The First Football Game of the Year

My son is in the Pop Werner Football program. I may have mentioned that they had a game last weekend. It's been a week already? Geez, where did that time go???Anyway, I promised to tell you about it after I got some rest. I suppose a week's worth of rest is plenty long enough!

They played a game an hour's drive from our home field last weekend. He was so excited about his first game he just couldn't stop talking about it. It's good to see him so into a sport. He had gotten his uniform after practice a couple of days earlier. Since they had been fitted for their practice uniforms by the coaches, I assumed that they knew his size and his uniform would be the same size. Well, do you know what happens when you assume? Ass-U-me. Yup.

It was two hours to game time. I had him put his uniform on before we hit the road. No busses for his team, we all drove our own kids. I went out to check the van while he got ready. We were planning on going to MIL's house right after the game so I made sure we had all of the neccessary tools packed up before we left home. We had a lot of projects to get done for her. We had packed the van up the night before so there was no need to worry really. I also had to check the cat's food and water, make sure all of the plants were watered, and clean the cat boxes one last time before we left.

The kids were supposed to be at the field a half hour before game time, so I planned on leaving the house an hour and a half early. In case we got lost or something, you know... I'd never been to the field before and Cheesehead had to work until the game started. I'm not always so great with directions when I have to follow road signs instead of landmarks. I had packed some sandwiches, drinks, and fruit in my lunch pail earlier that morning so I could just have them eat in the van. That way we wouldn't have a frantic lunch rush before we left for the game. If I had only known what was about to happen.

It was 15 minutes until I wanted to get going when I came in from making my final checks before vacation. I found my son with his game pants barely pulled up to his thighs. Frantically I start asking him why he's not ready yet. It's been 15 minutes for Pete's sake.He says his uniform doesn't fit. WHAT? It can't be! They knew his size!

I desperately try to pull his pants up for him. Maybe he just needs to put a little bit more muscle into it, he tends to pretend he can't do some things in order for me to feel sorry for him and just do it for him. They won't budge. Maybe we'll have better luck with the jersey? No such luck. He can get one arm in and it gets stuck on the shoulder pads. I'm practically choking the poor fellow. What do we do now?

Quickly I throw the practice pants and jersey into the dryer and have the kids start eating their lunch. Good thing I had washed the clothes before, they had been filthy. Too bad I'm such a dimwit that I didn't remember to dry the load earlier too. I decide to have the kids eat while we wait for the practice clothes to dry. I hope they dry faster if I put them in the dryer alone rather than with the rest of the clothes I had washed.

While the clothes are tumbling in the dryer I grab a phone book out of the junk drawer. I only know two of the coach's names. Does son know any more? Nope. Neither of them are listed. EEK. Maybe they're just not published? Nope. I remember that one of their phone numbers had been sent in an email so I turn on the computer and impatiently wait for it to boot up. It takes a year and a half in my mind, but the screen finally pops up. I pull up the emails. It's not there! I deleted it? I open the deleted files folder. Erased from there too? Oh no! I wanted to be able to tell them about the uniform mixup before the game! Oh, I know one of his friends' on the team parents names. Maybe they weren't bone headed enough to delete that email, I could ask them the phone number in it. I look them up in the phone book and with lightning quick fingers, I dial the number. An hour and a half til game time now. The phone rang about 20 times before I dejectledly hung up.

He's upset. He doesn't think he'll get to play in the game. I check his clothes. They're dry, so I throw them in a bag just in case. Luckily the bag is big enough for everything including his pads, helmet, and both uniforms. I assure him that he'll play even if he needs to wear his practice uniform and we fly out the door. Fifteen minutes later than I wanted to leave. Oh well, it can't be helped!

My heart is racing from all of the fast paced activity. Whew, we're on the road. We should still be able to roll in just on time since we live 15 minutes closer to the town they're playing in than town is.

As I drive and try to clear my mind from unease, I can't help but have this gnawing feeling in the back of my mind. What is it? I absently munch my sandwich and stare blankly down the road. I'm sure glad we go through this town every time we go to MIL's, I didn't even need to look up how to get there on a map. About 1/2 way there I decide to start looking for the directions to the filed. I dig through my purse twice. Where are they? I dump it out on the seat next to me. I open every zipper. I can't look long, I am driving. I feel with my hands to make sure it all came out. The purse is empty. What did I do with them? I have my son look through my activity bag that I packed for Peanut. He digs through that twice. I have him page through every page of the book and notebook. They're nowhere to be found.

At least I have a cell phone, I can call Cheesehead at work and get the directions from him. I copied them down for each of us since we both had to drive seperatly. He answers and my phone drops the call immediately. I swear under my breath. No bars? Can this day GET any worse? I drive a couple more minutes. I know we're almost there. I NEED those directions! I call again and ask him the directions when I hear his voice. I tell him we need the directions. He snidely remarks that it sure is a good thing I forgot to put any money in his wallet, the directions are MUCH easier to find.

I'm driving, so I can't write them down. I tell son to remember them and repeat them to him as soon as I hear them. He writes the quickly into the notebook he found in the activity bag so we can't forget. We had to park about 4 blocks' distance from the field. It's 12:30.

We dash to the field and look up his coaches. They wonder why he isn't suited up, so I quickly explain and they wisk him off to get fitted for another uniform. Ten minutes to game time and son rushes over asking for his knee pads? HUH? They're in the game pants I sent with you! I rush after him. The coach is fumbling the pads nervously. He had found them, but it's been years since he's had to sting pads on a belt. Normally I make son do this now that he's older, but there's no time. I tell him that I can do it and confidently take over so he can get back to the rest of the players. Four minutes to game time, son's geared up and ready to go. No time for warm ups. They have the nerve to tell me that we should get to the games early enough and prepared so he can warmup with the team. I grit my teeth and secretly feel like strangling them. I smile politely and nod saying nothing. I mean, is this REALLY my fault?

Game time! My son is a guard (or was that a tackle?) on the offensive line. The whistle blows and the game starts flying by. 6 points, 7, 13, 14,20, 26. It's not even 1/2 time. The other team can't score. Ours is off the charts.



At 1/2 time the coaches are going over the rules. Our team isn't allowed to score any more points until the other team scores. What? These kids ARE in 5th grade. Do we really need to keep babying them? Are they so dim that they don't realize the other team is being reined in to make it a "fair" game? I don't know about you, but I think if I had been on that other team, I'd feel insulted. Whatever. They need to keep the defensive line in the whole second half of them game. Those kids will be SO tired! Our team is big enough for no one to have to play both offense and defense. They decide to alternate the lines every four plays, both playing defense.

Our teams were able to keep them from scoring the whole rest of the game. WOO HOO! Way to go!

My son is so excited. His team was undefeated last year. He wonders if they can do it again. Maybe if they work hard. I wonder if he had fun. He is beaming. I don't need any more answer than that! All's well that ends well I suppose!

Oops, sorry to keep you so long. That was quite the LONG story!
Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Exploring the State Fair with Your Senses

Skeeter asked if I was taking time to smell the roses. Why, YES I am! Okay, maybe there aren't very many roses to be seen at the MN State Fair, but there are plenty of things to smell there (if you dare).



There are the adorable baby animals. I chose to show you the fluffy yellow chicks. Peanut sure was upset that she missed seeing these little cuties. As an additional assault on your senses you can also pet some of them. There were other babies too including horses, cattle, pigs, ducks, and lambs. They were so small and soft! I think their barn wasn't quite as smelly as their parent's barns were, but maybe I was just blinded by the baby animals.

Not so into stopping to smell things? Okay, we'll go for the taste test instead! (Actually you can also smell these too so I suppose that little intro was a bit misleading) What would you prefer?



Deep fried candy bars? (As if candy bars alone aren't fattening enough? I'll have to pass on this one!)

Maybe you'd prefer something on a stick?



Hotdish on a stick?



Fried fruit?

Seriously, you can pretty much get anything on a stick here. Or fried. I tried to avoid most of that stuff though. I'm already having enough weight problems so I went light on the food.

We did buy a large bucket of chocolate chip cookies. The kids were happy that we got them some yummy souveniers. They didn't last long though!



There are also huge blocks of butter there. They carve all of the dairy princesses and Princess Kay of the Milky Way too. It is done inside a cooler to keep the carvings fresh for all of the fair goers to see. If it stayed outside it would probably melt from the heat anyway.



Listen carefully. I can almost hear the bell tolling. These topiaries are just divine, aren't they? There were many musical acts to listen to. As well as droning politicians, news shows, and screams from the midway to name a few. I'm not sure who was playing at the grandstand this year but luckily no one visits here looking for any real information anyway. Actually this trip was a bit unplanned since we were only going to go if we got enough of MIL's projects done to take the time off, so at least I have an excuse for knowing nothing this time! LOL.



There are also a great many things to see. Elvis was there! I guess they don't call it Minnesota's great get together for nothing!



Our first stop was the horticulture building. Beautiful collections of floral arrangements, assorted flower collections, honey, corn, you name it it was there. This was one of my favorite arrangements. Don't those look like fireworks?



Even crop art! Peanut would have liked to do this too. They had a station for the kids to create their own.



Lots of things to look at for shopping too! This was my favorite collection place. What a wonderful variety. I saw at least 10 things that I really wanted to buy in here!

I just adore looking at all of the prize winning art work, foods, crafts, plants, animals, people, parades, news shows, and souveniers from all over the world. There are endless things to see and do.

We had a great visit to the fair this year. The kids opted not to go since (heaven forbid) there was a lot of walking involoved. We parked about 6 blocks from the fairgrounds at one of Cheesehead's friend's son's houses. We thought it would be weel worth it to avoid the fair traffic and exorbitant parking prices. It was also good excercise. Well, at least it was until we walked the whole fair two or three times. My feet were killing me by the time we were done! I guess that will teach me not to wear sandals for all day walking around the fair, won't it?

Goodness me, look how I've been prattling on! I suppose I'd better get going to bed if I want to be able to help Cheesehead with the shed's deck tommorrow.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Updates

Geez, things have been SO crazy around here. I'll try to get a few more details up about these events later, but it seems that many of you are worried about me. HOW SWEET! I'm super tired from the whirlwind of activities once again. Since it's 11:15pm I think I'm becoming a pumpkin as we speak! Just a few scant details now.

First of all, the bee sting is almost completely gone. I looked up some info online and treated it as if it were an allegry. I took benadryl and rubbed allergy creme and hydrocortizone on it. Now it's almost completely gone, it just itches a bit. Must have been a localized allergic reaction.

Tomorrow we're planning on trying to get the shed painted. All 4 of us so we can hopefully make a trip to the UP Thursday. Wish us luck! Friday and Saturday we'll be building a deck for the shed, Sunday there's a picnic we're invited to. No specific plans for Monday yet, but I'm sure we'll find something to keep us busy. God forbid we sit down and rest for a day or something!

Just got back from helping out MIL and helping her with her household projects. It's been hard for her without FIL this last year. The projects weren't really time consuming, there were just a lot of them!

My son won his first football game, it was a blowout. Score was 26-0 at 1/2 time so they weren't allowed to score any more points in the second 1/2. What a fiasco getting ready for the game too. Got a sunburn.

Went to the MN State Fair yesterday too. Got another sunburn.

Lots of berries to pick. It's been awfully dry so quite a few of them started to dry up. (BOO HOO)

Hmm, is this the vacation we really WANTED to have?

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Our Morning Misadventure

While this annoyed me this morning, I thought I may amuse you with a story before I head out today.

I am trying to sleep in for the long trip today. I had a rough night because I was worried about being able to get to all of the right places today. I guess I should have looked at mapquest yesterday. I didn't because Cheesehead told me that his mom and uncle both knew how to get there.

Anyway, at 6:15am I can hear Beauty whining in the living room. She won't stop and it's too early, I'm too tired to be thinking straight, so I get up in a flash. I don't want her to have an accident on my nice carpeting. Both of the dogs go to the garage door acting like they've just GOT to go outside. I hurry up and open the door following them to make sure they stay in the back yard. Mind you I'm wearing my summer nightie that is fairly short. I wasn't worried about being seen by neighbors so I didn't even grab my robe. We were going to stay in the back yard anyway....

We go out through the garage's back door and get to the kennel. The kennel door is ajar. They tear out of the back yard into the front yard. I run after them allowing the door to shut behind me. I didn't want them to find the baby bluebirds!

Suddenly it occurs to me that Cheesehead probably just headed to work and the dogs were sad because he left them. I call the dogs to the back yard. Amazingly they listen to me. We all go into the kennel and try to open the door. I never unlocked it! EEK! I'm cursing the door locks we have. Who makes door locks that you can open without unlocking the door anyway? Now we're stuck outside, the house is locked up tight and there is no way inside except the kids letting us in.

My mind starts whirring with thoughts of how to get back in. I start wishing that we slept with the windows open at night. We don't because Cheesehead is afraid a bear will break in or something. Um, since they're taller than me I really don't think that could happen! Too bad we never got the code programmed for the touchpad on the garage door, I guess that will have to get on the to do list pronto. Our extra key is no longer outside where the builders kept it. I wish I had my purse, I could use my cell phone to call them and let the phone ring until I roused the kids. Oh, if I had my purse I'd have my keys.

It is hazy, hot, and muggy even though it's only 60 degrees. Beauty is whining for me to let her back inside. Gee, if all I ever had to do was whine to get my way I'd whine all the time too. I start knocking on all of the windows and doors of the house to try to rouse them kids. Nothing. I have to go to the front yard. I put the dogs in the kennel hoping the dogs don't figure out they can knock it over just by jumping on the walls.

I am circling the house like a vulture. I can't stay up front long because the neighbors do daycare and some of the other neighbors are leaving for work. I don't want to blind them with my brilliantly white thighs, so I keep circling, knocking, and ylling for the kids.

All of a sudden I hear a strange soft warbling noise that I haven't heard yet. It's the baby birds. Sorry babies, I wasn't even thinking!

Defeated I go to the back yard, wipe the moisture off of the cleanest chair and plop down to plan my next move. I could go over to my favorite neighbor's house and try to use their phone. If I were wearing my other nightgown or had my robe over the top I probably would.

I close my eyes. Man, I am still SO tired. I listen to the birds twittering in the trees. I can hear the robins and the mourning doves. There are several other birds calling too, but I don't know who says what. Some of them are sweetly singing with melodious voices, others are twittering among themselves, I hear chirping, and warbling. At least 6 different bird calls. I am waiting. Sweat is trickling down my body. The dogs are whining. Mosquitos buzz. An eternity passes. I decide to make another round. Still no one stirring inside.

I start grumbling to myself. The kids are usually up early watching tv. Why not today? Grr! I knock on the front door again. The cats come to investigate. They look at my seeming to wonder why I don't come in. I yell "Speedy, go get the kids!". She stares at me blankly. Hmm, I guess she doesn't act as much like a dog as I though she did!

I turn around. Mother bluebird looks at me curiously from her watching post. I'm sure she's wondering why that crazy lady doesn't just go away. I mumble to her that she's lucky she doesn't have a door that locks on her house. I proceed to the back yard to wait. The cycle repeats for what seems like forever.

Suddenly both dogs are looking through the window of the garage door. The kids must be up. I practically sprint to the front yard. Yup, there are both kids. I knock. They open the door and the first words out of theire mouths are "Where are the dogs?". Gee, it sure is nice to be so well loved!

The ordeal lasted an hour and a half. I relate the tale to them. They didn't hear a thing. I go out to get the dogs. Do I have to? If it weren't for the naughty beasts I'd already be ready for my trip. I suppose I should have been getting ready instead of telling you a story, but in retrospect it is somewhat amusing. I sure made MIL laugh when I told her.

Okay, enough procrastinating I need to get to MIL's with enough time to squeeze in both lunch AND an oil change.

I know we just had one, but MAN do I need a vacation!

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Munsinger Gardens in St. Cloud, MN

I just love visiting these gardens. These first few pictures are of the Virginia Clemmons (Er, did I spell that right?) gardens just up the hill from munsinger. These gardens were built across the street from their house because she was no longer able to have her own garden. I always thought that was so sweet. They were built more recently than the Munsinger Gardens were. We lived in the general area (give or take 30 miles) when the rose gardens were built, although it's hard for me to recall an exact date. When we lived in MN we tried to visit at least once a year. Such a lovely serene place. I wonder why I didn't walk over here and visit them more often when I was going to college right across the river....

I visited here on my last trip to MN, you know... before the sheriff's sale. I've been so busy I forgot to share them with you.



Usually this time of year the roses would be in full bloom, but they weren't. That's okay, I was still happy to be able to get here. This is what you see on one end of the gardens.



After meandering around, you climb a hill. I love the view from the top of the hill. Since the spring had been so cold, there were countless gardeners getting plants in the dirt. I felt like kneeling down and helping them out, but Mom had to work later so I wasn't able to.



Once we were done admiring the plants in the sunny upper gardens, we headed down to the river. There is a good shade coverage down here. So many plants I'd love to have. It seemed they had so many plant varieties that I didn't know. I could name many more than mom did though, so I sure felt smart. Not that she's not, but it feels good to know something your mom doesn't. Does that make me weird?



The path is well used down by the river. The sound of gravel crunching under foot is lovely. Countless benches and swings lne the path too. You can see people running and/or walking on the path on any given day. There was one swing nestled in between the lilac bushes that I could have spent all day enjoying. I adore the sweet smell of lilacs!




There are lots of fountains and plenty of places to walk around and enjoy the beautiful flowers both above and below. The gentle sound of trickling water can be heard in many places throughout the gardens as well. Fountains abound all over, except down by the river where you can enjoy the sounds of the river. One of my favorite sounds besides the water is the ducks. Look at this mom in charge of all of the kids. How typical! Do you know where I saw the dad? Taking a nap farther up the river. Just like a man to leave the woman in charge of all the kids and go off to "work"! At least the human males actually work when they say they're going to.

Of course I had over 100 pictures from here too, but then you'd be here drooling all over my blog instead of enjoying your own gardens. I couldn't do that to you now, could I?

You can

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Cindy

Home Sweet Home

Vacation was fun, but it's good to be home! I must say I don't miss that traffic at all. My friends? YES!

I guess you can't have everything though. Over there even the peaceful country like settings are rushed and traffic filled. I wouldn't trade my home for anything!

I had several blooms waiting to greet me when we got home. The peonies were luxiriantly sweet smelling. I breifly contemplated making a lovely floral arrangement with them, some delphiniums, and wild daisies. Then I remembered the cats. They'd maul those flowers almost immediately so I decided I'd leave them outside for the birds and butterflies to enjoy as well. The ants did work very hard on these lovely blooms anyway.



I did take a close up of the peony, but I liked this shot too. I had 4 lovley blooms that are in all of their glory when we returned. The ants worked on these when they were done with the others. They did bloom before I left as did the knockout. I even took pictures. But since I was so busy and MIL doesn't have internet I didn't get around to posting those pics. Sorry.



My garden was overflowing with blooms upon my return. I have two of these plants. One is more purplish and the other has a bluish hew to it. I had the reign in the larger one with some wire fencing that I had put up front earlier this spring. They were sprawled out all over the sidewalk and I knew the kids would trample all over them without a second thought. This one is smaller than the other.



The spirea was blooming too. Not like my bridal white was in MN, but pretty enough. It's still pretty small yet, but in a couple of years I'm sure it will be just as lovely.



I have blue and white delphiniums. They are absolutely HUGE. No creeping here, they leaped right away even though I just planted all of these last summer. They're monsterous, but in a beautiful way. I'll take pics of the enire plant soon. I think the white one is taller than me! (okay, not that that feat takes much, but still....)



My mini rose that I planted last summer also had a bloom for me, with several more buds that will be opening any day now. Why was I so worried? Isn't it beautiful all dainty pink and small?

There are also 4 kinds of wildflowers blooming as well as a deep purple clematis, salvia, lavendar, spiderwort, astibile, and several other perrineals. I love my serenely beautiful blossom filled garden!

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

I think I just gave Mom one of her favorite birthday presents ever!

I'd like to thank my ex-brother-in-law CM for helping me make this gift possible. I wish I had gotten a picture of the look on her face when she saw us coming with my neice and nephew. We didn't know if it would work out, so it was a secret from everyone. My family found out the day before the trip to the zoo when their dad called and let me know he was able to work everything out.



I took a picture of mom and her grandkids. I think it was an awesome day for all of us. My kids were extremely happy to see their cousins again. It's been a couple of years. Peanut would not stop jabbering to them about every event in her life.
I did actually take some pictures of the animals, but I don't think I'm going to share them. Who hasn't seen lions and tigers and bears? (Oh my!)



Isn't this an adorable picture? Peanut was in it too, but she was looking elsewhere and the back of her head was all you could see.



There were lots of tall plants growing around here as well as bonsai, flowers, and other assorted things. We spent quite a while inside the conservatory buildings since it was chilly and raining. There were birds flying free and caged things such as anacondas, tarantulas, and other assorted things I would never want to run into in the wild.



The gardens were brimming with exotic flowers. I loved the lilies, roses, geraniums, orchids, and other assorted flowers. The sunken garden was one of my favorite places to visit. I wonder why they got rid of the koi that they used to house in the pond....



I like the formation under these. I called them bananas at first, but mom siad they grew on bushes. I supposed that makes these plantains?

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

MOA and the Twins vs Brewers game

Oh what a day! There was not a complaint all morning and afternoon. Cheesehead decided not to ride the rides with us, so I sat out a few to keep him company. We went on a couple of rides the kids decided they wouldn't ride again. You know, the ones that go upside down. Peanut is just barely tall enough to ride them all now.



After a morning chalk full of riding, we went to Underwater World. There was much to see and do there. We wandered through the woods looking at animals which can be found in this part of the world. Anything that doesn't live in the water was stuffed, but that's okay. We're going to the zoo anyway! There were so many sharks!



I couldn't imagine a shark that they didn't have displayed here. They swam overhead as you wandered through the long underground tunnel. There were more than sharks of course, but they like to tell everyone how they're the largest shark display. I must say, they do have reason to talk about it!

There were other artifacts throughout the end as well which the kids found very interesting. There was even a Finding Nemo display there. Peanut was upset that I wouldn't buy her a stuffed animal there. I found a perfect t-shirt for her too, but she refused it. It said I'm a little crabby and had a cartoon crab on it. Ah well!
She seemed to come around a bit after we got to touch the stingrays and sharks. Well, I guess we just petted the rays. They felt squishy and slimy. Then she decided that a souvenier coin would be good enough.



After a bunch of shopping, siteseeing, and eating, it was back for a few more rides. She ALMOST decided to sit one out with Cheesehead, but changed her mind at the very last minute. No regrets for her there, it turned out to be one of her favorite rides. They must have ridden it about 10 times.



There were also several spots of interest scattered thoughout the mall. This is a newer addition in memory of the 9/11 attacks. The home plate from metropolitan stadium is there in the amusement park too. We saw many fountains all over the mall as well as neat tile displays in the floor that I don't remember being there before. I suppose they had to replace those neat snoopy statues with something. SIGH. I miss the Snoopys! Then we said goodbye to MOA.



Peanut complained all night about the game. She wanted to go back to the hotel and go swimming. We reminded her several times about the rest of Cheesehead's day and reminded her how he never complained once even though her was bored stiff. It didn't help much. We had thought about leaving early to avoid all of the traffic, but it was an excellent game. Such a nail biter that we couldn't bear to leave without knowing the outcome. Our family was a bit split, but someone would be happy no matter who won. It turned out to be me. Go Twinkees! Woo Hoo! TBO wanted to go to the game the next day too. We told him to forget it. This "cheap" activity ended up costing us an arm and a leg!



It really wasn't so bad with all of the end of game traffic, except the fact that we forgot to take down precisely where we parked. We must have wandered around for at least 15 minutes looking for the appropriate parking spot. At least we didn't park very far away and we remembered where we picked up our tickets.

I don't think the traffic would have been so bad if they hadn't shut a freeway down for some work. What on earth were they thinking? It couldn't have waited two weeks? It was after 11 when we got back to the hotel.

The troops are still sleeping, but I'll have to wake them soon. Their cousins are coming as a surprise for my mom's birthday. I didn't know if their dad would agree anyway. I'm sure she'll be happy with her surprise. Oops, gotta go. Time's getting away from me!

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

A Trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, MN

Our trip today took us 325 miles. It was a lot of driving with two kids for one day. They were surprisingly good travellers though. Today was a very important trip for me. I haven't been to Dad's grave since we buried him just over two years ago. It was nice to see that my family has been remembered by others even though no close family members live close by.



There is still no grave stone there. I wish I had the money to put one in place. My sister had said she'd buy one a year ago, but her circumstances have changed as well. I am glad that I made this when I made my stepping stones. We used the rest of the left over vinyl cement patch to make this marker.

I had to wait for a couple of hours for the vinyl cement patch to stiffen a bit. If you try to write in it too soon the cement oozes back into place. It was hard to write nicely on it, especially in the deep bucket that I had to use as a mold. That's okay though, I'm sure something will come up soon so I can afford a proper head stone for him!



I got these flowers for 90% off. I sure was happy with the find! I had also made the wire family tree to place there. I wanted to leave a remembrance from all of his family members even if they haven't been able to visit either. It was very easy to make. I took the pictures I had and places clear contact paper on it. To make the pictures sturdier, I glued cardboard to the back of the picture and contact papered the back as well. I had planned on using fishing line as I thought it would hold up better than yarn, but I couldn't find it. I thought the yarn would be a nice touch anyway since my (step) grandma liked to knit and crochet.



On the way back from the cemetary, we stopped at the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum in Walnut Grove. There were lots of neat things there. In all I took 97 pictures today. Here are a few on the highlights.

I thought that this map was a neat way to show us the places she lived. I've also been to the Lake Pepin site, but I was quite young when that took place. I think it would be neat to be able to visit all of the sights, but I'm not so sure that will ever happen.



This china set is beautiful, isn't it? I just love the florals. Some of the items were behind glass or bars while others were open for use and examination. They had rules for teachers and student displayed in the one room school house. I was very interested in the biased rules that were posted, but I think that's a post for a different day!



This quilt was stitched by Laura and was given to her daughter Rose. There were many of her artifacts there as well as some to show similar items from the day. The children were interested in the pianos and organs they could play, the toys they could play with, they had books they could read, slates they could write on, and the clothes they could try on.

What a busy day. I'm ready to fall into bed. I sure hope that light outside our hotel window doesn't keep me awake all night tonight like it did last night.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Bluebirds!

You were right, they ARE bluebirds. Yey. I looked them up this morning while the troops were all still sleeping. Now the room is bustling with activity so we can all be ready before breakfast is over. Luckily I got ready before everyone else so I didn't have any competition for the bathroom.

Off for another day of activity! Today's itenerary includes Laura Ingalls in Walnut Grove and the cemetary to visit my dad's grave. MIL and I went shopping the other day because Peanut wanted to put flowers on his grave. We got some flowers for 90% off. I bought some for my Grandma and Grandpa's graves too at those prices I could actually afford.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Star Wars Exhibit at SMM

What an awesome day today was! I got to see so many props and things from all 6 Star Wars movies. There were costumes and models too along with hands on science experiments for the kids to do. I just got done loading 99 pictures onto my computer, I didn't think you'd want to see ALL of the pictures. Here are a few highlights from the day.

We hit some serious traffic. The kids were very annoyed. I suppose they don't much remember the time we used to sit in it. It took 45 minutes to go 1 mile in a construction zone. Boy, did they complain. If I would have known about it, we would have taken the normal route!



The kids loved the hands on science experiments. They made magnet repulsors, magnet propulsion systems, and robots. I think we could have spent all day here just doing these things! We also wanted to go on the land speeder simulation, but our shoes weren't enclosed. All we had with were sandals. Hmm, it would have been nice if that had been in the literature!



Besides the hands on exhibits, Yoda was one of their favorite things. He is pictured here with Mace Windu's costume and one of those training droids that jedi used.



There were so many ship models to see too. Here is the Milleneum Falcon. Other favorites were Luke's land speeder and Sebula's pod. Tbo "discovered" that the land speeder had wheels. I guess he wasn't paying very close attention when we were watching those making of Star Wars movies!



These are some of my all time favortie characters from the movies. Leia is my #1 because she was a smart, strong, take charge person who was kind. She had some of the best lines in A New Hope! These droids were pretty fun too. I also liked how they added continuity to the series being in all of the movies.



They had a neat display of most of the lightsabers too. I was so disappointed when I checked them here and saw them all blurry! SIGH! This is Chewie's Bowcaster.

I just HAD to get a family picture taken there too. They had a computer setup with a green screen to add you to a character's body. There were rwo options for those of us who wanted more than one person in the shot. We got our picture taken with C3P0 and R2D2.

There were other things to do at the Science Museum too of course, but I was just too pumped up about the Star Wars exhibit to worry too much about those. I'll pay better attention next time.

It was a bit expensive, but being such a fan it was well worth it. If you live in the area and enjoyed the movies, I would highly reccommend it!

Edited to add:


Well, I was trying to be incognito, but since Ben mentioned it, I just had to post this picture. LOL. Great minds think alike!

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy

Getting Ready for Vacation DIscoveries

I have been running around like crazy today trying to get ready for our vacation to MN. I know I've been going there a lot lately, but this time it's PURELY for pleasure. I promise I won't lift a finger to do work. We are planning on a trip to the Mall of America, a visit to the Science Museum where they are currently displaying Star Wars stuff, a Twins/Brewers game, a visit with Grandma at Como Zoo, and a day long jaunt to visit my dad's grave with a side trip to Walnut Grove to see the old Ingalls place thrown in. We're going to be super busy. I'll take lots of pictures and try to share a few highlights as the trip progresses, no promises though!

How was I getting ready you ask. I was pulling weeds, mulching, cleaning and filling bird baths, dead heading, you know all of the usual stuff. (Of course I need to pack and stuff too, but when I did that I only discovered that I need to do a load of laundry in order to have clean shorts to bring on vacation!)

While I was out making the rounds in the yard, I made some wonderful discoveries. I did take pictures too, but for some reason the computer won't read them off my memory card. I'll bring my computer with and try to figure it out later if I can't get it worked out tonight.

My most exciting discovery were the eggs in the birdhouse previously given over to the frogs. Imagine my surprise when I peaked in to see if the frog was home and was greeted by the sight of a nest the size of the one in that tree in the back yard with 3 small, blue eggs in it. I'll have to try to figure out what kind of bird the mom is. She has a blue back with a reddish orange abdomen and is about the size of a finch I suppose. SHH! Don't tell Peanut! I can't imagine that she'd leave them alone since she'll never leave a frog alone even when I tell her we don't have time to play with them today.

I'm sure if you're a regular reader you may have heard me mention once or twice about waiting for my peonies to open. Well, they're almost ready now. Why now? I hope a few buds wait for a week to open. I suppose that's asking too much though seeing as how they're peonies and all. SIGH!

I also saw the knock out rose I bought earlier this spring should have two open flowers tomorrow. Two delphiniums, a white spirea, and a spiderwort look ready to burst into bloom any day now as do some wild daisies and yarrow. My gardens will hopefully be over flowing with blooms by the time I return from my vacation. I sure hope they don't wilt, droop, and get stressed out because they need water or something! I want at least a couple of days to enjoy my peony blooms. I kept commenting to Cheesehead that they must not be blooming yet because we don't have enough ants. He looked at me like he thought I was crazy! But if they DON'T need ants, why is it that only the blooms that had ants on them when I came outside to check on them daily for the last couple of weeks are large enough to be ready to bloom? He didn't have an answer for me, of course!

Now, time for a little R&R!

Here are those pictures I told you about. Sorry it took a while!



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Cindy

First day of summer vacation

What a busy day! Peanut and I made jello, pudding, and rice krispie bars today since Cheesehead's birthday cake supply is almost gone already. Don't even ask me how, there were two full cakes! We needed to make some snacks for him to bring to work in his lunch pail.



Here she is studiously stirring the marshmellow/ butter mixture and the rice krispies together. She sure did a good job!



We also worked on putting in a new garden area. We planted some ground cover, bushes, and perrineals. Over the next few days we'll add edging and mulch. Probably a few more plants too, it still looks rather empty.



Then it was time for sports. The kids are getting pretty good at playing baseball. It's so heart warming when they get along and play together so well. I should have taken a picture to preserve the peaceful moment, they weren't even fighting!

TBO found a toad while he was chasing one of the many balls that they hit. That was the end of their baseball game! After that all she wanted to do was play with froggy. Or was the frogger? Hopper? I don't remember, she called it so many different names! We even took him on our family walk when Cheesehead got home from work.



When we finally convinced Peanut to put the toad down so we could head inside, these tree frogs caught her eye. There are two of them in there, you can see the brown one looking out at you and the business end of the green one. I know it's not a very good picture, but I needed to get a picture of them in their home...



Yup, it's a birdhouse. Huh? Have you ever seen tree frogs make a home in a birdhouse before? Me neither!

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy