Hi, remember us?! Yeah, we supposedly have a daily walking blog that chronicles our adventures while traversing the trails and roads in the Bemidji area. But we kind of disappeared in mid-January.

Well, we’re back. We think. We didn’t really lose motivation (I don’t know if we’re ever really all that motivated in the first place – but we know the other is patiently waiting). We were just buried under piles of reporter’s notebooks, agendas and e-mails these past two weeks. But now that our editor has returned from vacation, Laurie and I decided it was time to get back at it.

And we came back with a bang!

Jada, Laurie’s beautiful 8-year-old granddaughter, was in town for the weekend, so she decided it would be buckets of fun to come walk with us! OK, maybe not, but she did put on the snow pants and came along.

Of course, as many of you probably know, 8-year-olds don’t take to sidewalk walking too greatly. Jada was much more interested in exploring sculptures, jumping in snowdrifts and looking through binoculars.

She was adorable though!

We came up with a compromise: Jada could play and explore the playground outside of Central Elementary School while Laurie and I walked laps around the play structure. It wasn’t the most exciting walk of our lives, but the child was happy, so therefore, we were happy.

We also walked down a few more blocks before turning around and coming back downtown.

Also during our walk, we tried out our new educational program for children:  Trail Mix-ing 101.

Cutline: Trail Mix co-founder Laurie Swenson shows 8-year-old Jada Rose the art of spelling out "Trail Mix" in the snow while walking Monday afternoon in Bemidji.

Today’s quotes:

Laurie: "Jada, you shouldn’t walk in other people’s yards."

Laurie: "Jada, get your arm out of that person’s car!"

Fun times with kids! I love them. Too darned cute!

(A little background: Jada saw a snowman that she was to examine, so she did. But to do so, she had to encroach a bit into a resident’s front yard. The second one was too perfect. There is a vehicle parked near Laurie’s place that doesn’t have a window. It apparently broke sometime a long time ago. Jada was quite taken with the idea of a window-less backseat.)

Today’s Puzzler is…

The answer to the How Well Do You Know Bemidji? quiz from, I don’t know when, is that the letters were taken from a Wells Fargo Bench along Third Street in downtown Bemidji:

Thanks for sticking with us!

- Bethany