Domestic Adventures

While on vacation Micah has mastered a few new skills.
He has learned to unbuckle most restaurant high chair seat belts, and he has learned to climb out of the pack-n-play and seek out any chocolate in the room.
As much as I love to see him learn new things, these are a few I could have done without.

E: Will you help me build my house?
A: Sure.
E: Okay, I’ll get the wax.
A: (puzzled look)
E: I’ve got my wax so I can whack down some trees.

A three hour drive from Minneapolis is Duluth, located on the shore of Lake Superior and home to more Northern adventures. Thanks to Stephen’s research we’re staying the the coolest suite in Duluth. The hotel used to be an old factory or warehouse and the original brick walls and enormous wood beams really make it unique. With three bedrooms and two baths plus living area and kitchen we have plenty of room. Emmaline and Micah especially enjoyed the jaccuzzi tub and spent about an hour in the bath tonight, but my favorite part is the gas fireplace where I could just sit all night.

Yesterday we traded real snow for giant foam blocks of ice and carpet skates at the Minnesota Children’s Museum in St.Paul.  Orlando has nothing to compare with the four floors of perfectly preschool-sized activities.  Besides the indoor winter wonderland, Emmaline and Micah worked in a pint-sized restaurant, got behind the wheel of Bob the Builder’s bulldozer, dressed up as ants to crawl through a labyrinth of ant tunnels, and caught plastic frogs and crawfish in a bubbling stream.

All the various rooms held more to do than we could accomplish in a couple of hours.

Today’s hightlights…
We saw penguins living in a heated room because it’s too cold for them here.
We wrestled snowsnuits in port-a-potties.
We watched ice sculpters preparing their entries for the ice sculpting competition.
We ate deep fried cheese curds.
We discovered how cold 12 degrees is!

The highs in Minneapolis this week are in the teens. Some freezing drizzle and some snow is forecast, and we are leaving our cosy little Florida home where we have the heat running because it might get below 60, to head for the frozen North. I’m not sure why Stephen chose this inhospitable climate, but we his faithful friends are willing to visit him anyway. Of course, our doing this in January just proves how crazy we are.
I’ll try to post from Minnesota if all my fingers aren’t too frostbitten!

Remember my traffic accident in August? Yesterday, I appeared in court as a witness in the hearing of another driver contesting her ticket. While very sweet and friendly, she had no chance of getting out of her ticket for careless driving. All I did was give a very brief and rather irrelevant description of the accident.
Court is a funny place for people-watching. I was surprised at the number of people who showed up in raggedy jeans or mid-drift tops. The middle-aged man sitting behind us got a stern lecture from a sheriff officer for not being able to figure out how to turn his noisy video game off.
The day’s award for cluelessness went to another witness who, when asked by the judge where he was driving, thought for a moment and then answered, “On the road.”
The best part was that the hearing didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it would and Trent and I had time for a mini-date at Starbucks before heading home.

Flipping through Pottery Barn catalogues while brainstorming living room decor, an array of framed drawings caught my eye and sparked a memory. Immediately I went to the closet and unearthed these old architectural drawings.
I love them for several reasons. First, they were done by my grandfather. Second, they are of my high school, St. Petersburg High, which is also where my grandparents attended. I believe he did these when he was a student there. Third, they are beautiful and interesting even without all that wonderful history.
I decided I really need to get these framed to hang in my living room. What a perfect treasure I had hiding in my closet.

I saw this t-shirt in the toddler section at Target. After watching Micah catapult himself off the couch into a pile of pillows over and over again, I so wish I had bought it for him.

Now that my dining room is looking fabulous, I really need to do something with my living room. Tricia to the rescue! Together, we picked out a paint color, decided on curtains and hardware, and also solved my lighting dilemma. We also discussed some ideas for art above the sofa, but I still haven’t decided exactly what I want. I’m so excited to have a plan now. If only it didn’t all cost money to implement! Really though, we found some pretty good deals. Not only is Tricia a decorating diva, she’s also a master bargain hunter. One day soon, my living room should start coming together.