New Cousin, Trip to Chicago

Well not just a new cousin, but Julia and Finn's first cousin and Amanda and Torey's first niece! Johannah Mae was born in August, but this was our first opportunity to get to meet her.

The kids did a fake trumpeting to declare us being on our way to Chicago. It's not a short drive, but we made good time and no one got sick (Finn's had a few poorly timed car sickness episodes at the end of long journeys in the past. The Finncident comes to mind...)

We got situated at Jason and Tracie's house and immediately (obviously) people had to take their turns holding Johannah. Julia kept warning Amanda that if she didn't share the baby we would have to set a timer. I think she shared just fine.

Yes, that's Finn in the dog's crate in the background. Julia enjoyed chatting with her cousin. She told her stories and it seemed to keep Johannah calm.

Finn did really well with the baby too.

And we for sure needed to get a good picture of the three kids together!

We stayed in that evening and ordered deep dish pizza (of course!)

Finn had a lot of fun helping Johannah with different things. He tried all the different musical and swinging settings on her swing while she contentedly watched him.

He picked out her outfit the next morning too.

And before we headed out for an afternoon in the city, Julia got some more one-on-one time with her cousin.

The 10 minute walk from their house to the train is a pleasant one, despite this particular day being chilly and overcast. The kids enjoyed seeing the "castles" along the way.

It was Johannah's first ride on the 'L,' but not the kids'. That doesn't mean they weren't excited to be above the street and waiting for the train to arrive.

We walked the last fifteen minutes towards Lake Michigan and then spent the afternoon at the Field Museum. The kids each posed beneath the Brachiosaurus outside.

Elephants!

Sue!

Julia and I posed in front of a Stegosaurus.

I really like this picture: Julia and Finn in the lower left, totem pole outside the Field Museum, ominous clouds hanging low in the sky, heavy traffic on Lake Shore Drive in front of the Chicago skyline, boats on the water, and the Navy Pier Ferris wheel.

The next morning we headed back into Wisconsin, but not all the way home. We had a night stop-over in the Dells and stayed at the Kalahari. It was a pleasant way to finish a family-filled four-day weekend.

End of Summer, Start of School

Saving Polly

We keep the windows and blinds open later than usual on cool evenings. Any of the day's heat that has accumulated in the house is tempered by the nighttime air. During these times it is not uncommon for winged insects to congregate on the screens; they presumably feel the warm air emanating from the house. Though small, the bugs aren't able to fit through the tiny wired squares and into the heated sanctuary.

This particular, remarkably cool, August evening, I saw a dark oblong shaped object on the patio door screen while I was standing on the opposite side of the kitchen. I walked over and found myself staring at the belly of a honeybee. She wasn't moving, just hanging on with all six legs. Sometimes her antennas wiggled a little. I called the kids over to take a look.

I told the kids that she must have gotten too busy buzzing from flower to flower and the cold sneaked up on her. She probably realized she wasn't going to make it back to her sisters or mother and so she sought someplace warm. The kids peered at her alternating gold and brown stripes and skinny black legs. I suggested we rescue her and let her sleep in the house for one night. Julia was all for it, but Finn wasn't so sure.

We scrounged for a small plastic container and, after we found one, poked holes in the lid. Julia and I went outside while Finn stayed and surveyed the scene from the safe side of the screen. Julia called out while we were walking on the deck toward the side of the house.

"I need to get some flowers for her!"

"She'll only be in there one night, she probably doesn't need any."

"She might!" Julia picked a few small yellow flowers from amongst the grass in the front yard.

"Okay, that's fine," I told her.

Once we were on her side of the screen, we examined the bee again from the new angle. I gently gave her a pet on the back with one finger. Julia watched me nudge her with the lid and into the container. She then placed the flowers inside and I pushed the lid on tight.

Back in the house, we set the temporary honeybee living space on the counter. We needed a name. Julia suggested "Pollinate". I suggested the nickname version, "Polly". The latter stuck.

Polly wasn't sure about being trapped in such a small space. She tried climbing the sloped sides but kept falling. She eventually calmed down and just sat still.

Before the kids went to bed, we checked on her and while it was difficult to tell for sure through the plastic and amongst the flowers, Polly looked to be laying on her side. I was afraid she wasn't going to last til morning.

The next morning Julia woke me up twice before I got out of bed. Back in the kitchen, we looked carefully at Polly through the plastic. She at least appeared to be sitting upright. The temperature outside was only in the fifties, but the sun was bright. We took our little buzzer outside and set the container on the deck table. Finn went back inside before we opened it. Within seconds of removing the lid, Polly starting moving a bit. She was using her front legs and pulling on her antennas. She looked like a cat cleaning its ears. Julia and I looked at her close. We commented on her large eyes and fuzzy back. I told Julia she could pet Polly if she was gentle. I demonstrated with one finger and Julia followed suit.

After more antenna fiddling, Polly began climbing up the sides of the container and falling over. She had a much better time of climbing over the flowers. I praised Julia for her flower idea as they helped provide our little friend some needed traction. After a short while longer of moving around, Polly fluttered her wings a few times and buzzed a bit back and forth in the container. I indicated to Julia that she might take off soon. Seconds later she buzzed straight up past us and into the sky. We watched her flit up higher and higher until she veered toward the sun and we weren't able to keep track of her any longer. Julia had a huge smile on her face and was truly excited that our plan to rescue the bee worked out perfectly. I was pretty excited too.

Though we didn't get to see which way she flew, I would like to think Polly made it home safely and got to experience more days of looking for flowers. But I hope from now on, she heads home a little bit sooner.

The Kinni and the Rocky Branch

The Kinnickinnic River flows south through western Wisconsin on its way to meet up with the mighty St. Croix. Before it reaches that point, it flows along Main Street in River Falls. The river slows down enough to form Lake George and a little ways downstream, Lake Luise. At that point, Glen Park is just behind and ahead is a popular spot for kayakers to put in. This section of the river, on the south-western edge of the city, has a series of trails that lead to the water's edge and along it. I hadn't been on the trails in awhile and had wanted to take the kids there sometime.

Because of the heat approaching 100 degrees and because Finn was being fussy, I decided to just bring Julia. Like I did the summer before with Foster Cemetery, I decided to try it out with the older kid before bringing the younger.

We found the start of one of the trails and headed down the hilly trail towards the river. The heat was oppressive but we were mostly shaded, there was a slight breeze, and we had water. After the path leveled off, we caught glimpses of the river.

Julia and I took a few steps off the path to take a look at an old limestone kiln.

Back on the trail, we were getting nicer views of the Kinni. Along with the views came glimpses of wildlife. We saw two blue herons in the river.

The second one ended up flying into a tree to wait out the passing kayakers.

I was hoping to get Julia and me into the water, but there wasn't a good place where we were. Instead of the Kinni we found a babbling little tributary - the Rocky Branch. We walked up it a ways and thoroughly enjoyed the cold water during the sweltering temps.

Julia posed on a rock before we called it a day and hiked the steep trail back toward car.

A week later, the temperatures were at least ten degrees cooler and the five-year-old better rested. This time I took them both. They did the hand holding completely on their own.

After coming to the Rocky Branch again, I decided to take the kids farther along the Kinni to explore a bit. We came to another, meandered stretch of the Rocky Branch and so that's where we got our feet wet. It took a few minutes to get Finn moving - he saw a water bug and insisted on going home. Eventually he gave in and things were fine after that.

Just around the bend downstream we hopped back out and found a perfect, shallow, sandy area on the shore of the Kinni. We stayed there and the kids played for nearly an hour.

The three of us then went back to the same area Julia and I had gone the week before. The kids played a bit and then we had a snack on the sand along the Rocky Branch before heading home.