Ohio Road Trip, Part 4: The Tripping Part.

Really our trip was all about the getting there, to our friends, so we could soak up as much time as possible, but we had a few surprises in store for the long ride home. First up, Dayton to Indianapolis, where we surprised the kids by pulling into a strip mall, purportedly for gas, and next thing we knew, Alla says, "Is that Aunt Renee? What are Aunt Renee and Uncle Will doing here?"

 

Well, Aunt Renee was visiting Will, who lives in Indy, for one last visit before their August wedding!



Next there was a lot of driving, the goal being to get to Madison from Dayton on our first day, so we'd have less driving the last day. We passed a lot of corn.

We made it to Madison that night, swam in the hotel pool a bit, and then ate at Uno's for dinner, which was a score because it was in the same parking lot as our hotel so we didn't have to get back in the dreaded car until morning.

Before we truly got on the road, we drove into downtown Madison to check out their famed Farmer's Market. Boy was that amazing, four city blocks around the State Capitol filled with vendors.

Alla bought a gourd and I got some veggies.

 We cooled off in the State Capitol.

And then headed on our merry way with our box of organic Wisconsin strawberries, which we demolished in the first hour.

Our other tourist stop before home was Red Wing, MN, where there was a huge park on the Mississippi, with all of these lovely raised garden beds, including this fairy sort.

The other goal was a coffee mug from Red Wing Pottery, but I changed my mind and got a small crock instead. We got to watch a potter create something from scratch.

Last stop: the big boot at Red Wing Shoes!

And then, home. Which felt great after two days in the car. But you won't hear any complaining from me, because not only did we get to see our friends, but the kids were excellent travelers. Still, you know, one is always glad to get out and be home!

Ohio Road Trip, Part 3: Saying Goodbye.

Always, the hardest part of leaving our friends is the saying goodbye. We lived in Ohio for three years and saw them all the time, until we moved to California in 2002. Since it's highly unlikely that we'll ever live in the same state again, we really do have to settle for vacations. Which are lovely. But oh so hard to leave.

 

Bye, Louis.





Bye, Stelley.

Bye, Ellery and Adeline.

Bye, my Catie!

Oh, there's Randy in the background. Bye!
                 
We had such a wonderful time!! Can't wait to do it again:)

Last installment coming up!

Ohio Road Trip, Part 2: How to Enjoy a Parade in the Rain.

We headed out Fourth of July morning for a parade, only to start noticing sprinkles on our way there. My smarty husband had thrown his rain jacket in the car right before we left Minnesota, so he was set. The girls grabbed umbrellas. The kids had hats.

Estelle was all set in her stroller, digging all those loud drum beats and horns.
                 
I got Lou to stay under my umbrella for most of it.

Randy, thankfully, grabbed trashbags on the way out that morning, so he and most of the kids were bagged by mid-parade. We sure do miss that guy.

A little rain did not stop our fun, and truthfully it was WAY better than it being a hundred degrees and sunny.

Gotta love a parade!!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Did you get to see our pics from our trip to see The Derenzos? Stay tuned tomorrow for the next installment!

2. Fisher had his last soccer game last night, which reminds me that maybe I should post some cute pictures of him soccering it up this year. He is quite the little player, so fun to watch.

3. This is Alla's last week of soccer, too, with games tonight and Thursday. August will be quiet.

4. I finished Looking For Me, which was a great fun read, perfect for summer, and am now onto The Death of Sweet Mister, by Daniel Woodrell, who is new to me, but if you saw Winter's Bone, he was the author of the book behind that movie.

5. Fisher spent a good deal of yesterday morning cleaning out his room, saying he's just going to give away all his toys except his Legos. I think he's planning on selling them at the city's annual Kids Garage Sale in September, so he can earn money for, you guessed it, more Legos.

6. He's a funny kid, always been hard to shop for, always been hard to pick out books for, because he likes certain genres, and almost always non-fiction. But I don't think he'll miss the stuff he's packed up; he really only plays with Legos.

7. Now he's gone and made a liar of me! He's playing with wooden blocks.

8. The kids are eagerly awaiting the Planes movie. I hope it gets good reviews or they will have to wait for DVD.

9. Purchased school supplies because they're cheaper now, but no one can make me look at them til September 1st.

10. On tap for this week: both Paul Spring and The Okee Dokees!

Ohio road trip, part 1: Simple Pleasures.

As promised, photos from our first big road trip. It was a success, and the destination was Dayton, Ohio, a do-able 2-day drive to see our best friends, The Derenzos.

 

We did little, which, if you know any of us, is how we like to do things. I mean, for starters, getting 6 children and 4 adults dressed and fed and somewhat regularly cleaned, is quite a feat. So we stuck with simple: parks, backyard, each other.

 

We first decided to corrupt their children with the filthy-eating of cherries. See the next several photos for how filthy our children were with a simple bowl of cherries.

 

Since we last visited, a natural playground had been built right across the street, and also, stone steps leading to a shallow creek. The kids talked and talked about what shoes they could wear there so they could wade in the creek. Highlight of the week.

 Nets were provided. Crayfish were caught. And released.

"Creek portraits" were taken.

Little ones were left at the playground to amuse themselves with woodchips and sand. Luckily for me, one little person sat pretty much still for her picture. Her brother, well, you'll have to wait for another day to see his mug.

They headed home happy. All their plans had definitely worked out.

 

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Since my hard drive is mysteriously un-connected today, I am going with a traditional Ten on Tuesday post instead of the hoped for snapshots of The Derenzos from our Ohio trip. Thankfully Dropbox has my iphone pics from the last few days so here we go.

2. On Saturday we dropped the kids off with Nana and Pappi for a date afternoon/evening. They were thrilled! They walked the dog! Caught a frog! Swam!

3. We headed down to Lake Couhoun for a nice long bike ride ride, dinner, and a movie. We are so adventurous!

 4. When we picked them up Sunday we headed to Elm Creek Park for a picnic. It was hot, but what a cool park!

 5. There were lots of thank yous in our bedtime prayers that night, most notably from Fisher who was thankful "for us be abling to go to a surprise place with Mommy and Daddy."

 6. That was the beginning of the heatwave, although last night at soccer it really wasn't too darn bad. Fisher had a special guest, the nurse from his preschool, with whom he is very tight. She brought part of her family for us to meet, too. We are going to miss you next year, Lucinda!

 

7. Today, however, is another story. It is extremely very very scorching hot. We hit up the splash pad before 10am, when the thermometer had already passed 80 degrees. Whew! 

 

8. The newest breakfast craze around here is egg in the hole. Kids are loving it.

 

9. The newest game craze around here is mancala. Kids are loving it.

 

10. It's been awhile but I'm actually reading a good book right now and would recommend it, though I'm only a third of the way through it. Check out Looking For Me.

Ten on Tuesday.

1. We are just back from a lovely road trip to Dayton, Ohio to see our dear friends The Derenzos.

2. The kids did awesome in the car, especially considering they hadn't really ever taken a road trip longer than 3 hours.

3. At one point Fisher asked me what could we do [in the car] and that made me panic just a little, but we all settled in with snacks and scenery and audio books.

4. Audio books! Our family is no stranger to them, but holy cow are they essential on a road trip. I highly recommend listening to The BFG and Gregor the Overlander. Both awesome.

5. My lovely mother reminded me when we got back that they are taking the kids for a night this weekend so Ron and I can have date night! Also awesome.

6. After visiting the Madison, Wisconsin Farmer's Market this weekend with their four long city blocks of produce and plants and meat and honey and really anything you can imagine a market might have, I was delighted to see that our own market had much more produce today than 2 weeks ago when last we were there. Fisher was excited to see the purple string beans, although we walked out with plain old green. We also got pea pods and zucchini, one cucumber and, for one dollar, one perfect pink peony.

7. I love soccer nights. I love sitting there amongst friends watching our kids run around and have fun. It is the essence of summer.

8. Alla and I get to pick up our wedding dresses tomorrow!

9. While traveling back to Minnesota we stopped in Indianapolis and surprised the kids that their Aunt Renee was there visiting her fiancé, their Uncle Will! That was fun.

10. Alla is taking a two-part art class starting Thursday at our library (free!) with local artist Michael Birawer. Last Christmas I bought Ron a canvas of his, and now I'm wondering if Ron thinks that after two sessions with the guy, she'll be able to come home and duplicate it?

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Whew! Swimming is OVER, and we're enjoying a relaxing week, which means the kids sleep past 8, Fisher usually past 9. Both kids passed their levels. Alla's front crawl is something to be seen.

2. I love my kiddos home all day around me in the summer.

3. Maybe now we can make some progress on our summer list, like strawberry picking and Tamarack and Minnehaha Falls.

4. The rains of last weekend have left our garden utterly swamp-like, and my tomato plant is looking peckish - just hanging there looking parched, which is exactly the opposite of the truth - that the poor thing is sitting in mud and can't seem to dry out.

5. That said, the tomato plant on the deck is doing splendid. So, I'm thinking I'll either have to find another location for a garden, or just go with deck pots. Our backyard gets terrific sunlight but just doesn't drain well.

6. I finished Anne and have moved onto Ivan. Not sure what's next!

7. I've got some peaches ripening on my counter in the hopes of making some cobbler tomorrow. I learned within a few years of living here that peaches don't travel well, and don't ripen well enough for eating here in the North, so if you've got a hankering it's either frozen or you bake 'em.

8. I am SUPER excited for the Phone Photography Project coming up next week! What perfect timing. We're settled into summer and I could use a creativity push.

9. Has anyone figured out summer dinners yet? I mean, getting it ready and getting everyone fed before you head out to evening sports? The best I have come up with is a big pot of beans on Monday that we can eat in a few different ways throughout the week.

10. Best news ever - next week I get to see CATIE!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. So far, on this, the second day of the first full week of summer, I have to say I'm exhausted! I signed the kids up for a two-week swim class that starts at 9am, which is an earlier start than our school year. Each morning when we've gotten out the door and we're on our way, I count down the number of days left of this.

2. On the positive side, Fisher loves his class and Alla somehow lucked out with a private lesson, which is resulting in moving her through the level and onto the next because of all the one on one attention!

3. I've been catching up on Grey's Anatomy and saw on old friend on an episode last from February. Danielle and I graduated from Cal State Fullerton together - she a Musical Theatre major and me, Dance. What a fun discovery! And, sadly, I had seen her on two shows that I watch, 90210 and Private Practice, and not known it was her!

4. Fisher filled my bucket this evening with this: "You do a nice job on carrot-shucking and you do a well job on making dinner, Mommy." Wow, thanks, buddy.

5. For the record, both carrots and corn get shucked in this house.

6. We hit up the first day of the Farmer's Market today, and were pleasantly surprised to see lots of new vendors, including gluten-free bread (though maybe not diabetic-friendly, as there was no carb count), an ice cream truck and a food truck! The produce will follow; it's early here in Minnesota and so far there's only rhubarb, green onions, lettuce, and radishes.

7. I ran into a friend there who told me all about using rhubarb for crisp. I'm all about crisp.

8. Another new vendor was selling plants of all sorts, including raspberry bushes! I have since been dreaming about finding a sunny spot in the yard for it. Think I can clear out a patch of grass before next Tuesday so I can bring home one of my very own?

9. My lovely daughter and I finished planting our garden today! Now or never, I guess. Fingers crossed: marigolds, rudbeckia, cucumber, tomatoes, cosmos, peas, green beans, and some wildflowers! Hopeful might be an understatement.

10. While out there planting, we got probably 20 mosquito bites between us. Holy cow are they hungry. Going to be a great year for 'em.

Ten.

1. We're in the home stretch here, with Fisher having finished preschool last Thursday and Alla's last day of second grade tomorrow. I am kind of giddy at the realization that we have no place to go on Friday.

2. One of the many year-end activities this week was a 1-mile Fun Run at Alla's school. I was immensely proud of her for running that, without stopping.

3. Yesterday was another year-end activity - the 2nd grade zoo field trip. Along with every other grade from every other school in the state, it seemed. Miracle of miracles, though, I did not lose a single child.

4. The soccer season has begun as well, with Fisher and Alla each having had one practice. Alla should have had two, but we're apparently now living in the rainforest where it never stops raining, so one of hers got cancelled.

5. Fisher is so obsessed with Legos (have I said this before?) that he just goes right to them when we walk in the house, when he has a free minute, he is always on the floor with his bag of Legos building, telling stories, I love it!

6. I am currently reading Anne of Green Gables, which I sadly never read as a child. I have almost given up on borrowing library books, as it seems I am in a phase of life where I cannot get through a book in three weeks.

7. For all of you Okee Dokee fans, I have to recommend their buddy, Paul Spring, who is on repeat in our car. Fun!

8. Since summer is so rapidly approaching, I think that means it's time to make a summer schedule. I know, that sounds so, well, anti-summer, but I've found that we actually end up doing all the fun stuff (and less fun stuff) we want to do if we actually plan for it. Actually.

9. Brrr. Mid-50s isn't warm.

10. I got nothing for dinner. Eggs? What do you eat for dinner in the summer, like every single day?

My mom turns 60.

The weekend before last was my mom's 60th birthday, which we thought out and planned for at least a year, since it involved my brother and his family traveling out here to Minnesota for a long weekend, and also since her 60th was the day after my newphew's 2nd!

 

So first we celebrated the two-year-old with a piñata!

And lots of presents and cake pops (my sister in law is an expert cake pop maker!). Hard to resist a fire chief-in-training.

That evening we had a double celebration at the Twins game with a birthday suite, which was super amazing. I actually can't recommend it because there's just nothing like it, and no hundred degree game in cramped, hard seats can really compare to your own room inside and cushy seats outside from which to watch the game (even if they lose, it's still so sweet!).

It was really an enjoyable way for the kids to experience the game. My nephews are 2 and 3, and mine are 5 and 8; all of them liked being able to get up, walk around, eat lots of snacks, switch laps, etc.

The birthday girl and my stepdad enjoying the game from the suite!

The birthday girl and the birthday boy, my two year old nephew Declan! That's my beautiful sister in law back there with my brother. Her parents came out from California for the birthday weekend, too, so it was like a party with twelve of us for all these fun festivities.

 

The next day we had a lovely brunch together and then Bob grilled one  steaks in the pouring rain. We had a slide show for her, and gifts of course, including all of the letters all of her friends and family had sent to surprise her. I wish I could thank each and every one who took the time to send memories and pictures. She got a stack of pink envelopes with all these wonderful things inside!

There might be nothing more beautiful than a face lit up by candlelight, especially on such a special birthday surrounded by people who love you.

One last special one of my mom and my daughter. Awwww. We love you, Mom!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. Just a week ago we were at 98 degrees and today we're in the 50s. My hands are freezing typing this - in the house!

2. Because of our delayed spring we have been delayed in getting our garden up and growing. We have peas and radishes in there now, but I'm afraid the crazy rain of the last week has made for pure mud out there. If we don't get some sunshine soon, I don't see how we'll be growing anything. That garden needs to dry out. We may be a completely containered garden this year.

3. All that rain has made for nearly fluorescent colors everywhere, which would be amazing, if it would ever stop raining long enough to go outside and appreciate it. Pink trees! Neon grass! Purple lilacs!

4. Fisher has 4 days of school left, and Alla has 10. Sure wish it felt like summer around here!

5. Had an amazing weekend celebrating my mom and nephew's birthdays! So much awesomeness deserves its own post, but here are the two birthday loves.

6. In case you thought maybe Los Angeles or New York or San Francisco had the highest gas prices in the nation, nope, Minnesota is #2, behind only Hawaii.

7. After checking Fisher last night for the second time at 2:15, I couldn't go back to sleep for a good two hours, so I got up, had some cheese and crackers, read a gardening book, made a list of plants to grow, and started this ToT post!

8. This was taken last week at a ceremony honoring second graders for reading lots of minutes each month. I think that might be on their medals, "You read lots of minutes! Way to go!" Anyway, she wanted a special picture with her teacher, Mrs. Carlson, who has been so wonderful to have this year.

 

9. So far, no robins. Boo. But I did mistake a toad for a rock yesterday and that freaked me out, because you don't expect a rock to move. The kids are looking forward to the grass drying out enough for a first mow this weekend, not only because it's like a jungle out there, but because there most certainly are more toads hiding.

10. Today over at the photography blog, I'm sharing a personal photo project that every single one of you can start today!

Ten on Tuesday.

1. We are looking forward to a very fun, busy weekend celebrating my mom's 60th birthday this weekend!

2. As part of that weekend my brother and his family are coming out, and we are so excited for that, too! The cousins will get lots of quality time together.

3. The whole clan will be hitting up the Twins game on Saturday night.

4. It is going to hit 90 degrees today, people, I can feel it. The popsicles are freezing in the, well, freezer.

5. Warmer weather means Big Ginger time. Sometimes it's just too hot for a glass of wine.

6. Yesterday Minnesota became the 12th state to legalize same-sex marriage. I am very proud to live here.

7. As soon as the weather warms a bit, I get really antsy about planting stuff. Currently we have peas in the garden, and radishes that have already sprouted. I've never done radishes before, and I don't love them but I like them. I was drawn to their 22-days-to-harvest claims.

8. Good thing we got our bike/run in this morning because the sun is out now and it's HOT!

9. I have to go dig the shorts out now, and put my wool sweaters away.

10. Does anyone think I should do the same for my husband, leaving him only 7 pairs of pants and 7 shirts in our closet so you could actually walk in there? Is that a raised hand. Me, too.

Mother's Day 2013.

What is it about Mother's Day that makes us feel more appreciated, more appreciative, more joyful, more thankful, more loving, more at peace with what it all just is?

Here's hoping this year I'll learn to bottle up all that happiness for the days that aren't so happy, so I can sprinkle just enough on the doldrums to pull us through.

So very lucky to hold my children and snuggle my mom for a few photos. It's so important.