Gingerbread Houses and Skating

This past week Jen and I went to school to help D with making his gingerbread house in class. We had a blast helping and watching all of the kids with their parents making masterpieces.


Today we woke up to our first snow, only a dusting but still snow :) We took the kids skating for the first time. It was S and D's first time skating. M and B have been one other time. They did great and had a blast. Everyone fell down at least once.

New Car

Bought a new (used) car for Jen today. She really wanted a Subaru Outback so we found one that should work great for her. It is perfect for the ND winters. It has heated seats, mirrors and heated windshield where the wipers rest so they don't freeze up. Very nice.

Glow-in-the-dark, carrots, pumpkins, family, and new skates.

Wanted to install a new ceiling light/fan into S's room and couldn't find a cool one. Then the light bulb went off and we bought a regular ceiling fan and some glow-in-the-dark paint and the rest is history.



It looks wicked cool when it spins.


Neighbor down the street gave us a bag of carrots from their garden this past week. Wow, I was shocked to see how stout they are. Clear indicator that our clay soil is very dense and impacts root crop morphology.


Getting close to Halloween so we carved our pumpkins last night. The kids really enjoyed getting all slimy. They did a great job. We have two faces, one ghost and one flying bat.



We had a great weekend. My parents came to visit Fargo for the 1st time to see the grandkids and our new house. It was nice to see them. The kids already miss their grandparents.



Grandma thought it was a good idea to get them an early Christmas present. This is one present that they will use quite a bit this winter. We have 3 outdoor rinks within a couple blocks of our house in 3 different directions. Maybe Santa will bring hockey sticks.

Greenhouse Update

Not much news here this week. Jen and I made progress on the greenhouse. I hope to be planting this week and maybe covering by the weekend. It will be nice to have an extended gardening season next year.

Are the Neighbors Ready for This

We finally have Halloween ready. The neighbors are quite impressed and excited about Halloween. A couple of the neighborhood teenagers said that they would help me on Halloween. If you are around on Oct 31st stop in for a cookie and some warm cider. Be careful of zombies and vampires though. The hearse is also up and running if anyone wants a ride, in the front that is.


I had to make a new cemetery sign, the Junior Ave sign was left in WV.



Boo.


Only 22 more days until Halloween.

Greenhouses, Snowblowers and Giant Spiders

This weekend was a blast. We bought our first snowblower in preparation for what is to come in a few months. Some are saying that we are going to have a record snowfall. We will see.


I spent part of yesterday getting our high tunnel (unheated greenhouse) together. I hope to have it built and covered before Halloween. It will be 16 x 21'. I plan on growing blueberries, brambles and the rest of the garden in it. This should help quite a bit with our shortened season. I should be ahead of anyone in the area come spring and have a later harvest in the fall as well.


We are still loving our neighborhood. We had another block party to celebrate the end of summer. Our neighbors had a big BBQ/Potluck and then we watched 'Rio' on a screen that was on their garage door. Numerous family from the street where there. It was a lot of fun.


I just bought the only addition that we are going to add to Halloween this year, a giant jumping spider. When you step on a pad it lunges out and makes a cool spooky sound. Halloween is going to be a blast.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Well, Just Planes.

Last month Fargo had the annual air show. This year the Navy Blue Angels were the featured guests. S and D really wanted to see them as did I. Seeing the Blue Angels in person has been a dream of mine for 20 years. Seeing them was one item on my bucket list. We spent an entire Sat. afternoon watching some of the coolest planes and stunts that I have ever seen. There was one stunt pilot that did a fly-by with the cockpit open and was standing up on his seat to wave at the crowd. Another plane did loops and several engine stalls and allowed the plane to free fall until the last moment and started the engines back up. They were crazy.



Before the show started, we were able to tour through a cC-27J Spartan support airlift plane. S and D even had an opportunity to sit in the pilots seat. Way cool!





One of the coolest flights was the USAF Heritage Flight which serves as a living memorial to the men and women of the USAF past and present. During this flight two planes (Modern F-18 Jet and P-51 Mustang from WWII) flew together in formation. This was very emotional to watch.


Finally at the end of the show the Blue Angels took flight. They put on quite a show. Awesome formations, amazing control, simply amazing pilots and planes. At the end of the show, the Blue Angel pilots walked over and gave autographs. I was amazed at how personable they were to all of the kids and gave each child personal attention. They had class. When D was getting the Commanding Officer's ( Capt Greg McWherter) autograph, he told him that he wanted to be a Blue Angel Pilot some day. Capt McWherter smiled and told D that he would see him in 30 years. I was happy because I was able to shake their hands.







What a great day!