Playing Catch-Up

Last week, I was able to chaperone on a field with the girls' elementary school to a local apple orchard/pumpkin patch. They had fun playing in a hay bale maze before having lunch. Afterwards, we all got a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and picked a pumpkin. Then we went to a "classroom" to learn about "good bugs" and "bad bugs" for apple trees, went to the orchard for a Red Delicious apple and a lesson on photosynthesis. Our last stop of the day was in another "classroom" to learn about the bees. Because it was a COLD day, the bees weren't very active and the QUEEN was hidden. Of course, we also saw where the apples are stored after they are picked and sorted. Yum!!

This is the rocking horse that Terry and I bought when the girls were very little. Sadly, it has gotten too small and our house has too many "things" in it. Happily, though, Kayla and Levi have taken it for the little ones to play with at their house. It will be good to see it being used in a good home!

Every spring, we get three new baby rabbits from the "mama" that Gma and Gpa have. This year, we had Shadow (Trevor's), Blaze (Emily's) and Buster (Erin's). Unfortunately, it turned out that Erin's was a male. In an effort to keep him through the summer though, Erin gladly put him in a hutch inside the dog kennel (the rabbits' home where they can run lose) and she volunteered to go out EVERY day to care for her rabbit while Trev and Emily took turns taking care of the rest. It was a sad day when we had to sell them but we just don't have a good place to winter them over. =-(

We have had a LOT of HIGH winds the past few days. Sadly, the cedar tree in front of our house decided it was just too much....and LARGE part of it broke off and fell on our front patio this morning during breakfast. Luckily, it JUST brushed the house as it fell and brushed the Grand Prix on the driveway. It doesn't look like there is any damage to either one. Just some of the goodies in the flower garden that it feel across......

A few weeks ago, our elementary school held it's annual DONUTS WITH DAD. The fathers can take their children to school, have milk and donuts with them before school starts. This is always a special day for our kids.....Trevor was a bit bummed out that he won't have that in Middle School. I was able to go in and have lunch with him last week, though, as they have a monthly "Parent Lunch".

Family Pictures!!!

My thought on the photo above and below is to make a collage of some sort with a saying....that saying still needs to be determined, though.

I have been wanting to have our family pictures taken on the trail through our woods for the past.....well, SEVERAL years...during the fall when the leaves are all scattered. Thanks to Kayla and Levi, that has finally taken place - after 10 years of living here! However, her and Levi and did such a great job of trying out different poses around our property, that I am having a hard time choosing just one to use. So, I thought I would see if I could get some help from anyone that would like to offer their opinion! I would love to hear...... I am hoping to put a few of the pictures that were taken inside the rungs of a ladder that came from Gma & Gpa's attic after I paint it and hang it horizontally.

Thank you to Levi and Kayla for taking the time and making the trip to take these pictures!!

Not just a LITTLE hiking!!

Trevor, Emily, Erin and I are on the bluff above Devil's Lake State Park.

Terry, Emily, Erin and Trevor are high above Devil's Lake State Park on a rock hanging over HIGH above the ground below!

Terry is standing on a rock across the valley to take a picture of the girls and I. He told me that he gasped when he saw us walk out on the rock and I didn't understand why until I saw the pictures....it DID look like we were on the edge. But we are a safe distance away from the edge!!

Terry is checking out the view and then the distance to the ground below....which, incidently, is a LONG ways down!

Trevor, Erin and Emily had fun climbing the rocks that go high up the sides of the trails. It is a lot of fun but this was at the end of the day....what they had hiked the whole day for! Unfortunately, Emily didn't enjoy her time as she was wiped out. The next day, though, she ran a 103 temp - later diagnosed with pneumonia.

The sites we saw while hiking in the Baraboo area nearly a week ago were awesome. There is just nothing like being together in the woods enjoying the challenges of an uphill hike in the beauty of a Wisconsin fall!! It really was beautiful and we really DID have fun. The day started out trying to hike a trail that was covered with leaves and very poorly marked....so poorly marked we never did find our destination. However, we moved on different areas and found some pretty spectacular sites! By the end of the day we figure we had hiked a bit over 5 miles....no wonder we were all sooooo tired....and VERY hungry!

Soaking Away the Aches.....

There is just something very soothing about soaking in a pool after a day of walking several miles!! The kids (and adults!) were very enthused about having a motel with a pool after hiking the "M" and around the campus! What a way to relax....before more hiking the next day!!

Climbing The "M"

Platteville, WI is the home to the largest "M". We could see part of it from where we lived at the time. It was fun to get back and see all the sites and climb it with the kids. They even took us to parts that we had never seen before on the back side of the hill.

Trevor and Erin with Emily and Terry by the sign for the WORLD'S LARGEST M!
Erin and Emily sitting on the top stop - showing that we climbing up 266 steps, hiked around the top of the hill and then down those same 266 steps!!!

Trevor, Emily and Erin with me at the bottom of the "M". Some things stay the same but there were certainly a lot of changes made during the past 13 years! It is always fun to go back to those places and relive a few of the memories!

UW Alumni Weekend

We decided to go back and visit the college campus that Terry had graduated from 13 years ago. Since is UW Homecoming this past weekend, it was a good time to take a peak at the changes that have taken place there over the years. We visited the mobile home park where we lived...the trailer we lived in is no longer there and there is a highway through the backyard instead of the pasture that was there before. During our campus visit, we went through the dorm where Terry lived his first year in college, the old engineering hall as well as the new student center and the new engineering hall. The kids ended up getting their first college tour...and Trevor says that that is definitely where he wants to attend college! We'll see what the future brings!

Trevor gets a look at the FIRST Lego League robot
that was made at the campus. He is starting the
VEX Robotics competition through school so this
was very interesting to him!
Trevor poses with his "doorprize" from his "campus tour"!
Trevor and Terry in front of the engineering
hall - I have a picture with this same pose
but when Trevor was only 3 years old!

Happy Anniversary, Chris and Alicia!

Happy Fourth Anniversary! Wishing you many more years filled with love, joy and happiness - Love, Carlson5

More From Summit Lake

Unfortunately for Levi, there was a malfunction on his machine - the "kill" switch wouldn't stay in the "run" position so he wasn't able to restart his machine after lunch. However, after the use of a paper clip (see photo) we were able to all ride back the 24 miles back to the truck! One just never knows what kind of "tools" you should have along!!

A successful ride is always based on how dirty the machine gets. I would have to say that it was a fairly successful ride!

All in all, it was an AWESOME day out in the woods enjoying nature!

Off-Roading Through Nature

This is a sign that we saw riding on the trail - I certainly kept a look-out for a bear! I was thinking what great pictures it would make...some others with us weren't as eager to see one though! The scenery was just gorgeous! Despite a few bouts of rain and one bout of sleet, it was a beautiful day.

Here is a picture of Levi and Kayla on the trail. Though I don't have pictures to prove it, Terry and I were riding behind them through the fall leaves....and mud!

A good trail ride ALWAYS starts out with a map reading session. Here are Levi and Terry reviewing the ATV routes.

Getting Into The Spirit

I was shocked that Trevor did his hair the way he did for Nerd Day....and more surprised that he let me gel it so it would stay all day! That actually turned out to be my favorite of them all....anyone else agree?!