St. John's Arboretum & Mulan Jr.

 Last week I got a text at 7:51 in the morning from my friend Amanda.
Homeschool field trip with another co-op we don't belong to. St. John's Arboretum. There was room for us.
The field trip began at 9:30 a.m.
We hustled. Missing out on anything happening at St. John's truly feels catastrophic.

The kids stopped at stations along a path and learned about plants and the local environment. In our walk through the arboretum we visited plains, wetlands, and the woods.

Here is our group walking through the wetlands.

This seemed very appropriate because we had just finished reading, and were then listening to, C.S. Lewis's Narnia book, The Silver Chair. Jill and Eustace had just flown by owl to find a special Marshwiggle who would guide on their quest through the land of the giants. Which, if you know anything about Marshwiggles, you will know that wetlands are where they live.

 Unfortunately, we did not spot any Marshwiggles or their wigwams - and no smell of eel stew.

Those black lines are there for a reason. If you're a kid, you're supposed to walk between them. The boardwalk was bouncy because some of it was supported on floats.

Every so often the group would stop and get comfortable and learn something about what's happening in that particular area of the arboretum.

 Then we left the boardwalk and entered the woods, which were amazing.

 The trees were so ridiculously beautiful! We had so much fun and really appreciated the nice gals that gave us the tour and introduced us to so many different plants. Very fun! We can't wait to go back to St. John's, where, if it was allowed, I would set up permanent residence. I love that campus.

 The girls and I went to the local theater to see a children's production of Disney's Mulan. It was really cute.

 If you are a reader from the northern Illinois area, think Coronado Theater, minus the 100+ year old preserved dried plants and a velvet ceiling with stars. The Paramount Theater is built on a much smaller scale but is still lovely - with a massive and unfortunate lack of velvet overall, though.

Elin and Svea squabbled over who got to sit on the end balcony seat, and ended up sharing it. I suggested switching seats during intermission, but I guess squishing in together for the entire show was much easier?

I have to confess, I've never seen the movie Mulan, and now we all feel the need to. The show was really cute and the kids in it did an excellent job.

 Those guys in the middle there are the terrible Huns. Yes, that kid is super tall - he's 6'5. He had scary makeup on and he was definitely the bad guy. And Elin wanted his autograph so badly. (We did get it.)

 There was an attempted coup - that dragon isn't just wandering onto the stage for no good reason.

But everything turned out all right in the end and Mulan brought honor to her family.
Isn't that nice?

I was so impressed with the beautiful set and costumes.

After the show we braved the crowd for some autographs (of course we got the Hun's).

Elin now wants to be in a production and Svea seems to be considering it. There are different ages casted for each show, so this would be fun to pursue (: We're so glad we live in an area that offers such exciting opportunities for kids!

Winterizing

We went up north last week for the last time this year. Time to spend a few more lovely days in autumn splendor and do some essential winterizing.

Here we put the boat in at the marina.

This mailbox is one of a long line of mailboxes at the marina, and every time I see this, I think, that's the most brilliant use of 10-cent stick-on letters I've ever seen. I'm not quite sure what goes in there, or whom exactly "Sumpn Else" belongs to, but I'm glad it's there because it always makes me smile.

The boat was loaded to the brim. Little people sat on stuff.
Please be aware this was a four-day trip.
No matter how much I wish we did, we just can't seem to travel lightly.

Barge at the pier.

Once we arrived, we thought we smelled something, and Viggo insisted we check mouse traps. He felt certain that the ones Grandpa had set (I have no idea when) had lured some unsuspecting vermin to their death.

He was right - we did find a mouse.  But the one Nate pulled out was pretty much fluff and bones. Way past its expiration date, so we knew that wasn't the source of the smell. We opened the windows and aired everything out, and that was the end of that.

 Everyone went out for a walk, except me. Why would I do that when I could do this instead?!

 Svea and Viggo clear some brush.

 Viggo stakes his claim.

These rocks were covered in water this summer, so our little pink monkey was excited to climb all over them.

 Svea. And her really, really long legs.

 Exploring the island is a whole new ballgame in the fall. The swamp had dried up, and Viggo and Svea were so excited to walk through part of it. Things usually covered in water were easily reachable and explorable. Fun!

 King Viggo.

Viggo found a fern with spores. This was an exciting discovery; he studied botany last year and his appreciation for the greener things in life has certainly increased.

 Elin called this the princess rock.

One day it rained all day long, but we stayed busy with nano blocks, legos, and lots of books.

 Playing chicken foot.

 It is so fun seeing the kids do some serious grunt work. Viggo sawed and chopped a lot of wood for our campfires.

 All that work was worth it. Making apple pies in pie irons.

 To help winterize, the kids scattered mothballs under the cabin to keep the critters away.

 This photo seems odd, but yes. We put some kayaks in the little cabin. There was a really good reason for this but I forget exactly what it was.

 Of all the things to find in the fall: a tadpole. Really?

On the way home we wrapped up our trip by stopping in Mora to see some special friends.

Goodbye, Lake Vermilion! See you next summer!

Oliver Kelley Farm

We took a frigid field trip to the Oliver H. Kelley Farm last week. The Kelley Farm is a historical working farm in Elk River. Historical as in, they do things there like they did 160 years ago.

 Viggo with his friend Jack. They are making an attempt to take corn off the husk by hand. This wasn't super-efficient so we were introduced to that wonderful machine, the corn husker.

 The barn.

In the barn the kids put on what the horses would wear when they plow the fields.
It was a little heavy.

The sheep were, without a doubt, my favorite part.

 I love them. A couple years ago Elin kept telling me she wanted to get me a pet lamb. Maybe we should revisit that idea.

 Sorghum grew there. Imported from Africa, sorghum was a very important crop. Sugar cane doesn't really grow in Minnesota . . . but sorghum does.

A pile of sorghum (stalks?) lies ready.

 First we each get a piece.

 And then we chop the top off with a hatchet - hi-ya!!

 Everyone was careful.
Svea did her chopping with considerably less gusto than Viggo, but she got the job done.

 Without hesitation the farm guy handed the hatchet to Elin and she did a good job! I was impressed in his confidence in her.

 After chopping off the top of the sorghum we moved on to the next step - putting it through a press. This would release the sweet juice from the stalk, and then, like maple syrup, it has to be boiled to reduce. Then it can be used in baked goods like sugar.

I'm glad I don't have to go through all this rigamarole on a regular basis.

So instead of a horse, children were used to operate the press.

Don't be fooled by this photo; Elin did nothing to help her group of kids push. She was completely useless and pretty much walked along smiling and chit-chatting while everyone else was grunting and pushing for all they were worth. Of course Elin thought this was hilarious.

 This was a lengthy and dangerous process. Everyone putting the stalks through the press had to duck to avoid getting bonked with the log.

Here we go round the mulberry bush!
The kids were happy to work in the rain.

 Jack came close to a near-decapitation.

 Then the groups switched and Viggo and Svea pushed. For whatever reason their group was much more efficient and completed the pressing before we knew it.

Haystacks in the rain.
Brr.

Then the blessed event of going inside happened. I strategically positioned myself in the doorway to the kitchen because I spotted a stove there.

In Oliver Kelley's home, we were introduced to chores done in the 1850s. All the chores discussed were for the children and womenfolk.

 Elin and Svea grind coffee beans.

 Boys made crackers.

 Svea gets water for the coffee.
That little baby on the floor separated beans into different colors.

 I was a little worried we might have to sample this stuff but then we were shooed outside to help in the garden. Which was a mixed blessing - I didn't want the coffee, mostly because the coffee beans were a little pale and dusty-looking, but I really didn't want to leave the warm kitchen either. Not to mention there was no way I - or any other mom there, I feel like I can be the voice of the mothers - was eating crackers made my half a dozen pair of grimy boy hands.

I could no longer feel my hands in the garden. My partially-frozen fingers would not easily obey my wishes so no photos.
It was a big garden, mostly picked over, and muddy. That's about all you need to know.

It practically goes without saying, but I would have been a terrible farmer and a very disgruntled coffee drinker in the 1850s.

Despite the overall dampness and chill it was a lot of fun. Thanks to Mindy and her crew for inviting us! We hope to visit the Kelley Farm again (: