Zoo

On a dreary day last week, we went to the zoo for a short morning visit. We watched the bird show, and then stayed afterwards to watch them train some new birds. We were the only ones to stay, so we got to do the cool stuff! We had a spectacled owl come stand within 2 feet of us and we got to hold food plates for these yellow parrots. Very cool stuff and it was funny to see the birds learning how to exit the stage. After they ate, they landed on hand rails, trees, and bird keepers' heads before making it backstage. Laura had a great time and was super strong to hold 4 birds at one time by herself!

Fun at the park

Knitting

I let Laura help me knit last night. I couldn't believe how well it went! She did all the needle movements and I manned the yarn. And we both had fun! It was a nice surprise right before bedtime.

More long, skinny pictures

Kids and I had a nice hike the other day. Below are my favorite pictures and here's a link to the entire set (88).

Fire Station Open House

Someone (Adam) changed my picture size on my camera and I didn't notice until just now. So here's some long, skinny pictures of the Fire Station Open House. We had a sincerely, and surprisingly, great time! The kids were brave and excited about everything. 

Still rockin' Gramma Ann's hat!

2006

2009

2011

Meet Silly Toes

The kids and I made a scarecrow for our front porch this morning. He's stuffed with leaves, pretty slouchy and an easy going kind of guy. The kids named him Silly Toes because he has no shoes.

5K attempt #2

I tried another 5K race last weekend. My #1 goal was to run the whole thing, which I did! My #2 goal was to make it in under 37 minutes. Ummmm, didn't exactly make that. In fact, It took me 1.5 minutes longer than the 5K at the zoo, which I walked some. That part was super disappointing, but I guess it gives me something else to work towards. Again, it would help if I didn't have bronchitis the week before the run. I keep having bad timing with my sicknesses. I missed out on training for 3 weeks before the race and my lung capacity was nil. But the run was really pretty. It was along the Mississippi river in downtown Minneapolis, across several bridges and part of it was on an island. The weather was perfect and the leaves are all putting on a good autumn show. I am still enjoying running and plan to keep it up as long as I can brave the cold weather (which hasn't arrived yet).

Harriet Island surprise

Adam took an long nap on Saturday, so we spent the night on the town! Well, the evening, anyway. We tried a new restaurant, Boca Chica (ehhh), and then stopped by Harriet Island to check out the river and have a little walk. We herded the kids in the opposite direction of the huge, typical playground, and stumbled upon this cool little play area. Wish I had used my regular camera, instead of the iTouch, but oh well.

Peek a boo, Jim

Throwing sand, rocks, sticks in the mighty Mississippi. Have a nice trip to the Gulf of Mexico, sticks!

Some one before us had made a cool picture of this bridge that you can see when you turn around:

Hello sweet boy