dubuque.

We had a mini-trip this week...an overnight trip to Dubuque, Iowa. We go once a year or so to the Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium there. This visit was our first since they expanded and added another building with more river history and preservation as well as a splash play area and big aquarium.


We love going to museums right after school starts - it is too early for the field trip buses, and we get the whole place practically to ourselves. That gives us plenty of time and quiet to really explore, read, listen, look, absorb. My oldest is a very sensory sensitive kid, so this is necessary for us - he can go at his own pace without the noise, smells, and distractions of too many people!


Having time and quiet means we can really get into the exhibits too, and often get to chat in-depth with the people working at the different areas ... both boys spent a lot of time chatting with the lady at the touch tank about crayfish and river pollution, and we even watched them feed an alligator and huge alligator snapping turtle! We wandered for hours - there is always something new to explore each time we go, and we all learn so much.


While Dubuque is less than 2 hours from home, it is always nice to make it an overnight, and with my husband home for 2 weeks (woo hoo!) we decided to stay in an awesome hotel. We swam in the pool, spent time in the hot tub, the boys got cozy in the hotel robes (love!), we ate at a nice restaurant, played board games in the room, looked at the river and city at night from our window, and wandered the downtown area. Perfectly wonderful - spending time exploring with my favorite people on the planet.

Just from asking about the name of the hotel we were in, we found out about the history of Dubuque and learned about the tales of how Al Capone may have been tied to the this place. Of course getting little morsels of information about gangsters, prohibition, smuggling, racketeering, and how that all played into the history of a small midwestern city sitting on the Mississippi River...well, my guys are totally interested in finding out more!


So we are back home, re-charging, getting ready for the Sheep & Wool Festival this weekend. What a great little trip...can't wait for the next one!

summer weekends.

We got away for a weekend that we all needed. We found a lovely cottage in a small town just over an hour away. It is a town full of stone cottages, old mines, log cabins, art galleries, interesting history, good restaurants, quirky old homes (a sweet yarn shop) and extremely steep hills.


The favorite thing about the cottage for the boys was the mail slot. Yep, it was fun! They also loved the cozy beds, antiques and giant hammock in the big lawn out front.


While we were only gone only 2 1/2 days, we packed in a lot of fun. The whole weekend was cool, even chilly - long pants and jackets in July! So we were able to go on long walks up steep hills to see old mining equipment, badger holes and restored prairie, walk through town, and visit many parks. Such a lovely place!


The boys loved finding out where the term Wisconsin Badgers came from. While the badger is indeed now the University mascot, the term comes from the miners who came to work in SW Wisconsin in the early 1800's who dug holes in the sides of hills to provide themselves with shelter in our cold winters as they worked to mine lead, zinc or other minerals. They dug holes like the badgers did to hole up for winter, and the name stuck!


While we were indeed perfectly happy hanging out at our cottage, going on walks, trying all the different restaurants and having ice cream at a local shop where we could also play Yahtzee!, we did venture into Iowa on Saturday to re-visit a river museum and got lucky to be there for a conservation event ... the boys saw freshwater snails, crawdads, turtles, snakes, and fish.


Very exciting! The museum also had a large lizard exhibit which we had to go back through many times before we could leave.


We had such a nice weekend the boys were sad to go. They really really miss that hammock!


And I miss seeing bats and birds and all the stars.

minneapolis in full color.

We had a nice 3-day weekend in Minneapolis. While my husband was stuck inside at a conference all day every day, the boys and I explored parks, beaches, nature centers and more - anything to be outside! The weather was nice and the fall colors were just breathtaking. OK, we did do a little of the inside stuff on Friday evening when my husband was finished...a little of this,


and a little of this.


But the rest of the time was spent wandering. We visited my favorite natural toys and crafts store. We discovered the most awesome park system with trails and playgrounds and a gorgeous nature center which had amazing 3-D colorful murals of animals in their habitats - from forest to prairie to wetlands (photos cannot do it justice).


We went on nature walks where the aspens were raining their golden leaves onto our heads as the boys spun and danced. We saw many snakes. We have gone hiking and walking hundreds (if not more) times in Wisconsin and have only seen two snakes. In a (busy) nature park in Minneapolis, over only 20 minutes, we saw more snakes than the boys will ever hope to see again in their lifetimes. Excitement, let me tell ya. Ahem.


We wandered from local cafes to neighborhood parks and played and played.


Each hike we went on had more and more color - it was so beautiful.


I am happy to say we spent much of the weekend hanging out, walking in the vibrant leaves without shoes (well, but for the snake part!), getting dirty, taking walks through neighborhoods, and just enjoying autumn in full color. Part of that was because it is just too tough for one adult to take two small spunky kids to busy public places on a weekend - and part of that was realizing that we didn't have to *do* anything but explore and have fun and enjoy each other. And THAT made it a special trip to remember!

I'm going to post some more photos over at Flickr...what a fun weekend!