Halloween comes early ... at Eastman Nature Center and Energy Dance Center

Sick days, ill days. Medicine and pill days. Yuck!

Well, still no pictures. It's been miserable here. We actually had a fairly nice autumn day this week ... then the snow/rain/sleet came. On Monday night or Tuesday, my daughter started to get a bit of congestion. Drainage and coughing at night and at nap for the past five days. This morning she started to dig in her right ear - EAR INFECTION! My son, on the other hand was doing fine ... until last night. He was REALLY tired before bed, then started to run a temp when he went to sleep. Over night, he got really warm. Warm enough to take some Motrin for the fever. This morning we got to take a trip to Ready-Care at our local pediatrician's office. Yep, like I said, ear infection for my girl ... and the doctor thought maybe strep for my son. We'll see. The rapid test came back negative, but the extended test will tell us whether or not he has it. Neither one had any problems in the lungs (thank goodness!) and so it doesn't look TOO bad. Hopefully it's just a 24-48 hour thing for my son ... and hopefully my daughter's gunk and ear crud will go away with the medicine. So, my son stayed home from school today for the first time. No perfect attendance this year. Oh well. I'm sure he'll be fine. I'll be anxious to get them better ... and hopefully pass on getting anything myself, as well.

"Is this Monday?" "No, this is Tuesday." :)

No Pictures! Too much fun! :)

Okay, so I probably could've taken pictures, but I was busy having fun and didn't really want the camera or phone to get in the way. Besides, when you have a "photographic memory," who needs pictures ... well, maybe my die-hard blog fans would've like them :( ... sorry.

Driving down on Thursday was easy for the kids and I ... once they got over the fact that mommy wasn't going to be catering to their every whim in the car. After the first hour and actually being stopped on the interstate for the construction at Menomonie, we stopped a couple times for potty breaks and food, but otherwise - Awe-some! It was nice to be able to be with Dad (Grampa) on his birthday. Hope he likes the trimmer. I know the card would've been enough, but sometimes you deserve more when you're a dad ... and a great role model :)

Having the gang up from Iowa was fun on Friday. 16 people in a ranch two-bedroom house usually isn't that comfortable, but it was on Friday. My children (and my nephew) apparently can make ANYONE happy :) Saturday was a bit of a bummer, with the Badgers blowing a first-half lead ... again. It was nice enough weather and good company, so I can't complain too much about the day.

Sunday was the day, though. My son and I spent ALL day together. First, we drove to Green Bay, parked and walked to Lambeau Field. We spent a small fortune on pop, pizza, hot dogs, and popcorn at the game. Got there an hour early. Watched warm-ups. Stayed for the whole game. 26-0 (shoulda been more for the Pack!) Saw Donald Driver make his record-breaking catch to become the player with the most receptions in Packer history - think about that one! More than Hutson, Freeman, Lofton, Sharpe. Not bad company. Then, my son and I started driving back home. Stopped after an hour and had a nice "sit-down" dinner, since that's what he wanted. Then drove the rest of the way home. Had nice talks. He slept about an hour. Then we kept each other awake for the last hour and got home to go to bed ... only about an hour later than normal :)

Random Wednesday?

Note to self: Thank you for letting the kids play with the camera. Since you don't have to pay for film or development anymore, digital pictures taken by the kids are awesome ... even if they aren't ... if you know what I mean :)

Today was cool, too. My daughter got to "play" with our neighbor for an hour or so while I volunteered at school with my son. Pirate Pancake day was pretty perfect :) Just wish I had pictures. If I would've planned ahead, I would've been prepared. Probably won't prepare next time either, but that's ok. My son loved having me there to help. I liked it, too. I had a pirate patch on my eye, a pinching pirate earring and a pirate pendant for my necklace. My son had a pirate hat with pirate wig and a pinching pirate earring as well. We both wore pirate rings on our pinkies. Can you tell it was "P" day?

Snow, snow, go away! Come again another day ... or another month?!

Just in case you were wondering ... it's actually January in Minnesota ... in OCTOBER! We're currently still getting snowed upon. There has gotta be about an inch so far, with another inch coming down. I'm just glad I wasn't going anywhere with the kids today except the grocery store. By mid-week it should warm up into the 50's. The problem with that is that 60's are supposed to be are normal temperatures at this time of year. Oh well. I guess we gotta get the snow gear out a bit early this year. I certainly wasn't expecting to send my son to kindergarten in his winter coat this early in October ... but today I will :) Does this mean Spring (and baseball season) will be here sooner?!?! Wait, the MLB World Series hasn't even started yet. It STILL IS baseball season. Maybe this will help the Packers beat the indoor Lions and Vikings in the coming weeks at Lambeau. Gotta put some good spin on this somehow :)

Bowling

Awesome Twins game last night ... lunch with my son at school today

If anyone didn't watch the Twins-Tigers game last, then you should have! It was fantastic. Tigers went up 3-0 early. Twins scrapped back, then went ahead. The Tigers tied it up at 4 late and the game went into extra innings. The Twins had a chance to win it with a sacrifice fly opportunity late in the game, but the runner on third thought it was going to be a hit and didn't get back to the base right away. Out at home on a good throw. The Tigers actually took a 5-4 lead in that 10th inning and the Twins came back with a run to push it further (and would've won it then, if they would've run the bases better). Then in the bottom of the 12th, the little guys at the end of the order came through again. 6-5 Twins in 12 innings. We watched the whole thing ... well, at least I did - and my son watched most of it. It was a blast to see the ball-players going nuts over winning one game - to get INTO the playoffs :)

Today was cool, too. It was my son's all-school BBQ (front of his school above). Everyone goes and pays for a burger, chips, fruit, and milk and sits to eat picnic-style in the gym. So, my son took all the family in, including his little sister. It was neat. One of our neighbor friends was there with his daughter at the same time, so we all sat on a blanket in the gym and ate our "cheese" burgers and boxed milk :) They stagger these things so that they can accomodate everyone, so unfortunately we didn't get to eat with the entire neighborhood. Oh well. It was neat to see other kids pointing out our son and saying "hi" to him, telling their parents who he was. :) Nice day, too. High 50's and sunny is much better than the gray sky, rain and low 40's we've been dealing with. All, in all, a good past 24 hours ... let's keep it up!

Swim class

Hayride

After running 10 miles yesterday, we went on a hayride .... well, not RIGHT AWAY. First we went to a buffet and ate too much. Then we went home and relaxed ... for four hours. Thennnn, we went on a hayride. Our neighbors were nice enough to invite us on the "Mom's Club" event, and we had fun. It was a nice day (to run AND to take a ride on a hay-covered wagon pulled by horses). The woods were nice - good color, not great. But the kids enjoyed it ... and ... we got to roast marshmellows, make smores, and the kids got to play in a big sand pile after the ride. Baths around and a good night's sleep :)

Twin Cities 10 Mile

So, I ran 10 miles yesterday :) ... up a few hills (I guess I ran down a few to start the race, too). 1 hour 24 minutes 41 seconds. 8 minute 29 second mile pace. 1199 out of 5797 participants. The winner ran it in 46 minutes and 35 seconds. Wow!

Anyway, ran it with some neighbors. They all beat me :) My family was at the end with another neighbor family, congratulating us. It was really good to have them there. And yes, that's a smile on my face ... even after running 10 miles.

Conflicted in real life ...

I don't know how many of you know, but I didn't watch the NFL ... AT ALL! (okay, 5 minutes) ... last year ... until the 10th week (which made Fantasy Football interesting). Now, don't get me wrong - I'm a big sports fan, and I did watch SportsCenter to get my updates. But, I watched a total of about 5 minutes up until the 10th week - and that was when I accidentally caught part of a Jets game when I knocked on a neighbor's door and asked a couple questions about an upcoming Badger game.

You might ask, "Why wouldn't you watch?" Well, I was really torn up about Brett Favre playing for someone other than the Packers. Not only am I a BIG Wisconsin Badger and Chicago Cub fan, but I also am a HUGE Green Bay Packer fan. Before the season started, when Brett was talking about coming back, I just assumed that the Packers would welcome him back. I clearly said to MANY people, "Brett will be playing for the Packers - or nobody - this year! If he plays for anyone else, I won't watch the NFL this season!" Well, my whole world turned on it's head when he played for the Jets, so it took a while for me to watch an NFL game.

Now, he's playing for the Vikings ... in the state where I live! Uhhhhh. Conflicted! I love the man, but ... the Vikings? You can't live in Minnesota, be a Packer fan, and hate a team any more (even the hated Bears are the second-most hated team for a Packer fan in Minnesota). So, I've been dealing with that. Now, this ...

Seriously? I guess when I bought the Green Bay Packers jersey (Favre, #4) a few years ago for my son, I didn't realize how much influence I have on my son. He's a HUGE Favre fan. And I guess he really doesn't understand the rivalry idea as much as I thought. I'm rooting for Favre a bit, too, I guess. But, there's no way I could wear anything "Vikings" and I told him as much.

This summer, he got used to rooting for three (or four teams): the Chicago Cubs, the Minnesota Twins, and any team playing against the St Louis Cardinals (and Milwaukee Brewers). But it hasn't translated to football I guess, and the love for Favre (and maybe some Vikings fans at school?) has brought about our purchase of a Favre t-shirt.

He did say that his favorite team is the Packers, followed by the Badgers (he doesn't quite get the whole college vs. professional thing), and then the Vikings (uuhhhh!). I'm not gonna be THAT DAD that makes his son like HIS teams. I'll stop short of not letting him get stuff like this. I can talk him out of a St. Louis Cardinals t-shirt or a regular Vikings shirt, but I really couldn't talk him out of this. Oh well. At least it's Brett. And I'm not on either side of the Packer-Favre feud. They're both at fault for one of the worst things that has ever happened - a hall-of-fame Packer playing for the WRONG TEAM at the end of his career!

Anyway ... we'll see when this makes it's first appearance in public. Thank goodness (really, I'm being thankful for this?) it's too cold to wear t-shirts outside or to school this week. I can't even imagine the reactions from my Packer friends and family. We wouldn't even have this option if we were in Wisconsin. That's what we get for living outside of cheese country, I guess. :)