We saw two big ore boats pass through Canal Park this morning. It was rather foggy, and one was just heading into Lake Superior when we drove in, but we saw it disappear into the mist. The other boat came into the harbor about 45 minutes later. We had cooold hands by the time we went back in to look around the museum. You can see a webcam here.

We zipped home for grilled cheese and tomato soup lunch, played the old-fashioned LIFE (eccentric aunts and their 100 cats!), Risk, and Magic. There was also some math and chemistry learnin', cookie baking, and lasagna assembling. Then we took a hike in Chester Park just down the road. Wow! A fun time was had almost by all (and even those who don't like to be outside tolerated it for awhile). A contingent of the group will probably see Much Ado About Nothing tonight, by UM Duluth Theater. Yay, vacation!

We have arrived in Duluth! It was an uneventful trip driving up, really, unless you count the loooong wait at the Norske Nook in Osseo for our pie, and that's an event we'd rather forget. I've never had such bad service there before, and I'm sure it won't happen again, but not a good first introduction to the place for our friends! (I'm pretty sure they didn't think that the pie was so great, either...) We listened to a good portion of Harry Potter (the first book) on the way.

It started raining as we got into Superior, and it's probably misting yet. We'll see what the weather is like before planning our day tomorrow, though I hope it's nice so we can go to Canal Park. You can see the lift bridge from the bedroom window--it looks beautiful lit up at night.

Elise and I spent some time at a conservatory this morning, and managed a few pictures before the camera snuffed out. She says that the plants were very beautiful! There was an artist show hanging in the meeting room from the local Fiber Art Guild--very nice stuff, and I recognized a few names, from the year or so that I was also a member. Lovely women creating ever more lovely art!

Elise's Tom Sawyer rehearsal went very well--the first time they ever ran the whole show through. There is only one more rehearsal next week before the performance weekend, and it's all finally coming together.

We need to pack now for our little foray up to Duluth. Greg says to bring our winter coats--it's still cold up there!

Oh, and Albin measured volume with pipettes in chemistry this morning. He says it took forever.

me and mom went and got icecraem mmm mom got carmel cappuciono and i got blue moon

mmm it was tasty blue moon icecream mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

oh, the technology of it all

Well, I'm finally back to blogging a bit. It's not like we have been boring these last few weeks, but with the laptop and camera both on the fritz, I haven't been able to get past the "it's too hard to get started" slump. While we wait for the old laptop to get sent in and fixed (hopefully!), Karl was able to acquire a SMALL, sleek, cheap, great travel laptop. No excuses on that front anymore, except I'm not used to typing on something so minute, and make many more mistakes than usual. The camera still insists it needs new batteries, constantly, so taking pictures is still a chore. We'll see how soon that issue gets resolved (ie, when does Karl have time to think about that...)



We had our ceilings painted over the last two days. It looks great, as often as you look up, anyway. I'm so glad we didn't attempt it ourselves--it gives me a crick in the neck just thinking about it. What with the repair work involved in several of the rooms, it would have taken us a LOT longer to accomplish--so much nicer to pay the experts : ).



Elise was sick on the couch all day with a sore throat and fever. She missed a friend's birthday gathering, but that can't be helped. I was out of the house for much of the day, at a presentation by the WI Historial Society in Whitewater. Now I know more about genealogy and land research--including a few very good tips to help in researching our neighborhood. The UW library where the workshop was held was having a booksale, too, and I found a small pile of old records to bring home (like The Songs and Poems of Robert Burns, Little Mary Sunshine, and An Edison Memorabilia of Musical Performances. I thought this last was particularly neat, even if we aren't so interested in the music. It's an LP of recordings of Edison Diamond Amberols and Edison Discs--so an almost outdated version of a completely outdated recording. Maybe we should put it on Albin's ipod...)



I moved lots of hostas Friday afternoon, when it was 84 degrees!, so one half of our front yard is almost completely replanted with shade and woodsy plants. Yay! The other side is going to take more work--there's more grass over there, but in a few years, I think it will all be done.

I have been devouring a book I browsed from the library called Dinner with Dad: How One Man Braved Traffic, Battled Picky Eaters, and Found His Way Back to the Family Table. Reading it makes me happy that Karl does not have a long commute!, and inspires me to try cooking something fun. I know ahead of time that my kids aren't going to like it, whatever it is, so I don't even have to get frustrated. There's breadcrust in the house that they can gnaw on.... So now I've got the ingredients for avocado dip from our Greek olive oil cookbook, and will try a new pizza recipe, too. We've got the kids' friends over for dinner, and they can make their own cheese and/or pepperoni pizza, and Karl and I will have 3 cheese pesto pizza. Mmmm, I even bought Sartori cheese! While the pizza crust kneads itself in the bread machine, I can read another chapter or two.