THE PARK POST

Without Mike here I wasn't sure how we were going to carve pumpkins this year. That has always been his domain, but Sydney really wanted a carved pumpkin and wasn't going for the paint idea. So I bought a pumpkin carving kit and tried to put a pattern on the pumpkins and then trace it. I should have realized I am not good at that sort of thing. Basically you have to have a lot of patience and time, and honestly I don't have much of either, so I went back to the basics and figured out how to make simple cuts in the pumpkins with the good old kitchen knife. I was so proud of myself after 2 hours of cutting with the final product. Even though "Jack and Jilly"(as Sydney called them) looked pretty amateurish, Sydney seemed appeased so it was all good. I didn't notice until today that we have a serious petry dish full of mold growing out in both pumpkins. With all of the rain and humidity they are taking on a life of their own. When I took the lid off, ther...

"This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact life is difficult no longer matters.” (M. Scott Peck – The Road Less Traveled.) Re-reading one of my favorite books, "The Road Less Traveled."

> 9 Years Old!! It's been a great ride!! Happy Birthday Jackson!!

We took our first trip to Florida last weekend to attend one of McKell's gymnastic's meets. Palm trees, blue water and white sand are simply medicine for my soul. The first night we went to Pineapple Willy's and the kids all picked out a T-shirt. We took some pictures on the beach at sunset. It was gorgeous. We hopped back in the van and started out the wrong way because the GPS hadn't kicked in yet. I pulled off the side of the road so I could make a U turn and didn't realize I was in some really soft sand and got us stuck. We were on a dark street at about 9 at night in a new town and I honestly had a moment of panic, but then I noticed two men on bikes headed towards us. I flagged them down and they helped me out. The last thing the stranger said was, "you need to get out of here, this is a bad part of town." I think we must have some guardian angels watching over us right now. As beautiful as the beach and resort were, there was a gnawing loneliness...

Paige is learning all about what it means to actually study and work hard in school this year. She has always been able to get by without having to do much, but her high school Biology class is pushing her to new heights. She finally realized that her teacher is not going to spoon feed her all of the material and that when she reads and knows the info in the text book she does better on the test. She was proud of herself when she got a great score on her midterm. It's so rewarding to see your kids make the connection between real learning versus regurgitating facts. It's also science fair time. ugh... She decided (with her Dad's help) to do a project on why blubber is such a good insulator for marine animals in the antarctic. She has spent a lot of time with her hand in a bowl of ice water the last few days. Amazingly, Crisco really does help insulate your hand from the cold. (One advantage to having some extra blubber around the middle). I'm so glad Mike has tim...