Tales from the Crow's Nest

Jim's cousin Anna went to Disney World last week with her husband, Paul, and step-daughter, Abbey. Abbey is visiting The States for a week from England. While at Disney World, she got a small treasure box. She told Anna that she wanted to make a movie about finding a lost treasure. Anna told her that she knew just the cast for such a film.

We got together today with intention of going to the Flint Hills International Children's Festival put on by the Ordway Theater in Rice Park. However, before we could go, we threw together this short film. You didn't have to ask my boys twice if they wanted to play pirates and Anna was sweet enough to weave Owen's beloved Sea Shepherds and his new fascination with Moby Dick into the story.

ENJOY!

Flint Hills International Children's Festival

After saving Moby Dick, rescuing the pregnant damsel in distress and making our film debut, we headed downtown to the Flint Hills International Children's Festival put on by Ordway Theater in Rice Park, downtown St. Paul.

There was theater, art, and music all around us. Evan quickly made friends with this giant butterfly whom he thought lived in this giant castle, (a.k.a. the Landmark Center which some of you may remember from Jim's residency graduation) which she happened to be standing right in front of.

Abbey loved all the art projects. Here she is shaking 3 paint covered golf balls all over a piece of paper inside a box. The results were beautiful!

The boys participated in the art projects, too. They made buttons, paintings, and here they just stamped butterflies and caterpillars onto a jigsaw puzzle which they then colored. Of course, they were done in about 3 minutes and 5 minutes later we were still waiting for Abbey to finish one butterfly, which, by the way, was beautifully colored!

We all enjoyed the entertainment. We heard a reggae band near the fountain and then watched a 15 minute breakdance performance outside the Ordway. Afterwards the dancers opened the floor to the kids. Abbey dragged Evan out there, but then she ditched him, so he had no idea what to do. He and Abbey really grew to adore each other.

By the time the breakdancing was over, we were all hot, tired and in desperate need of some Eberts & Gerberts. On the way out, we ran into this guy on the sidewalk. He stopped us and gave us our own private magic show. It was great! I wish I could find his card, so I could give him his proper due.
The adults agreed that the best part about having Abbey was that we could have our first, eating out, kids table. Chips & pickles, but who cares. We ate in total peace and had lovely adult conversations about nothing at all. It was SPECTACULAR!

WE LOVE YOU, ABBEY!!!

22 WEEKS

Here we are. Half done. Barefoot & pregnant.
Anna is due 7 days after me!

(I know my belly looks really weird. I am carrying high, but I think my maternity pants must have given my belly an extra lift! Lovely.)

A Baby Shower for Jess

Jim has three cousins and a sister-in-law who are pregnant and due within 7 weeks of my due date. This is his cousin Jess and her Tony. She is due a few weeks before me with her first baby. Her family put together a shower for her at a county park near Mankato while she was back from Colorado. She was positively glowing at the shower and looked so beautiful.

We had a wonderful picnic lunch with hot dogs, chicken salad sandwhiches, beans, salads, fruit, chips, lemonade, and Jessie's awesome homemade guacamole. Evan's favorite part, of course, was the cake. He enjoyed it so much, that he dug into Great Grandma Verna's!

Here Jess is getting "a lesson on all this baby stuff" from one of her kid sisters, Jolynn. Jess is the oldest of four girls. You can see many of her nieces in this picture. She has 4 nieces and a nephew already. Jessie is having a girl. Jim's other cousin on this side of the family, Kim, is also having a girl. Jim's brother has two girls, so far. We are having a girl. Can I get an Uff da!

It was really nice of the Lorentz's to plan the shower at a park. The kids had a blast. Here is Jim pushing Owen and his cousin Amy's son. Amy is pushing her niece and Evan. It's fun watching Jim and his cousins wrapped up in their new parenting roles.

The big kids had fun running all over the park and climbing this big rock structure that had faux fossil imprints.

After the shower, we took a hike around the loop with Auntie Gina, her Adam, my canine nieces, and the boys. Jim, his sibs, and his cousins use to spend a lot of time at this park as kids. Apparently they use to scale this rock wall. Another neat thing Gina remembered swimming in the creek water, using reeds as snorkels.

Owen and Evan started their own traditions.

Peck's Wildlife Park - Memorial Day 2009

This picture sums up Evan's experience at Peck's Wildlife Park: pure joy and excitement. Evan is our animal lover. Peck's is a zoo where many of the animals walk freely around. They work hard to provide safe interactions with a variety of animals. Goats, deer, peacocks, giant tortoises, and boars walk around. Staff members will take small animals like opossums and parrots out of their cages, so kids can use multiple senses to learn about the animals. The bunny cage only allows 3 people in at a time, but the kids can actually pick the babies up themselves. It looks like Evan is being rough with this baby bunny, but he really isn't.




Owen's favorite part of the day was feeding the bear.






You can buy a bottle of pop (a.k.a. sugar water) to give the bears. It's a lot of fun, but you feel a bit sorry for the bears.

This year they have added something new. The Budgies Buddies Encounter is a screened shelter with hundreds of Budgie Birds. This was my favorite part of the park and Evan loved it, too. Since his blanket is named Budgy as well, it seems appropriate that he would have a special touch with these birds.

Inside the shelter, you can buy popsicle sticks covered in bird seed for a dollar. I was skeptical at first, but I assure you, this was the best dollar I have spent in a loooooong time.


Owen and my mom pretty much had the same feeling about the birds.

Outside the Budgie Buddies exhibit is this tunnel. I don't think it really has a purpose, but it sure made for a neat picture.


Both boys really enjoyed feeding the deer. This albino was not shy.







Owen had a special touch with this fawn.







We think that it is probably only 1 or 2 days old.

At the end of our day, we always have to take a ride on the zoo train. This train whips around the corner, which really gave Evan the giggles. Inside the cars there are buttons you can push that make various wild animal noises. Owen also controlled the "whistle" which is just a bell, but still lots of fun.

When we got back to Ya-ya & Bumpa's, my mom made me my very favorite Grand Marnier cake. Evan wasn't quite sure about licking the bowl. Surprising for somebody with a sweet tooth like his. I just had to include this picture because of his grumpy face. Who could be so grumpy while licking a bowl of chocolate?

Fishing with Bumpa

Jim spent Sunday at "The Property" with his brother cutting trails. He came back filthy and sporting a few tics, so I guess the day was a success. Meanwhile, the boys got some serious "Bumpa" time. Ya-ya dug out the Lincoln Logs and Bumpa built them an awesome fort.

It was a sunny and warm day so we hopped in the boat and took the boys fishing. Evan's line barely went in the water when he caught his first fish! A small mouth bass. He diligently watched his bobber from that point on.

Owen, however, was more into weighing the fish on this scale we bought Bumpa for Christmas and watching them in the live well.

It's not like Owen to lose interest, so we called "Last Catch." Amazingly, both boys got one after that at the same time! All in all we caught 5 small mouth bass and 1 perch in a little less than an hour.

Then we came back and had a little snack while we watched the lake. Lake watching is a huge sport "Up North." Our little inutero kung fu artist was kicking up a storm the whole time. She is so wild, the boys have both felt her kicking several times already.





Nap were taken in the car because we were invited down south of Minocqua for a fish fry at my dad's cousin's daughter's place. Got that one?

This is Owen with her son, Owen. He's almost 4. These two hit it off pretty quick. They ran up and down the driveway a dozen times. Their Owen chased our Owen round and round the car on his scooter. All the while, Evan made sidewalk drawings. I think he's coming down with a cold. Then we took a swing around the lake on their pontoon. It was a perfect night. Nobody was chilled. Very unlike the Northwoods in May.

Birthday Party at Ya-ya & Bumpa's

We headed up to Manitowish Waters this weekend. My mom and dad invited some family over for a small birthday party for me. It was sunny, but very windy. We started out the day catching bugs. Evan has a new fascination with bugs. He is very gentle with them, so far. He and Jim caught a beetle near the pier. Owen ran around trying to find food and habitat to add to the container. They enjoyed him for a few minutes and then completely forgot about it. Jim set it free.

They lost interest in the bug for good reason. As our first guests were arriving, my dad was firing up the grill and an unexpected visitor showed up. This mama bear has destroyed all of my parents' bird feeders and has been lurking around with her two cubs for about 2 weeks. Today she came alone. We watched her through the woods with the boys safely atop Great Aunt Sarah's mini van. I snapped this photo as she was taking her leave.

*Note: This picture was taken zoomed all the way in. I was not this close to the bear.
My cousin, Kristin, came over from Hayward with her kids: The 3 G's. Graham & Gus wanted to go fishing in my dad's boat. Their dad who is a fishing guide is currently stationed in Iraq, so I think they are missing their fishing buddy. Jim and my dad took them and Owen. Owen got to steer the boat.

Greta probably would have liked to have gone, too, but it was just too many kids for them to handle already. She and Evan got to take a special paddle boat ride instead with Ya-ya & Kristin. They were out there for almost an hour. It was warmer out there in the sun.

Greta's birthday is in May, so my mom got her a little personalized cake shaped like the skirt of a dress with a doll on top. Evan insisted that it was his birthday. We had to sing to him, too. For me, actually, for the rest of us, my mom got a cake from Joyce's. Joyce's is my favorite store-bought cake. I don't even like chocolate, but Joyce's is so good. And the buttercream frosting... mmmmm.

This scene just melts my heart. Pretty typical at our house and at my mom's. We don't even have to ask! But, get these two around their own families and you can forget it. They would offer to help, but would end up chatting and never really get around to it. Funny how they are both like that.

Thanks Michelle, Kirk, Nikki, Sarah, Kris & The 3 G's, for the thoughtful gifts and the wonderful company.
Mom, thanks for planning a very special and fun day for me and the family.

Our Property

Jim's dream was to find some secluded land with lakeshore to buy and preserve. I never dreamed that "secluded" would mean no water or sewer access and a two mile drive down a logging road, BUT here it is: Our property.

I admit I have had disdain for the place, but after snapping this picture, I realize I was very wrong. I may never love this place, but I love that my loved ones love it. Here we have Jim, doing is very favorite thing: staring out into nature. And there is my son, equipped with his Great Grandfather Myle's tackle box. He got out of the car, grabbed the box, ran down the hill and immediately started to open the box. He doesn't even have a pole!

This is "Our Property" or as Evan says, "Dis our poperty."

I do love nature. There is so much to learn from it. Here Jim and the boys are investigating a "kill." By the looks of what's left of the bones, we're guessing this deer was dragged down by a coyote or a wolf. Yes. There is a wolf pack that includes our property in their territory.






Here we saw a spot where an otter sits and shells his clams.























And here we saw the remains of a porcupine whose only natural predator is the fisher because it moves low enough to the ground that it can attack underneath. So. Wolves and fishers. See why I haven't been eager to hang out here?

Claire, Ben and Lilly came with us to the property today. Ben and Jim were discussing possible building ideas. Jim wants a screen porch and a tent platform. I'm thinking more long term. I want a cabin and some boardwalks. There is a lot of bog on our property. Of course my priority is some kind of toilet. Not an outhouse. A toilet.

Each of the kids got to take a special boat ride with Claire in our new row boat. Well, it's not exactly "new," but it's new for us. It use to be my Great Uncle Stu's. I am so excited to have something from him, especially something that represents him in a nutshell.

Owen got to go fishing in the rowboat with Ben and Jim. That stick in his hand is his fishing pole.

Meanwhile, Claire and I stayed with the little ones on the point where we hope to build a campsite. Jim's first purchase for the land were these high end lawn chairs. I guess when you are 6'5", it's hard to find a comfortable reclining lawn chair. We are definitely going to need someplace to lock these bad boys up. I could have easily taken a nap in one.

This was just too cute not to post. Most mornings when I wake Evan I tell him that he has to get up because it's a beautiful day. I don't think he's actually ever heard the song, other than me singing it, but apparently that doesn't matter. It's so catchy, Lilly picked it up!

The Forest Trail

This weekend we went up to ER (Eagle River), WI where Jim's parents and his uncle both have cabins in the Nicolet National Forest. We stayed with Jim's parents, who have been up there for a week already. Jim's cousin, Claire, and her family stayed at the other cabin.

This morning turned out to be absolutely beautiful. We packed a picnic and headed to The Forest Trail. I'm sure there are many forest trails in the Nicolet National Forest, but this is The Forest Trail. The Forest Trail that Jim's family has hiked since his father and uncles were kids. The Forest Trail where Jim proposed on Winter Solstice of 2000. The Forest Trail where we had Owen's Welcoming Ceremony and spread the ashes of Jim's grandparents. I love this trail. Every inch of it. I know it like the back of my hand. It's a part of my family, a part of my history. It is our church; where we worship and pray and share the joys of the thing we love most: family.

This is the sign posted at the start of the trail.

A new generation enjoying the magic of the old growth forest,
full of hemlock.
Lilly (Claire & Ben's daughter - 23 months), Owen & Evan

Here's Owen on the shore of Butternut Lake. We dipped him at this very spot during his Welcoming Ceremony.

We crossed the road and headed over to Franklin Lake picnic area for our lunch. Just down the trail, Claire spotted this porcupine scurrying away. By the time I caught up, he had made his way into a tree.

Franklin Lake. Another magical place. Sandy bottom, clear water, shallow entry. Perfect for little ones. The kids were immediately mesmerized by the water. Each of them interacted in their own special way. Evan dropped into his usual knees in, feet out squat position and began to fill his hands with sand. He loves to fill his hands with sand and gravel. Owen designed his own science experiment of dropping different sized rocks in the water and observing how different they looked under the water than on the shore. Lilly touched and splashed the water trying to grab rocks that were just out of reach, stretching her tiny, but rapidly growing, body to the limit, but not getting her pretty shoes wet.

She finally found one she could reach.

I just love this picture of her carefully holding her pointed toe out daintily towards the cold water. Claire waded in and said it was so cold that it felt like needles.

But, kids are resilient. They couldn't resist this magical lake. Last year, at our 4th of July picnic, these three and their 4 other cousins were stripped down naked and wading all over this same shore. Note to self: bring swim suits for kids whenever going on hikes in ER.

Well past naptime and no tears. We headed back to the cabin with very few ticks. I admit, we set them up to this, but isn't it cute?