Violin recital!

Yesterday, Nov. 5.

Haircut!

Well, M4 had a bit of a conundrum: he wanted to grow his hair long to wear in a ponytail braid like his best bud (whose hair has never been cut since he was born).  But once M4's hair got long enough to at least put back in the ponytail, he didn't want to do it because he was afraid people would make fun of him.  :-(  We talked about it a bit, and eventually I told him he needed to make a decision: would he go ahead with the ponytail or would he get his hair cut?  Because it was constantly in his eyes (he had to get reading glasses recently...I don't know if the hair had anything to do with it?).  So we looked at some surfer dude pictures on the Google, and he agreed (and even seemed excited) to get his hair cut in a long shorter cut.

Unfortunately the barber, god bless him, did not copy the picture we brought too well, and he cut it too short.  M4 was pretty upset all afternoon.  But after several conversations about how his hair grows quickly, and after a large dinner, he seemed to perk up quite a bit.  Phew!  It is at least nice for me to be able to see his sweet face better.

Weekend in Madison

 

Last weekend we went to one of my favorite towns on the planet.  At the urging of Mark's friend, Mike, we met up with his family in Madtown to join an Occupy Wall Street protest, but it turns out the March to the End the Wars was at a better time for us.  (When there are small children involved, one has to choose a protest that works with the feeding and the sleeping.  Fortunately, in Madison one can usually find a protest time that works with your schedule.)  Of course, first we visited the Farmer's Market...it really has no equal that I've visited.

We gathered at Library Mall for speeches and a Solidarity Sing-Along.

My favorite group participating was the Raging Grannies, who led us in some rousing songs.

Then we marched to the Capitol.  The kids really got into it, and I was glad for them to have this experience of people marching together for an important cause they believe in.  In Grinnell, sometimes it's a little hard to see past the tiny sphere of your own existence...something for which I am grateful at times but irritated and impatient with at other times.

Naturally, we spent time on the Terrace, had some Babcock ice cream (the must-have flavor that I can't find anywhere else?  Orange Custard Chocolate Chip!!), drove past a few of our old apartments (but between the two of us we lived in quite a few, so we didn't see them all!), ate at Himal Chuli, and had brunch with the lovely and awesome Lisa Pizza (my old Wild Iris comrade) at the delicious and miraculously easy-to-get-into Crema Cafe.  I highly recommend it if you're ever in Madison on Homecoming weekend, and you know you'll never get into Monty's or Mickey's.  It was just a beautiful fall weekend, and we couldn't have ended it more perfectly than with a walk out to the end of Picnic Point. U! Rah! Rah!

New and Blue!

Mark took M and M to Cedar Rapids to test for their blue belts over the weekend while I was at the Iowa City Yoga Conference. They did well and were awarded their blue belts last night! So grateful for this school and our teacher. I am continually impressed by Mr. Gibson. (Official way of addressing your teacher...even if you were in high school when he was born!) He always has such good things to say to them at the belt ceremony...and by good, I don't mean he just tells them how great they are. He tells them things like how important it is to learn to accept constructive criticism; that no one is perfect; he applauds their hard work. He really is an excellent teacher. We are lucky.

 

P.S.  Yes, M4's hair is in a ponytail.  Which opened up a whole new can of worms, but that is a story for another day.

Oh yeah, vacation...

'Twas so long ago now, but here are some photos from our kayaking adventure on Lake Superior.
 Checking out some caves along the shore of Madeline Island.

Floating snack!Do your best sand person imitation!

As you can see, it was absolutely beautiful albeit a bit windy out on the open water.  Lake Superior is so crystal clear, and the caves and rocks along the shore are beautiful!  Our rental guy, "Kayak Ed," was just a classic island dweller: he prominently displayed a newspaper clipping from the '60s heralding his Civil Rights protest arrests, and time was really quite malleable to him.  I'd be perfectly happy winding up like him, though, in my later days.

What would you do with a million dollars?

"If I made a million dollers I spend it on a bunch of kittens or cats!  I love cats so that's why I would spend it on kittens.  Well I would problably use it on kitty treats.  I would maybe would spend it on 4 kitty beds.  It dosent relly matter what I would spend it on.  So relly anything would be fine for me." - M4

Vacation Campsites

Because Blogger only lets me upload five pics an entry, I'll highlight the vacation in pieces:

Campsite #1 - Moose Lake, WI: Mosquitoes, loons, undrinkable water, 14 miles of gravel, gigantic thunderstorm. A nice spot by the lake, but the swimming beach was covered with goose poop...we probably won't stay at this one again!

Campsite #2 - Big Bay State Park, Madeline Island, WI: More mosquitoes, lovely walk-in site, AMAZING beaches on Lake Superior, company in the form of deer (see pic #2) and A BEAR!!! Fortunately, drinkable water, and plumbing in the bathrooms which the kids really appreciated. They tired of pit toilets on this trip.

Campsite #3 - Fenske Lake, near Ely, MN: A beautiful swimming beach, clean water, fewer mosquitoes, a fox, awesome hikes close by, plus Ely about 13 miles away which has a wolf center, a bear center, frozen custard, and the delicious Chocolate Moose.

Moose Lake was one we hadn't located or researched ahead of time. We just drove up there and picked a Chequamegon National Forest campground off the map. We aimed for a not-quite-as-remote campground first which apparently doesn't exist anymore (time to update our Wisconsin Atlas??!). I guess it shows you should do your homework!! If you camp there, bring some drinking water! It seemed like a popular spot for fishermen...less so for families.

Overall the vacation was awesome! I'll post a few more highlight pictures. I fully recommend a visit to Madeline Island, camping or not. And northern Minnesota...I'm in love! I guess the biggest drawback on this trip was M3's insistence on washing her hands constantly (she has grown into a bit of a germophobe), and both kids' hatred of pit toilets. I fully understand being afraid of them as a kid. They are unsettling even as an adult, despite the fact that the Fenske Lake ones were some of the cleanest we've been in. Fortunately, the kids don't mind pooping in the forest!! HA!! (Don't worry, I buried it.)