Time in Mountain, WI

Today we went to church, then a picnic, then climbed a spindly 100-foot fire tower, then watched a parade, then did stuff at my parents house, then climbed the rock formation behind my parents house, then did other stuff at my parents house, then Kris and I went for a hike near Chute Lake,  then we had a campfire, and then watched TV.

School End and Memorial Day Weekend Trip to WI

Kristine finished 8th grade and Katie finished 1st grade earlier this week.  Both did well in school.  Yesterday, we traveled up to Door County to visit Karen's dad.  Kris got a driving lesson on a lawnmower.  Today we drove over to Mountain, WI, to visit my parents.  Lots of mosquitoes in Wisconsin.

Thinking of Moore, OK

I was just looking at a map of the path taken by that terrible tornado that hit Moore, OK, yesterday and realized that it crossed I-35.  We drove down I-35 through that city on a business trip to Denton, TX, at the end of July, 2010.  Here is a picture I shot on that trip, apparently this was a bit to the north of the tornado track.  At my house, we have gotten wind, rain, and a little hail from the same overall storm system, so I'm feeling pretty blessed.

Transition Weekend to Summer

Academic spring ended at Bradley University this past week, and May Interim starts tomorrow.  Thursday evening, a coal train derailed along Kickapoo Creek (not too terribly far from the one on Labor Day weekend in 2010).  We are guessing that the tracks were weakened by the recent floods.  Another apparent  effect of the floods is that there have not been any Saturday night races at the local dirt track (not too upset about that).  On Friday, Kristine took her 8th grade class trip to the Six Flags amusement park near St. Louis.  It prompted some very dim memories of my own 8th grade class to the Six Flags amusement park near Chicago - thirty years ago!  Kris reports that she had fun.  Katie and I planted our veggie garden on Friday. On Saturday, Karen, Kris, and I helped with Project Sunshine, where we helped renovate a house for a foster family. We got full of paint. I had to leave early for Bradley University's graduation reception, but Karen and Kris kept on painting (and Karen is pretty sore today).  Today I accompanied Katie for her bike ride at Bradley Park in the warm sunshine.  I have also included some pictures associated with the maple tree helicopters that have been swarming our neighborhood, including a sort of abstract micrograph of the veins in the seed and also a picture of the seeds getting caught in a crack in our driveway and standing upright.  Kris noted that our driveway has a mohawk!

Mother's Day Weekend

Final exam season for me - it has been keeping me busy. Karen went to Virginia Beach to visit her family and celebrate her grandma's 90th birthday.  Hopefully the rest of the family can visit sometime outside of the school year.  Karen had a good time, and returned safely to Peoria this evening.  While she was gone on Friday, Kristine and some Bradley students helped to do science demos at Katie's elementary school.  Elsewhere in the school, one of the teachers brought in many animals, and my girls got to handle a pygmy African hedgehog (Karen and I had one back in the 90s, when I was in graduate school). One of the side issues with doing all of those demos is where to hose off and dry the tarps - for me it is my backyard.  On Saturday, I took the girls bumper-bowling.  Katie stunned us with a 107 and 3 spares in one game! (She also got a kick out of the hand-dryer.) Saturday was windy, knocking down this tree on Bradley's campus.  On Sunday, the girls and I drowned our sorrows over lack of Karen at a yummy Chinese buffet.

First Hike of the Year

I have not blogged much with the end of the academic year approaching, otherwise I would be posting a plethora of flood-related pictures.  Those floods are in slow retreat.  Thanks to Kate and Kris for going on a hike with me in the woods today. My right foot is

not 100% yet, but better than I was (my doctor said I could move about in stiff shoes). Kris found a mayapple plant stuck in a dead leaf. Kris and I found fossils and found some fossilized ripple marks, but we found ourselves missing fossil hunting in Texas, a bit, too.