Tale As Old As Time...

Stop me if you have heard this one before. Mom brings her child to her old high school to see a play thinking it will be a cool experience for the kid. Kid is totally untouched by the sentimental factor and the Mom leaves feeling like an antique. Well, at least the play (Beauty and the Beast musical) was good...

Here's Bella's favorite part of the day, an encounter with Belle. She was very amused that both of their names meant "beautiful" in different languages.

Bella was on a roll last week with activities. Saturday morning she was up early to participate in her 2nd official run. This was called, The Turkey Trot. She ran with her cousin.

Warming up

Can you spy Bella?

You may notice that all the pictures that I got were in anticipation of the race, not of them actually running.There is a simple explanation. The race itself was more like a 100yd dash than the 1/4 mile I had expected. In fact, when Bella was done, she thought it was a warm up! Oh well, next time I will make sure and see how long the "fun run" actually is...

Final activity of the week for Bella? Well we'd been thinking, she IS almost 10, so maybe she needs to go find a job. And we present...

Actually Bella made her working debut for a reason. No, it wasn't to buy Mommy and Daddy that new 3D flat screen tv they have been spying. She was working with the 4-6 grade classes at school to raise money for a trip to a survival camp they will be taking in the Spring. Although now that I saw she was pretty good at the gig, there might be hope for my flat screen after all...

Next week is Thanksgiving already. We are headed for our annual trip to Wisconsin Dells to visit family and do a whole lot of nothing for a few days...

Please to Meet You, Hope You Guess My Name...

Did you ever have the feeling the universe was trying to send you a message. That happened to me this past week, but I am still unsure (and also a little afraid) to know what the message may have meant. You may have read about my horror filled night last year at the Trail of Terror. Well last week I kept winning tickets to the event. First I won 4 tickets from being signed up with a local family newsletter and then I won 2 more for being signed up for a local tv station's newsletter. Randomly drawn? Well, I have my doubts. I am well acquainted with Godwinks, but winning all those tickets to something I despised felt more like a devil high five. So what did I do with them? Well I sold 4 of them and 2 went unused.

So although I would not allow myself to be terrified again at the Trail of Terror, my sister was successful in getting me to ValleyScare. Becca, Harry and my sister's step daughter came too. For those of you unaware of ValleyScare, it is held at a local amusement park. During the summer season, it is known as ValleyFair, but come October it becomes ValleyScare. The roller-coasters and other scary rides were open and there was a haunted graveyard area. There were also a few themed areas you could go in and get scared, like Camp Wekilou (pronounced We-kill-you) and the Scary Clown Zone. Finally, what haunted attraction would be complete without the Insane Asylum? I liked that the characters couldn't touch you and the fear seemed spread out, with areas you could go to take breaks from the rush of adrenaline. Here are a few pictures from our time there.

My number one complaint of ValleyScare was severe over use of the fog machines. Note to management: if you can taste the fog in you mouth, without it being open, there is too much.

The rest of Halloween 2011 was also pleasant and fun. This past Saturday, Bella ran in a kids' pumpkin run. It was a 1/4 mile and she finished with a time of 3:03. I am not a distance runner at all (50 yd dash only) so I am pretty sure she would have beat me in the race. The pumpkin run was the end of the Run Club she has been doing at school every Tuesday and Thursday since school began. I really believe it has helped strengthen her legs. Her swimming coaches have noticed a difference. She really enjoyed the Run Club even though she said it was hard work. I am so proud that Bella is always willing to try new things, even when they are hard.

After the big run, the Rowe's headed off to the Minnesota Arboretum for some Halloween fun. There was some trick or treating, a hay maze, and an awesome craft involving apples and vegetables. Harry decided to go as a nerd and Bella was a leopard cat. Becca was too old for a costume, but not too old to enjoy some family togetherness. Here's the pictures:

Which brings us to the pinnacle of Halloween 2011, the actual night of Halloween. With it being a Monday this year, trick or treating started early and ended early. Here are the crazy kids. Notice that Harry transformed from a nerd to the Joker. Boy, does he love Halloween.

Well with Halloween behind us, we roll onward and upward through the holiday season of 2011. There is a rumor that the Rowe Family will be adding an honorary member in January 2012 in the form of a Chinese exchange student. Another person in our chaos? Now, THAT'S scary...