Celebration of MN Children's Authors & Illustrators

We drove to Red Wing, MN on Saturday for one of our favorite annual events: the Celebration of MN Children's Authors & Illustrators.

We've gone to this since Bug was quite small. She's gotten to know several of the authors & illustrators, but none quite so well as David LaRochelle. This year, instead of having him sign a book for her, Bug brought at book for David. She wrote & illustrated it herself and I helped assemble it.

In this photo, David is reading his book (it's about birds of prey) and Bug is telling him about one bird in particular. 

Here, David is reading from one of his new books, The Haunted Hamburger and Other Ghostly Stories. (this is why he chose to wear that tie!)

Outside, Bug found this giant puppet (as she called it) to walk around in. 

Our new friend, E and her penguin balloon. 

Bug enjoyed showing E all around the center.

 Very cool horse sculpture made from all kinds of things...bedpan, flyswatters...

This lady was demonstrating a technique for painting/decorating paper. I think we'll try it!

Bug got a new book, Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor. 

After a stop at the park we went out for pizza. While the adults were chatting before heading our separate ways, the girls played on the sidewalk. I had them pose for one final photo. Perfect.

Hiking

 I joined Bug and her dad for some hikes yesterday and today. We tried out some new trails (for us) and discovered some cool stuff.

The first thing that I spotted was a rotting log that we now call "Skull Log". Do you see the skull?

Bug was thrilled to discover a small stream.

The water was pretty cold.

 

Bug left some wet handprints on the wall. Did you know that she's got 3 hands?!

We found some golf balls in the water, so Bug's dad worked on his juggling...

 

 She tried swinging on this vine.

 

We spotted a rabbit. 

We saw many interesting things...something had been chewing on this. 

This looks like something that showed up next to our driveway a year or two ago. Very odd. 

Bug spotted this in the trees. It looked like the branches were filled with spider webs.

Then we realized that each "web bag" was filled with worms?
We just got word from the fine folks at Russman's Spot have informed us that they are Tent Caterpillars.

 After the hike, we stopped at the playground for a bit. Bug worked on her balance. 

 

 

  

 

 On today's hike, we went to an area that we'd never been to before. I think that we'll go there again. It was beautiful.

Bug found a Big Rock to sit on.

 

I spotted this deer when we made a brief stop. 

 The water here was even COLDER than the water from yesterday. 

Bug found a rock to sit on and had a snack while listening to the water.

After the storm...

 All of the neighborhood kids came over to watch while these guys removed the tree from the car.

 Our landlord (who is also Bug's dad's boss) came over with his chainsaw.

 DEFINITELY will not be swinging on this!

Morning storm.

 We woke up to a bad storm this morning. I think what woke me was the sound of this limb grazing our roof and crushing the swingset.

 This is the other end of what took out the swingset. It bent a small piece of the gutter but didn't touch the roof. We're very lucky. 

 The lady across the street and down one house was not as lucky. Her car is a mess.

First day of public school...

 We've been doing a bit of homeschooling all summer and started most everything else up a week and a half ago. (science & history start next week) Keeping with our tradition, we went out for lunch...pizza and ice cream...while the "other kids" were at their first day of public school. This year, Bug's friend (and our neighbor) is homeschooling too, so she got to join us. They were VERY excited.

 

 We were nearly done with our ice cream when I realized that I hadn't taken any photos!

 Because it was rather hot outside, we were trying to stay in the shade as much as we could on the walk home. While walking past the new parking garage, we discovered poems in the concrete. Very cool! The girls read the first one and moved on to the next. There was a guy just finishing reading that one. While the girls were reading it he told me that he had written the one we'd be passing next. Very cool. In this pic, they're reading his poem. 

 

 Who knew that a walk through a somewhat industrial area would turn into a nature walk? The girls found a lot of feathers. They were happy, I was picturing the fight the death scene that resulted in so many feathers....