Happy Halloween!

"Howdy Partner!" That's what the girls are saying this Halloween. Willa is also saying, "I do."

We had fun creating these costumes this year.

Our cowgirl and cowgirl bride have had many opportunities to dress up. Willa, in fact, dressed up six times! (A preschool field trip to a nursing home in costume; a community center party; a friend's birthday party; a neighborhood festival; a family birthday party; and the big day itself, phew!)


The girls carved scary and silly pumpkins.

Our neighborhood did something fun this year for Halloween - we held a block party!

We made these mummy pizzas for our dish to share:

What a haul! And what a fun night!

Family Camp

We attended our first family camp this weekend. We stayed in a nature preserve in a rustic cabin that simply held bunk beds and a table. We learned a lot about ourselves in the process.

I was afraid that we'd feel cold all weekend (with overnight temps in the 40's), but we learned that it didn't bother us much at all. It just helps to get dressed quickly!

Our cabin, although beautiful and squeaky clean, was very dim even during the day. We learned that we like electricity - a lot. We also like having bathrooms and running water closer than a block away. And not sleeping in the same room. We have learned that we would not be good pioneers!

That said, our weekend was filled with fun activities. We carved a pumpkin for our cabin doorstep.


We learned about migration, hibernation and animals who just stay and deal with it!

Our little stinker!

Here the girls are migrating:

We learned that it's fun to sew matching hats:


We did some shooting at the archery range:

We took a GPS course and found some caches. We all borrowed binocs from the lodge and spied a pair of trumpeter swans on a nearby pond. They were huge, bright white and so majestic.

We ate our meals outside.

Enjoying her cinnamon and sugar biscuit that she baked over the fire on a stick!

We made s'mores in our jammies:

Most of all, we learned that we loved being outside in nature!


And we enjoyed coming home to a house with electricity, running water, a dishwasher and bathrooms!

Madeline Island

This is my final post about our trip up north this summer. We left the cabin and took a day trip to Madeline Island in Lake Superior. We boarded the ferry.

(You can click to enlarge the pics.)

The girls were so excited that we drove our car onto a boat!

We visited the Madeline Island Museum and learned about the history of the island.


We then spent the day at Big Bay State Park. The weather was like this when we arrived:

Within no time, it looked like this:

It was utterly magical!


The water was frigid (being Lake Superior), but it was crystal clear and so inviting... we decided to brave it.


It was such a peaceful day. We collected rocks (which we later polished in our tumbler), played in the sand, and splashed in the water.

The girls slept through the entire ferry ride on the way back, and most of the ride home.

A sign of a terrific journey!

Pivit

Willa has been working on her reading and writing lately. She came over to me recently to show me something she had written. I was very excited to see it and gave her heaping amounts of praise to encourage her.

I saw that she wrote "Pivit." She then said, "It says 'Private' and I'm going to put it on my bedroom door." Sigh.

Jia also showed me something she created recently: a "Fashin Magasin" that is "Only for Fansy Pepole."

Jia's love of fashion design is still going strong. Here are some of her latest designs.



Aren't they great!

Student of the Month

Jia was chosen as a Student of the Month for the first month of school again! Along with her kindergarten cousin Han!

On the way to the ceremony:

Here she is with the principal, who read the following statement from her teacher:

"Jia is a responsible first grader. She works hard and has a great enthusiasm for learning! Jia works well with others and can always be counted on to help her classmates. Jia loves to learn and it shows in everything she does!"



Yay Jia and Han!

Crystal Cave

We recently went on a day trip to visit Crystal Cave. The cave temperature is in the 40's, so we came prepared.


We climbed down about seven stories and saw lots of cool formations:

Bats (which we love for their bug-eating capacity):

They were surprisingly tiny:

Fossils:

Headache rocks (perfect for passing kids, but not adults):


And a place for wishes:

Our favorite part was when the guide held an ultraviolet light up to certain minerals and they glowed in spectacular colors: bright red, green with red dots, brilliant purple, and a phosphorescent one even continued to glow green after the light was turned off. It was a great adventure!