Pee-pee

Once you've had a few kids go through potty training (or "toilet learning" if you're one of THOSE) you have no problem titling a blog entry "pee-pee".  You find yourself having long, extended conversations about bowel movements and "tinkling" with other moms, and jump up and down and clap and hug and kiss and in general act like you've won the lottery when you see your toddler's "production" in the bottom of the little potty.  Anju has been showing great interest in her little potty (and friend Lizzy's potty on our trip) and rewarded us again with pee-pee in the potty when we got home Saturday night.  

I'm thinking---this girl is only newly 2.  Our 2 biological kids were self-sufficient in the bathroom at an embarrassingly late age despite all my prodding, pleading, then ignoring, reverse psychology, treats, reward chart use, and checking out all kinds of books which were supposed to help this process resolve.  I was sure MY kids would be those ones wearing diapers at their high school graduations---well, at least kindergarten graduations.  Of course, it all worked out, and by 4 1/2 they were wearing underwear.

I'm thinking genetics are at play.   Or, having a one-year old child sit on your lap for 3 months  while you go to the bathroom, then spend 2 months sitting on a stool watching you go, then spend 2 months sitting dressed on a little potty chair watching you go is the method that should be implemented to train all kids.  

Yes--we're back and I'll post pics soon.  We had a fun time seeing lots of old friends from college and seminary in addition to pastors and family members.  Anju has new words, "key" and "ca" for cross.  She found a little cross at Goodwill on the way home and loves it.  She found a cross in one of our children's books about the Apostle's Creed when we got home and showed me how hers was the same.  

The anticlimactic ending to a short, intense journey.

So, I guess we're on Wednesday, the last day of our trip.  I had picked up one of those Duluth brochures at one of the state parks, and saw that there was a newly dedicated roadway in downtown Duluth in honor of one of it's sons, Bob Dylan.  Since I've got a few Dylan fans in my house (not me), I read this paragraph carefully.  It said there was a Dylan exhibit at the old Fitger's brewery museum.  There were also supposed to be shops there.  Sounds good.

So we have our mini cereal boxes, say goodbye to Luke the dog, Leo the cat, and Skip, the owner of the cabin, pay our bill and are on our way!  We put our last quarters in the meter on the street, and walk inside Fitger's. We follow the directory to a tiny, one-room "museum", which is mostly pieces of advertising and not really much on the brewing process, and see a sign directing us to the location of the Dylan "exhibit".  This exhibit consisted of one small display case with about 12 pieces of paper displayed in it.  A picture of his Duluth house, a few concert posters and about 2 paragraphs of information.  No actual items.  It took about 4 minutes to take this in.  The shops were all waaaay "above our pay grade".  It makes you wonder about the information in the rest of the brochure.  

Parts of the original boiler room at Fitger's

We had lunch at India Palace in downtown Duluth.  Once parked, we realized we didn't have money for the meter, so borrowed 50 cents from Solveig.  Thanks, Sol! The kids ordered strawberry lassis, which they loved, and we all had the buffet.  Having eaten Indian food in Southern and Northern India, made the food myself at home both from scratch and with pre-made sauces, and eaten in an Indian restaurant in Maple Grove recently, I can tell you this was definitely "Minnesotan Indian" food.  Every item in the buffet was bland enough for the kids to eat (had they wanted to).  Solveig enjoyed her naan with the spinach and cottage cheese curry, and the "spicy" potato patties which to me tasted just like a hash brown.  Jonah enjoyed the mango pudding and saffron rice.  Anju really went for the chunks of cottage cheese and the curried chick peas.  Amy and Shawn loved the tandoori and tikka masala chicken and really, everything. 

 It was delicious, and it was hard to stop eating, but we definitely would have preferred a little more spice to our curries.  I noticed that in Maple Grove, the dining area was full of people from India on their lunch break.  This place was full of Scandinavian business men and post-menopausal ladies who probably worked at the University of MN or something.  They looked like some of my anthropology and ethnic studies professors wearing tribal print clothes and goddess necklaces to show how hip and educated they were.  Not one dark-skinned patron.  Come to mention it, the waitresses and host were not Indian either--they appeared to be Chinese or Taiwanese.  

Then to Canal Park and the Maritime museum, where we had to borrow $1.25 from Jonah to pay for parking, this time with much tears and name-calling.  We'll have to work on that.

Shawn and kids

Amy and kids

We walked down to Caribou (deep need for caffeine at this point) and shopped a little along the way.  When we got back to the parking lot, we saw a vehicle parked 2 spots down from us with a White Earth tribal license plate that read "LENGBY"--so it must be one of our neighbors!

We started toward home and yes, the car did stop near Ball Club or Deer River or somewhere around there and yes, discipline did happen.  

See what all you can squeeze into 3 days?  We traveled around 800 miles and spent about 15 hours in the car.  We have about a 6-7 hour drive tomorrow to southern MN so are letting the kids run through the sprinkler outside (finally it's warm out) hoping to tire them out.

A couple North Shore videos

Our first night on the North Shore--Lake Superior from the pier



Tettegouche State Park

...and now....back to the story!

When we last saw our heroes, Jonah was complaining about sitting next to a winged dinosaur in the back seat of his family's non-air conditioned station wagon 20 minutes into what turned into a 9-hour journey to a hotel in Menomonie, WI.  We left right after church, eating our packed lunches in the car.  We made it through with only a few pit stops including Goodwill in St. Cloud and supper with the Rasmussen grandparents and "Hunka" Ryan in Monticello, arriving at the Super 8 in "Me-no-money" around 9 p.m.  

There was then wailing because we didn't bring our swim suits.  The pool closed at 10, and by the time we had the car unloaded, it was 9:20 or so.  You do the math.  3 children changing into swimsuits and going to the bathroom, having a drink, walking to the pool----I figured it'd be 9:45 anyway.  

The major injustice to children everywhere throughout all time and history was remedied when the Disney channel was discovered to have cartoons on at 9:30 at night.  (I hope for kids in hotels and in hospitals or emergency rooms and not for them to watch on a regular basis.)  We don't have this (or hardly any) channel at home, so they ate it up wholeheartedly.

The next morning we had the hotel's idea of a breakfast, which for a couple of us was waaaaaay too carb heavy.  Bagels, muffins, waffles, cereal, oatmeal.  That's it.  Not a gluten-free meal by any means.  We were glad we had fruit in the room, but would have appreciated a hard-boiled egg or two.  

We shopped at Fleet Farm (a WI staple) and headed over to Chippewa Falls to see my grandparents.  We had a great visit with them and they enjoyed getting to finally meet their newest great-grandchild.  The highlight for Anju at this stop was that she had a toddler breakthrough in the potty department.  She came up to me, said, "poop", and then went to Grandma and Grandpa's potty and used it!  This was the first time she completed the potty process, and we were so proud of her.

Having ice cream cones at Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma's apartment

We hated to leave, but fearing deer in the roadways, we left around 5.  We arrived on the North Shore of Lake Superior close to 9 and walked out on the pier which was just across the road from our cabin.  Beautiful!  Anju was giggling with excitement and pointing every which way at the large waves crashing into the rocks on the shoreline. 

After a "healthy" breakfast of individual cereal boxes (a Stafford camping tradition) and fruit, we got in the car and headed up the coastline on Hwy 61, North Shore Drive.  We passed through Two Harbors and started out at Gooseberry Falls State Park.  There we saw the upper and lower falls and read about the CCC work which had been done there.  Anju was so happy to run up and down the paved walkway to the falls and pointed and laughed at the rushing water.  She said her word for water, and made the sign for "bath".

Then off to Split Rock Lighthouse.  We went into the Split Rock State Park side first to have lunch by the lake.  Then, drove over to the historical site where the lighthouse is.  It was FREEZING!  We all had sweatshirts on, but the wind was awful.  It was probably 40 degrees or so wind-chill.  Anju fell asleep during the lame movie in the visitor's center, and slept most of the tour even in the cold.  (Probably due to the fact that she had her very heavy fleece blankie wrapped around her.)  So, we took the 45-minute tour, but did not do any further exploring this time.  We checked out the visitor's center and got back in the car.

On the road again to state park #3: Tettegouche State Park, which none of us had been to before.  We drove in, parked at the trailhead and started down the trail- supposedly .7 miles to the High Falls- the tallest waterfall in MN.  I don't know who measured this, because it seemed like 7 miles to me.  (I see now that this is listed as a moderate to difficult trail--the ranger didn't say that!)  This was a winding, rooty, dark forest trail with occasional steep steps and lots of noisy birds of prey  who looked like they were circling us for meat when we dropped of exhaustion.  

Shawn, fortunately, took control of the stroller, maneuvering it over the tree roots and carrying it up/down stairs.  Anju got out when it got too rough and was carried.  She REALLY liked that and found it extremely difficult to go back in the stroller.  Extremely difficult.  And the whole forest knew of her displeasure.  I think the birds left at that point, figuring we weren't going down without a fight, in search of easier prey.

We were rewarded with a very beautiful sight, however, accentuated by the fact that the park was nearly deserted and we were enjoying the serenity (when Jonah was quiet, of course) of the falls by ourselves.  Shawn took the 2 older kids further up the trail to get a closer look at the falls.  

Shawn, Solveig and Jonah are tiny in comparison!

Then we continued on the loop to see more falls- 2 waterfalls next to each other.  This was even more breathtaking (and I'm not talking about the asthma attack I had when we left the falls area and had to go up 50 or so steps to get back on the trail) than the other waterfalls.  It was so peaceful with the rush of the falling water going over the first falls, then the 2nd.  Once you were down the stairs, there were no railings or walkways or any sign of civilization.  


I thought of Lewis and Clark and other explorers who would happen upon these sights during their explorations and of the natives who knew these places and went there for water or worship or food before the land was settled.  Then Anju tried to climb up on the rocks and get to the water and I thought about getting out of there.  And finding the car.

The latter turned out to be the more trying task.  I will continue to blame the poor signage at the park for the fact that we took a scenic tour of the campground and added maybe a mile onto our hike walking in a huge loop that I thought would take us back to the trailhead.  Yes, it was the park's fault.  Definitely.  But, we made it back and still had enough energy to have a hearty supper and stop in Two Harbors to look at the lighthouse and search for agates at the beach--which was the kids' favorite stop of the whole trip.  

Stay tuned for part 2, when you may hear Shawn say, "Do I have to pull this car over?"

A Quick Pit Stop Home

We're back!  I have some great pics of the kids with my grandparents and enjoying the Lake Superior area--but am too swamped right now to do the proper posts.  Hopefully, I'll have time before Sunday to get some/all of it done!

I'm busily unpacking and doing laundry, paying bills, helping arrange for car repairs, and all the other stuff that has to be done so that I can repack for our trip to Mankato for Synod convention on Sunday.  Shawn, Anju and I will be gone for 6 days or so, but the older 2 kids will stay with Shawn's parents after Mankato, so they need another week or so of clothes packed.  

We also have a man coming today from Grand Forks to check out our bathtub (the church is redoing it and we'd like to see if our bathtub can be refinished instead of replaced), the lady from the county re: speech therapy for Anju is coming at 4:15, a nursing home service (actually, the ladies are doing the monthly birthday party there--the churches all take turns) this afternoon, and a BBQ at another nursing home this evening.  Tomorrow we'll all venture into Fosston for library story time and free BBQ's at a new car center that's opening.  

Keep my dad in your prayers, who had a medical procedure done this week and is having a tough recovery...... also my mom who is his caregiver during these times.

To whet your appetite for further description of our short trip:  our adventure started when Jonah asked about 25 miles from home (we put on close to 800 miles on our car from Sunday to Wednesday), "Why do I have to sit next to a baby who sounds like a pteradactyl?"  as she whined about having to be in her car seat.

On the road again......la, la, la..........

....guess I'll stop there because I actually could wait to get back on the road again.....anyway, we're off today after church to visit my grandparents in Wisconsin.  If you've followed the blog, you know they've have had many medical issues in the past few months.  My grandfather is recovering from his heart procedure (2 stints) a week or so ago and will soon be having aortic valve surgery.  He also has diabetes, leg swelling and circulation problems.  My grandmother is still using a wheelchair after her leg break, and is having a tough time dealing with all these changes....especially moving back to the apartment instead of being at the farm.

Then, we will spend a couple days in Duluth/North Shore of Lake Superior area hopefully at State Parks rebuilding strength by watching water pour over waterfalls and majestic lighthouses.  Yeah right---I forgot the kids will be there.  J/K.

Fortunately, Shawn will be able to come on this short jaunt, so he can help set up the cabin and make meals and stop fights and dress toddlers.  Yeah right---I forgot that it never seems to work out that way.  J/K again.

Anju's breakfast

VBS

VBS is done for another year!  The kids did great last night at the closing service, most of them remembering their Bible verses and the words to the songs.  I've got one song video at the end of this post.  We invited the kids to go fishing at the park following our service, and several did.  Only one catch, though!

Anju enjoyed her first VBS, although she was just a tag-along and didn't get to attend the actual classes this year.  She loved it when the kids sang "Fishers of Men" and did the Anju version of the actions.  She also liked helping me wash dishes--mostly the ones I had already washed, but oh well!

Solveig and class working on crafts.

Jill, Anju, Tessa and Jonah play with fish sand molds in the sandbox at recess.

Sol fishes after the closing service at the park.

Jonah

Jonah, Solveig and Shawn

VBS Closing Service- "Peter, James, and John in a Sailboat"

Ticks and Why I'm moving to California

I bought this postcard at one of the aforementioned tourist traps yesterday--this is so true!  We've been doing a lot of "tick checks" and still seem to be pulling ticks off everyone on almost a daily basis.  Either a terrible tick spring, or we've been outdoors more than usual.  Not sure which.  Never thought of the process as exercise before, though!

Sad to say, we were in a frost advisory last night, and were supposed to cover our tomatoes.  Fortunately, mine could easily be put inside since we hadn't planted yet.  We did that today.  For those of you in more "hospitable" climates, we're having a nice day today despite the overnight dip into the 30's.  We are in the low 70's, and although the breeze cools it off considerably, it's a beautiful day.  The weekend is dipping back into the low 60's, however and the whole upcoming week looks like 50's and 60's will be the highs again.  Our June bearing strawberries will perhaps be July bearing??

Two nights of VBS down, 3 to go!

Tourist day!

What to do when you've got the kids in Bemidji for 6 hours while their father attends a pastoral meeting and you've got only 2 hours of shopping to do???  Become a tourist!  We went to the city park and had a picnic like we do on road trips, and visited the local tourist traps: Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox and the Paul Bunyan souvenir store and the campy trading post across the street from the statues.  Jonah kept talking about how unfair it was that Grandpa and Grandma took Solveig to that store but he never got to go.  He forgets about WHY Solveig got to go to the store--Jonah was in the hospital after being born, and Solveig's grandparents took the 2-year old sister on a day trip to give the rest of us a break!  But now, he can say he's been to the Paul Bunyan store, and bought himself a keychain with his chore $ to prove it.

The most entertaining part of the day for me, was listening to the kids explain to Anju who Paul Bunyan and Babe were, and what a statue is.  "Look Anju, it's a giant man and his giant cow!"  "Look at the giant cow, Anju!"  "Let's sit on the giant man's foot."  "He's only pretend."  "It's a pretend statue of the real Paul Bunyan." "Oh, Paul Bunyan is pretend too."  "It's a pretend tall statue of a pretend tall man and his pretend giant cow."