I love going to our State Park in the fall. OK, I love going there any time I can, but really love going there in the fall. Yeah, going anywhere outside in the fall is exciting for me *g* We used to always make it up to the North Shore (north of Duluth) area.. just breathtaking. We haven't now for a few years. Now this year we'll be up there next week. With Sandra and Holly to boot! We may have missed the colors, a bit late for up north, but still fun to visit.

We're heading down to Minneapolis today. Tim and the kids are going to do a fun raiser walk for mental illness awareness on Saturday. I'll be attending the MN Homeschooler's Alliance conference. Sandra is going to be speaking there, as the key note speaker! Yay! Unschoolers unite! :)

We'll also be going to the MN Renaissance Festival and possibly a museum or two...pictures to come, for sure! ;)

But first, last nights photos from the State Park!

And we're off!

Yeah, we're tree huggers


Check out the light and colors in this one!



I love this trail, we have a canopy of trees over and around us. It just envelops us :)



Our view to the side, mostly yellows and light greens right now, some reds, but they seem to go first.



The climbers scouting out sites







Do you see them?



And what were the others doing?





And this??





Enjoying the sunset



And it was gone...


Kyra didn't want to leave,
RAWR!

It's the day!

I have a VERY happy son!

Why? Halo 3 came out today! Yes it's 12:39 a.m. on September 25.

How long has he waited for this? "A couple years" he says. I remember all the speculation about this game through those years.

Before unschooling came into our lives I would never have dreamed of driving somewhere at midnight for a, yes, video game. How life has changed, for the better. It's amazing.

It's affected us all in big radical ways.

It's Abbi's Birthday!

Our Abbidoo is 13!

Happy Birthday Sweetie, WE LOVE YOU!

And *he*
dropped in to say Happy Birthday too!

Kahlil Gibran on Children

Many people in the unschooling community have mentioned how they love Kahlil Gibran's words.
I haven't read a lot by him, only bits and pieces. I thought I'd see if there were writings on the internet--there are :)

You can find The Prophet here

His philosophy seems to be in sync with our own radical unschooling ways.

Here are his words on children:

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

"Teenagers Scare the Living **** Out of Me"... NOT

Teens are a pain, they are scary, they are hard to understand individuals....

**

NOT!

**

I HATE when people pigeon hole the group of people in the age group of 13-19.

Full of life, full of ideas, amazing individuals; that's what I'd call them.

**and I'd like to give credit for these photos to 2 other unschooling families, Thank you!
Almost Always Hungry and Zenmomma's Garden

Don't mush the mushrooms!

Kyra got upset at Tim this afternoon when he was going to get rid of some mushrooms in our yard. She said, "They're fairy houses, so they don't get wet in the rain!"

I asked her if she wanted to build a fairy village?

And so it began...




We scouted out locations.


We liked this area in our back woods. See the moss covered log? hmmmm....


There it is



We looked for natural materials.







Can you tell we're diggin all the fungi right now?


Kyra decided that the white top would make an awesome pillow for a bed.


Here's the view our fairy will have from its bed.


I know I would love to sleep out here.

Can you tell I had fun taking pics today?



I love the color of the hydrangea in the fall. The leaves turn yellow and redish orange and the blooms turn a pretty lilac color.


We are going to do more building tomorrow.

The Heart is a Tender Thing

I guess I've always known that, but we've really learned about that this week.

We're over in Fargo/Moorhead right now. My mom had to have a pacemaker put in. We're watching her and hugging her, sharing our love. She's doing pretty good. We've been joking around, "yeah, it's a good thing to keep going, your heart!" *G*

Laughing is a good thing.

We're going home today, and getting a sign up, yep a "for sale" one.

Here's a happy Mom/Grandma. She isn't so happy when I speak of possibly leaving MN :( Like I said, the heart is a tender thing...

We're home

We're back from the Live and Learn Conference. Getting the dirty clothes washed, unpacking and easing back into our daily lives. We already miss all of the like minded souls that we got to hang out with.

The thing that I love most about this conference is the joy that you see in everyone's faces. It's amazing.

Some moments from the conference~~

Bein' CrAaaZeeeeeeeeeee!

Tim and Kyra sang "Mad World" with Abbi accompanying them. We're so happy we don't live in "that" world. :)

A new friend

We got to see friends from another continent!



Momma love



Me thinks me sees a Kyra and a Cece

Weeee whooooo!

Dancing "Tanuk Tanuk" for the talent show.

Kyra in front of a sign that her Fairy Godparent put up honoring her!



Abbi getting ready to do the Alpine Tower at the Challenge Course.



Abbi conquering the Alpine Tower! 50 or so feet up!



Alec getting strapped in to make the climb. Do I see a bit of concern on that Mom's face?? *g*

He did awesome! Of course :)

At the top, Wahoo!



Of course, one must wonder if one's hair is OK after doing a challenge course ;)



Happy climbers!



The Balloonatik Momma



Minnesota unschooling parents unite! :)



Awwww...