The Morey, the Merrier

Susan's uncle Frank and his son John are in town this weekend for hunting, so Susan's aunt and uncle Kathy and Pat invited all available members of the extended family to their house for supper and visiting.  Suzanna was out of town yesterday and today for a swim meet in Jamestown, but the rest of our family went over to Kathy and Pat's and enjoyed visiting and snacking (and our girls enjoyed playing with the little kids in the house: their third-cousins!) (and Suzanna got dropped off there when the swimmers returned to town, so she, too, got to see everyone).

Wanna see some photos?

Ladies' Week Out

Today's guest blogger is Susan:

The girls and I got up on Monday morning in time to have breakfast with Kevin before he and Sandy took Cathy to the airport and headed for Dickinson. The girls wanted a little more time to enjoy the hotel pool, so I let them swim for an hour after breakfast. While they showered, I packed, then we said our goodbyes to any relatives we found in the breakfast area of the hotel, checked out, and made our way to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. I have many fond memories of Como Park Zoo: it wasn't terribly far from where my cousins lived, so we'd generally manage to work in a stop there when we came to St. Paul for a visit. My grandma LOVED the Conservatory, so no trip to The Cities was complete for her unless she got to go see the flowers.

Now, my cousin Anna works at the zoo, so we got to take advantage of her expertise for a while. We wandered through the primate exhibit (and came back past it several times--the girls were fascinated with the gorillas in the outside exhibit) then headed to meet up with Anna. She gave us a guided tour through the Tropical exhibit--the first exhibit at the Como Park Zoo to incorporate the skill of the gardeners and the zookeepers, and home to some very interesting animals. (If you'd like an explanation on the difference between "poisonous" and "venomous," just ask any one of our daughters.) Anna had to work for a while, so she gave us some suggestions for our next stops, and we made a plan to meet again later.

We got to see the new baby giraffe, a sea lion, tigers, lions, zebra--animals one would expect to see at a zoo. When it was time to meet Anna again, she took us into one of the zoo's classrooms, where she had a surprise for the girls. Anna was able to introduce us to Steffano, a two-toed sloth, and Turkey, an African parrot. We didn't get to hold or touch the animals--they are not tame--but we learned a lot about both animals. Turkey didn't like sharing the girls' attention with Steffano, so he'd whistle or talk to get their attention whenever they turned to watch the sloth. When the girls stopped watching Steffano in favor of watching Turkey, then the sloth would start making his way down his perch towards the floor--knowing that he wasn't supposed to get down, and therefore Anna would come over to entice him back up the tree with grapes or apples. This would upset Turkey, who would then try to get the attention back. After our session with the animals, we got to go out on a balcony that overlooks the tropical exhibit to get a view of it all from above. I've always loved visits to the zoo--and it was even more fun with Anna's help.

That sloth has some mighty luxurious hair!

We said goodbye to Anna because she had to go greet a batch of campers (yes, you can attend camp at the zoo!), and then we went out to finish seeing what we'd missed. After a quick lunch, we walked through the Conservatory (the flowers were BEAUTIFUL--Grandma would have loved it!) and the Japanese Garden, made a quick trip through the butterfly exhibit, rode ONE ride in the amusement park, and then made an uneventful drive back to ND and then back across the river to East Grand Forks.

The girls are s' good to pose while frolicking in the conservatory.

We stayed with the Almlies and had a great time. Erin and I spent all day on Tuesday scrapbooking--all-day scrapping fests were the norm when we lived in EGF, and I've missed spending that time with her. Tuesday night, Gabriel was playing an evening baseball game for "Parents' Night," so we all tagged along to watch. After the game, Jay took all of the kids back home (thank you, Jay!) while Erin and I got pedicures and did a little shopping. We picked up Nicole and headed to the Blue Moose for spinach queso and Long Island teas. Erin and I managed to stay up for a while after we got home for a bit more scrapbooking after we got all of the kids in bed.

That's Gabriel looking over his shoulder at the camera--cute!

Can you tell which foot is Erin's and which is Susan's?

Wednesday started off with a run/bike ride along the river. I hadn't ever been on the "wet" side of the dike, and the city has done a nice job of building a network of paths that take advantage of the lovely river view. In the afternoon, we met the Langeruds at the swimming pool. The kids had lots of fun on the slide and diving boards, Suzanna got reacquainted with a friend from elementary school whom she hadn't seen/talked to since we moved, and the adults even took a quick dip in the pool to cool off! After a yummy supper of barbequed ribs, asparagus, potato salad, and watermelon with the Almlies and Langeruds, we headed to Jay and Erin's volleyball game. They play on a sand volleyball team with the Jungs, and it was fun to see them in action. They play at a park where there are several sand volleyball pits and a large playground, so the kids were able to go back and forth between the game and the playground. In the end our friends were victorious! After the game, everyone came back to the Almlies for a fire in the fire pit and birthday cake for Michael (one of their team mates whom I just met that night).

Nicole and her daugher Mya were among the swimmers at the pool.

Erin serves while Jay checks out her backside--I mean, stands at the ready to help his team win.

Rob and Laurie confer while waiting for the ball--probably high-level strategizing about plays and such.

Thursday morning started out a bit rainy, which was a little disappointing because the girls and I had plans to meet Cathy Spicer at Caribou Coffee and then to head to a park for playing/visiting. Instead, we visited at the coffee shop, and by the time we were ready to leave, the sun was coming out for the day. Cathy was in Grand Forks to visit her mom, and she brought along Zoe, one of her fur babies. The girls enjoyed meeting Zoe, and we'd never seen a cat on a leash before!

Abigail, Cathy, Hillary, and Suzanna

After saying goodbye to Cathy and Zoe, we headed for Fargo. Hillary received a Target gift card for her birthday from Cheryl and Arron and HAD to find something to spend it on. I HAD to make a stop at Hobby Lobby (my new obsession = knitting, remember?), and then we were hungry so we had to stop at Qdoba, which is a place we enjoy but don't get to visit often. We our errands complete and our tummies full, we turned the van towards home. One quick stop in Bismarck to use the restroom and get gasoline, and we were home in time for supper, which Kevin was preparing as we arrived. It was a very relaxing vacation; visiting with friends is always enjoyable but too short, but it was really nice to be home!

P.S. Susan hadn't read or listened to the news to know about Wednesday night's tornadoes here in Dickinson, so the ladies were surprised to hear about it on the radio as they drove into town.

Road Trip: Day 9

*sniff, sniff*

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Today we left the lake to return home. We weren't in any particular hurry, so after we awoke, got dressed, and packed up the vehicle, we enjoyed some hot doughnuts--deep-fried and dunked in cinnamon and sugar--and some coffee with the relatives. Then there were final photographs to be snapped and hugs to be had before we were off.

Cassie (and baby-to-be) with her nieces: Abigail, Hillary, and Suzanna

While some of Susan's relatives were planning to take a southwest-and-then-northwest route to get back to North Dakota, we chose a westward one: Superior/Duluth to Grand Rapids to Walker to Park Rapids to Detroit Lakes to Moorhead/Fargo. We ate dinner before noon at McDonald's in Hermantown and then got started on the scenic byway through the lush trees and numerous lakes and picturesque towns along the way (thanks heavens for them--we made several restroom stops!). We were ready for supper at Olive Garden in Fargo and all shared three large dishes: manicotti, grilled shrimp caprese, and chicken and shrimp carbonara. De-e-e-e-elicious!

Paul Bunyan really gets around, even in statue form! This one, in Akeley, is one of many we have encountered when traveling MN.

We have been listening to audiobooks on CD as we've been driving, and today we finished one that we had started the first half of our vacation: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. Then we began another and got most of the way through it before arriving home: The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott. Both are great young adult fiction that had me thoroughly engrossed the whole way.

By 10:00 P.M. (our time), we were home. We drove about 2,000 miles (and spent about $400 for gas) on this vacation, and our vehicle is glad to be home now, too! Thanks to all of you who helped to make these past nine days such a great time for us!

Here's the fam: full of doughnuts, all hugged-out, pooped from our travels, and ready to leave Susan's aunt and uncle Patti and Frank's lake home this morning.

P.S. Patti and Frank had quite a crowd at their lake home! They invited all of Patti's siblings (she is one of six children) and their families. Here's who showed up:

• two of Sue's children: daughter Susan and her husband, Kevin, with their kids Suzanna, Abigail, and Hillary; and daughter Cassie and her husband, Nick
• Kathy and her husband, Pat, and two of their kids: daughter Tina and her husband, Craig; and son Todd and his wife, Trista, with their son Trae
• Patti and her husband, Frank, and all four of their kids: daughter Mary; son John; daughter Anna; and son Joe with his friend, Molly
• Terry and his wife, Audrey
• Mary and her husband, Dale
• Jake and her friend, Scott, with Jake's two children: son Jon; and daughter Kelli and her husband, J.J.

Road Trip: Day 8

Look whom we found hanging around outside the main door to the lake home! Wild neighbors they've got around here.

Another great day at Upper Eau Claire Lake!

After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast, Hillary and I went out kayaking. I started to drag two kayaks to the water, but Hillary wanted to ride with me. She squeezed her little body into my kayak; consequently I could not feel my lower extremities for much of the ride . . . so relaxing! Actually it was some prime cuddle-'n'-kayak time for Daddy; and the water was calm and the sun not yet in blazing mode, so we had a peaceful voyage. We paddled out to the island in the middle of the lake and explored its coast, noticing the pretty rocks in the shallow water off the shore and spotting a turtle sunning itself on a rock in the water.

Then we did the same along the lake shore for a little while until we saw Suzanna, Abigail, and Susan's aunt Jake go kayaking toward the island. So we followed. We met up with them when they were headed back, so Hillary and I continued on to the side of the island off which the water stays shallow and wade-able for yards and yards and yards off the beach. We tied up the kayak and walked out into the lake, collecting pretty rocks and shells from the lake bottom; but we decided to throw them all back before taking a quick walk on the island and then paddling back to the dock.

After a dinner of dumplings with peas and sausage, the girls swam some more and went tubing again and did more water skiing (with the help of J.J. and Kelli in the water and Jon and Jake on the boat). To get our reddening Scandinavian girlies out of the sun for a while midafternoon, we took a "quiet time" break indoors to drink water, read, and relax--and then got to babysit Susan's first cousin once removed, Trae, while most of the adults made a trip to a local establishment for cocktails.

Anna swimming with the girls

"This is so-o-o-o fun!"

"You know wha' I'm sayin'?"

"Holy mackerel, water skiing can be painful!"

Hillary, Suzanna, Abigail, and Jake

Susan made taco meat for supper, and the spread included tacos in a bag, grilled hamburgers and bratwursts, corn on the cob, and fresh fruit. Jake and Kelli enlisted the girls' help in making banana boats for dessert: bananas covered in brown sugar, marshmallows, and chocolate chips, then wrapped in aluminum foil, then baked over a campfire. The evening drinks-and-conversation gathering on the deck featured at its center a rousing game of Scrabble (for which I served as judge in "Is that even a word?" or "Is that spelled correctly?" disputes--and as an aid for both Cassie and Todd when they wanted suggestions for high-scoring words) until it got too dark to see the tiles.

The banana boat chefs

We Mobergs did our showering this evening to facilitate our morning exit from the lake home and toward our own home. This place is such a lovely, restful setting that I think it's good for Patti and Frank that they bought it as far away from us as they did; otherwise we'd probably be on their doorstep every other weekend!

Road Trip: Day 7

Suzanna's expression captures our attitude toward being at the lake: woo-hoo!

Well, after getting to bed about 1:30 A.M., we arose at 5:30 (4:30 our time!) so that we could get to the cabin by midmorning. Susan's aunt and uncle Patti and Frank have a lake home on Upper Eau Claire Lake in Wisconsin, and they have invited all Patti's siblings and their families to spend the weekend together there (Susan's mom, Sue, was Patti's sister). Patti and Frank also let us stay at their house in the Twin Cities last night so that we wouldn't have to start the three-hour drive from Mendota Heights to the lake home at 11:30 last night (after having awoken at 5:30 A.M. yesterday, too). Thank you, Patti and Frank! After a quick stop at Caribou Coffee, we were on the road by 6:45 A.M. and at the cabin by 9:45.

The drive through lake country in northwestern Wisconsin is lovely: trees in every direction, bridges over little rivers, lakes tucked into glades alongside the road, and signs everywhere that we were in an area where summertime living at "the lake" is the norm (businesses geared toward fishing and water sports and wintertime storage of boats, etc.). If we hadn't been so eager just to get to the lake home, I would have driven the family crazy, I'm sure, with frequent stops for photos.

After an easy, beautiful early-morning drive, we arrived and started to visit with family, play in the water, and just relax. Patti and Frank have two side-by-side homes on the lake and have been doing quite a bit of remodeling and landscaping since we were last here, so first of all we had to get a tour. They now have a loft overlooking the main floor kitchen, dining room, and living room (yeah, the ceiling has been raised and an extra half-floor added since last time!), and that loft space is our assigned sleeping quarters. The girls will enjoy sleeping in the new beds built into the space where the sloping ceiling meets the loft floor.

A couple views of the lake.

The woods on the banks of the lake.

A view of Patti and Frank's lake home (well, the larger of the two side-by-side homes that they have here) from the lake. That deck has been the central gathering spot for family members throughout the day and night. With such temperate weather, it's a great spot to be!

The beautiful new kitchen was the site of much delicious cooking today. As Susan joined her aunts to make slushburgers for dinner at noon and a tasty supper of chicken salad and ham salad sandwiches, potato salad, pasta seafood salad, and chili-cheese dip and chips, I couldn't help but think that she was playing the role that her mother would have. Sue died nine years ago, but she is still greatly missed. She was on our minds today also because of an announcement by Susan's sister, Cassie: she and her husband, Nick, are going to have a baby! (Sue got to be a grandma only for about a year [with Suzanna], and we think of her with every grandchild-related event.) Although we greeted Cassie as soon as we arrived, she had to wait for a good time to spill the beans, so we didn't find out until dinner. Meanwhile, the other family members who already knew were wondering whether they could bring it up in front of us, watching us for signs of whether we had been told yet! We're already thinking about a summertime trip to South Carolina next year to meet our new niece or nephew.

Nick and Cassie, the happy parents-to-be!

The girls always look forward to spending time at the lake with Susan's cousins, who are so kind to play with the girls and entertain them with the water recreation that Susan and I don't do: skiing, tubing, and boating. (Susan can swim, and I can paddle a kayak, but that's not on the same grand scale, of course.) (Well, actually Susan went on a boat ride with Patti and Frank and even drove the boat, so it's just I and my kayak that don't measure up.) Anna swam with the girls; Kelli and Nick got in the water to help the girls take off on water skis; and J.J., Kelli, and Joe pulled the girls on a tube behind the boat. Mary took the girls on a hike to set a "bear trap" (with Oreo cookies, honey, and sugar serving as the bait) at the end of the road; later on, Anna took them back out to check on it, telling them scary bear stories while walking them through the darkening woods. Anna also lit a campfire at night and helped the girls make s'mores; they were so proud delivering the melty treats to all the relatives gathered out on the deck for the night.

Susan's uncle Dale and I help steady Hillary as Susan's cousin Kelli tells her what to expect in a little bit when the boat will start to pull her ahead for water skiing. (This is the most upright that I saw Hillary during her water skiing attempts.)

Abigail gives water skiing a try.

Here Kelli lends Suzanna a helping hand.

A long-distance view of the girls going tubing!

And a close-up.

Evening views of the lake.

Everybody gathered out on the deck for evening visiting, snacking, drinking, and laughing.

In the background, Susan's cousin Anna supervises as Abigail loads marshmallows onto a roasting fork; Hillary is seated on a stump beside Anna, and Suzanna is enjoying a s'more in the foreground.

Road Trip: Day 6

Today we had the sad task of bidding Sandy farewell and embarking on the next leg of our journey. We arose at 5:30 A.M. (4:30 our time!) to pack the vehicle, have some cereal for brekkie, and say our "thank you"s and "goodbye"s (and for me to take photos of every room of Sandy's house--it's a Moberg thing). Sandy was a great hostess, and we all had a terrific time with her. No surprise: tears on the driveway and in the van as we backed out, waved farewell, and drove away.

Sandy peeks into the van to say goodbye to the ladies while I finish snapping pics of Sandy's home. Let the waterworks begin!

We bought gas, aired up the tires, got some frou-frou coffees, and then left Omaha for Ames, IA for a brief visit with our friends Mary Jo (my former boss) and Lucinda (her daughter). We got there around 10:00 A.M., and immediately the girls were thick as thieves, hugging and talking and playing and getting into their swimming suits. We went to the outdoor swimming pool in Mary Jo and Lucinda's complex, and the girls swam while the adults visited. Later Mary Jo made us a delicious dinner of chili dogs (using a spicy meat recipe that she remembered Suzanna's having really liked), sweet corn on the cob (it was Iowa, after all!), pita chips and hummus (Susan paid close attention to the recipe), and homemade cinnamon ice cream with fresh strawberries and cantaloupe. It was great to see Mary Jo again, and the girls loved the opportunity to reconnect with Lucinda, too. (More waterworks when we had to say goodbye . . .)

Lucinda (on the pink raft) and the girls frolic in the pool.

We told Mary Jo and Lucinda about the girls' recent trip to Build-a-Bear Workshop, and they shared that they had done a similar thing recently, only with dolls. Here are all the ladies with their own creations!

Mary Jo and I (not in that order)

While snapping the pics above, Susan discovered that we had gone through another memory card for our digital camera! So, having already filled a 512 MB card and a 1 GB card in the past few days, we headed to Target and bought another 1 GB card, which we hope will last us the remainder of this trip! I was recently in Ames for a conference and was impressed by the campus, so I gave Susan and the girls a driving tour of Iowa State University to show them the layout, the impressive buildings, and some locations of note (Mary Jo's office, the library, the horse corral amongst the classroom buildings!, etc.). Then we were back on the road by midafternoon for St. Paul, MN and a destination there that had us all very excited!

At about 6:00 P.M., we arrived at the Science Museum of Minnesota to see its current Star Wars exhibit. This spring we introduced our girls to the world of Star Wars by watching all six movies with them, so when Susan found out about this exhibit at the Science Museum, she knew it would be a treat for us all. The building itself is incredible: about a decade old, something like six stories (or more? I don't even know), overlooking the Mississippi River, both permanent and termporary exhibits, an IMAX theater, and science-related surprises on every floor, including a staircase that plays music as pedestrians walk up or down it--a different musical note for each tread of the stairs!

Views of the Mississippi River from the Science Museum of Minnesota.

We started with an IMAX movie: Special Effects: Anything Can Happen. The giant domed screen lowered slowly in front of us like the visor of a helmet, an effect almost as cool as the movie itself! Afterward we entered the Star Wars exhibit, whose tagline is "Where Science Meets Imagination." Thus, not only were there many models of spaceships and aliens and costumes from the movies, but there were also informative videos and interactive educational displays intended to show the differences between the science and the fiction in the science fiction of the movies.

We saw a movie on robots (what the robots in the movies can do vs. what today's robots are capable of) and rode a Millennium Falcon simulator (and learned about the reaches of our own universe and the identified universes beyond ours); we built our own robots (teaching us how to let a robot's function determine its construction--inspired by R2-D2) and magnetic levitation trains (teaching us how modern high-speed train engineers use magnetism to propel trains--inspired by the levitation of Luke Skywalker's landspeeder); and we played a game in which we chose robotic enhancements for ourselves (teaching us to consider the possible positive and negative impact of integrating technology into the human body, ranging from pacemakers to memory-enhancing computer chips in the brain--inspired by the part-human, part-machinery character Darth Vader). Perhaps needless to say, there were many photo opps for the photo-happy Mobergs, some of which follow:

The girls are mimicking the poses of the Stormtroopers behind them. Notice that Suzanna and Hillary are holding imaginary lightsabers. Daddy's so proud!

Inspired by Luke's landspeeder, this feature gives riders a chance to operate a hovercraft and feel what it's like to travel on a burst of air. Here's Suzanna trying to maneuver around the circular arena. Her face shows that it wasn't easy to negotiate that thing and its rear-blowing fan (which provided the thrust forward).

Faithful readers already know that I am often told that I resemble Ewan McGregor, who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi (thus one of my nicknames: Obi-Wan Kevmobi). Here I pose with my own mimed lightsaber in front of Ewan's Obi-Wan costume.

The museum closed at 11:30 P.M., and we were there to the bitter end, checking out the educational exhibits on health, human anatomy, and dinosaurs. What a great place! We could have spent hours and hours more there had they been willing to stay open for us!

Hillary examined my eyes at this station in the human anatomy exhibit.

Remember the girls' pose with an animatronic triceratops at the Omaha Children's Museum? Here they are with the real McCoy!

We are headed tomorrow to the Wisconsin lake home of Susan's aunt and uncle who live in Mendota Heights, MN. They offered to let us spend tonight at their home in The Cities so that we wouldn't have to drive into the wee hours of the morning, and we happily accepted! First we found our way from the Science Museum to their house, and then we drove around to look for someplace nearby to eat (we still hadn't had supper, and it was nearing midnight). No luck. So we went back to their house, where Susan raided their kitchen and made us tuna melts on bagels and heated vegetable soup for our meal. Gotta get to bed -- it's gonna be another early morning tomorrow!

P.S. Read my sister's version of today!