She's also prepared for undercover work as a Saharan princess. I'm not sure exactly how that will come in handy in Wisconsin, but I'm sure it will. Sometime.
Thursday 21 August 2008
The House Watch
We recently hired a new guard for our house. We also believe in equal opportunity, so this guard is a girl. She came highly recommended, and with her own equipment. I'm sure all the camera-ninjas will be much more worried about stealing our camera now!
She's also prepared for undercover work as a Saharan princess. I'm not sure exactly how that will come in handy in Wisconsin, but I'm sure it will. Sometime.
She's also prepared for undercover work as a Saharan princess. I'm not sure exactly how that will come in handy in Wisconsin, but I'm sure it will. Sometime.
A Mysterious Visitor
I'm not sure who got ahold of our camera -- probably one of those camera-ninjas I hear about -- but I had some mysterious pictures on it when I went to make these blog entries. If you can identify the individual(s?) involved, please contact the authorities. Thank you.
Wait a second...
Wait a second...
Canoeing in Wisconsin
This is a catch-up entry. Becca's been back home for a couple of weeks now, but while she was here she, Deb, and the boys rounded up a canoe since the canoe rental place wasn't renting our particular Saturday (you have to hold your mouth right at 10:24 AM on the Thursday before for them to be open, apparently).
Here are the intrepid adventurers ready for a canoe ride! Little do they know what lies before them...
What, you may ask, lay before them? Well, in Wisconsin, the word "rapids" never occurs near "water" or "river", so they didn't actually run into a stunning amount of white-water. However, they did run into a life jacket that tried to eat Asher! Note how the other passengers seem happy about this.
This may have led to the smug-smug look on Mattias' face later that outing!
Stay tuned for more stories of children being eaten by recreational equipment.
Here are the intrepid adventurers ready for a canoe ride! Little do they know what lies before them...
What, you may ask, lay before them? Well, in Wisconsin, the word "rapids" never occurs near "water" or "river", so they didn't actually run into a stunning amount of white-water. However, they did run into a life jacket that tried to eat Asher! Note how the other passengers seem happy about this.
This may have led to the smug-smug look on Mattias' face later that outing!
Stay tuned for more stories of children being eaten by recreational equipment.
Thursday 7 August 2008
The Mudhole
Today's big adventure with Aunt Becca was a trip to "The Mudhole". It has some official name that the city calls it, but nobody knows what it is. All the locals call it the Mudhole, because that is what it is. It was a great day in the sun!
After swimming a bit, the sandcastle building began. The boys made deep moats around their castles for Sylvia to stomp around in.
Aunt Becca had the most fashionable sand castle of the day.
The boys pretended they were a hurricane, and destroyed the castles. They then moved on to more exciting sand projects, like little swimming pools for Sylvia to hop about in. :)
After swimming a bit, the sandcastle building began. The boys made deep moats around their castles for Sylvia to stomp around in.
Aunt Becca had the most fashionable sand castle of the day.
The boys pretended they were a hurricane, and destroyed the castles. They then moved on to more exciting sand projects, like little swimming pools for Sylvia to hop about in. :)
Minneapolis, Day Two
To be fair to Minneapolis/St Paul, the highways are very well thought out and easy to follow - much more so than any larger city I've driven in. However, we tended to enjoy time at parks more than anything.
On day one, we visited Snelling State Park, which is a large patch of riverfront and open space in the middle of the bustle of Minneapolis. I can't say it's quiet because the entrance is about 30 feet away from the airport, but it was very non-busy. We found the same to be true of our second-day adventure at... at... a lake! Blast, Sean's memory finally shows on the blog, how embarrassing.
Anyway, the boys spent at least half the time trying to shock each other by sliding down the slides very slowly and picking up static electricity. They also made a discovery about electricity and sand which I'm sure we'll see more about in the future, but for now it's the subject of secret government research.
Sylvia, on the other hand, spent a lot of time playing in the sand, climbing and running and generally being a happy toddler. She also posed for a couple of cute pictures.
I'm sorry we don't have pictures of the pretty buildings (the cathedrals were very impressive) or the Art Institute Museum (where they didn't allow pictures) or Black River Falls, where we found a Great Harvest! It would almost be worth it to drive up there again just for the bread!
On day one, we visited Snelling State Park, which is a large patch of riverfront and open space in the middle of the bustle of Minneapolis. I can't say it's quiet because the entrance is about 30 feet away from the airport, but it was very non-busy. We found the same to be true of our second-day adventure at... at... a lake! Blast, Sean's memory finally shows on the blog, how embarrassing.
Anyway, the boys spent at least half the time trying to shock each other by sliding down the slides very slowly and picking up static electricity. They also made a discovery about electricity and sand which I'm sure we'll see more about in the future, but for now it's the subject of secret government research.
Sylvia, on the other hand, spent a lot of time playing in the sand, climbing and running and generally being a happy toddler. She also posed for a couple of cute pictures.
I'm sorry we don't have pictures of the pretty buildings (the cathedrals were very impressive) or the Art Institute Museum (where they didn't allow pictures) or Black River Falls, where we found a Great Harvest! It would almost be worth it to drive up there again just for the bread!
Minneapolis, Day One
Our family travelled to the fabled land of Public Radio, Saint Paul, Minnesota a couple of days ago. Noel flew off to Oregon to be with grandma and grandpa McMullin for a family reunion, and what were we to do without her?
Well, on the way, we ran into this...
Deb couldn't resist posing, since she'd been trained as a discus thrower in high school by her coach father. How's the form look to you? Pretty good, I'd say! (I can say that - I'm her husband).
We stopped in at the Minneapolis Children's Museum, which is a huge glass-and-steel building downtown. They tried to make it look like home for Sean, but unfortunately, like usual, he sat with his eyes closed most of the time! We've got to work on that fellow.
And finally, there was the dress-up area which everyone had fun with. Our pictures didn't turn out terribly well, but here's Asher demonstrating his ability to smile with one side of his face.
We figure it's the effect of smoke inhalation from all the firefighting, and are working on rehabilitating him at the moment. Tickling plays an important part in rehabilitation.
We dropped Noel off at the airport, and spent some time at the lake and the Oakdale Temple as well, but the camera did not come along so you'll just have to imagine how stupendous the airport was. I love airports! :P
Well, on the way, we ran into this...
Deb couldn't resist posing, since she'd been trained as a discus thrower in high school by her coach father. How's the form look to you? Pretty good, I'd say! (I can say that - I'm her husband).
We stopped in at the Minneapolis Children's Museum, which is a huge glass-and-steel building downtown. They tried to make it look like home for Sean, but unfortunately, like usual, he sat with his eyes closed most of the time! We've got to work on that fellow.
And finally, there was the dress-up area which everyone had fun with. Our pictures didn't turn out terribly well, but here's Asher demonstrating his ability to smile with one side of his face.
We figure it's the effect of smoke inhalation from all the firefighting, and are working on rehabilitating him at the moment. Tickling plays an important part in rehabilitation.
We dropped Noel off at the airport, and spent some time at the lake and the Oakdale Temple as well, but the camera did not come along so you'll just have to imagine how stupendous the airport was. I love airports! :P
Sunday 3 August 2008
We rock out at the Mustard Festival!
On Saturday, the whole family road-tripped to the nearby town of Mt. Horeb. It is famous for its carved wooden trolls, scattered all over the town. Can you tell which are the trolls in the picture below?
It is also famous for it National Mustard Festival. We started the party by dancing on main street to the sweet and tangy sounds of an accordian band.
The free hot-dogs gave energy to the exhausted dancers... although Asher is not sure if he chose the wrong mustard.
We met the famous Duchess of Mustard, who also plays a mean accordian.
A few high fives to a giant walking mustard bottle kept Becca entertained.
After much bribery, Mattias finally let Becca teach him to do a box-step. They waltzed along, and at the end of the dance, Mattias bought his reward in the wonderful chocolate shop on Main St.
We took a tour of the Mustard Museum itself. It hurts your eyes initially with all the yellow in the shop.
One fun activity was mustard painting. For $1, you got a piece of paper, and could use several different coloured bottles of mustard to make a masterpiece. I didn't know some mustard was lime green.
We let them dry on our car before we took them home. The problem was that we forgot to take them out before church the next day... so the car was pretty stinky when we opened the doors. - I was worried we'd all go into church smelling like fermented mustard.
Sylvia finally admitted she was tired, and we had to peel her off a lawn on main street in order to drive back to Stoughton.
It was a party day like none other. I think we'll definately make it a yearly tradition. The combination of the best chocolate malts in Wisconsin, plus the groovy accoridan bands made it a popular show for all ages.
It is also famous for it National Mustard Festival. We started the party by dancing on main street to the sweet and tangy sounds of an accordian band.
The free hot-dogs gave energy to the exhausted dancers... although Asher is not sure if he chose the wrong mustard.
We met the famous Duchess of Mustard, who also plays a mean accordian.
A few high fives to a giant walking mustard bottle kept Becca entertained.
After much bribery, Mattias finally let Becca teach him to do a box-step. They waltzed along, and at the end of the dance, Mattias bought his reward in the wonderful chocolate shop on Main St.
We took a tour of the Mustard Museum itself. It hurts your eyes initially with all the yellow in the shop.
One fun activity was mustard painting. For $1, you got a piece of paper, and could use several different coloured bottles of mustard to make a masterpiece. I didn't know some mustard was lime green.
We let them dry on our car before we took them home. The problem was that we forgot to take them out before church the next day... so the car was pretty stinky when we opened the doors. - I was worried we'd all go into church smelling like fermented mustard.
Sylvia finally admitted she was tired, and we had to peel her off a lawn on main street in order to drive back to Stoughton.
It was a party day like none other. I think we'll definately make it a yearly tradition. The combination of the best chocolate malts in Wisconsin, plus the groovy accoridan bands made it a popular show for all ages.
"Bear Bear Bear!"
Friday, we made it to the zoo. When Sylvia realized where we were heading, she started yelling "Bear, Bear, Bear!" at the top of her lungs. (Goldilocks and the 3 Bears happens to be her favourite story currently.) So, that was our first stop.
The polar bear was moving all over, and we enjoyed watching him for a long time before visiting the other bears.
The boys enjoyed watching the badger running laps in his pen. Asher asked if he could get one for a pet. - I don't think so.
The zoo carousel is a big hit with Sylvia. She let Aunt Becca ride a fierce caterpillar next to her.
Asher rode while modelling Sylvia's sunhat. He is so fashionable.
Sylvia saw a penguin, and had to go for a second ride to try it out. She kept saying "Nug, Nug!" As she was going around, then joined me singing "Pingu, Pingu!". (For those of you who don't watch the European Pingu cartoon, you are missing out! Do a U-Tube search for him.
And finally, here is our latest family member. While fishing last Tuesday, Ann Pusar found us a monarch caterpillar on some milkweed. We are trying to keep it supplied with leaves from the sides of the road around here. We hope to watch it change into a butterfly soon. It even eats more than Asher! It has doubled it's size in 2 days already.
The polar bear was moving all over, and we enjoyed watching him for a long time before visiting the other bears.
The boys enjoyed watching the badger running laps in his pen. Asher asked if he could get one for a pet. - I don't think so.
The zoo carousel is a big hit with Sylvia. She let Aunt Becca ride a fierce caterpillar next to her.
Asher rode while modelling Sylvia's sunhat. He is so fashionable.
Sylvia saw a penguin, and had to go for a second ride to try it out. She kept saying "Nug, Nug!" As she was going around, then joined me singing "Pingu, Pingu!". (For those of you who don't watch the European Pingu cartoon, you are missing out! Do a U-Tube search for him.
And finally, here is our latest family member. While fishing last Tuesday, Ann Pusar found us a monarch caterpillar on some milkweed. We are trying to keep it supplied with leaves from the sides of the road around here. We hope to watch it change into a butterfly soon. It even eats more than Asher! It has doubled it's size in 2 days already.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)