Halloween - the teenage years (episode 15)

What those crazy kids will dream up for Halloween costumes these days. A "music pirate".

Sam Eagle just doesn't think that's funny.

-Karl

Day Three

The kids slept in til 11:00, after not getting into bed until well after 1:00 am yesterday.  The City Museum is fun at night, but they didn't dim the lights as much as we all had hoped.  Guess we didn't need to buy those flashlights after all.  Oh well.

We picked up lunch from Crown Candy Kitchen, a store much like the old-time diner/candy shop in Manitowoc.  The line for tables was out the door, so Karl ordered to go, and we ate in a park across the street from the Arch.  After lunch, he got tickets for the kids and himself to go up the Arch, and we looked around the museum underneath it for a few minutes.  While they took their ride to the top, I sat under the Arch and watched a vintage baseball game.  It was a beautiful day to be outside in the park!

After that, we had enough time to see the Da Vinci exhibit.  We walked by the Occupy St. Louis protest, and ironically, the display was in the Bank of America lobby.  Weird.  We liked seeing the machines, though, and Albin built a replica bridge of one of Leoardo's designs.  We played a few minutes in the City Garden on the way back to the car (sculptures, some interactive).  Downtown was alive with wedding parties.  We could count six of them in one spot in the sculpture garden, having all their photos done.  Last thing for the night was driving out to Chain of the Rocks Bridge--a mile long (now pedestrian) bridge across the Mississippi.  Karl and the kids walked out a bit, but it was pretty dark by the time they got back to the car.  Now we are ensconsed in the hotel for the night, and hope that there will eventually be something good on cable tv. 

Day two st louis

Today we did the art museum. We saw lots of great paintings and classic furniture, but the highlight was Monet's water lilies (special exhibition of a three-panel display).

The art museum is right in the middle of Forest Park.

 Karl and Elise built and arch.

 And a more bigger arch (as Karl put it).

st louis city museum

We visited the city museum. If you've been there, you'll know what I mean. If you haven't, well let me try to explain. It's definitely a unique experience. Your typical museum lets you look. The city museum encourages you to climb inside and out. Steel climbing cages welded together in creative shapes.

Outside on the "ground" -  there's a crawl space under the catwalk going diagnoal across this image. (Actually there's not enough space to crawl, you have to slide, that space might be where Karl ripped up his pants.)

Elise had a great time. The ceiling in this room is thousands of parachute pieces.

More of the outside climbing.

A view of Laurie down four stories from the top of the five-story slide. (The museum was a shoe factory built in the 1920s, decomissioned but not cleaned up in the 1960s, and the biggest curly slides used to be used to transfer materials between floors. The ten-story slide is bigger. Oh, and this space is dominated by the sound of a restored Wurlitzer organ.)

Enjoying the "hamster wheel".

And that doesn't count the magic show, pinball machines, ferris wheel (on the roof) or school bus (also on the roof - hanging over the edge).

And now we're tired, our knees are sore, and Elise has lumps where she hit her head lots.

We had a great day.

meet me in...that...town...

We left home a little late this morning, but it was a beautiful day for a drive.  Just a few drops of rain now and again, and perfect 60s weather--we really should have been out hiking.  Oh well.  We got to Springfield, IL and to the Lincoln Museum before 4:00, but not enough time to see it.  (The security guard suggested we try to get there earlier on our way home Sunday--that it really takes several hours to go through the museum.)  We looked at the library exhibit a bit (the kids did not find this terribly entertaining), and bought postcards in the gift shop.  We had dinner at the Cozy Dog Drive In, on old Route 66.  It was greasy and delicious.  Another hour or so in the car and we are now in St. Louis.  We drove by the lit up arch and Busch Stadium on our way to the hotel.  There must be a baseball game tonight, but we are not watching that when a new episode of Mythbusters is on!  Tomorrow's plan: the City Museum.  I'll try to take pictures so you have something a bit more interesting to look at.

Fifteenth Birthday

Albin had a lovely, quiet birthday yesterday (at least, I hope he would describe it that way).  He slept in until almost noon (Elise wouldn't let me wake him earlier), while she and I worked on his cake.  He asked for a Companion Cube, and if you google image that, I don't think we were too far off the mark.  It's a rather large cake, though, as it took two batches of cake and frosting to build.  Elise decorated the whole thing herself, and we think she did a marvelous job.

Karl came home from work early so we could have an afternoon family celebration.  Albin opened his gifts and cards first.  To find his gift from Karl and me, however, he had to go on a treasure hunt.  We hid clues in the library and two separate places on the bike path (on a nice, windy day, too), so he was gone about an hour.  While he was doing that, we quickly set up a clue trail at home for Elise, and she found a new family game.  She and I played that while we waited for Albin to come home.  When he arrived, he had to find the right coordinates to dig, and wouldn't you know it happened to be the very spot Elise dug a hole in our yard earlier this summer?  What a coincidince!  (And didn't Karl make a fabulous piratey X-marks-the-spot?)

He managed to dig out his treasure, with some help from Elise at the end so he didn't get too dirty.  He found a pile of $1 gold coins, a few beady necklaces (which I should have asked Elise if I could borrow), and hidden underneath it all, the ipod touch he wanted.  After the hunt, we had a lovely dinner of Christmas sausage, cheesy potatoes, and CSA carrots, then he was off to play Magic with his friends for the evening.  He had made a big pan of fudge yesterday to share with them, and they only managed to eat about a third of it.  That is one big, rich batch of fudge--it may last through Christmas in our freezer.

Oh, and Elise fell off the allergy diet wagon.  We made it a week, and found a great gingerbread recipe.  I think if we really want to pursue food sensitivity testing for her, we'll probably have to do the bloodwork, and work with a doctor regarding diet.  She was so happy to eat cheese and bread again...

What's that...smell?

I woke up a little before seven this morning, and was tired enough to go back to sleep, except for one thing.  I could smell something a little funny in the house.  The first thing in my sleep-fogged brain was 'electric fire' or maybe 'strange gas leak.'  I couldn't quite fall back asleep with those thoughts roaming through my head, so I stumbled off to the bathroom before sniffing my way downstairs.  (As anyone knows, it is an absolute faux paus to investigate possible fire hazards in the house without an empty bladder and clean teeth.) 

Downstairs, things definitely smelled stronger, and what was that?! A strange light shining in the basement!  But...it's a shining, steady light, no flickering glow.  I forgot a light on in the basement when I was looking for a lamp yesterday.  And it didn't smell funny down there, either.  (Well, no worse than usual.)  Hmmmm, where to look, where to loook. Nothing in the office was on fire.  (My neighbor's printer once went up in smoke, so it was possible.)  And the lamp I brought up to the living room seemed fine. 

The kitchen.  Where else was left?  Maybe a gas burner was left on low all night.  The smell was definitely stronger in the kitchen.  In fact, it was strongest right next to the...crockpot.  The crockpot where I have been cooking a chicken all night (on low).  Sheesh!

Well, now I'm awake, and I have the house to myself for an hour or two.  I just made coffee and will find something fun to listen to on Librivox while knitting a shawl for my mom.  Maybe I'll even get it done this winter : ).

Oh, and I have a chicken in the crockpot all night because we are trying an elimination diet with Elise.  We don't think she's allergic, but her fatigue, headaches, and many pains over the years might be traced to something that doesn't quite agree with her.  So for a few weeks she is not eating wheat, dairy, yeast, eggs, soy, nuts, and refined sugar.  (Do you know how much food soy is in?  Good grief.  I think it might be the first thing we add back.)  Basically, she is eating fruits, most veggies, and meat (mostly chicken).  I found a gingerbread recipe she can eat, and am searching for other such treats.

We are starting Day 4 today, or Day 6.  On Monday, she had sugar in some muffins I made (before we decided to cut that, too), and Tuesday, ate some rice crackers that had soy.  Did I mention that soy is in a lot of stuff?  I heard from my neighbor that Elise could have a blood test done to find her sensitivities.  Her son did that a year ago.  Not only was he sensitive to everything on the above list, but things like kidney beans, blueberries, and lemons.  So we are considering that.  First of all, it's dang hard to cook like this, and baking is just right about out the window.  It's not like we are a family that subsists on Ramen packets and Swiss Cake Rolls, but we are not adverse to eating the odd one, either.  Second, we might not catch some of her sensitivities, anyway (though we'd see if it was any of the big ones.)  Third, eating during our upcoming vacation to St. Louis will be much trickier for her, and I don't think I can eat a Subway sandwich in front of her.

Yet we also hesitate.  She already feels a little better.  It is so much healthier to eat this way.  I supported a friend and local small farmer when we bought three chickens and a turkey yesterday.  It is eye-opening to go shopping and really see what is in my food.  Eating fresh, healthy, and hopefully local foods is better for us, and the environment.  So we'll see.  She had fish and sweet potato fries for lunch yesterday.  I had never made sweet potato fries before.  At least we are expanding our horizons!

p.s.  I just found 'The Elements of Entymology' published in 1845 on Librivox.  How cool is that?  The language is like Jane Austen talking about bugs...but not as funny, of course.