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lydamorehouseI didn't go to WisCON this year, but I kept up with it on Facebook! :-)
Instead, my family and I went to LaCrosse, Wisconsin to visit the grandparents (my folks.) I'm surprised Mason is still upright for all the running around we did, particularly yesterday. (My folk are actually "running" him on the Marsh Trail right now.) On Saturday it was mostly rainy, but I discovered that my folks have a neighbor whose wireless connection is strong enough that I could steal it from the comfort of their three-season porch. Their porch is probably one of my favorite rooms in their house. It's carpeted, filled with comfy couches, chairs, tables, and, like every room in their house, walls and walls of books. The porch is mostly windows, but they built-in bookshelves in the narrow spaces between the eight windows that encircle the rectangular space, and, well, it's just lovely. And an awesome space to catch up on Internet stuff and actually get quite a bit of Mouse writing done.
Sunday we were up at the crack of dawn (almost literally thanks to some very noisy birds just outside the windows), and Mason and I went off to Hixon forest, which is a nature perserve with walking trails that spans a couple of forest covered bluffs in the area. Mason and I climbed to the very top, even over the sandstone face! (The bluffs, according to Wikipedia are approximately 500 feet/152.4 meters high -- some of that is gentle slope, but some is nearly vertical.)
Then, after "a little lunch," as we say in Minnesota, it was off to Sunfish Days in Onalaska. There we enjoyed snowcones, fresh squeezed lemonade, hot, blinding sun, and a lot of carnival rides. Grandpa bought Mason an "all day" wristband pass, which meant he could go on unlimited rides. That thing very quickly paid for itself as Mason went around again and again on the giant slide. Then grandpa and Mason hit the ferris wheel, while mama, grandma and I watched with trembling knees (none of the rest of us like heights.) Grandpa, Mason and I hit the Tilt-a-Whirl, and then we had to go again with Mama, Mason and me. The second time around I nearly barfed, we got that chair-thingie spinning so fast. At some point at Sunfish Days, I realized I'd left without my wallet, but we didn't worry about that as grandma and grandpa were feeling mightily generous.
Finally, we dragged Mason away from the "clown house" (complete with massively overweight carnie woman chain-smoking in charge of the tickets) and more sliding, and went home for "hotdish" dinner. I was headed up for a nap when I realized my wallet wasn't just sitting around somewhere... it was lost.
I had a bad feeling that it was somewhere in Hixon Forest. Mason and I had had to slide down on our butts on a very steep section on the way back down the trail and I figured the wallet might have slipped out there. That had been hours ago, though, and the lost and found drop-box wouldn't be open until Tuesday... provided someone didn't just run off with it. So my papa and I headed back to the steep trails. Grandpa's knees kept him going at a slower pace, but he was carefully checking through the underbrush, while I sprinted to the top. My heart was pounding as I climbed hand over hand over the sandstone face, but I decided to go up the way we'd come down, thinking about that butt-slide. Nearly at the summit, just where I imagined it might be, there it was... just sitting in the middle of the trail, completely untouched. My cash was still inside.
My arms ache this morning, but I didn't have to replace my drivers' license AGAIN. Grateful, thy name is Lyda.
Instead, my family and I went to LaCrosse, Wisconsin to visit the grandparents (my folks.) I'm surprised Mason is still upright for all the running around we did, particularly yesterday. (My folk are actually "running" him on the Marsh Trail right now.) On Saturday it was mostly rainy, but I discovered that my folks have a neighbor whose wireless connection is strong enough that I could steal it from the comfort of their three-season porch. Their porch is probably one of my favorite rooms in their house. It's carpeted, filled with comfy couches, chairs, tables, and, like every room in their house, walls and walls of books. The porch is mostly windows, but they built-in bookshelves in the narrow spaces between the eight windows that encircle the rectangular space, and, well, it's just lovely. And an awesome space to catch up on Internet stuff and actually get quite a bit of Mouse writing done.
Sunday we were up at the crack of dawn (almost literally thanks to some very noisy birds just outside the windows), and Mason and I went off to Hixon forest, which is a nature perserve with walking trails that spans a couple of forest covered bluffs in the area. Mason and I climbed to the very top, even over the sandstone face! (The bluffs, according to Wikipedia are approximately 500 feet/152.4 meters high -- some of that is gentle slope, but some is nearly vertical.)
Then, after "a little lunch," as we say in Minnesota, it was off to Sunfish Days in Onalaska. There we enjoyed snowcones, fresh squeezed lemonade, hot, blinding sun, and a lot of carnival rides. Grandpa bought Mason an "all day" wristband pass, which meant he could go on unlimited rides. That thing very quickly paid for itself as Mason went around again and again on the giant slide. Then grandpa and Mason hit the ferris wheel, while mama, grandma and I watched with trembling knees (none of the rest of us like heights.) Grandpa, Mason and I hit the Tilt-a-Whirl, and then we had to go again with Mama, Mason and me. The second time around I nearly barfed, we got that chair-thingie spinning so fast. At some point at Sunfish Days, I realized I'd left without my wallet, but we didn't worry about that as grandma and grandpa were feeling mightily generous.
Finally, we dragged Mason away from the "clown house" (complete with massively overweight carnie woman chain-smoking in charge of the tickets) and more sliding, and went home for "hotdish" dinner. I was headed up for a nap when I realized my wallet wasn't just sitting around somewhere... it was lost.
I had a bad feeling that it was somewhere in Hixon Forest. Mason and I had had to slide down on our butts on a very steep section on the way back down the trail and I figured the wallet might have slipped out there. That had been hours ago, though, and the lost and found drop-box wouldn't be open until Tuesday... provided someone didn't just run off with it. So my papa and I headed back to the steep trails. Grandpa's knees kept him going at a slower pace, but he was carefully checking through the underbrush, while I sprinted to the top. My heart was pounding as I climbed hand over hand over the sandstone face, but I decided to go up the way we'd come down, thinking about that butt-slide. Nearly at the summit, just where I imagined it might be, there it was... just sitting in the middle of the trail, completely untouched. My cash was still inside.
My arms ache this morning, but I didn't have to replace my drivers' license AGAIN. Grateful, thy name is Lyda.