St Lucia Day 2013

Ever have one of those days when nothing goes right?  A day something like the one described in the 1970s children's classic Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day? What about a holiday?

Since the year Charlotte was a baby (2009) we have been celebrating St Lucia Day.  It is a Scandinavian Christmas holiday, celebrating an Italian saint who helped early Christians by bringing them supplies while they hid in the catacombs.  Since her hands were full carrying food and whatnot, she used the ancient equivalent of a head lamp--a wreath (or garland) with candles.   Prettier, isn't it?  As it turns out, 'Lucia' translates to 'light' in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish.  When Scandinavian sailors found out that her birthday was on the winter solstice, they quickly adopted her as a favorite. (Before changing from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1582, December 13th was the Winter Solstice).

Though my family is Norwegian, we never celebrated St Lucia Day when I was a kid.  Our tradition started off when Nova was five and had recently become the middle kid.  I was looking for a way to do something special with just her and remembered reading about the holiday in the American Girl book, Kirsten's Surprise.  It was lots of fun getting it all ready in secret.  My mother made the nightgown/dress, and we made the crown and saffron buns.  Solomon and Charles were completely surprised.

Other years have had their ups and downs.  Some years we have made Cardamom cake (since it turns out not everyone in our family likes saffron).   We have had crowns made of grocery store flowers, and ones made of felt.  Charlotte has gotten in on the action.

Heading up to wake up Dad in 2012

Charles says this is one of his favorite holiday traditions because it always catches him off guard.  He was very happy to be surprised.  

This year it was a total fiasco!  I decided to sew the St Lucia dresses/nightgowns--and promptly lost the foot control for my sewing machine!  I have looked for hours.  It is still missing.  We were able to sew Solomon's pajamas at my parents' (thank you Mom and Dad). Then Charlotte announced that she did not want to do St Lucia Day.  "It is too much work." She said.  "I want them [Solomon and Dad] to wake me up and bring me breakfast."  I checked out Kirsten's Surprise from the library to help inspire Charlotte.  We lost the book after chapter two.  No one was interested in getting wreath materials with me.  I could not find the nightgowns and felt wreaths from last year, so I pushed the holiday out one day, hoping to find them (and so it could fall on the weekend).  The grocery store did not carry cardamom.  I adapted and made cookies instead.  They were completely flat (though tasty).   Solomon woke up earlier than the rest of us (5:00 am) and Charles scheduled a business phone call, even though I'd told him we were getting a Christmas tree that morning in order to save the date.

Seriously thinking about throwing in the towel, I woke Nova at 5:30.  We had just gotten to the kitchen when Ariadne woke up, clingy and tired.  When Aria threw up all over me ten minutes later, Nova said "Mom, you can go back to bed, I'll do the rest."  I was so happy!

Hearing the clinking and clanging from downstairs Charles finally guessed what was going on.  We waited in the dark in happy anticipation talking about how big our Nova had gotten.  When we woke Charlotte she cried--turns out she wanted to be in on the preparations after all.  Hiding under the table with her cookies, she got an unexpected shower when Ariadne spilled (luke-warm) hot chocolate.   It came down through the table leaves onto Charlotte's head.  What made it worse was that it was Charlotte's own hot chocolate that had been spilled.  Thankfully, Solomon was kind enough to give her the rest of his.

Though there we no costumes, the food was anything but traditional, and some of us were already up, it turns out continuing the tradition was worth it.  Ten minutes into breakfast, everyone was having a good time, enjoying a special morning.  Twenty minutes later the kids were having a ball all running around screaming playing some sort of  cookie monster game. It all left me feeling that perseverance good humor, and generosity (than you big kids) can save any fiasco.  Happy St Lucia Day!


  

My Birthday

My birthday was on a Tuesday this year, and though 34 is nothing of a landmark year, I felt like celebrating.  In the afternoon, the kids and I met a friend to see the new baby giraffe at the Zoo.  That baby giraffe was born taller than me.  On the evening of my actual birthday, Chuck and I went out on a date.  We had no particular destination in mind, and as it turns out, most things close early on Tuesdays where we live.  So we found ourselves at the Mall of America, and you know what?  It was fun.  We went out for dinner and then on a few amusement park rides.  I highly recommend the Avatar Airbender if you want a thrill.  We also got in on the Toddler Tuesday discount strangely enough.  

The weekend before we all went on a bike ride.  I love bike riding, but have done it far less since we moved from Hopkins.  It really is nice to be right on a bike trail.  While there are a lot of trails near us, most of them are down the bluff, and there is no good way from here to there without a car.  While Charles and I were on one of our car dates towards the end of summer, I'd spotted a promising trail.  The Big Rivers Regional Trail turned out to be just what we were looking for--good scenery, moderate difficulty and close to home--oh, and a good picnic spot too.  We scouted it out and made plans for a biking picnic.   My parents helped us shuttle the bikes and after a few adjustments we were off.  

I got to ride with Charlotte on the tag-a-long.  We were a great pair.  She likes to go fast!  Charles pulled Ariadne (and all our food) in the trailer.  The six of us and my parents all biked and Charles' dad, Barry, met us at the picnic site (Roberta was busy delivering a baby).  The first part of the trail was along the river with the train tracks below.  The second part took us through the woods. The trail ended by opening out into a large overlook built in the WPA era.  The river spread out wide and swampy below--a true wetland.  The airport is just across the river and the planes come quite close.  More city skyline is visible in the distance.   

  

Our picnic was faux fried chicken (cornflake breading baked in the oven), Greek salad and lemonade.  For reasons I can't explain, I was determined to have a chiffon cake with pink frosting.  I used the Joy of Cooking's chiffon recipe, substituting Pamela's Gluten Free Pancake Mix for the flour.  The frosting was butter cream with mashed raspberries to make it pink.  For anyone up for making a chiffon cake, it will be the sturdiest GF cake you will ever make--yet very moist and spongy to taste.  Must be the whipped egg whites.  

We finished up just as it was about to rain, with Ariadne falling asleep in on the bike ride back.  All in all a success.  When we got back to the parking lot my mom declared it my 'first annual' birthday bike ride.  Who knows, she might be right.    

  

More of What We Did Last Summer

Summer is always a good time for visiting.  While my sister was in town we made a trip to Zumbrota to visit our grandparents.  The kids all piled on the couch to get a picture with their GGs. We took the opportunity to look at outfits GG Rose has from different  eras, since it pertains to what Brynn is studying (and a little dress up is always fun too, isn't it?).  As it turns out, everything that our grandmother used to wear fit Brynn perfectly.  Here she is displaying the 'bat wings' of this late '70s pantsuit to Nova.  

As it turns out, our grandmother also had the outfit our great-grandmother wore to our grandparents'  wedding.  Everything was there--hat, shoes, purse and gloves--a rare find for a costumer.  So of course Brynn took pictures.  

We met our cousin Alyssa at the county fair.  The people who run the midway simply didn't show up this year.  About a dozen bouncy houses were brought in to substitute.  The next day Charlotte ended up on the front page of a local paper talking about the missing midway.

Our dad's side of the family had their annual Summer picnic while Brynn was in town as well.  It was at the farm this year, which was a lot of fun.  Charlotte and her cousin enjoyed pushing the wheel barrow full of wood back and forth, back and forth, making sure there were plenty of logs ready by the fire.  

Part of the picnic is a raffle.  This year Nova really, really, really wanted a pair of straw glasses that came with some strawberry milk...and she got them.  Lots of kids also enjoyed the bubbles.    

This side of the family still gets together for Christmas, but as it grows, we know it is only a matter of time before the logistics break up the party.  There are fourteen grandchildren spread across four sets of grandparents, with two more expected to arrive before the year is out.  But we do like getting together; toward the end of the picnic there was talk of family hikes and even a family camping trip.  

Tipi Camping at Blue Mounds State Park (Disclaimer--Lots of Photos)

 This year our annual camping trip was at Blue Mounds State Park.  Located in the far southwest corner of the state, Blue Mounds is prairie punctuated by the large mounds that give the park it's name (though they really do look pink most of the time).  The drive there was filled with a variety of books on CD.  The older people in the car especially enjoyed Anne of Green Gables and Artimis Fowl.  Other titles included Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag, Tikki tikki tembo no sarembo, Knuffle Bunny; a cautionary tale, and true story about a retired fire boat that helped during 9/11.

While on the prairie, we slept in a tipi, hiked out to a rock alignment that matches up with the sunrise at the equinox, and caught grasshoppers in the tall grass.  Solomon was in charge of the fires and the girls enjoyed exploring the prairie around our campsite.  Ariadne loved walking around the tipi, popping in at the door, then going out and around again.

While hiking one of the prairie trails, Nova convinced us to wander slightly off the path and go into to grass.  It was a totally different experience.  For reference, Solomon is about 5'5''.  There was also some good rocky hiking, especially by an old quarry.  Scrub oak dot the bluff, making for varied topography.  However, little ones in backpacks don't mix so well with such uncertain footing, so we didn't go too far that way.  We did go far enough to see the rock alignment.

This is the rock alignment that matches up with sunrise and sunset on the equinox.  As it turned out, we were there the morning of the equinox, but overslept after a very cold (and sleepless) first night.  You will just have to use your imagination, putting in the glints of sun from that first dawn light.  A couple of bikers who were curious about our tipi caught the sight--said it was beautiful.  

Along with the grasshoppers, the kids also found this butterfly wing.  There are cactus plants on the prairie--who knew?

Sleeping in the tipi was quite a unique experience.  We rented it from the park service and it came all set up.  The floor was composite decking (no fires inside, but no mud either).  The above picture is looking up into the rain fly, which is on the inside.  

                                        

Here it is with the rain fly down and Solomon for scale.  The park service says the tipi sleeps six, but we found it very roomy and I suspect it would easily sleep eight.  Below are our youngest sleepers.  

And a few minutes later, awake! Just a little more sunlight was all it took.  

The smoke flaps could be opened for light and air or closed to keep heat in and rain out.
On our first day, the wind was blowing the perfume of a nearby pig farm our way, so we had them closed that day.  It did make a difference.  The next day, the wind shifted and all was well.

Blue Mound State Park's camping has farms very near by.  While the odor of the pigs and the sound of bringing in the harvest late at night was somewhat inconvenient, it was also a worthwhile reminder that the land is and was far more than a recreation area.

While camping Nova learned to whittle wooden flowers, a skill Solomon picked up at a local farmers' market a few years back.  

Nova's first wooden flower. 

The buffalo were all penned up for the annual round up, so we only saw them at a distance.  We did not see any coyotes, though we did see several footprints at the beach that could have been them.  There were also deer prints and possibly something larger with lots of claws.  It was very cold the first night, and we made a little run into Sioux Falls for hats, mittens, more socks, and an extra set of clothes for Charles.  In the day, it was warm enough to go swimming (though not for long after I got a good look at those prints).

The evenings on this trip were a little rocky. This third weekend in September proved to be the first really cold one.  The first morning found us all huddled in the car.  And then there were the ghost stories.  The first night Solomon told the girls stories in the tent while Charles, Ariadne and I settled in by the fire to watch a nearly full moon rise behind our tipi.  Except Ariadne wanted to be where the action was.  For the first time in her life, she refused to nurse to sleep.  After twenty minutes we gave up and doused the fire.  The second night Nova begged for a good ghost story.  She got more than she bargained for when her dad told her Bloody Mary.  Sleep did not come easily after that.  Charlotte (who did not hear the story) somehow or other figured out that just saying 'Bloody Mary' would send Nova into a tizzy and had great fun teasing her older sister.

But the trip held peaceful moments too.  In the evening a flock of blackbirds would come roost in the few poplar trees near our tipi.  Now and then they would decide to swoop and wheel, only to return to the trees a few moments later.  After an hour or so, they would leave for the night, only to return the next.  Larger birds of prey hovered over the bluffs during the day, riding the air currents.  Watching the birds was one of my favorite parts of this camping trip.

Our Homecoming Crown Bearer

This Fall, Charlotte was a crown bearer for Homecoming Coronation at a local High School where her grandmother is a teacher.  Charlotte wore a sparkly red dress and black dress shoes. When we got there, she and the other little girl, Madeline, were handed tiaras.  The little boys got boutonnieres.  Everyone got to carry something--a crown, bouquet, or scepter.

After practicing walking across the stage once or twice, it was time to wait.  Some of the waiting was spent dancing to the jazz band's swinging tunes (this year's Homecoming was '20s themed).  Then it was it was time to sit down (and wait a little more).

The junior royalty, as they were called, did very well marching across the stage and depositing their items at a special velvet draped table.  It was over so quickly Charlotte whispered to me several times "When do we go back?"  As it turned out, the answer was at the end--for pictures with the king and queen.

Charlotte had fun.  It was nice to do something with just her (I know her Granne, also a middle kid, was well aware of this when the call for junior royalty came through).  It was also oh so strange to be thrown back into the world of high school.  It has been awhile.  These kids/people are so busy!  They are both so accomplished and so inexperienced, strange as that sounds.  They can play a mean saxophone, sing like a pop star, dress up to the nines, be in umpteen extra curriculars and be top notch students.  But when it comes to life advice, well, it's not that what they have to say is invalid, it is just that there is SO MUCH MORE coming that they don't even know they don't know about yet.  I don't blame them for their naivete, It is just strange to be immersed in it all with a thirty-something perspective.  They are such new people.

After coronation was over we went back to the grandparents' where the other kids had been hanging out with Grandpa John.  Dad met us there for dinner and a bit a of a skype chat with the other side of the family.  We got to talk with GG Lois, Grandma Roberta and Great Aunt Kathy.

Rock Climbing With Nova

Way back in April, I signed Nova and myself up for rock climbing through the Minnesota State Park's I Can Climb program.  The actual date was just last weekend--we got of the last spots.  We try to do something one on one with each of the older kids about once a month.  Sometimes we simply go to the coffee shop up the street...but other times it is something more unusual.  These outings have been dubbed 'Mommy Time' or 'Daddy Time.'  This was one of those special 'Mommy Times.'

We started off with a couple treats from Amore, our favorite coffee shop. From there, we made use of the long drive to Taylor's Falls to chat and catch up.  After checking out the famous potholes at Interstate State Park in Taylor's Falls, it was time to start climbing!  We geared up, along with about ten other people, mostly kids.  Equipment and instructors were provided by Vertical Endeavours.  There were four different climbs.  I started with one that was supposed to be medium difficulty of the four (though they were all "easy" according to our instructors).  Nova started with the one they had pointed out as the hardest.

Can you see her way up there?

Nova getting a high five from her belayer Jeff after a particularly hard climb

She made it all the way.  I got about 2/3 of the way up--felt satisfied with myself, mystified about how to continue, and thoroughly exhausted.  After a little convincing, my belayer finally believed that I was ready to come down.  While I caught my breath, Nova did several more climbs, eventually making it to the top of every one.  I completed the easiest climb, and got 3/4 the way up the first climb Nova had done before the afternoon was out.  It was our first experience climbing outside on real rock--quite a different experience.  It was far more challenging to plot a rout, but the views from the top were that much more rewarding.