Ellie's 4th Birthday

As soon as we got back from sledding, Ellie changed into her birthday outfit. I was so honored that she picked the dress we gave her for Christmas. She looked beautiful and fancy.

Evan was a little apprehensive towards Carl at the sledding hill, but by the time we got to Tom & Jen's, he realized they are cut from the same mold.

Owen got this toy when he turned one. When Evan came around, the two of them would play it and giggles for hours. So, we decided to get it for Addie for her 1st birthday. Owen still enjoys it. It's one of those few toys that really can say: For ages 1 and up.

Jen and Ellie designed some equally beautiful cupcakes with cherries on top. Ellie LOVES her sweets. She practically inhaled the frosting, but yet savored every morsel.

Owen didn't care much about his cupcake after the frosting was gone, so Evan was glad to eat it for him.

After the presents were opened, we cuddled up to read one of Ellie's favorite, new books: Horton Hears A Who.

*The above link should take you to a site where kids can create their own Horton stories with music, text, characters, and background.

Sledding in St. Peter

This weekend we went to St. Peter for our niece, Ellie's, birthday party. We went sledding at the elementary school in St. Peter. I don't know who had more fun, the kids or the adults.

Evan had a rough start. After a ride with Gina, he had snow in every crevice.

But, he quickly forgave herand gave it another try with Daddy.When we came last year, Owen did not like sledding. The snow was hard and Owen got a lot in his face. This year he was ready for it.

But still preferred to sled down the bank.

He and Ellie took a ride down from the middle of the hill together.A hug, afterward, for the birthday girl.

Here's Gina and Ellie. It's a pretty big and fast hill.

Jen's brother, Jeff, bit it every single time he went down, but he still went back for more. Her sister, Kelly, realized towards the end that he never let's go of the sled. He holds on and brakes with his face!

Jeff, Carl (Kelly's husband), and Tom must have taken this jump a half dozen times each. Carl nails his landings, but enjoys his wipe outs just as much.

Tom took several runs at the jump and failed miserably each time. Here he is before a run doing a little meditation. "Be the sled. Be one with the hill."

Before we left the hill, Jim, Tom & Gina reminisced about the old days. Tom & Jim's 6th grade teacher had an egg drop contest from the top of the gym roof. Mr. Draeger would take each students' container to the roof and drop it to the ground while the students watch on. The object was to keep the egg from breaking. What a great lesson! And obviously makes a lasting impression.

Rosedale's Northwoods Play Area

When winter's got you beat and you can't stand the site of your house for another minute, you can always head to the mall. We met up with some friends today at Rosedale Mall's Northwoods Play Area. Here the boys are with their friend Action Jackson (name coined by Evan) and his new baby sister, who the boys adore and want to hold all the time... except when they are fishing or driving the paddy wagon.
Couple things about this place. First, the height limit is 42". Owen is around 43 1/2". Bummer. Also, you are suppose to take your shoes off, but leave your socks on. However, the climbing contraptions are so slick, it's impossible for any child under 42" to get up without bare feet. But, if you are with Jackie and Dawn, who met us there after preschool, then rules don't apply. Well, except for the rule Jackie made up that you are not suppose to lift the velcroed fish off the river. Owen and Evan played with this "whopper" for hours. I think it weighed as much as Evan.

And here we have the Paddy Wagon. I tried all afternoon to think of a politically correct term for paddy wagon, but I decided that maybe the Irish don't mind entirely all that much. In fact, they may take some pride in it. Not the term "paddy," but the fact that the wagon that rounds up the drunks at the end of the night and hauls them home, is named after them. Evan is emulating them, and showcasing his small percent of Irish heiritage, by drinking in the back seat while Owen and Jackson dash madly through the streets of Dublin... aka The Rosedale Northwoods Play Area, but don't tell them that.

It was louder than a crowded bar in the play area, which is probably the reason for the paddy wagon, but Charlie didn't seem to mind. She nestled up in her sling and took a nap despite Owen's extremely loud impression of a police siren.

*I know Grandma Helen wouldn't approve of my teasing of the Irish, but Anna actually lived there and I bet she would attest to my description.

St. Augustine

When we got into town Monday afternoon, we had just missed the rifle exhibit and we had some time to kill until the next one. We walked through the shops of Old St. Augustine and had some snacks. Both boys tried new treats. Evan had pistachio ice cream and Owen had white chocolate covered pretzels. Both of them were very impressed.
After our treats, Connie, Owen, Evan and I paid our way into Castillo de San Marco. Neil and Gina waited outside while we quickly explored the draw bridge and barracks. No mattresses here either, but quite a bit larger sleeping quarters. I think we counted room for 4 soldiers to sleep at Fort Matanzas and the tour guide said 53 men stayed there at a time for a term of 9 years!

The roof of Castillo de San Marco is lined with old cannons. Some are black and some are tarnished copper. Evan discovered that an empty cannon makes a great echo chamber.

Here's what we came to see. I know I'm a nerd, but I just love live history exhibits.
While we were on the roof, Neil was walking around the outside of the fort in what would have been the moat. Owen and I have been reading The Magic Tree House series in which the second book is called The Knight at Dawn. In the story, the kids end up falling into a moat. Something unseen is swimming with them before they narrowly escape.

Owen had to get down in that moat and experience what he had only read about. Here he and Neil are pretending to be alligators in the moat.

Down on the ground, the fog had rolled in again. You can barely see in the background where they are working on St. Augustine's famous Bridge of Lions. We left and the boys went to the beach with Neil. Later Gina and I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
The next morning we got up and said goodbye to St. Augustine. Our trip started rough and was to end in the same manner. We were running late, of course. About halfway to Orlando, Owen projectile vomited all over himself and the rental mini van while we were driving down the freeway. We used all but 2 baby wipes to clean him, the van, and puked-upon items in record time and tried not to touch anything the rest of the way.

We were very lucky Orlando International has curb side check-in. We decided to spare our arms and checked two bags (free only thanks to Gina's Silver Elite NWA status.) We were lucky again at the car rental place and caught a shuttle immediately. I was even able to rinse out the pukey clothes before we boarded, but there our luck ran out. We were delayed in Cincinnati due to ice. We sat for at least on hour on the tarmac and then the deicing pad. As we sat in the plane, I finally got ahold of Jim only to find out that he smashed up the Saturn that morning. He is OK, but the car in not driveable. He would be picking us all up in our Civic.

When we finally arrived to MSP we waited around the baggage claim for almost an hour. I did not see a single person from our flight and was concerned. Finally the baggage attendant said they would deliver our bags when they arrived. Ugh. I've heard that before. So, I smashed what we did have into the trunk and crawled into the back seat only to find that I would be spending the remainder of my trip sitting on the arm rests of the car seats, bent over, with my head in the front seat.

My friend Dawn has helped me rename this trip:
The Letts's Griswold Family Vacation

Fort Matanzas

I was bummed that we didn't get to see the cannons shot off the other day, but I was still eager to take the boys on the ferry to see Fort Matanzas.

Monday we decided to head back there. The ferry and tour are free!This volunteer really likes his job. After a slightly long, but very interesting history of Fort Matanzas and the Spanish and English armies, we were free to explore.
There was a very steep, upright ladder leading to the roof.

The view of the river up there is spectacular. The boys got a kick of being up at the same level as the pelicans.

Owen and Evan investigated all the nooks and crannies. Owen was very curious about the barracks. He was wondering about why they sleep on wood beds and why they didn't have plumbing. I think he got a lot out of the tour even though a lot of the details were over his head.

We were a little bummed not to see the cannons set off, but the volunteer told us that Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine had extended their reenactment and that if we went there we might be able to see one let off, but surely could see a rifle shot. Since Evan has been up until after 1 a.m. every night since we left Minnesota, we decided to forgo naps and head into town.

Washington Oaks

Sunday wasn't the warmest day in St. Augustine, but it was warm enough to play in the sand.

We spent the day at Washington Oaks State Park just south of St. Augustine. There were beautiful trails, gardens, fishing, and this secluded little beach we found to have our picnic. It was nice for the boys to be someplace where they could go safely into the water.

The boys spent hours pushing their trucks, digging holes, and filling their buckets with water and sand. Connie, Gina and I took a short hike. Washington Oaks was left to the state by Louise and Owen D. Young, who kept beautiful gardens. Unfortunately most of the flowers had been damaged by frost, but just being able to walk outside without a coat or seeing your breath was wonderful.

Before we headed back to the condo, we let the boys play at the playground for a little bit. They zipped down slides, climbed up ladders, and even climbed up into some of the beautiful live oaks.

That night, we all relaxed at the condo. The boys dressed up in Gina and my travel hats. I don't think the boys let these trucks out of their site all day.

Goodbye Tundra, Hello Florida

Jim's parents are spending their second January in St. Augustine. We weren't planning to visit them again this year, but the weather being what it is and Jim having a four day call, I couldn't say no when Gina asked us to join her.

The trip was a bit rough. We didn't check any luggage on the way down. At one point we were rushing to catch our next plane and I found myself alone at the top of an escalator with Evan, two overloaded and unbalanced roller bags, and two shoulder bags debating what to leave behind when a good Samaritan asked if he could help Evan.

It seemed Evan wasn't done with me for the night. When we got to the car rental place at 12:30 a.m., he was running around like a maniac. I decided to spare the other weary travelers and take him with me to the parking lot to load the car seats. I finally got him buckled into his seat, shut the van door, went around to my side, only to find that he had locked the doors. The keys were still sitting on the dash where the company leaves them and of course, there was not a spare. As two men used a crow bar and a long wire to trip the lock, the manager assured me, "Don't worry. We do this every night." If that was true, wouldn't you think they'd invest in some spares? Gina had been inside with Owen the entire time with no clue about the whole fiasco.

So, around 1 a.m., we set off on the 1 1/2 drive from Orlando to St. Augustine. Somehow I managed to stay awake, with visions of a cozy bed and the sound of waves crashing in my head. We arrived after 3 a.m.. Both Connie and Neil got up to help us unload. Unfortunately, in his half-wakened state, Neil did not unlock the door before coming to help and we were once again locked out. He woke the night watchman, got a key, we got the boys settled and I finally found sleep around 4 a.m..The next day was a little chilly, but sunny. We planned on having lunch on the beach and then meeting one of Jim's old high school friends. All was going well, until Connie decided to share Owen's crust with some seagulls. Soon there were swarms of them and, of course, as is our luck this trip, one dive bombed us and sprayed poop all over Neil, Evan, me, the potato chips and the delicious strawberries.

Things were looking glum, but we were not going to let that stop us from having adventure. The boys and I went to meet Laura (Ferrington) Jones and her family at Fort Matanzas. The Jones's live only about a half hour from St. Augustine. William, here, is the same age as Evan. They sat digging in the sand, both wanting the same stick, of course. We originally planned on meeting earlier to see the cannons shot off at the fort across the waterway, but in addition to everything else, on the way to meet them, Evan fell and skinned both of his knees and got a huge sliver from the boardwalk. I think he put his glasses on crooked for affect.

So, instead we sat on the beach... outside... in the sun and visited. It was lovely. Owen was a little shy at first, but Laura's boys were so sweet to him. They finally coaxed him into playing on their "pirate ship." He wasn't exactly dressed for rock climbing and was wearing the only size 1 sandals to be sold in January in Minnesota, but he was a good sport. Then, to add to our bad luck, Owen cut the bottom of his foot on a shell. So, we abandoned our ideas of taking the ferry across this waterway to fort, and left when the Jones family left to find some alcohol and antibiotic cream.

We picked up Grandma and Grandpa back at the beach. Gina had ridden her bike down. The kids played in the sand a little bit and then we saw a group of dolphins off the shore. Owen wasn't sure if he could see them or not. They were just past the surf. Just when he looked away, one leaped out of the water. Oh well, luck is just not on our side this trip, but we will not give up on having fun.

Now, you would have thought that after a day at the beach and a night with little sleep, Evan would have crashed at bedtime. No. There is to be no ease in this trip. At midnight, Connie and I finally loaded him in the car and drove to the 24 hour Walmart and bought a pack n play, which he barely fit in, but at least he was contained and we could all get some sleep.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Yes WE Can!

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord." "It has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn."

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."

"The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. "

Stories

It's -8 degrees in Minnesota, but this is how our boys are dressed. The hardest part of potty training for Evan, is having him get his clothes off in time. So, during the coldest winter Minnesota has seen in years, our boys are running around in their underwear.

Tonight the boys both requested we get the book Charles off the high shelf. Charles is a very special and fragile book. Inside, in the most beautiful handwritten script it says, "March 30, 1979 Happy Birthday, Jimmy Love, Aunt Rose and Uncle Vic" We keep it up high so it won't get torn or ruined and sometimes we forget about it. It is the sweetest story about a teddy bear and the boy who finally loves him. When we remember to read it, we remember how much we love it.

We finally got Evan to get dressed. He sat in his room reading all his books to himself while the rest of us got the house picked up and ready for bed.
Oreo, Grandma Connie's cat, likes to be right with the boys in whatever they are doing: baths, eating, storytime. She also likes to terrorize our cat, Ally. So does Evan. Earlier today Evan and Oreo were both at it. At the top of our stairs there is a landing, which opens directly to four rooms. I was standing in the bathroom, curling my hair, with a view to the other three. All of a sudden I hear the, now familiar, growl and hiss of our 11 year old cat, Ally. She comes scurrying out of our room, with her fat pouch waddling between her extremely short legs, and into Owen's room. A second later, Oreo comes bounding after her, front paws high up in the air as if he's actually trying to leap on top of her. Then, dressed much like the top picture, Evan comes giggling out into the landing, looks each way, sees what he wants and does one of those toddler runs, where the feet go fast but the body goes nowhere, after them. It's quiet for a moment, then I hear the growl and hiss again. Ally scurries out towards Evan's room, Oreo bounding after her, and Evan, again giggling, comes out, looks each direction and pursues into his room. Hiss, growl, scurry. Bound. Giggle, look, run. Now they are back in our room. This goes on from room to room for about five minutes. I was laughing so hard I was doubled over. It was like an episode of Scooby Doo, where Scooby & Shaggy are trying to hide from the monster who's chasing them, who is, in turn, being chased by the rest of the Mystery Inc.. I wish I had a video of this comical scenario, but alas, I hope my description is vivid enough to at least make you chuckle.

Where a Kid Can Be a Kid

Fridays are long days for me and the boys. Jim usually works until well after 8:00 and I am eager for the weekend and some adult back-up. It is always great when friends invite us to do fun things on Friday nights. Tonight Dawn and Alex invited us to meet them at Chuck E. Cheese.
When we got there, the Yeagers were there, too, and there was pizza already on the table. While we filled our bellies, Chuck sang to us on stage.
What was even more exciting, was that the real Chuck E. came out to meet us!
Evan could not get enough of this monster truck.

But for me, the highlight was watching all four boys climbing in this climber. Evan couldn't quite make it up the levels himself, so Alex and Owen took turns boosting him up. They had some intense imaginary play going on. They'd come shooting out of the slide, call for back-up on the CEC phone, and climb back up all over again as fast as they could.

As we were leaving, Evan kept saying, "Bye Mouse. Bye Mouse." He really has a thing for mice.