A reluctant cover mom, a nice lesson

The Editorial Team of Raising Maine Magazine was looking for a winter activity-type cover for February. Something to complement a couple of stories in that edition about getting outdoors in the winter and snow. My family fit that criteria but I was reluctant to be on the cover of the magazine. I don't care much for that kind of front-and-center attention.

Plus there is the reality that I hate primping for pictures and special events. I mean, I really hate it. Most days I don't make time to comb my hair (and anyone who sees me regularly knows this) and since makeup makes my eyes water, I don’t like to wear it. I'm definitely a wash-and-go type and find doing anything more than that a hassle.

But when I mentioned the cover possibility to the girls, they were enthusiastic. They wanted to do it and ultimately swayed me in to accepting the offer.

But after I agreed, I realized that making sure everyone had something <i>clean</i> to wear was going to be a challenge.

I’ve had my light gray snow pants for seven years and they have been my ONLY pair in all that time. To say that these pants have seen better days really is an understatement (same goes for my jacket, which has paint stains from an <a href=http://raisingmaine.mainetoday.com/blogentry.html?id=596>art project I did with L. a while back</a>). Fino’s snow pants and jacket have also been around as long as mine but with the darker colors, his stuff has fared better (at least to the casual eye). L.‘s snow pants were purchased at Goodwill and keep her warm in the snow but were in need of a good stain removal washing. L. got a new jacket in the fall that’s not really cold-weather weight (no lining) but she’s been wearing it with a fleece underneath and feeling comfortable this winter so at least her jacket was more presentable than the one she’d been wearing for the past couple of years (she’d painted theater signs in the old jacket so it really has seen better days). G. got a new winter jacket and new snow pants for Christmas so at least I didn’t have to worry about her stuff.

Then there were the gloves and hats to consider as well…

So I admit that I was stressing about making sure everyone looked presentable without buying new stuff (that was not in the family budget). When I mentioned this concern to a friend, she graciously offered to lend us some of her family‘s jackets and snow pants for the photo. We didn’t end up using any of it but it was a thoughtful gesture (thanks Meg!).

The one new thing in the photo was L.’s ear warmer. I have a simple pattern to make these fleece bands and the girls have made them for themselves as well as their friends. G. found one she wanted to wear for the picture but L. didn’t think we had any that matched her jacket so about an hour before the photo shoot she and I were sewing a new one. It was an indulgence but it made L. really happy and <a href=http://raisingmaine.mainetoday.com/photo.html?id=8903>she’s been wearing it ever since</a>.

The day of the shoot was one of the big storm days we had in January and Jill, the Raising Maine staff photographer, braved the tail end of the storm to meet up with us. We lent her a pair of snowshoes (she’d never tried it before so we were happy to introduce her to it) and led her down the trail so she could find a good spot for the photo, one that kept her camera gear a bit sheltered from the blowing wind and snow.

The kids wanted to ski through the hula hoops for an “action” shot so Jill indulged them with that request (which you’ll see on the inside cover) before we posed for a few others.

The girls really were in motion gliding through the hoops as Jill took this picture. They did a great job looking at the camera and timing their slide through the hoops simultaneously. It turned out to be a painless experience and I have to admit that I like this family photo (the falling flakes served as great camouflage for the not so new snow pants -- one more plus in my book for snow days). This photo really is us - wearing the snow gear and using the equipment like we do every weekend in winter.

I also think this experience was a nice teaching moment for my tween, soon-to-be-teen girls. Other than worrying about clean clothes, we didn’t give any thought to other photo shoot type pressures -- make-up and hair (well, except that the girls needed to wear braids in their thick hair to avoid it getting unruly blowing around in the storm). My approach for this photo was that the girls (and our family) should just be who they are -- and that it would be just right.

I think it was ... and the girls agreed.


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NEW COVER MOM CONTEST

The Raising Maine Editorial Team has decided to take a new approach to choosing cover moms for the magazine each month starting in April.

This linkage will be launched on the contest page of the site next week but I’ll offer those of you that read my blog a preview.

If you are a mom currently living in Maine and you‘re interested in being featured on the cover Raising Maine Magazine, you can be considered by telling us a bit about yourself (and note that active members on RaisingMaine.com will be given first consideration). Learn more about being a cover mom here. And please, read the rules carefully before entering.

GPS drawing redux: When electronics go awry

A few nights ago I worked with a group of 4-Hers to teach them about GPS units and create some "drawings." (The girls and I had done our field work earlier in the month to test out GPS drawing and experiment with designs to prepare for this.)

But the night of the class the thermometer outside displayed single digit temps. The kids did OK with this (well, except that a couple of the teens opted not to wear winter coats, which gave me a glimpse in to what the future may hold for me when my girls are a bit older).

The GPS unit however, did not care for this kind of cold.

Things started out OK with the first small group I took outside to draw. Their first drawing of a box (renamed "barn door" when presented to the rest of the group so it sounded more interesting) came out as expected.

And the "snake" was OK too even though the kids did not cover enough square feet for the head (the GPS unit's accuracy is only 8-10 feet so they should have covered at least that much square feet to get an accurate track line).

Then it was the second group's turn outside and at that point, the GPS unit had been in the cold for more than 20 minutes and the temperature had dropped another couple of degrees. The GPS unit did not like that and got a bit wiggy on us.

And that was unfortunate because this particular group had some creative ideas for their drawings.

The first was a "heart" and the group organized their members in positions around the key turning points to make a symmetrical drawing.

Unfortunately the GPS unit had a different idea.

That stray line was definitely not ground covered by the group.

Then they tried to draw an eye ball, and again positioned group members at different points to make it more accurate.

And although the drawings did not turn out quite as planned because the darned GPS unit wasn't cooperating, all the kids seemed to get into the drawing portion of the class. And I assured my second group I'd fix up their heart drawing later because it should have worked.

When we were inside warming up after our drawing, I talked to the group about how the technology behind the GPS unit worked.

HowStuffWorks.com has a very informative piece about GPS units that was a helpful resource in explaining this stuff to the kids. Here's a synopsis:

When people talk about a GPS, they usually mean a GPS receiver. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is actually a constellation of 27 Earth-orbiting satellites (24 in operation). The U.S. military developed and implemented this satellite network as a military navigation system, but most are now open for public use. Each of these 3,000- to 4,000-pound solar-powered satellites circles the globe at about 12,000 miles, making two complete rotations every day. The orbits are arranged so that at any time, anywhere on Earth, there are at least four satellites "visible" in the sky. A GPS receiver's job is to locate four or more of these satellites, figure out the distance to each, and use this information to report its own location. This operation is based on a mathematical principle called trilateration. In order to make this trilateration calculation, the GPS receiver has to know two things: 

* The location of at least three satellites above you 

* The distance between you and each of those satellites The GPS receiver figures both of these things out by analyzing high-frequency, low-power radio signals from the GPS satellites. 

Better units have multiple receivers, so they can pick up signals from several satellites simultaneously. Radio waves are electromagnetic energy, which means they travel at the speed of light (about 186,000 miles per second). The receiver can figure out how far the signal has traveled by timing how long it took the signal to arrive.

Then we played a game about the basics of mapping (the less interesting stuff to 21st century kids that included longitude, latitude and the "old fashioned" way of creating maps), before downloading the kids' drawings and printing them out.

It turned out that I did not have time at the class to fix the "heart" drawing (which required me to draw the missing line on the track using Google Earth) so I just took care of that so those kids could see that it really was a great drawing idea.

Next time we'll stick to the GPS drawing in warmer temperatures. I think the kids, and my GPS unit, will appreciate it.

XC skiing with hula hoop variations

Our ski club was back on the Mountain Division Trail this past weekend and the kids decided skiing through one hula hoop was not enough of a challenge anymore. We've now graduated to double hoops on the favorite hill.

The kids made it look easy. As for me, I wiped out before I made it through the first one on my initial attempt.

I guess I couldn't handle the pressure.

But I am happy to report that I convinced one of the other ski club moms to try this and against her doubtful musings as she glided to the hoop, she did it (part of the negotiations to get her to try the hoop was only if I refrained from taking a photo ... I'm easing her in to the hula hoop skiing mama club).

The kids also offered up other variations of hula hooping down the hill that included swinging the hoop on their arms.

Our friend B. was particularly good at this and managed to keep the hoop swinging non-stop down the hill.

L. managed swinging for a bit before she ...

... tried the hip action.

This definitely falls into the category of mom not being coordinated enough to do this sort of thing but the kids had a hoop of a good time with it.

We spent nearly three hours in single digit temperatures Sunday afternoon out on the trail and not one of the 10 kids in the club (and not all of them spend time outside like my kids do) said a word about being cold.

We might have only skied about one mile total, but between the amoeba tag games, one ski gliding relays and hula hooping, there wasn't a lot of time to think about how long we'd been on the trail.

This sport often gets the snub because it's a big cardio workout but it does not have to be about a straight ski trail run. One minor hill, a pair of xc skis (no poles needed), a hula hoop (or two) and an attitude of can-do fun ... and it really will be.

Dog sledding, a mushing good time for kids

My kids are hooked on dog sledding after their experience at the Musher's Bowl in Bridgton this past weekend.

Our day at the Musher's Bowl started out watching the dog sledding racing at Five Fields Farm. The excited racing dogs barking definitely made us think that this sport had a unique draw. You could feel the dog's enthusiasm and need to simply get running and racing ... now!

I'm not 100% clear on how dog sledding races are typically organized, if a single start for each team on a timed clock is standard or not, but that's how the race was run at Five Fields. After watching about 15 teams get rolling at the starting gate (we had a great spot about 25 yards from the gate), the kids began to recognize the difference in the speed of teams.

All the sled teams got a running start out of the gate when the whistle blew (well the announcer said, "Go") but there were a few stand-out teams that went from zero to a hundred mph in a matter of seconds (yes, an exaggeration but those teams did fly by us remarkably fast).

"Oh mom, we have to get some dogs to do this! This is so awesome! Wow mom, I love this!"

This exclaimed by G. -- my animal lover with three cats, a flock of poultry and cares for two cows at a local farm -- as we drove to Highland Lake, another venue for dog sledding we visited during the Musher's Bowl.

I signed the girls up the previous week for a dog sledding ride at Highland Lake. I thought a good compromise to G.'s request (more of a begging actually) to go to the Can-Am races in Fort Kent. Since the Can-Am is in March and we do not have a 4-wheel drive car, it's unlikely we're getting there at that time of year until we buy a new car (we were lucky our little Saturn wagon managed the snow and roads of Fort Kent at all last December ... well actually, it didn't handle it so well and that was just the beginning of the snow season up there).

One of the arguments G. had used as a reason we <I>had</I> to go to the Can-Am races was "that's <I>all</I> I want for my birthday."  Then finally accepting the fact that it was not going to happen this year, G. suggested that a dog sled ride at the Musher's Bowl could be her birthday present "for this year."

So I paid the not-so-cheap fee (but cheaper than typical) for a 1/2 hour dog sled ride with her sister on Highland Lake.

In honor of the day, L. brought along the Husky stuffed animal she picked up in Fort Kent and wore her puppy paws ear warmer we made.

G. really wanted to "drive" so the sled leader started her out on the back of the sled while L. sat in the front. It takes a fast running start to get the dogs and sled started and G. jumped two feet on to one side of the dog sled's runner/foot board in a lickety-split second with her leader. I think this was easier than it usually is for newbies thanks to G.'s cross country skiing experiences in balance control.

G. said that one of the best parts of dog sledding was "running with the dogs."

After the ride, the sled leader told me, somewhat sheepishly, that my girls loved their ride and wanted to do it again and wanted to know where they could do this "all the time." She said my girls were more than enthralled by every aspect of their dog sledding experience and asked some great, detailed questions about the sport (not to mention made sure to remember every dog's name - all 6 of them - on their team).

G.'s other favorite part of dog sledding, aside from the running start, was "the cold wind in your face."

OK, when I hear my kid say that running with dogs and cold wind in her face are her favorite parts of an activity, I know, I mean I know, I am in trouble with this kid.

And dog sledding, it's a very, very expensive sport (a 1/2 day trail ride typically runs $120/<B>per person</b>).

G.'s solution (a no-brainer to anyone that knows her) is to simply, "buy our own dog!"

"Mom, the sled leader asked me what I liked to do. I told her we cross country ski, we bike, we hike and we do lots of stuff outside. She said a Husky would be good for us. That a Husky would like to live with us because Huskys like to do all the same stuff we like to do."

I'm standing firm on the dog-free household but L.'s on board with the "get a Husky" idea too. And being double-teamed by the girls does not bode well for our up-until-now peaceful no dog household. L.'s a darn good lawyer-type and I know G. would love, cherish and take care of a dog so I'm sure L. will explore, and exploit, every argument angle.  

The deciding factor will likely be Fino (who has stood firm on a dog-free life at home right now but could be swayed since his career is animal-related and he does like dogs).

For the time being however, the girls are satisfied that they are going to a dog sledding class with the Girls Scouts in February.

How great is dog sledding? I'll let the girls fill you in...

Digital TV conversion -- pshaw!

I was trying to explain the difference between analog and digital signals to the kids today because the digital TV conversion deadline is right around the corner (Feb. 17) and we're some of the last hold-outs with a bunny ear antenna.

G: "Are we going to get one of those box thingies for our TV?"

Mom: "No, probably not."

L: "Why are they making us have to have that box."

Mom: "Because the TV stations are changing the way they broadcast their signal."

G: "How?"

Mom: (trying to remember my college radio station DJ days that feel like a lifetime ago) "Well, analog signals are waves that are sent from the antenna at the TV station and our TV antenna picks them up. Digital signals are more like polka dots coming out of the TV station's antenna and our TV doesn't understand polka dots. It only understands waves."

L. "Why are they broadcasting polka dots instead of waves?"

Mom: "Well, the government decided they needed those waves for other things and now we need our TV to understand polka dots and the only way it can do that is to get one of those special converter boxes."

G. "So we need a polka dot box."

L. "I like waves better. I like my old TV. I don't need no stinkin polka dots."

And as much as I enjoyed this conversation, I did do a better job of explaining the issue in more detail, with the help of <a href=http://howstuffworks.com>HowStuffWorks.com</a> a little later.

Basically, the real reason for this change (or so the web reports, I'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist on occasion) is because TV broadcasters have to move their signals to another part of the sound spectrum so that space can be freed up for police, fire and other public safety communications as well as wireless services for the general public. And as we discovered, bandwidth really is needed after the technology problems people had <a href=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/21/BU0P15DOF5.DTL target=new>with the inauguration yesterday</a>).

So although I do not like the idea of being forced to buy a converter box (even with a rebate, <a href=https://www.dtv2009.gov/ target=new>which are no longer available</a>, there is still an out-of-pocket cost), there are actually some very good reasons why the government has required this change.

But the question the kids, and I (who couldn't remember nearly enough about those DJ days), wanted to know was what frequencies were used for TV (i.e., the sound spectrum) so we did a bit of research (which truth be told, I found much more interesting than they did).

Basically there are bands of frequencies on the sound spectrum.

<img src="http://seen.mainetoday.com/gallery_photos/2009/01/21/313/3792_radio-spectrum_580.jpg" class="">
Megahertz, which means "millions of cycles per second," is how strong the frequency transmitter at a broadcast station is oscillating. So if you are listening to FM radio -- we'll use 97.9FM as an example (the girls favorite station) -- the radio station's transmitter oscillates at a frequency of 97,900,000 cycles per second. To hear that transmission, you simply tune your radio, which is set up to "hear" frequencies in the FM range, to that specific frequency to listen to its broadcast.

All FM radio stations transmit frequencies between 88 megahertz and 108 megahertz on the band. A different bandwidth is assigned to AM radio as well as many other things. And all of this is assigned and monitored by the FCC.

HowStuffWorks.com explains the different frequencies on the spectrum and how they are used by modern day society, which the girls and I found really interesting.<UL>* AM radio - 535 kilohertz to 1.7 megahertz
    * Short wave radio - bands from 5.9 megahertz to 26.1 megahertz
    * Citizens band (CB) radio - 26.96 megahertz to 27.41 megahertz
    * Television stations - 54 to 88 megahertz for channels 2 through 6
    * FM radio - 88 megahertz to 108 megahertz
    * Television stations - 174 to 220 megahertz for channels 7 through 13
    * Garage door openers, alarm systems, etc. - Around 40 megahertz
    * Standard cordless phones: Bands from 40 to 50 megahertz
    * Baby monitors: 49 megahertz
    * Radio controlled airplanes: Around 72 megahertz, which is different from...
    * Radio controlled cars: Around 75 megahertz
    * Wildlife tracking collars: 215 to 220 megahertz
    * MIR space station: 145 megahertz and 437 megahertz
    * Cell phones: 824 to 849 megahertz
    * New 900-MHz cordless phones: Obviously around 900 megahertz!
    * Air traffic control radar: 960 to 1,215 megahertz
    * Global Positioning System: 1,227 and 1,575 megahertz
    * Deep space radio communications: 2290 megahertz to 2300 megahertz</UL>So as I understand this conversion from analog to digital TV, the FCC is changing the bandwidth we've historically used for television. I guess they have to in order to make room somewhere on the spectrum to expand the cell phones and emergency response system frequencies.

Then there's also the added benefit of digital TV that involves "multicasting," which allows several shows within a single frequency to be broadcast simultaneously.

I can see the advantages there for the TV station. More shows = more advertising = more money for broadcasters.

There might be a conspiracy theory in this after all.

But there's a lot more to this change - and how it works - than I understand. But I did find my bit of research into the basics of it fascinating.

The kids however brought me back to the bottom line.

"Are we going to be able to watch Dancing with the Stars after Feb. 17?"

"Not on the regular TV."

"But we can watch it on the computer right?"

After a search on abc.com and a quick download of their <a href=http://abc.go.com/player/index?pn=index target=new>full episode player</a>, we discovered that yes in fact, we can watch that TV show after this conversion as well as any other recent episode of that channel's prime time shows.

"So we do have polka dots after all mom. They're just not in the TV."

And so I ask again, <a href=http://raisingmaine.mainetoday.com/blogentry.html?id=5179>why pay for a new TV (or a converter box)?</a>

Maybe what we really need is a bigger computer monitor.

XC skiing great today ... with one snafu

We went cross country skiing with our ski club today during the snow storm. Only my crew and one other family actually showed up (they're from Canada and we can always count on them to meet up with us to ski no matter the weather) but it was an enjoyable, albeit a wet and windy, hour and a half out on the trail. We did however run in to a bit of trouble with the snow at home (more on that in a minute).

Instead of <a href=http://maineoutdoorjournal.mainetoday.com/blogentry.html?id=4117 target=new>playing our usual games in the open field</a> as we usually do with the ski club, the blowing wind and snow had us heading to the shelter of trees on the trail.

We decided the short trek to the <a href=http://maineoutdoorjournal.mainetoday.com/blogentry.html?id=4103 target=new>favorite hill</a> (about 1/2 mile from the trail head) would be our adventure for the day so we could all take a few runs skiing through the hula hoop there.

And as G. requested (complete with "post it on the blog"), I skied through the hula hoop for the picture proof that indeed it is possible for a not-so-thin, tall mom to ski through it (and really, it's fun).

Mom

L. loves the hoop

L.'s caption, "Look I'm going so fast through the hoop I'm a blur!" (I believe the blur action actually had more to do with the camera fogging up in the wet snow.)

By the time we got back to the trail head, everyone was covered with inches of snow. But even in our snowman state, we all stayed outside for a few extra minutes to eat some of G.'s M&M brownies (one of her specialties and quite tasty) before packing up our cold, wet gear (and bodies) and heading home.

When we arrived at our driveway, we were greeted with a snow wall at the entrance thanks to the town plow. Instead of taking my suggestion to park on the side of the road, Fino decided to "pack it (snow) down" with the van's tires. I offered to get a shovel to clear things out a bit before he tried his packing method but I got the, "it's no problem, I do this all the time."

Ooookay.

So with total silence from the females in the car (I could tell the girls were as skeptical as I was about the lone male's plan), he started "packing down" a few inches of the snow. This included rolling the tires a few inches in to the driveway then backing out and attempting to add a bit more distance with the next round.

After the forth pass of the packing method, the minivan became stranded.

I took a bite of a left-over brownie in an attempt to keep my mouth shut and prevent the I-told-you-so from leaking out (it worked). When I was done chewing I told the girls to climb out of the van and head in to the house.

I offered to help shovel out the tires but was ignored by Fino as he headed to the shed for the snow blower.

So as I write this, my husband is outside with his snow blower (and shovel) digging out the van so it's back end is not hanging out in to the street.

The cross country skiing was fun today; the getting back home, not so much.

My car vs. the weather

I tried to get my car going at 6:00 a.m. to head in to the office but it wouldn't start.

Then I tried at 7:00 and again at 7:30 a.m. and still a no go.

Normally my car is reliable even though it's 10 years old so I was guessing it was the cold making her crazy.

So at 7:45 a.m. I logged on to weather.com to check the temperature.

Yup, that would be the reason my car wasn't too happy this morning.

But the kids, they had a sense of humor about the frost they found on the inside of the back door.

The "ghost with a little bit of an angry face about it being so cold."

Food preservation day with 4H and a happy mom

The girls spent most of their Saturday learning about the various methods of food preservation with 4-H during a county-wide (Cumberland county) program.

They learned about the science of pickling and preserving, dehydration, pasteurization, canning and ice cream making.

Let's just say the day allowed for a lot of great taste testing for both kids and adults.

The kids made their own blueberry freezer jam (time didn't allow for actual canning with sterilized glass containers) and each took a small container of it home. We've already eaten G.'s entire container and we're working on L.'s now.

Matching dehydrated food with it's whole food counterpart was an interesting challenge. It was not nearly as easy as you'd think, especially when you throw in papaya, which is a less familiar fruit to some kids and looks an awful lot like a bunch of other more familiar stuff. 

But pickling, that was the most fun for my kids - and their taste buds. Fino is a HUGE fan of pickled anything. He has been the one to encourage the girls to try his pickled treats because I don't touch the stuff. (I actually had an allergy to a preservative in pickles and condiments when I was a kid and although I've outgrown the allergy for the most part, I never developed a taste for this kind of stuff). My kids however are making up for my pickle-deprived childhood.

G. was hardly a year old when Fino turned over a jalapeno to her (Fino eats them at EVERY meal, including breakfast) and she actually liked it. Neither of the girls are big fans of overly spicy pickled items these days but it's not uncommon for them to eat a bit when they're in the mood. They certainly spent their early years eating plenty of jalapenos (while mom got stuck with some majorly stinky diapers ... thanks daddy).

The pickling workshop included a blind taste testing with Q-tips. Dipping the Q-tips into various containers and then dabbing it on their tongues to guess the flavor prompted a lot of smiles and laughs from all the kids. Kids really do love dipping action.

The true highlight for the 30+ kids at the workshop though was the ice cream making. From measuring out ingredients to churning to the unveiling of the finished frozen product, they enjoyed every step. The kids added crushed cookies (my kids thought that Pampered Chef chopper to crumble the cookies was awesome and are begging me to buy one) and once mixed, very much enjoyed licking the ice cream makers' bowl before really cleaning it up (with soap and water instead of their tongues).

It should not be a surprise that most kids enjoy cooking and learning about food because it's a hands-on (-in) experience. There are some great science and math lessons in the kitchen for kids as well, not to mention a great self-esteem boost to follow recipe from start to finish and have the outcome taste great (which I do admit requires a bit more prep time for the adult to ensure success when the kids are younger).

Over the years I allowed the girls to help me in the kitchen when they were interested, even when it wasn't convenient. Now that they're older, they can actually prepare family meals and it frees me up to get other stuff done. That little bit of extra time early on has far outweighed the benefits these days.

Since this workshop, the girls have been in the kitchen more than usual cooking and baking ... and I couldn't be happier about it.

XC skiing season is in full swing

Last week I took the girls to the groomed trails of Twin Brooks in Cumberland for our first cross country ski trip of the season. The $2 trail fee per person is a good deal and the trail conditions are always great when we go there (check out a more detailed trail review we did last year, which includes directions).

The trails here offer a bit of everything for the kids - open field track to skate ski and a wooded area to escape the wind (it was quite windy last Thursday so escaping to the trees was nice). The girls like to see how fast they can skate ski out on the open track and with the grooming machine having just finished his run in the field the day we visited, the track could not have been more ideal.

The wooded trails here offer up a few small hills, just enough to keep the girls happy with the speed of going down the hills and the mild duck walk (the name my girls use for the v-shape ski walk to walk uphill) back up them.

Even while xc skiing, the girls wear their backpacks to carry snacks and water. If they ever decide to xc ski on a team (neither has a particularly competitive spirit for racing right now), they'll probably double their speed when they aren't wearing the packs. I figure it's good training for them ... and simplifies our snack break by carrying our stuff with us and not having to trek back to the car to get it.

 L. always seems to choose heavy snacks like applesauce and yogurt along with her water bottle. But she carries it all and doesn't complain ... and I can't knock her choice of healthy snacks for the trail.

And the added incentive of carrying these packs is the new patches they got for Christmas. I'm still working on getting a Baxter State Park patch but they're enjoying expanding their collection of trail and activity patches.

Below is map of our ski path around the trails of Twin Brooks. We xc skied just shy of 2 miles during this visit, a solid first outing distance for us I thought.

Cross Country Skiing: Twin Brooks at EveryTrail

If your family is new to cross country skiing, L. made a "how to" video on cross country skiing for her 4-H project last year. She offers a few helpful tips - and kid-friendly terminology - for kids interested in learning the sport (and of course includes some ski jumping from last year).

Ski jumping ... with bubbles on top

Just in case you thought L. limits her high jumping on or near mountain tops like Burnt Meadow Mountain

or at the river

or at the ocean

or after a 10-mile bike ride...

... I thought I'd let you know that she is also a fan of jumping while wearing her cross country skis too.

As you can see, L. does not jump off things (though with a bit of trick photography, she'd like you to think she does). No, she jumps while standing still wherever she might be just for the fun of it. Sort of like 2bie&newbie's notion of finding life's bubbles, L. jumps for the simple enjoyment she finds in doing it.


And let me clarify that jumping from a standing still position on cross country skis is no simple task. I gave it a whirl and it was a bit trickier than L. made it look.





During the recording of my ski jumping clip, G. offered a challenge. "Now for the moms who watch this. You must try it."

It might not be everyone's idea of fun but it made me laugh and I'd rate it as a "bubble" moment in  my life.

And <a href=http://raisingmaine.mainetoday.com/blogentry.html?id=10355>Sharon on the Bootstraps blog...</a> at least your rollerskating funky grooving didn't have video evidence.

KidTracks column: School of Rock

“You can do it. You almost got it.”
“You did it! You’re a really good climber.”

These words spoken between siblings are music to this mother’s ears, so when my girls ask to visit the Maine Indoor Rock Gym, I’m hard-pressed to deny them.

Each time we visit the rock gym, we enjoy the challenges and celebrate the accomplishments of climbing the walls with all the various angles and holds. But there are so many other positive things we gain from our visits there.

At 11 and 12 years old, the girls are more deliberate and focused about the walls they climb now (unlike when my younger daughter enjoyed pretending to be a fast-climbing monkey when she was 8). They set their own goals (without realizing that’s what they’re doing) to climb challenging walls that take more upper body strength as well as agility to find and grab their holds.

But their beaming smiles and the self-esteem boost that comes from climbing to the top of a particularly difficult wall, as well as the encouragement they offer to each other, makes each trip to the gym well worth the cost of this not-so-cheap outing for a family of four (about $20 each for climbing shoes, harness and admission; parent belayers who choose not to climb are admitted free).

Because we have found this activity to be a great family team-building experience, the kids talked their 4-H club into taking a trip to the rock gym recently.

Not all the 4-H club members had climbed previously, but a helpful and knowledgeable gym staff member worked with our group to cover basic safety issues for climbers, and the importance of communication between the climber and his/her belayer while on the wall. And all the kids who were 12 and older were given a chance to serve as a belayer as well as to climb.

At the Maine Rock Gym, unlike most free-climb walls at fairs, amusement parks and indoor play centers, belayers are required for every climber and are secured to the floor with an anchor rope attached to their harness along with the climber’s rope.

As climbers ascend, the belayers pull up the slack rope through the carabiners to keep them secure should they lose their footing or hold on the wall. With a taut rope, belayer and climber are less likely to be jolted from a slip. It also helps climbers feel more secure.

When descending, the climber sits back and lets go of the wall to hold onto the rope. The belayer manages the carabiner to let the rope out at a slow and steady pace as the climber rappels down the wall. Even the smallest of our belayers handled this aspect easily because the gym’s carabiner was easy to use.

The rappelling is the part most kids and adults (myself included) find the most anxiety-provoking the first time. After that initial introduction, letting go of the wall is a lot less scary. And as my 11-year-old will tell you, “Jumping down the wall is the best part of climbing.”

During our trip with the 4-H club, the kids kept gravitating to one particular wall for the swing factor. After climbing this wall, the climber has to let go of their handhold and is forced to swing away from the wall due to the way the rope is looped through the ceiling to the belayer. After trying this wall myself, I had to agree with the kids that swinging from the rafters was a lot of fun.

After a dozen trips up and down that wall, my 11-year-old modified her feelings about rappelling.

“Swinging down that wall is even more fun than jumping down the other ones!”

Indoor rock climbing is a great family activity, especially when the weather makes for a less than enjoyable day out on the hiking/skiing trails. And your kids may just learn that doing something together as a family – especially with their tween/teen siblings – can be a whole lot of fun.

MAINE ROCK GYM
LOCATION: 127 Marginal Way, Portland
CLIMBING PASS: $15 for adults and kids
SHOE & HARNESS RENTAL: $5
WINTER HOURS: 2-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 2-8 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday;
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday

My Charlie's Angels are back in action

The girls have been honing their aim and accuracy with their 4-H shooting sports club since early November in anticipation of the NRA's Postal Leagues (I know, a weird name but I did a bit of research last year that explains it) starting next week. This year the girls' team has graduated to shooting in all three positions in the league (prone, kneeling and standing).

The girls practiced the prone position last night, the one they shot exclusively last year (and the one that all beginners start with since it's the easiest) before moving on to kneeling and standing.

G. particularly likes standing because it's makes her feel more like a Charlie's Angel. (Last year she shot a pistol and I jokingly referred to the old TV show and G. very much enjoyed the association. I believe she watched every single episode of that show this past spring/summer on hulu.com).

"Those Angels are girls but they're strong and can shoot and know karate and they can do all kinds of other stuff."
(That 70s feminist message still resonates even if the Angels' wardrobe has a bit to be desired.)

L.'s got a good eye and a steady hand and has done well with the new shooting positions as well. Since she's a bit of a light-weight with pencil thin arms, her rifle is a bit heavy to manage so her stance is a bit off typical form to compensate for her size. I love the hip action she has going while she's still learning this position. I think that even though shooting is typically a boy-oriented sport, she's able to add her own girl-ness to it.

This year L.'s also taken on an executive board position in the club as secretary (which I know is a bit cliche to be the only girl elected to the board and for this particular position). But she wanted to do it because she likes writing and organizing things (this is one of those apple-not-falling-far-from-the-tree things). It is a unique experience for her because for this club, the writing and recording she does is done on the back of old targets between her rounds of shooting at the gun club.

I'm glad that my girls are enjoying target shooting, that they know how to be safe with a firearm, that they make their daddy proud by sticking with a sport (it's their second year) that he very much enjoys, and that they are starting to understand that being the minority gender in the room doesn't mean they have to be different. They can be girls and feel more confident about themselves for learning something that's not in their gender's typical realm of experience.

NOTE: I'm not sure which gun clubs in Maine sponsor NRA junior leagues (for youth 9-18 years) but you can contact a club near you to inquire about it.

A visual - and rowdy - New Year's Eve

Our night of celebration began with a trip to the Pirates hockey game with Grandpa.

Which required that we make a lot of noise well before midnight (during the game and afterward for their win).

Beach balls flew through the stands after the game while we waited for the fireworks to be set up.

Then we enjoyed the light show.

We left the Civic Center to move on to the next venue for more festivities. Our friends had quite a spread of munchies for the army of kids at their New Year's Eve party.

The kids ate while they watched movies before heading outside...

... for some sparkler fun. (And with a below zero wind chill, the sparklers were less keen on lighting in the cold weather but we did manage it with the help of some candles. This was an activity I learned was better suited for 4th of July after all.)

And the kids discovered that the sparklers did make good hand warmers.

Then out came the pots and pans to bang at midnight (a few zealots really enjoyed making a whole lot of noise with that) ...

... followed by a toast of root beer floats to ring in the new year.

A kick line to New York, New York started after the ball dropped in Time Square ...

... while the little ones fell asleep under the tree in spite of all the raucous.

Here's to a healthy and happy 2009 ...