Lately (part 2)

Maybe I should title it "Much Late-er-ly". I don't know who even reads blogs anymore...I think, maybe the people who aren't on facebook? Heh heh.

The tree farm we went to visit when we brought the kids to see Anna and her house was absolutely wonderful. It was a pretty hot day, which got to be kind of frustrating for the kids (you can kind of see their hot faces in the pictures) when everything around us was fall themed. The bigger kids went through the corn maze (which wasn't really a "maze" at all, just a path through the corn, with a bridge in the middle, just for fun). They had a pumpkin/apple cannon that was super cool and HUGE (and LOUD!). They had two jumping castles, a petting zoo, haunted house (not really scary, just cool), picnic area, haunted path through the woods, a boardwalk surrounding a sandbox with lots of bikes and scooters for racing around, a panning-for-gold, spray painted rocks-trough (fakey, but fun), a teepee with dress-up clothes inside it, a huge hay bale climbing pile, and an awesome hayride through some of the most beautiful country I've ever seen.

We are going to Anna's for Thanksgiving and will, most likely, go to this tree farm then to pick up our tree when we are there. Anna said that they have bonfires and hot chocolate for the you-cut-your-own-tree people. That would be an amazing event for the family. That would be lots of fun (don't know how the tree would travel on top of the van for the two hour drive home?).




This boat was in a neat spot. It really looked like a fishing boat on a pond, with a dock and everything. There were fishing rods with magnets on them and the "fish" had paperclips attached so you could "catch" them. No Weazys were drowned in the taking of this picture.

This is one of Tommy's 930 funny expressions. It's the one saved for when you don't want the hayride to end and your mom says, "Come off the wagon, Tommy!".




Matty will NOT let me take a picture of him unless he is in sunglasses, disguise, or I am covert in my photo-taking. He was bored in this picture because he was too hot and way too cool to jump in the jumping castles with the little kids. I told him today that it stinks that he's all angle-y, awkward, gawky, and not my cute, squishy, chubby, little Matty anymore. He acted offended, for some reason. He did give me a huggy and a kissy, though.

I thought it was so sweet when these two were sharing food together on the teeny picnic table. She kept handing Tommy food and he kept saying, "Dank Ooo" automatically. He's so polite.



There were lots of landscape pictures but it was really one of those "you had to be there" kind of places to really take in the beauty and scope of the surroundings.

If you don't mind being a temporary Cheesehead, head on over/down/up to Pleasant Valley Tree Farm in Wisconsin (I did not receive any compensation for this endorsement, I just really liked the place!). If you want, you can tell them Laura The Crazy Mama sent ya. I won't get anything out of the deal, except maybe bragging rights.

Next installment: Vincent's baptism

Lately (part 1)

My sister, Trine and I loaded up the kids into the van and rolled on over to Menomonie, WI to visit Anna. She is living at the home she will share with her hubs-to-be when they get married (in January). It's his house, but he is off to sea until right before the wedding. We miss him a lot but we had fun taking over his house for the weekend. I doubt that old house had that many little people in it since...well, maybe EVER! There were kids everywhere! We were completely freaked out by all of the steps but the kids were fairly careful the entire time. At the very end, I am the one who fell down the stairs (don't worry, I'm all better)! Anna worked very hard to paint and re-decorate the once-bachelor infested pad to a very beautiful, elegant house. It's probably over 100 years old and had been moved to it's current location. She did a LOT of work, all by herself and it turned out so nice.






Ignore my surly, apple-eating, oldest son and our mess we brought with us. I wish I had good pictures of the loft/office. It's just so perfect and cute.

That picture of the sailboat, above the mantel is actually a real picture of Matt! It's so cool how nautical themes are everywhere in the house (but not overwhelming or tacky). Anna even found some old Navy manuals (from Matt's grandpa, I think) that we had so much fun reading, out loud to each other. The "rules" of proper behavior for a Navy man were old fashioned sounding and classic.

Next, I'll post about our trip to the tree farm. I have so many awesome pictures, I wanted to save them all for their own post!

I also have pictures from our first trip of the year to the apple orchard, and of Vincent's baptism....to be continued...

Someday

We'll go back to Guatemala. I was thinking about the hotel where our friend got married and looked it up.

Casa Santo Domingo

It had been an old cathedral and convent until there was a terrible earthquake (and flooding...due to a large amount of water in a crater lake in the nearby volcano) in the old Guatemala and the city got relocated to the current location. Antigua (old city) was inhabited for some time, then people started to filter back in. The old grounds of that place were a debris dump for several generations until a commercial enterprise decided to excavate and turn it into a hotel. At the same time, the antiquities department of the government worked with them to also do some work to restore/turn it into a museum. It was absolutely beautiful.

The only thing remaining of the cathedral was the big wall behind the altar, and partial side walls. We got to celebrate Mass there! The wedding Mass was "in" the old Cathedral where, instead of a roof, they had a sort of permanent tent thing above our heads, lots of flowing, white fabric draped far above our heads and around us, wrought iron candles high above on the ruins of the cathedral walls were lit up, too. You could see, on the floor, where the original pillars once stood. The altar pedestal (looks like a stone table, which is still there, in it's original spot, being used as a modern altar) had a small painting of the Virgin, still standing after the destruction of the cathedral. Go to this site and check out the history of the excavation and look at some of the pictures of the museum. It was amazing to see in real life. I can't believe I was actually there. I hope, someday, I can go again with my family.

Here's an excerpt:

"The city was founded as Santiago de Guatemala (Saint James of Guatemala) and was one of the most important Spanish cities of the New World. As seat of the Captaincy General of Guatemala between the years 1543 and 1773, it was the political, religious, economic and cultural center of the region comprised between Chiapas and Costa Rica. Because of the destructive 1773 earthquakes and the Royal Decrees of the same year, the capital was transferred to the Valle de la Ermita (Valley of the Hermitage) and was founded as La Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción (The New Guatemala of the Assumption) and that is why the abandoned city was called “La Antigua Guatemala” (the Old Guatemala)."

A Crazy Idea That Just Might Work

This morning I was chatting with Paula about my Big Plan. It all came to me like a light bulb over my head when Regina sent me an IM link to this site. What a great cause, right? I was thinking it might be neat to do a benefit run like that but I don't really have the money to travel (I could stay for free with Regina, right? I'll kick Tug outta the bed and we can have a good, old fashioned sleepover. I'll bring the pink toenail polish and hairbrush/microphones.).



So, my big plan is to raise enough money (beg, borrow, steal...okay, maybe not borrow) for two plane tickets (Trina could maybe visit with her best friend online, Amy C's daughter. It's Trina's 15th birthday on Sept. 18th so it could be her bday present this year) and try to raise at least another 400 dollars for the benefit. I could run in the 10k (I'll be all trained up from the marathon!) and have a cheering section (Regina, Tug, their kids, Amy Caroline, Becca, Trina, and PAULA!). I'd really like to win for my age group so I would train my pants off (literally, when I really start to run, my butt disappears) and do you all so proud.



I realize that this is sort of a selfish thing to raise money for, but if you really think about it, it's only a HALF selfish thing because I would be giving half the money to the ultrasound fund, and half of it would be for the plane tickets (unless I somehow collect more than that, the extra would go to the fund, of course). If I don't collect enough for the plane tickets (400-600 bucks) then all the money I've collected would just go right to the benefit or some other local benefit. Speaking of that, shoot a little prayer off for Michael Talley, would ya? He is going to Rochester to see if they can do some good for him. He's had a pretty rough winter so far and I'm sure the family would appreciate the prayers.

So, what do you think of my idea?
Wow, I don't ask people's opinion very much so take advantage while you can!
Also, please vote on my poll on the sidebar.
Wow, when did I get so self-doubtful?
THAT doesn't happen very often. I must be hitting middleagecrazy or something.

Duluth

I love Minnesota (for about 4 months of the year).

I may have mentioned before that Butch works out of town a lot. I don't advertise when he does (for obvious safety reasons) but lately, on and off, for the last few months, he's worked mainly in and around Duluth, MN. He works most of the week (sometimes all week) when he gets a job "out of town". He typically comes home on the weekend but on occasion has worked out of state and has had to stay for a weekend.

Last year, we went to Alexandria, MN when he had a job there. That was very nice and it introduced the kids to the idea of the "mini-vacation". It's great because we get to go to rinky-dink little museums where there aren't hardly any people (everyone's in school!) and the volunteers there love to spend extra time with our little group.

We've been promising the kids all summer to visit Duluth but I'm so glad we waited until last week! The weather was PERFECT. School was in session so we were the only kids around. We got to walk from Canal Park right up to Butch work site and take pictures and video of his crew in action! It was a little weird for Butch to have his worlds collide like that but he really enjoyed having us there to break up the boredom.

He stays in a hotel across the HUGEST bridge in Superior, WI (which is decidedly a NOT fabulous town) because it's a whole lot cheaper but very close to Duluth. We stayed in a suite so we didn't drive each other nuts and we all fit in there just fine.

I planned only one night and to visit the zoo but we ended up NOT going to the zoo and staying two extra nights.

Here are some pictures of some of the things we did.

HOTEL









(I had to buy a cheapy camera, another Kodak Easy Share, on this vacation so my pictures are a little blurry but as I was trying it out, I took this one of Bocker and Matty eating continental breakfast. Matty looked up and said, "No pictures on my vacation!" sorry Matty, no can do)



Mari started playing with the "kissing bears" she brought in her "packpack" to the hotel. They were REALLY gettin' it on, and the kids and I were completely shocked at the sound her bears made while making out. We asked her where they could have possibly learned that behavior. I still don't know.

(Trina is pointing out our "you are here" at the bottom tip of Lake Superior. This was a really cool, aerial view of the great lakes and was so huge it wouldn't fit in the camera viewfinder! I really recommend coming to this city and especially visiting the aquarium. It was a beautiful, interactive place that the kids really enjoyed.)

Ice Cream

Walking Around and In Canal Park

(aftermath of ice cream)








Butch's Work Site



We got to get up really close to see the building that he was helping to construct right downtown Duluth. He is actually looking forward to going back to do the upper floors because his view of Canal Park and the lake is phenomenal from up there! I hope we can go back too, and maybe spend one or two nights, go back to Gooseberry Falls, or see some of the lighthouses and visit some more museums.

The crane operator had to load a plank back on to the truck because it was wrong. I was amazed to watch how he had to lace it through the steel I beams, hoist it over the beautiful next door building with the really big windows, over the street lamp and onto the truck without really being able to have a clear view. It's quite an operation! You should have seen the look on the lady's face who was stuck in traffic under it as it was coming down. She looked up in horror and had that "get me outta here!" look on her face as she rolled down the window and craned her neck to see what was going on! Butch ran across the street to hop up on the truck as a way of reassuring her that she wasn't actually UNDER the plank and that she was perfectly safe where she was. The operator did a wonderful job of getting the plank back on the truck nice and safe.
SAFETY FIRST!
Gooseberry Falls
Bocker's always been obsessed with lava. He asks me a million questions about it all the time. This trip was FULL of references to lava. He was in lava heaven.
Weazy thought Tommy's toes were as pretty as the scenery.
I let Matty venture out much more than anyone else (against my instinct), but he needed a little freedom after being "extra safety monitor" for so many days! It did just the trick for an increasingly whiny boy who was getting a little stifled in the van.




Two Harbors Museum

The "Edna G" tugboat has been in the harbor for over 100 years. It's a floating museum (big ships don't need the tugs anymore we were told by the wonderful guide who gave us a private tour). We also got to see a big taconite ship load up and pull away from the big loading dock. It was quite interesting for us landlubbers.
Trina is freaked out by mannequins. So am I.

We all had a great time and had a very positive reaction to our little/big group as we walked around Duluth and the other places we went. Sometimes we got strange looks (probably because of the presence of school age children during school hours) but, overall, if someone asked me if all those kids were mine, they were very sweet and would say something like "Oh, I was one of seven!" or "I have 6 of my own!" or "Good for you!" or "They are so well behaved!". It was a good thing for everyone that we took this little trip.
Next post:

Kidspeak from the last few weeks

I've got some doozies from the trip.

At dinner after our first night home together, we discussed where we'd like to go if we had unlimited funds and time to do it right.

I suggested to go South.

Mari said "Keksis". Bocker said "Texas!". He also wondered how long it would take to get there. Butch said it would take a couple of days. Bocker then wondered how long it would take to walk there. Trina told him it would take about a week of walking. Bocker said we couldn't do that, we'd probably get "walk-sick".

The REAL Vikings!

My kids are vikings!

We got sick and tired of Butch being out of town all of the time lately. He got a job up in Alexandria, MN where I used to go visiting an aunt's family who lives up there. When we were little, we would go to the local museum that had a replica of the first fort that was built there and all kinds of viking and Indian artifacts.

I figured we could get some education about these things, get out of the house for a short vacation, and spend some time with Butch all at the same time. So, off to Alexandria, it was!

It's only about a two hour trip (with bathroom and snack stop) so it was pretty bearable for me to do alone.




Once we got there, we stopped for lunch at Burger King. It was great because they had a big, blowup jumpy thing in the back and Niklaus had a ball. With all the "normal" kids in "normal" school, we pretty much had free reign all over that town! I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING!
We next drove right to Butch's work site. They were building a small structure right in the middle of the downtown area and it was pretty impressive for Niklaus to see the crane up close. Daddy was busy working, though, so we headed to the Runestone Museum which was only a block away from the work site.

The history of Alexandria and the Kensington Runestone is so, very interesting! It seems that Alexandria, MN is one of the oldest settlements in MN, founded by two brothers. One brother's name was Alexander (thus the name of the town). A third brother stayed while the other two went on to other pursuits. That brother died shortly after settling and his wife, Clara basically held on with her children until she found another family to sell the settlement to. The husband of THAT family died early on, also, so his wife carried on for years. She is the true founder of the town and had a big hand in plotting out the town streets, and other functions. You can see on a map of the area her genius in forethought. There are tons of lakes in the area and the roads are so neatly, strategically placed around them. It's an enjoyable, beautiful place to visit.

The Kensington Runestone is a very interesting object that is the highlight of the museum. I won't talk about it here because I get all excited and some people might find the subject rather boring. You can look up that link and see what you think! Here is the actual stone with some weird kids standing next to it:



Totem kids:


The museum had a terrific, interactive, play area. It included: a cornbox (sandbox with corn instead of sand), viking games, dress up area, rune magnet board, coloring page station, and a cool painting of a huge viking to take a picture by.

"Katrina" in runes:





Peg game:


Costumes:





Outside is the recreation fort along with some relics from an older time. There was an old caboose, a school house from the turn of the century, a huge shed with old farm equipment and a 3/4 size replica of a real viking ship (didn't get a picture of that one, darnit) that was once part of a Smithsonian display, a viking cutout, a small stage for plays or speeches, a blacksmith shop, an old cannon, and a mercantile store:








After the museum, we went back to try to talk to daddy. Boy, was Niklaus surprised when Butch had him hop up in the crane to do some "work"...At the playground we went to afterward, Niklaus was trying to replicate his experience. I doubt it compared to the real thing!




It was a great trip and I really look forward to doing this sort of thing again. Maybe we can learn a ton more about our state (and then, maybe I won't have such a crappy attitude about the weather) and have some more fun in the future. I guess Butch's travelling a lot isn't such a bad thing after all? He always comes home for the weekend, and the "out of town" trips usually are in-state, so he isn't too far away.

OH! About the title of the post: My kids really are Vikings! Their dad is 1/2 Danish and 1/2 Swedish. It was kind of funny to see their faces when I pointed this out to them. I said, "Hey! These were YOUR people!". I am not one of them. I would be a tribal outsider, or maybe even a slave (my people were all from Germany). They really liked the thought of that!
Hmmmm, after doing a little bit of research, I found out that it is thought that Leif Erikson (famous, Viking explorer that may have even travelled to MN...who knows, maybe HE left that runestone here?) was educated by his GERMAN SLAVE!

I guess what goes around, comes around!