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.

Shoulder Season

We are heading into the shoulder season, the promise of fall is on the air each morning and yet the mid day sun reminds us that summer isn't done with us quite yet.  Be that as it may the calendar dictates that summer vacation is over and we try to squeeze in a couple more adventures before we are relinquished back to a weekender's status.  We headed North as well as West.

We did hit the Oconto to check on some Deer stands and while the bugs were not that plentiful, neither was the sign for the upcoming season.  Luckily we hadn't forgotten about the nearby A&W for couple of frosty mugs and some walrus toothed fries.  We were able to head over to visit grandma and grandprize as well for a couple of nights.  There were of course ripsticks to ride and toads to catch but we snuck in some time for visiting and even headed to the mall for some back to school clothes.  Sophia was pretty happy to carry bags around the mall and just shop in general.  Merrick is pretty much fine wearing whatever can be purchased the fasted and has no problem letting Sophia carry the bags.  He was had more fun riding through the mall on my shoulders and being taller than everybody else.

Southbound in "Dork Ounty"

On the way up to hike Newport we stopped to pick cherries, they waited and rippened to perfection as we covered the four mile loop.  We also left a bannana on the hood of the car, it too waited patiently for our return.  As we headed out of the park we placed bets on how fast we needed to go before the bannanna would fly off the hood, turns out it requires a little over 60, fast decrease in speed and then a sharp right hand turn, but it was a great road kill bannanna and the first I can remember eating.  The kids were howling with laughter.  We stopped for lunch and little shopping and after a required ice cream break in Fish Creek we stopped for minigolf and water wars.  Mini golf is easy enough to understand and terrible painful to play with four kids.  Even skipping several holes on the back nine didn't prevent three or four groups from catching up to us.  We did offer to let them play through but the opted to watch our snail like progression.  There were several water hazards and even a ball lost in the "ruff" about 1.25 feet from the tee.  Water wars was more enjoyable each kid got a bucket of water balloons and was able to shoot them from a launcher at the other kids. It was laughter, It was wet, it was perfect.  This was after our hike out to the woods in the moring and needless to say with that much activity in one day the kids were pretty much spent.  The next morning it was time to rebound and school shop our way back into reality.