The Lieslands

This year we headed south for Thanksgiving and had a great time at the Connors’.

This weekend was the Living History Farms Off-road Race. For the first year ever all of the Lieslands competed in the races. Susan and I ran in the 7 mile race, Elliot ran a 400m, and Mari and Andrew ran a 1/4 mile.

I love playing cards and so do the kids!

It is hard to tell from this picture, but yesterday Elliot had his front two top teeth pulled. They were too close together and rotting away, so it was time to set them free. Hopefully they will fill in sometime in the next 3 years.

As part of our homeschool efforts we are members of a co-op that takes one outdoor fieldtrip every month. This month we went to the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge, just a few minutes outside of Des Moines. The kids were great and my favorite part of the trip was when we all managed to be silent for at least a minute. There was a lot of nature going on around us and it was great to be able to hear it!

Susan left town this morning and the kids and I got out this afternoon for a bike ride. We veered off the trail and decided to explore the exposed river bed.

Last night we spent the night at a cabin at Whiterock Conservancy with the Reagens. It was a great time. Today we got out for a morning hike and spent some time playing in the Middle Raccoon River, which was not warm.

Today we went biking on what I call the Ashworth Flats, some flat mountain bike trails a couple of miles from our house. The kids had a great time and we hope to make it out again soon.

Today we celebrated Andrew’s birthday with the extended family. He wanted to have a race for his birthday so we had a .8 mile race around a lake, followed by a Skyline dinner.

It is not the usual rose petals that we are accustomed to, but Susan and I woke up this morning to a trail of Ginkgo leaves leading us downstairs. I’ll settle for that on a late-September morning.