amazing weekend in so many ways as we camped in for a couple of nights on the pipeline and hunted in the changing fall colors.  Merrick teamed up with Ollie and head to EC with Grandprize but they both spent a little time in the woods with us.  The older Bryan boys meet us out there Friday afternoon.  We set up camp and built a small fire, there was plenty of nice dry wood around the site.  There were snacks and stories about how big each deer was going to be and how quickly we would pile up the three or six deer that we were allowed to shoot.  We did jump into FlatCar Jack's truck to check out the nearly full moon that lit up the whole woods to an wonderfull level of light.  A walk to the clear cut provide great views of the constellations and in the absence of light pollution also the Milky Way. The opening morning was cold, and much colder than I had anticipated.  Mostly because I fell into the same trap I do every year and look at the high temperature and forget it will be 30 degrees colder in the morning.  I had underpacked for Sophia and her toes were cold early in the morning as we sat near the creek off the old snowmobile trail.  We didn't see any deer that morning but I did smile as she opened her Heath bar at about 7:30 am.  We hiked back and the kids built forts, warmed themselves by the fire and we after lunch we headed back out.  Sophia and I decided to head towards our stand by wandering through the clear cut.  We jumped a beautiful buck after catching a fleeting glimpse of a doe.  It was an 8 pointer with wide and high rack and a deep chocolate color. It bolted from a bed about 15 yards from us and behind a shrub bush and in three quick bounds it dissappeared. It didn't matter, it charged up Sophia for the rest of the hunt, she was hooked.  We stalked and sat, stalked and sat even traversed a decent sized swamp that put her on my back for a short while and eventually saw another deer before sitting for a long while in the afternoon sun and reading on an oak knoll.  It was great to watch her learn how to read the woods but looking at the trees to tell what type of terrain to expect, wet or dry and how we should walk and based on the deer sign she was seeing, this was the mentor hunting I had wanted.  The cool weather returned in the evening and everybody returned to camp about an hour before dark but perfectly timed for a run to Black Bear for a pretty good burger and questionable service.  It hardly mattered as everyone was tired and laughing.  We were back out Sunday morning and it was warmer but still frost covered and ice crystals in the water bottles.  Sophia want us to head back to the oak knoll area and while we didn't see any deer, the whole weekend was just wonderfull.

The Beginning of a Great Adventure

Of course there is always a little homework to get done and I notice that the apples are long gone, which is also a good indicator of the Fall.  The temperatures and mosquites make it feel more like summer than fall.  Sophia is still flipping over gymnastics and constantly improving, her confidence is gaining by the extra trampolin practice.  Merrick spent Saturday morning at Football camp and I was impressed at both the quality of the astro truf and the turn out.  He was the quarterback for one of the drills filling in for the coach, he has a pretty good arm and his catches were pretty good too.  The girls were less impressed, which was alright becasue that freed them to walk to the bakery and get a long john to go with my coffee.  Amy met us at the field and we did hit a few late season thrift sales but the treasures were sparse.  A quick lunch at home and we hit the road for the beginning of a great adventure.  We headed to the Nicolet for a walk in the fall colors and even a short swim at Boot Lake.  The sun was warm to the point of considering sun screen, the hill side was starting to pop with the oranges and reds of maples in the fall and even an eagle gave a soar above the lake.  With the kids drying off from thier swim I asked Amy to keep seeking adventures with me forever, the kids were giddy with excitement and quickly started to plan for the wedding for the rest of our five mile hike through some times muddy trails.  Their backpacks were filled with dolls and protein bars and their heads and hearts full of thoughts that were as happy as ours.  We wrapped up the evening with a dinner out and given its overall quality showed that the kids were famished as the raved about the food.  Sunday was pretty chill although a nice homemade pasta dinner with fresh apple dumplings certainly lenghthened the weekend a little too.

Fall for Sure

Heavy dew indicates that the humidity is being rapidly pulled from the air and the crisp morning temperatures and stiff breezes have ushered in fall temps and stolen the late summer.  School started, earlier than anticipated based on the photo evidence and the kids are again adjusting to the knew schedule.  With heavy eyelids from the long weeks we should use our weekend time for recharging our batteries, but the weather is so nice it is just to hard to live indoors.  Merrick had a party Friday night and Sophia and I were able to head out for a quick daddy/daughter dinner.  Nothing fancy, her choice, so we ended up at Noodles.  Saturday morning we hit a couple of the remaining thrift sales and scored a new hockey helmet for a buck and Sophia found a nice jewelry box that only needed a little dusting to make it a treasure.  She did find a single black pearl earring in the box and then proceeded to search the web for its value and beg me to go to the Pawn Shop.  Amy and the girls made their way up later in the day and we all headed over to a local Renaissance Faire and traveled back in time.  We laughed at the multilayer ed humor of a fire breathing act and wandered around looking at the various stands. The Sun had ejected two massive flares and with a good forecast for northern lights we loaded up the truckster and headed north in hopes of catching the spectacle over an open lake.  Sadly we spied no light show, but the stars were worth the drive and the kids were able to play tag.  A quick doughnut run on Sunday started off our day and then we snuck in some cool weather apple picking to great the Fall with style.  The kids spent the rest of the day playing various games of imagination around the house and even added another kid to the mix, before turning our attentions back to homework and the week to come.

Little Labor and Lots of Laughs

Labor day means the end of summer.  We did sneak in a little actual labor but even that ended in some smiles, Merrick was washing dishes and Sophia was mowing the lawn while I cooked dinner.  The finished up the lawn and when I came in they had decided that it was a formal dinner night, so I too had to find a collared shirt for the occasion.  The weekend was rainy and found us inside or even playing in the rain, with plans of a campfire and eating all our camping treats doused due to high winds we compromised and made microwave smores and the kids started baking up a mess in the Kitchen.  Grace and Merrick made cookies, which turned out amazing while the two eldest were inspired by Cake Boss created multitiered cakes.  They found some time between the pop up storms to play survivor in the woodland fort before we headed to the beach for Kite Fest.  We were hit again by some warm summer rains and the storms were creating some great waves for the kids to play in.  Everyone was plenty soaked but still filled with smiles.  Sunday turned into an end of summer tour de force with a trip to the pool, a 3.5 mile urban hike to Zesty's and then three hours at Bay Beach.  Their empty bellies really showed at dinner when they collectively about eat their own hands off with the two youngest taking very long blinks.