Family dinner

I didn't take many pictures this family dinner.  It was so nice outside that I just wanted to sit and enjoy.  We had a "pasta" theme with delicious pasta salads, spaghetti, bowtie noodles and alfredo, breadsticks, and a super good apple crisp made with apples from Sherry's Turtle Lake Farm apple tree!



Fucie likes to sit on the step and rest his head on top of Dad's



Erika, Dad and Sherry



Kelly, Justine, and Carrie



I was the mean Aunt Jodi who made the boys eat their pasta before pigging out on all the breadsticks.



Izzy and Fucie enjoying the nice day too



Field Trip

With winter just around the corner, all of my classes have been cramming in the field trips.  Ok for now, but ultimately means more work later when the "real" classwork begins.
My first field trip was for Vegetation Ecology.  We went all over northern Wisconsin.  Some of the places were really neat!  We visited bogs, old growth pine forests, old growth hemlock stands, etc.  People that have lived here all their lives don't realize how lucky they are to have all of this diversity!  My favorite places were the bogs.  It is interesting to see how all the plants adapt to low nutrient conditions.
Even though I was surrounded by nature, I must admit my second favorite thing was people-watching some of the idiots accompanying our 16 person group.  Seriously.  We were told well ahead of time we would be going into bogs, bring waders or sandals that can get wet.  One girl brought these wierd plastic bags to put over her feet because she said she didn't want to haul around boots all weekend.  Plastic bags vs. Bog = shredded bags and wet shoes and socks.  That night she spent hours drying all her socks and shoes over the campfire, only to leave them outside her tent overnight.  The next morning she literally poured water out of them, as it had downpoured all night long.  Oh, and this is the same girl who scorched at least 20 marshmallows over the campfire because apparently someone on this planet actually has worse depth perception than I do, or else she thought she was being cute.  Either way, it was very amusing to see her freaking out every time one caught on fire.  It was like watching someone repeatedly touching a hot burner, and wondering why they were gettting burnt.  Sometimes I feel evil for my thoughts, but I couldn't help but be amused.
I debated bringing the new camera.  At the last minute I decided to go for it so it only had about 10 minutes on the battery charger.  Needless to say, I drained the battery about halfway into the first day of the trip.  I love nature.

Even trees need a hug now and then

I should know the name of this fern....

cool fungi

One of the bogs we hiked in to.  It goes as far as you can see

cranberry in the bog

My favorite bog tree -Tamarack

(hard to see) "Kettle" depression left by melting glaciers

really cool looking club moss

It's hard to believe I only have two full weeks of class before I am heading to SLC, UT for a wildlife conference for 5 days.  Yikes.  I better get busy

It's finally here

Starting my final semester today -WooHoo!
My class load isn't too bad (although I think that every semester and somehow it never turns out that way).  I am taking:  Vegetation Ecology, Entomology, GIS mapping, and Women in Life Sciences (a required class, not my idea).  I was super excited because I thought I had Mondays AND Fridays off from class until I realized yesterday that I had looked at the wrong calendar week (it was Labor Day week, no class Mondays).  At least I only have an 8am class 2x per week, unlike my last few semesters.  I still have no classes on Friday, which is awesome!
I will be grading tests and labs again for a Chemistry professor.  Gotta love any job that pays well that you can do in the comfort of your own home in your pajamas!
I was also selected for an apprenticeship position for The Prairie Enthusiasts.  Fall activities include prairie restoration, seed collecting, and tree removal.  I am looking forward to getting my hands dirty and learning more about prairies.