the eric update – day 1693: the ethics of a zoo.



we had the occasion to visit the henry vilas zoo in madison, wisconsin which seems like a perfectly fine zoo, all the moreso because it’s absolutely free.

odin enjoyed his visit and got to see lots of animals that he’s only read about in books such as this giraffe and a polar bear and chimpanzees and lions, oh my!

but whenever i go to a zoo, i can’t help but wonder if they’re really necessary in this modern age. is anything really gained by seeing animals you wouldn’t normally see confined in small spaces?

and what exactly are we teaching odin?

the eric update – day 1688: tourney time!



we’re definitely not into pushing odin into being aggressively competitive, but a few weeks ago we asked if he was interested in going to a hockey "tournament" and, of course, he said yes. and so, we went to the local arena hosting the tournament which was, thankfully, a tourney in the loosest sense of the word, no score was kept, everyone got a medal and it seemed like the intent was just for the kids to mix it up with other kids while having fun on a sunday afternoon.

even though he just barely grasps the mechanics and action of an actual hockey game ( totally age appropriate ) and is pretty much just interested in pushing a puck around towards the net, he had a grand time.

so did we, even moreso since we didn’t run into any obnoxious hockey parents 🙂

you can click on each image for a brief description.




here’s a short video of odin accepting his medal.


day 1688: tourney time! from Eric C. Snowdeal III on Vimeo.

the eric update – day 1681: continental cup ski jumping!



somehow we missed it last year after having loads of fun in 2007, but we finally made it back again to the ski jumping continental cup competition at the snowflake ski club in neaby westby wisconsin.

with a deep blue sky and temperatures well above freezing, it was a fantastic day for watching jumpers launch themselves 120 meters down the hill.

you can click on each image for a brief description.