Eat like a Roman soldier

 We've been busy with school. Svea works on some geography.

Viggo maps out the Spanish Inquisition.
I have to admit I've never really learned much about the Spanish Inquisition, and now that I know a little about it, I'm horrified.
Go read up on it . . . and be appalled.

 Svea shows off a Swedish flag she made on a geoboard.

We have pretty much been eating our way through world history, and the girls baked cookies in the shape of Roman columns to recognize the collapse of the Roman Empire.

When it was time to make the cookies, Svea ran to the sink and said, "Always remember to wash your hands before you bake!" I was patting myself on the back for that statement.

Then she added, "Especially if you've been picking your nose." After that dubious announcement, I made sure she thoroughly washed her hands and we started baking. Eat at your own risk!

 They looked pretty good. Svea used a toothpick to draw lines in her columns, but they puffed up and baked out. She gets an A for effort, though!

 Then we ate like Roman soldiers - even though I'm pretty sure they didn't have the luxury of baking in tin foil.

Meat, potatoes, onions and carrots were baked in foil. Most of us ate with our fingers; Roman soldiers didn't have time to bother with dishes and silly things like forks. Yum!

Little things

Bargain alert!! Wal-Mart has some Lord of the Rings sets at 50% off, so stock up on your Middle-Earth heroes and villains!

We now have the Mouth of Sauron in our house.

I'm so proud.

Viggo had most of the money for it in the bank, and had to earn the rest before he could have the set.

He dusted.
He vacuumed.
He washed the windows.
He weeded the creeping charlie around the entire house and on the walk-out patio.

We should find Lego sets on clearance more often!

Fresh from his chores and opening the box, he had an audience. A new Lord of the Rings lego set in our house is precious.

We also discovered Fatty lurking in the hydrangeas.
Fatty had been hesitant to leave us in the first place.

On an orange part of his right wing, there are some light marks. I'm thinking he didn't go far because he wasn't able to fly easily.
We kept a close watch on him, and a couple of hours later, Fatty flew out to the field.
I'm sure he's well on his way south by now, safe and sound (:

Svea ran errands with me the other day and insisted on getting some Rasinets to sustain us. And of course we had Olaf. Both necessities for a happy life, as far as we're concerned.

First day of school!

VSE Academy had a strong start this week.

Monday morning, 7 A.M., math with Prof. Weeks.

I put up a big tree that Elin adds leaves to every day, and a new animal every week. Svea added her own clouds and a sun that gets rays added to it every day (:

 Butterflies came to school too.

Svea handed out treats at snack time.

 They were special leftover vacation snacks. So sweet to share, Svea!

 Viggo makes a flip chart of peoples who ruled Britain in medieval times. We can't emphasize the necessity to keep information like this handy and at the ready at all times, in case someone asks you about the Danish viking invasion.

Svea's invention, a bouncy ball dispenser.

We had a busy and fun day! The whole week has been great; gosh I just love schedules.

Flight of Fatty

Our eight lovely monarch caterpillars have all changed into butterflies, and we sent our beloved Fatty, the last one, off yesterday.

We carted these all the way up north to Lake Vermilion, only to have nothing happen. They rode on the boat to and from the island.

The chrysalis in the front is just about two days away from the butterfly coming out, and the one behind is about one day from emerging. You can see the wing patterns like veins beneath the chrysalis shell.

 This one came out about 15 minutes after I took this picture. So, so pretty!!

So when a monarch comes out, it is very quick. It pushes against the chrysalis and comes out the bottom first, then breaks through the rest of the chrysalis. It unfolds its body and hangs onto the top of the chrysalis. It does not move its wings around for quite some time; at least an hour.

The wings are small and miniature looking when them emerge, but they lengthen quickly!

Watching the butterflies in all stages has been so much fun.

We had four come out within a couple hours of each other on Monday. It was so fun to watch!

Here, Viggo releases the first batch of them. You can see all the other chrysalii stuck onto the inside of the lid of the butterfly pavilion.

We could not stress enough to NOT touch the wings too much. Butterfly wings are covered with powder; it helps them stay airborne. The butterfly wing powder was discovered when Viggo and I caught a butterfly at a garden once, and we both had what looked like chalk on our hands, that was the exact color of the butterfly we had been holding.

 Watching Fatty, the last and pokiest butterfly, come out to meet us.

And here is Fatty as a newly emerged monarch, his wings are small and rounded and his body, I'm sorry to say, is quite thick and flabby. There are also some secretions that happen that we'd rather not discuss; let's just say the butterfly pavilion needs a good hosing down. It's not all beauty being a butterfly.

Fatty did not want to leave; he was the last to turn into a chrysalis, the last to morph into a butterfly, and then he wanted to sit on Viggo's hand. We also kept him in the pavilion for a few extra hours.

Have a good flight to Mexico, Fatty! We loved caring for you!

Milkweed Lottery

Sprinkled throughout the summer, the kids have found the occasional monarch caterpillar, and it has been so fun to watch it turn into a chrysalis and then, a butterfly.

But the other day by the pond the kids found EIGHT of them. Caterpillar jackpot.

 These were quickly put in the butterfly pavilion and then, of course, they were named.

Please meet our new and exciting temporary pets:
Milky Way, Zipper, Stripes, Ron, Fred, George, Stays-On-The-Top, and Fatty.

(Pet not pictured: Frumpy, the frog that lives in the umbrella on our deck. He also joined us for the day yesterday.)

Stays-On-The-Top started his metamorphosis last night. He hung stiffly upside-down to make a little J shape. He was quickly joined by a couple others; I'm not sure who they are, but I am certain they aren't Fatty (because he's still eating).

We will keep you updated on the monarch chrysalis situation (:

Disney World - Magic Kingdom

Our last full day in Florida was spent at the Magic Kingdom.

 As usual we were there bright and early.

 And so was everybody else.

 Our time in Animal Kingdom fooled us. Because the Magic Kingdom was bustling.

Cast members come out every morning to open the gates and they sing a little song. It was really cute, and wow, were we ever packed in like sardines to see it. And this wasn't even the busy season!

 We left the present day . . . and entered.

 Main Street, USA.

 First stop - Swiss Family Robinson tree house.

SFR is my most favorite Disney movie of all time.
As a kid, not only did I deep identify with Francis, but it inspired me to some day ride an ostrich or a zebra - I'll take either one, really - and I have yet to achieve that.

 After our Swiss fix we rode Aladdin's Magic Carpets . . .

 . . . and did the Jungle Cruise, which is hilarious.

Elin observed that these crocs looked a lot different than the ones in Animal Kingdom.

 And then Svea was cajoled into a dance. She wasn't really into it and allowed herself to be led around by the nice Disney man.

 Viggo, however, was having a fabulous time! Can you find him?

 Elin was a surprisingly good pirate and much more aggressive with her sword than the pirates bargained for.

 She had pirate lessons from the one and only, Jack Sparrow.

She passed the class!
Our daughter is now a pirate.

We're so proud.

 Viggo and Svea were also made pirates as well (:

 Whoa! While waiting in line for Goofy's Barnstormer ride, Viggo risks his life on the Wheel of Peril.

 It's a good thing Goofy had plenty of medical supplies available in case of injury.

No trip to Disney is complete without taking a spin on the teacups!

 Tom Sawyer's Island was a fun little adventure.

 Checking the map.

 Did Tom and Huck stow a ride on this?

 The photo from Splash Mountain. That was a very wet ride, especially since it kept resetting. We spent 15 minutes on a 10 minute ride, and I think at least 14 1/2 minutes was spent with me being stuck under a waterfall. Which the kids thought was hilarious, and they keep telling people this was their favorite part of Disney. What?!

 Nate treated us to strawberry icees while we settled in to watch the parade. We had been moving constantly in the hot weather, and we all needed a break. God bless the parade.

 It's a new parade, and only one word can describe it: lavish.

 Not one square inch of any float was lacking in color, flowers, sparkles, or flames.

 Of course we barely got a glimpse of Anna and Elsa the first time they went past us. On a rotating float. They were the only princesses the girls really wanted to see, and The Disney Powers That Be put them on a float that rotates so only half of the parade route gets to actually see them and wave to them. I'm sorry, but massive fail, Disney.

 Ulf, my favorite Tangled thug, was there too.

 And Rapunzel, with her frying pan.

Crazy, right? These costumes remind me of the wacky get-ups worn at the Olympic opening ceremonies in Albertville, France in 1992.

I'm sure you are thinking the same thing.

 At least they put Ariel in easy view!

 Peter Pan. Rainbows and skulls. How charming.

 A fire-breathing dragon from Sleeping Beauty.

 This guy was rigged up inside the dragon and got to push a button to have fire come out of the dragon's mouth. What a fun job!

 There was plenty of dancing and singing.

 Mickey and Minnie (:

 The girls loved it. Except the part where they didn't see the Frozen sisters.

Missing Elsa and Anna sprung Nate into heroic intent. He was determined that the girls would see them. So we ran across the park to find another spot in the route to try and catch a glimpse. We waited with bated breath once we found a spot at least a quarter mile from where we saw the Frozen float the first time. As Elsa and Anna approached us . . . they slowly rotated away from us. Again. (!!) Nate continued to run with the girls to find another spot but to no avail. I squeezed into the crowd at another spot and hastily took this picture. Well, whatever.

Massive fail, Disney. For heaven's sakes don't put the most popular princesses of all time on a rotating float.

Egypt in It's A Small World.
This was Elin's favorite ride. I did this ride twice with her. FYI, we walked right on it around 8 pm. There was no line at all. It was just us, and a bunch of Japanese tourists that thought Elin was cute. So if you're going to Disney, consider waiting until evening to do this ride. Because we waited for a bit the first time.

In case you haven't ever noticed, It's A Small World is the only ride at Disney that doesn't have a Disney character tied into it. Which begs the question, where did all these small people come from?

 Dumbo.

 Elin got lots of compliments on her special Elsa t-shirt (:

While on the Dumbo ride, I couldn't help but notice the massive storm clouds that were quickly overtaking all the blue sky.

 And then it POURED.

 Nate packed all our rain jackets in his Duluth Pack.
And then the zipper busted.
But it was worth it. Right, honey?

 Tomorrowland was pretty much shut down. We had been next in line for Mickey's Speedway but then it closed. Risk of electrocution by lightning or something . . .

 Flooded Magic Kingdom.

 A cast member unclogging the drain.

 Look at those clouds! It continued to rain off and on for the rest of the evening.
The good news was, a lot of people left.
Not everyone was blessed with a husband who had a broken backpack full of rain jackets.

 Viggo tries to pull out the Sword in the Stone.

I think there should be more things to appeal to boys at Disney. The girls have princesses everywhere. And what does Viggo get? A stone, stuck in a rock. Where was King Arthur?? He was missing, and that would have been such fun. Disney should resurrect The Sword in the Stone and do something with it.

 In an effort to hope to find Elsa and Anna, we found Sleeping Beauty and Snow White instead.
The girls were a little disappointed but polite (we had received a tip that Anna and Elsa were hiding somewhere, went to find them, only to hear they had just left.  Just missing them seemed to be the day's theme). Viggo was such a good sport, might I add. He was very supportive of the Quest For Elsa and Anna and tagged along good-naturedly, never complaining. Bless his heart! You are such a sweetheart, Viggo!

Nate also deserves a medal. He is a little creeped out by the Disney princess ladies, and here he spends significant time trying to find them so the girls can meet them. What a nice guy.

 Snow White was very sweet, even though all Elin talked about was Elsa. And all Svea talked about was Olaf. And all Snow White talked about was the Seven Dwarfs. As far as conversations go, this one wasn't very productive.

 And then thankfully the rain let up just enough for some fireworks!

 They reopened the Mickey's track and this manic drove me around.

 And then just like that, we were back on the plane and flying home.

If only it was really that easy! I made things difficult by losing my ID somewhere in the Magic Kingdom. And Viggo lost his favorite hat, and he and Nate had to go back to Disney the next morning to get it. But there was one more glorious hotel continental breakfast that involved Nutella, so at least something was going right.

Home sweet home! We had fun, but nothing beats Minnesota. Uff da!