Day 2: Bears

Woke up to everything damp outside and cool temps.... luckly no rain tho! The clouds were neat this morning so I took some pics out front of the cabin and Kate even posed for some. Bronson had a blast fishing his way in the lake (nose diving). Course he didn’t catch any but he tried. The beach is pretty shallow so Bronson can go well past the dock and still only be up to his belly. Then we went up to the lodge to enjoy some internet while Kate played with Gavin and Claire.. more legos. Around lunch time Kate and I headed into town for some italian lunch at a local cafe... the lasagna was super yummy and kate tried breaded cauliflower and broccoli! They were a hit!

After lunch we headed just a mile outside of Ely to the North American Bear Center. Wow what an experience. There were three bears that were enclosed in a 2 acre forested wooded area. They fed them about a half hour after we arrived. The bears were polite while they wait for food. They were given lots of grapes, apples and carrots. I was having a blast photographing them. What a dream! We listened to an informational talk about the bears. Towards the end the two males started wrestling with each other which made everyone scatter to watch. At the end of their play one went to drink out of the pond and the youngest got in and swam for a while. It was so fun seeing them in such a natural environment.

Our plan was to go to a bear sanctuary about an hour away after super but storms came in and altered our plans. We’ll have to do that with Darin and Emma. So Kate and I wondered around the Ely stores downtown. I managed to find The Jim Brandenburg art gallery I’ve always wanted to see. Darin and I have attended a seminar of JIm’s in the cities and I follow his blog. He lives in the Ely area and is a nationally known photographer. I have a print in mind that I would love to get.. but I’ll have to get Darin’s opinion.

I did get a phone call from Darin this afternoon.. which was quickly dropped! But he managed to text me and said they were fine and having a good time. He texted later saying they had not caught any fish yet.. bummer Kate and I are wondering how they are doing in this storm we’ve been getting all evening. There have been some thunder but not much and I haven’t seen any lightening. Not much wind either so I’m no so worried about their safety.... just hope they are dry.

One last thing, this afternoon between our Bear Center experience and dinner we came back to the cabin. Kate went swimming with her friend Gavin while I took a nap on a chair on the shore. I kept thinking how perfectly weird the weather is.. I’m wearing a sweatshirt (which is heaven for me) and she’s swimming. It was probably 68 degrees out!

Vacation 2010

Our annual vacation this year is closer to home. We are vacationing in Ely, MN which is about 5.5 hours north. Darin has been there before on a BWCA canoe/camping trip with some buddies a couple of years ago and has always wanted to go back. I can’t say I enjoy the camping experience so we came up with Darin and Emma canoeing/camping while Kate and I stay at a cabin on the lake. We found a small resort about 7 miles from Ely on Farm Lake called Moose Track Adventures. They also provided outfitting resources so Darin and Emma were able to rent the canoe and packs from them. Farm lake is a perfect location for entering the BWCA they just had to paddle to the other side of the lake and then enter through the Kiwawishi river.

We drove to Grandma Hawley’s house last night so we could knock a couple of hours off the drive. It always seems to take longer to get out of the house on time then you think. We were a bit behind schedule because the girls wanted some updates on their ipods for the drive. Darin forgot a few things too so thankfully he was able to raid Grandma Hawley’s cupboard for salt, pepper, jelly, syrup and some forks. Grandma Hawley also made some yummy beef jerky for the trip, I think she’s worried Darin and Emma will starve and if nothing else jerky will sustain them! The night before we left we made a trip to the grocery store to buy lightweight/non-refergerated food items for them to eat while camping. Darin was able to find instant coffee, torteas (which are a bread subsitute because they won’t get smooshed), individually wrapped peanut butter, rice, cooked chicken breast in a pouch, pancake mix, precooked bacon... It helps that he has done this before. Emma was uncertain what the weather was going to be like and packed mainly shorts until I insisted she get some more pants and sweatshirts. Good thing because the weather is suppose to be chilly the next few days.

We determined on the drive that this is the first family vacation with Bronson! There is no way Bronson will get in the canoe but he’s more then happy to stay with Kate and I at the cabin. I kind of like having him too because he looks like a gaurd dog. When I left my camera in the car with the windows down about a quarter of the way it was reassuring that there was a big dog in the car protecting it! Thankfully the resort is willing to let Bronson run around without a leash which he absolutely loves! The owner, Joan, said he can catch as many squirrels as he would like. When we got to Grandma’s house last night we all went to bed and Bronson laid on the floor sleeping. In the middle of the night he started single barking kind of quiet like, but enough to annoy Darin. Darin would tell him to stop it and go back to sleep but then 5-10 minutes later he would do it again.. this went on for some time. Darin got so mad at him that he jumped out of bed and grabbed him by the fur and told him to stop barking.. well then he realized that the dog was sleeping and those barks were just dreams.. lol Poor dog!

The minute we arrived at the resort Kate made a friend with the owner’s son Gavin who is 8 years and going into 3rd grade. He was daming up a creek that flowed into the lake which is right up kate’s ally. Mud, water and even some lego’s that Gavin convinced Kate to play! They ended up swimming, playing on the swingset and watching a movie with popcorn to boot on the flat screen at the main lodge. Finally we had to say goodnight and get some supper. But she made plans to play tomorrow at 10am. She tells me her plan is to go to bed early so she can get up early and do some more playing.

Darin and Emma packed all their gear into packs they rented from the outfitters. I also equiped him with my backup Nikon D200 camera and a lens. I had a waterproof Pelican case from their last trip so I felt safe enough sending it with him. Seems like they packed light enought. They each had a pack and the canoe. They only have to portage once for a half mile. They are hoping to get a site on an island Darin has picked out. They left about 2pm this afternoon and they left from the resorts main dock. Both were excited and nervous! Darin is hoping to be able to text me updates.. a guide at the resort said he can get coverage usually. Unfortunately I cannot get coverage for my cell phone at the resort! My only worry is if there is a thunderstorm.

Well that is our first day. I’ll try to post each day and add some pictures

Mulan Play

Emma participated in the Middle School Play 'Mulan' this spring. It has been a grueling 10 weeks of practice for Emma. It seemed to be going ok until the last 3-4 weeks she decided she didn't want to do it anymore :( Our parenting style with our children is once they commit to something they must finish it. They don't have to join again but they have to complete what they started. Just makes sense to us. For the most part throughout the years we haven't had to use this rule. We made her finish it and I think in the end she was appreciative because of the bonds she made with her friends. Altho the last 2 weeks of practicing after school 5 days a week was getting to her and I know she just wanted to relax at home. She was involved with the chorus part of the play and dressed as a maiden. Grandma Nichols made a special trip here two weeks before the play to make a robe costume for Emma and her friend Blaire. They picked out the fabric and grandma, with her magical sewing ability, threw them together one day while they were at school.

They performed the play 4 times and by the end of it everyone was exhausted and flying high with excitement. Emma has proclaimed that she will never ever wear makeup because its just bad for your skin! (LOL we'll see if that happens).

Vacation Albums: Banff and Rome

I always put together an album of our vacation photos. Well it only took a year to get the Banff one done! I was in a rush because the lab was having a great sale and managed to do a majority of it over a week time span. I even whipped together an Italy album from 2000... only 10 years later! Unfortunately when I went to review the digital pictures we took, I had edited them in a program called Digital Image Pro (an evil Microsoft program of course!) and the program saved them as 72 dpi!! Uggg... I was able to do some manipulation with photoshop and managed an 8x8 album. Not all the pictures were harmed but I'm glad I know better now. These pictures were with our very first digital camera and it was kind of painful to see how bad photographers we were! I'm glad we've improved!

In all my vacation albums I take special pictures of each girl and dedicate a couple of pages to them where I put their name and how old they were. It was fun to put Emma as 2 years old on the Itally album (technically she was 23 months!) I only have 3 vacations albums left to do before I'm caught up (2004 Yellowstone, 2005 Glacier and a small album from our 2009 anniversary trip to the North Shore). Unfortunately, vacation albums are the only albums I get done at this time in our lives. Sports, music, school... life just gets in the way and we are enjoying it too much at this time to slow down. I still take lots of pics tho and at some point in the future I'm sure I'll get around to making formal albums.

Conversation with Kate

On our way to piano (which is literally one minute away):

Kate: Is Dad home already?
Me: no
Kate: Why is his car home?
Me: because he commuted to work today
Kate: You mean carpool?
Me: yes
Kate: thats good for the earth!
Me: yes it is
Kate: Earth day is coming up
Me: yep
Aside: at this point my mind wandered and thought about the Earth Movie thats coming out and the fact that we went last year and we should go again this year.
Kate: Where do you get those pointy things?
Aside: (I must have missed something)
Me: What?
Kate: those pointy things
Me: huh?
Kate: for earth day!
Me: Oh you mean to pickup liter?
Kate: yes
Me: I have no idea
Kate: Did you know if everyone took 2 minutes off their shower we would save A LOT of water!
Me: really?
Kate: yep
Me: cool... we should do that huh?
Kate: I have been
Me: oh? good for you!
Aside: (we arrive at our destination)
Me: I love you Kate!
Kate: I know

Ice on Mille Lacs Lake

On our drive up north for Easter Weekend we noticed the HUGE chunks of ice on the shores of Mill Lacs Lake. Unfortunately it was late and not the best time to take pictures so I swore we would come back the next day. I was really intrigued because as we drove I saw a single 'iceberg' in the lake and thought there must be more of those. The next day I convince some of the family to go back to the lake (only a 20 minute drive). Tara and I had a lot of fun photographing the ice while Grandma and Grandpa Nichols had fun entertaining Katelyn and Alex.

The ice was amazing. The variety of shapes, colors and sizes were so strange. When the waves hit the ice it sounded like breaking glass. I've never heard anything like it. It was so thin you could see through it and the ice crystals were formed from the ice melting. We found the 'iceberg' I saw the night before... it didn't look as big but it was in the same spot. When we drove by Mille Lacs on the way home 3 days later all the ice had melted! Course 60 degree days in early april will do that!

Emma's Day

Well plans changed for Emma's day. Grandma convinced Emma to go up north Wednesday morning and then go to a waterpark in Brainerd for Emma's Day. Atho they wore Grandma out they had a lot of fun. I stayed home and worked on the dreaded taxes and organizing the house. It was a nice break and the kids enjoyed spending time alone with Grandma and Grandpa Nichols.

Moms Day

Moms day! Yippie. I took the girls to the Como Conservatory for my day. We got a late start as I needed to finish some work stuff for the week. After an great lunch at Red Lobster (grandma's treat!) we made it over to St. Paul. I didn't even think of looking at the hours of operation but they were open shorter during the off season. So arriving at 2pm and closing at 4pm didn't leave much time to see the zoo too! We enjoyed the conservatory tho! I wish I would have brought my second DSLR for Emma to use as she was showing a rare interesting in taking pictures. She wanted to use mine (um no) and conviced Grandma to let her use hers. After more begging from Emma that she must use my camera I allowed her to use it while sitting down! Using this as a teaching lesson tho I told her my camera only shot in manual mode and I would need to teach her how fstops and shutter speed worked. She was a quick learner and took some great shots!

We did see a new part of the conservatory we have never discovered before. The Rainforest as you come in the main doors. We saw all kinds of fish, turtles, birds and even a Two Toed Sloth!

Katelyn's Choice

The girls are on spring break this week so I decided to let the kids have their own day where they could decide what to do. Today was Katelyn's day. She picked going to Nickolodian Universe at the MOA. Emma was so happy Kate choose this activity. Win win for both! I informed Grandma Nichols of our plans and she decided to come down and enjoy the week with us too.

The day didn't start out very well with both girls fighting and arguing. Emma claimed Kate broke her flat iron for her hair by spilling water on it and as a punishment Emma decided Kate needed to do every chore imaginable to make up for it. (which his probably what Emma thinks of me! LOL) To top it off, in the van on the way to the mall Kate was picking on Emma in every way possible. I actually had to stop the van and do the old lecture if you don't behave we will turn around and go home bit. Once at the mall Emma somehow got Katelyn to do the scary big rides. Katelyn is usually very reserved and actually will get those red faced head rushes that are visible as a spectator when riding on a simple swing. But today she was brave and Emma took every advantage. Kate kept saying she was having a blast.. part of it was the undivided attention she received from her older sister. Sadly, Emma discovered she was getting to tall to go on some of the rides. (Her new nickname/signature on facebook and text messages is 5'6!) She was too tall for the big pineapple jumper and the bumper cars!

Nickelodian Universe had a new exhibit called the Butterfly Bay which is an enclosed netted area that is full of live butterflies. We like to go to this kind of exhibit at the state fair every year. The girls just walk around and encourage the butterflies with their finger to let them hold them and sit on their shoulder. At one time Emma had 8 butterflies on her. Grandma had never seen anything like it. They had some really HUGE butterflies too. They were kind of freaky looking when you think about their 3 inch bodies and legs!

Well that was Katelyn's day. We ended it with a stop at Domino's for a quick dinner to bring home. Grandma and I were all wore out! Tomorrow is Moms Day!!

Arts and Academics night

The middle school holds an Arts & Academics Showcase every spring. Emma participated in a Greek play about Persephone where she played Demeter the mother, she played a piano duet with her BFF Taylor, She also played a piano solo and she participated in choir. She has been practicing her piano solo, "Cobbler Cobbler", for a couple of months under the advisement of her piano teacher so it was quiet an accomplishment. It was rather hot in the performance area but we all got through it. I was so proud of Emma for doing the solo in front of so many people!

Flooding

Every year we get flooding down our hill from the Crow River. 'Down the hill' is a flood reservoir for the river so its doing what its suppose to and we enjoy the lake property every year. This year they predicted high levels because the snow melted quickly and we got a lot of it. I can vouch for the amount of snow as I had the snow blower out way too many times this winter! The news declared the Crow River as the 'River That Could' because it keeps rising more then expected.

On Thursday morning after I took the girls to school I ran in the house and grabbed my camera. I had full intentions of not seeing anyone so I stayed in my PJ's. I ended up driving all the way to Delano and taking pictures of the high water across their downtown bridge. For the most part I avoiding seeing anyone in my pj's. Altho when I stopped at the canoe launch between Rockford and Delano a guy stopped to take his morning run and was shocked that the path was under water. Over the last couple of days the water has risen even more possibly 2-3 feet more. Its the highest I've seen it in the 7 years we've lived here altho our neighbors say its not as high as 2001.

It seems rising rivers follow us. Darin and I lived in the Fargo area during the infamous 1997 flood. We both helped sandbag houses along the river. I remember driving to the cities when I heard Grand Forks was in flames as a result of the flooding. Last year we took a trip to Banff, Canada and had to carefully plan out our trip around the raging Red River again as it crested record highs the day we were expected to leave. Now we live on the river and experience its spring flare ups every year.

End of season

I know its been way too long sense I've posted but I'm just going to do it! Not sure how often I will update but I will try to be better. I just love looking back at what I've done and want to continue it.

So today we returned from the last basketball tournament of the season. It was an great year for the 6th grade girls and Emma had lots of fun and improved immensely. Emma has been carrying her basketball (with her name on it) back and forth from practice and games for the last 4 months religiously. She could leave it with the coach each time but has insisted on keeping it in her possession. So when we pulled in the garage this afternoon she jumped out of the van she threw the ball in the third stall of the garage where it got sucked into the abyss. Symbolizing that's it we are done with you for the year! Onward and upward.. softball starts tomorrow! On and off throughout the evening she was tossing the softball into her mitt and throwing me the ball (usually without warning!) which was her way of asking me to practice with her.