Thanksgiving!

First attempt making home-made noodles last night. Sure hope I don't give the family food poisoning on Thursday. I'm going to miss having the boys, Randy & Susan all together with us, but am thankful to have mom and dad coming to spend the day with us.

Nuno Felting

Took a Nuno felting class at the Art Center in Broadripple. Mom joined me - we had a great time, but it sure is a lot of work. Lots of standing and lots of working with your upper body. Probably wouldn't need to go to the gym if you did this every day.

Emily Clark taught the class. She has a business - check her out on
www.emilliner.com
Very cool gal. She is an excellent instructor with a great personal backstory. She's worked in London and made hats for the royal family and for the Sex and the City movie. Good times.

Honduras

Kissed a dolphin in the Honduras! Fiona is a beautiful female - part of the group at Anthony's Key, off Roatan. After our photo op's, we were able to swim with a group of about 15 dolphins. This included 2 momma's and their babies. Beautiful - smart - social creatures. Everyone should do it!

Dog Sports

www.flyball.org

Hit the Flyball team competition at the State Fairgrounds over the weekend. I'll be posting a video soon. In the meantime - check out the video posted on the North American Flyball Association website (link above).

The dogs are so excited to participate - and the owners seem to be having a darn good time as well. The Indianapolis competition had teams in from Canada and all over the U.S. And the competitors are not "breed-exclusive"... any size, shape or breed can participate! Fun stuff.... especially for dog lovers.

Wolf Park

Wolf Park is a cool place just outside Lafayette (Battle Ground) - only an hour from Indpls. The wolves are in enclosures, but you are able to get within a couple feet of them through the fences. A short afternoon at the park includes a hunting demo with a wolf and small herd of bison (this is only a demonstration - the wolves do not actually attack the bison). There is a feeding demonstration - the wolves eat roadkill deer. And there are walking tours which give a great overview of these beautiful animals, as well as the coyotes and 3 resident fox.

Wolf Park also offers "howl nights" and a variety of seminars. Apparently the photography seminar actually gives the opportunity to get in the enclosures with the wolves.

Entry fee is $8 / adult. Worth the money to support this place. Check out their website:

http://www.wolfpark.org

The Corn is High as an Elephant's Eye

Stuckey's Orchard has a Corn Maze. It's much bigger than I'd pictured, so be prepared to spend a while if you are going to do the entire maze. Easy to backtrack and get out if you don't want to go to the end though. Be sure to do all the activities - they're fun for the kids, who learn a little about Abe Lincoln in the process (hey wait - so did we !). Ride the wagon out - starting point can be tricky to find on your own.

http://www.CornMaze.com

Before or after the maze, take time to pick some apples or veggies, have a cider slush (yummy!) or sliced apple with carmel and nuts. Great way to spend part - or all of an afternoon outside.

Up Up & Away

Took my first hot air balloon ride on Friday night. Amazing. Very smooth - doesn't feel unstable or bumpy at all. Wear in the air what you would comfortably wear on the ground. There isn't an appreciable difference in temperature "up there." Here's a link to the group I flew with:

http://www.skypointballoon.com/

Check them out. I'd recommend this to EVERYONE!

September Firsts!

Hit the Dayton Air Force Museum over the weekend. Free Admission! This place is great - plan to spend at least a few hours there... you still won't be able to see it all. Large number of aircraft are showcased. Everything from the Wright brothers through Cold War era and recently used aircraft (Russian Migs as well). They have a nice little Bob Hope tribute area. Currently have a traveling Holocaust section as well. Totally worth a trip.
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

My Year of Firsts

This is going to be my year of doing something new every month at a minimum. I'm going to do all the things I've wanted to but always say "I'll try it another day" or "I'll do that next year." This is the year, the month, the day! Join me in this one year challenge - let's all make the most of the next 365 days!

August, 2009 - squeezing it in.. my first blog and my first blog posting. Baby steps!