Tuesday, June 22, 2010

A Little Magic In Our Day


Today we took a mini field trip to watch a magician. The program was one of several sponsored by our library system and it was a great way to spend our morning. Both boys were fascinated by the magic and my oldest even got to help with the final trick of the show. Such fun! We rounded out the morning by having a picnic since the show was at a nearby regional park with a beautiful garden and picnic tables close to the show venue.








Monday, June 21, 2010

Midsomer Festival at the American Swedish Institute



We celebrated the Solstice and the arrival of summer at the annual Midsomer Festival at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. I am almost all Scandinavian and thoroughly love delving a little deeper into my roots. For this event my mom and I took my niece and my oldest son along to participate in this event and we all had such fun.




We girls made flower wreaths for our hair to start out the day then we all went on to do a little browsing at the vendors and took a tour of the Turnblad Mansion which is home to ASI.








My oldest's favorite part was the woodworking for
children where the two kids made butter knives.
They had such fun!












After lunch and watching some Swedish singers and dancers we rounded out the day by watching the raising of the May Pole.

It was a wonderful day and the colors and textures and sounds will live with us all for quite some time.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Eidem Farm Field Trip











On Wednesday the boys and I went with my mom to visit Eidem Farm. It is a historical site just a few suburbs over that we have driven by countless times but never visited. I am so glad we finally did! It is a farm established by a Norwegian immigrant and has been set up to represent what it looked like in 1900. What is so fun for us is that my great-great-great grandfather farmed about a mile from there at the same time. The farm has a free open house every Wednesday from 1P-3P and I highly recommend it if you live in the Twin Cities. There are costumed interpreters who help you pump water, wash and hang clothes, feed the calf, roll a hoop with a stick and poke around the house. No where was there a sign that said don't touch - the kids were able to play the piano, lay in the hammock, swing on the old tree swing (my mom even gave that a try), sit on the old farm implements, poke around the icebox and really get a feel for the place. We will be making a number of visits there this summer I think - maybe even try out one of their teas or summer concerts.



Grandma on the tree swing and the big rolling a hoop which he mastered quite quickly.

The boys petting the goats and the little giving his all at pumping water.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Monday = Jam Day!

Yesterday I made 6 half pints of strawberry freezer jam and 6 half pints of strawberry rhubarb jam. I feel good about my start to the summers preserving! (I also have 2 two-cup bags of diced rhubarb in the freezer to use over the winter when I want a little tart taste.)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Weekend Tidbits


We were supposed to have gone camping but our new puppy had diarrhea so we ended up staying at home, running errands and seeing a great movie - The Karate Kid - good lessons in it. I also got off by myself on Sunday morning for some strawberry picking. I usually go the weekend of July4 but the berries are ripening early this year due to our mild spring. These early ones I picked were really big and not as sweet as I like - I will be making jam and muffins with them today. I intend to go out in a week or two for the smaller, later season berries which are my favorite.


Friday, June 11, 2010

Grandma's Day Camp - Field Trip #1


This summer my mom and dad are taking care of my niece and nephew one day a month while my sister-in-law works. Yesterday was their first day and so we planned a field trip. My mom and dad and I took the four kids to Oliver Kelley Farm - an 1860s farm run by the Minnesota Historical Society that is just 15 minutes from our house. We had been here before but my niece and nephew had not. We had a WONDERFUL time and will definately be back again quite a few more times this summer. Their are costumed interpreters with the animals that roam free around the farm, women in the house and with the chickens, a woman in the garden and shelling dried beans and a woman doing the wash. The children had a great time and so did we. I majored in history and love when I can show the kids that history is fun and so is learning it :)!

Here are a few more pictures from our day.














Saturday, June 5, 2010

Scenes From Our Week...

Last week was a busy week which led into a busy weekend. Track and field, karate, graduation of an amazing nephew and celebrating the 50th of my wonderful in-laws. Here are just a couple pictures from some of the festivities...