back to school
Summers over :( Went school shopping at the Mall of America :) Always a smile and a frown for back to school :(:
ps. the high schooler left early with friends and missed bus stop video portrait.
road trip
The summer road trip was epic. We kick it off with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals at the Minnesota Zoo, and shared a late breakfast with Grandma/pa the next morning. Arriving just before the sun we met George, Thomas, Theodore & Abraham at Mount Rushmore and later explored Custer State Park and the Needles Highway. The next day armed with what amounted to a candle in a bucket, we descended 200' below the South Dakota prairie and hiked a couple miles of the seemingly endless Wind Cave. It was amazing down there but despite my pleading, they didn't allow cameras :-(
After climbing our way out the of cave we made the drive to Estes Park, the doorstep to Rocky Mountain National Park. There we met Emily, Doug, Gabe and Eli for the highlight of our trip, a 4 day backpack through the majestic high country of the Rockies.
All in all 11 adventurous days that will long be remembered.
caymankind
Our week in Little Cayman was absolutely fantastic. Sharing it with some of our favorite people elevated it to possibly the #1 vacation of all time. Thanks for diving in John, Carrie, Caroline and John Henry.
Given the epic nature of last week, packing all the memories into a little video was a bit difficult. Thanks to an awesome soundtrack from the Cayman Tourism Office and some ruthless editing, I managed. The track is called "Caymankind", and was a community project to highlight their welcoming culture and friendly nature. It's perfect.
festival
Isabel will be participating in the National Federation of Music Clubs "festival" tomorrow. She'll play two pieces of music for a panel of judges, and with a little luck, she'll earn another "superior" rating.
Good Luck Isabel!
great white
I've talked about photographing polar bears with my photo buddy Sparky, and my father in-law Loren on multiple occasions. Due to logistics and expense it was a pipe dream type trip I assumed would remain as such until I tracked down that winning lotto ticket. Well, in early 2012, Loren says to me, "you set up a trip, and I take care of the rest". So I did, and he did...
We flew out of Winnipeg for Churchill, Manitoba four years ago this week. Those were pre website days, and while I shared the photos in a book with Loren and others, I've never shared them online. The photos were taken over 4 short but amazing days with the great white bears of Hudson Bay.
slim lake
This year our annual adventure beyond the cell towers and constraints of our every day, brought us to Slim Lake. Joined by Grace's friend Geneva and her mom Carol, we spent five mosquito free days (seriously!) in the BWCA.
Perfect it was (except for my poison ivy legs that is :cry: )
making house boating great again
Just back from 5 days aboard a 54 foot houseboat in Voyageurs National Park. While things on "Our Boat" mostly worked, it looked like a 1970's costume party, and had some post party GI issues that made us thankful for a breeze. Despite that, sunny weather and warm water more than made up for our smelly party guest.
If house boating were an Olympic sport, our team would be wearing gold!
Go World!
footprints in the snow
Isabel's piano Festival was on Saturday. Thankfully the stomping in the snow softened to gentle footprints and was awarded a "Superior" rating (top honors). It's easily my favorite piano piece she's done.
Beautiful work Isabel!
cold science
a chilly -18°F this morning. Perfect weather for a little cold science...
Water does this for a few reasons, some of which a little complicated.
Certainly some of the effect is due to the fact that the now tiny droplets of boiling water spread out and will freeze much faster than if they remained in the container. But there’s another effect going on that's referred to as the Mpemba effect. It has to do with hot water freezing faster than cold water due to evaporation rates. And if you really want to know, due to the effect heat has on the length of H2O's hydrogen and covenant bonds....