First Snow of the Season

 Ugly picture of a bland terrain.  But, for my yearly documentation, the first snow of the season was today!

And, so it begins....  *groan*.

Learning Our Lineage

 Oh, our family has a LOT of history and a number of stories, from their emigration from other countries and travels to their homesteads within the United States.

Ramsey's class's most recent creative writing assignment was to learn about their lineage and where they came from.

I dug out a centennial book from 1986, plus a history on my Dad's side of the family.  

We found all kinds of crazy stories.   One of them, a great great great ancestor came to South Dakota from Wisconsin (originally from Wales) on a trip, to survey the land for homesteading.  On the way back home, he and his friend (who were traveling by boat on the Missouri River) got into some nasty weather and waters (in frigit temperatures). The boat capsized and they lost everything.  Our ancestor's friend drowned.   That said, the ancestor returned to Wisconsin and brought his family.  They homesteaded by Hecla, being some of the first settlers in the area.  

Ramsey talked to grandpas and grandmas and Auntie Sarah who all gave him good information!  Auntie Sarah even had some terrific pictures from Eric's side of the family.

The writing assignment apparently wasn't meant to be long, as he had a very small amount of writing space.  But, the information he learned about our family was pretty amazing!

Reading Challenge - October

 ...Another successful reading challenge completed for the month of October.   Ramsey's class has nightly homework to read (aloud) for at least 15 minutes.   If they surpass 24 or more days a month, they receive a special bonus treat.  Many times, it's a personal pan pizza.   This month, juice and candy!

Halloween & Dio De Los Muertos Cookies

 Instead of door-to-door trick-or-treating, we decided to make frosted sugar cookies to celebrate both Halloween and Dio De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

We had fun making the cookies this evening.  Ramsey's favorite thing is licking the beaters!    

I liked painting the frosting with the edible paint.

Trunk or Treat!

 For Halloween, Ramsey said he wanted to be "Maverick" from Top Gun.  He said he wanted to dye his hair black!   

With the aviator glasses and bomber jacket, I bought some temporary black spray for his hair.  On the day of Trunk or Treat, he decided against the black spray.  I didn't fight his final decision.  

When we arrived at the yearly tradition Trunk or Treat event, there had to have been THOUSANDS of people there.  Rows and rows and rows of trunks were open, all designed with fun themes and people dressed up in fun costumes, passing out candy.  It was seriously overwhelming!  Finding a parking spot was a treat, but we managed.  ha!

Halloween isn't Ramsey's "thing".  He doesn't care about the candy or dressing up.  He basically goes because I love it... and there's bouncy castles!!    I was a bit sad at one point, as Ramsey said to me, "Mom, I feel weird.  No one knows who I am supposed to be!"  My child was unsure of himself and feeling self-conscious.  I reassured him that a LOT of people knew EXACTLY who he was (he had many compliments on his cool bomber jacket).   Halloween should be fun, so we stayed as long as Ramsey was willing.

This year, they had a laser game.  Think of Mssion Impossible or Oceans 11.... with criminals in black cat suits ducking, dodging, and stealthily moving through a maize of red lasers in order to get to the priceless jewel.  

Before Ramsey went in, he watched other kids on the video monitors try to avoid the green lasers.  Many didn't do so well.

When Ramsey went in, I watched him.  He restarted once, but then he moved through the laser beams like a panther, avoiding them completely.   I was impressed!  And, he made it in good time!

And... Ramsey's main reason for going to Trunk or Treat:  the bouncy castle.  It was a maze, with slides, bouncy stairs, and all sorts of obstacles.   Ramsey went through a few times before he started overheating and decided he'd had enough.

We forewent getting any candy (too many people for Ramsey and too many lines).  I dragged him to one place with a short line so I could get some chocolate!  Then, we buckled up and left.    We had decided not to go to the other two Trunk or Treat events.  Instead, we grabbed some McDonald's from the drive-through and went home.  I think Ramsey's highlights were the bouncy castle and the chicken nuggets.  ha!

October View on the Lake

 It's been a GORGEOUS October.   I don't need too many words to describe it.  Just check out this view from the kayak, taken close to the North Bridge, facing south on our lake.  Incredible!

Can Somebody Get this Kid a Haircut?

 Ya, it's official, between my lacadaisical or procrastinating nature, plus Ramsey's disdain of haircuts, we've pushed it a little too far.   This kid needs a haircut!!  Gah!