Dad Turns 60!

Rachel and Nick got the news in December that they would be moving to Brooklyn.  Within a week of finding out when R and N would be there, Mom suggested that our family go up to visit them and to celebrate Dad's 60th birthday.  We all looked at our calendars and Easter weekend actually worked for everyone's schedule, so we started planning. 

We all flew to NYC on Thursday and met at R and N's apartment in Brooklyn.  We spent most of Thursday walking and touring around R and N's neighborhood and some of areas of Brooklyn.  

Friday morning we went to the New York City Transit Museum in downtown Brooklyn and then had lunch at Brooklyn Pharmacy with some delicious desserts.  That night we were going to see Newsies, so we decided to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (which despite my 7 or 8 trips to NYC I had never done!).  We walked through Little Italy and took a subway up to Rockefeller to see the Easter Egg display.  

Nick's potato chip caramel sundae. 

We all enjoyed the show and then we took the subway down to our dinner reservations that were at 11:15 pm.  Dad had researched a restaurant he wanted to eat at for his birthday.  The restaurant would not seat parties of 6 or more and Rachel even tried to get them to split us 4/4 and make two reservations but they wouldn't let her do that.  Not wanting to disappoint Dad's only request of the weekend, Rachel and I decided to beat the system.  She called and made a reservation for 4 under "Hatfield", and my David called and made a reservation for 4 under "Walton".  We split up boys and girls, and walked in separately, and then what do you know??? we were seated next to each other.  ah ha! Our plan worked!  We pretended not to know each other for a while, and then we could tell the wait staff had figured out that we knew each other.  All that to say, it was hilarious and ridiculous, but the meal was fabulous!  We left the restaurant after 1:00, and headed back to Brooklyn. 

Saturday we walked a couple blocks to the Brooklyn Flea and spent a few hours there looking around and eating yummy food.  We decided to head back into Manhattan and the girls went to Soho and the guys went up to Midtown to some game store or something. 

Of course, we stopped at Purl Soho again and drooled over the skeins and skeins of cashmere yarn and bright colors.  While we were waiting for the guys to get to Soho, I had two celeb sightings.  I saw Joshua Malina and then Bradley Whitford.  Bradley Whitford's character on The West Wing is probably one of my all-time favorite characters in the history of the world (he's right up there with Mr. Darcy in my list).  

We ordered Thai and played game Saturday night and then packed our bags to head back to destinations.  It was really fun to get to be together.  We don't know when that will happen again, but until then, I'll just be very thankful for facetime, Skype, and conference calls with the fam.  

Oh yea, I also got to spend lots of time with H and F and David and I got to take them for a walk! They are adjusting to their new home quite nicely. 

They miss me. 

Ole Miss Reunion

A few weeks ago (wow, it already seems like ages ago) David had a concert at Ole Miss.  The concert fell at the end of his tour, so I decided that I would meet him in Oxford for the weekend.  Since Oxford is driving distance from both of our families, my parents, brother and Emily, and David's mom were all able to drive down for the concert.  I flew to Memphis Friday, and my parents picked me up from the airport.  We drove to Oxford and ate at one of my many favorite restaurants in Oxford, Bouré.

There were quite a few events going on at Ole Miss that weekend, so the Square was busy with people shopping and eating.  After dinner we picked up some cake from Newk's, (one of the places I think about often and my in-laws are kind enough to let me eat at the one in Nashville whenever we are in town) and took it to our friend's house.  I was staying with our good friends Nathan and Carla and their two sweet girls Henley and Claire.  I was so excited to get to stay with them because I have not seen Henley since she was 9 months old when they all came up here to MSP to stay with us and visit.  I was also excited to get to meet Claire!  Carla and I stayed up late talking, and my parents came to pick me up in the morning to go get breakfast.

Robert and Emily met us on the Square and we spent the rest of the morning/afternoon shopping.  We did stop to eat lunch at Newk's and my dear friend Ann met us there.  I had not seen Ann since our wedding, two and a half years ago, and it was so good to see her.

I can't even begin to guess how many times we ate at Newk's during grad school.  It was at least a weekly event, and sometimes more than that!

Nathan and Carla

David made reservations for a group of 20 at the Snack Bar for after the concert.  We sat around with the Cantus guys and some of David's music faculty from grad school chatting until midnight.  Sunday morning, Cantus was flying back to MSP, but David and I got to stay an extra day.  We went to breakfast with Mom, Dad, and David's mom and then did a little more shopping.

Mom and Dad left Sunday after breakfast, and then we got to meet up with Cody (David's grad school roommate) and his wife Amanda for dinner at Taylor Grocery for some fried catfish, coleslaw, potato salad, hush puppies, and sweet tea.  IT WAS DELICIOUS!!  I can't even tell you the last time I had any of that and I'm sure my arteries are thankful for that.

Monday morning David went to meet with some of his faculty and I went over to my building to chat with some of my professors/supervisors.  We grabbed some Chik-Fil-A on our way back to the airport and headed back to the bitter North.

Oh yea, did I mention that this trip was April 4th and I was flying out of St. Paul after 7 inches of snow had fallen?  I landed in 70 degree weather.  I didn't pack socks. :)

My Latest Knitting Projects

Rachel and Nick moved to Brooklyn in January, and she requested a new hat.  Rachel picked out this pattern that I was very intimidated by when I looked at the chart.  She wanted a slouchy hat with a unique cable pattern.  I was pleased with how it turned out even though it was a little loose (we have small heads).  

Please don't judge my appearance in this hat, I realize I'm not hip enough to wear a slouchy hat.  

This year for Christmas, David got me registered in a Fair Isle Hat class at The Yarnery.  I was so excited about this class.  Here's the finished product!!!

I think the inside is just as cool as the outside!!

 Here's a view from the top of the hat.  The star/flower/snowflake pattern is classic Fair Isle. 

I went Curling!

This school year one of my placements has been at a high school.  This has been my first time working with that age of kiddos.  In addition to that being new, I also provide therapy for the Developmental Cognitive Delay-Moderate to Severe Classroom.  This has been a new population for me to work with as well, and it's been a really fun and challenging setting.   I've enjoyed the kids and staff in the classroom, so when they told me they were taking the kids on a field trip to go Curling...I had to go!

I think Curling is a hilarious sport, and I always like watching it in the Olympics.  The St. Paul Curling club is actually a couple of miles from our apartment, and I've wanted to go in there, but haven't had the opportunity.  

I kind of figured that this would be true, but it was definitely a lot more challenging that I expected! 

Thank you to my coworkers for documenting this for me! I had to prove that I actually did this.

                We all used the balance-aid thing (in my right hand) to keep us from falling over!

 The first time I let go of the stone, I used the stick attached to the handle of the stone instead of squatting down.

 This is after I let go of the stone and almost fall over.  Figuring out where to put your weight was really difficult.

Here we are sweeping...trying to yell out some random words like they do in the real thing.

                                       I would definitely go again if I'm given the opportunity.  

Life In An Icebox

Disclaimer!!! I am no expert, but this is just some stuff I've learned since living here.

This post is only for people that are curious about our frigid temps.  Back a couple of weeks ago, my mom called to ask if I could call my Great Aunt Loyce to tell her about our weather up here.  Apparently Loyce had been watching the news and was hearing all the talk about the Polar Vortex and the cold temperatures up here and she was very curious.  So, in case anyone else is wondering what it's like...here ya go.


Let's start with our past Winters here.  Our first one was the "mildest" one in recent years.  Everyone we met and talked to since we lived here told us they couldn't believe how mild it was...yada yada.

The second Winter here was...snowy...to say the least.  I think we ended up with 80-something inches last year. I believe for 6 weeks through March and April we had a 3-5 inch "clipper" every week.  Things had started to settle down then we got 17 inches on May 5th.  The good thing was that it melted fast, so we were able to put that behind us.

Now we've come to this Winter.  It started to get cold the first few days of January.  The Governor of Minnesota actually closed school throughout the state because of the temperatures on January 6th.  The Wind Chill in the morning was -40 with a temperature of -25.  We had 3 other days that were closed due to the temperatures.  I can not imagine sending my child to stand out and wait for the school bus in those temperatures.  Even though it was a big inconvenience for everyone, I think they made the right call.  I had to go to work that day, but I wore my wool socks, snow boots, and layers on top with my parka, scarf, hat, and mittens.

Some questions that I've been asked before...

"Why are you wearing snow boots when you're not going to be outside?"

Answer:  It's all about being prepared, if I have car trouble I would have to be on the side of the road and if I didn't have wool socks or snow boots on and it's -25 outside, I could get frost bite.  One of my kids at the High School got frost bite on his thumb because he was outside for 30 minutes without gloves (in December).   I have a blanket, kitty litter, shovel, snow brush, bottled water, and AAA.

"Do your cars do okay in that weather?"

Answer:  We all went out at lunch and started our cars and let them run for 15-20 minutes.  And yes, we all bundled up to walked 20 feet to start out cars.  You don't mess around.  You do have to let your car warm up before you drive it or it will scream at you.  My car dashboard actually said, "Put in Park!!"  when I tried to drive home from work before it was warm enough.  I did have to fill up my tires after those really really cold days.  My coworker could only drive 20 mph to get to work because something froze in her engine and it couldn't move properly.

"Do people get out and about in that weather?"

Answer:  Yes, although when we were having the major "polar vortex" temperatures a lot of small business, gift shops, grocery stores, etc. closed early so that people would not be out driving to run errands and their workers could get home and stay home.  The roads were very very slick because any moisture that had been on the road was immediately frozen into it including the exhaust from cars in front of you.

"What does it feel like when it's that cold?"

Answer:  It slaps you in the face.  Your nose hairs freeze, so your nostrils slam shut.  Your eyes start to water, and then you have icicles on your face.  If there's a part of your skin exposed, you will know it immediately.  It's amazing what clothing can do!!  It's not bad unless the wind is blowing directly at you.


All that to say, even though it takes time and effort to get out and about, and you're ready for it to warm up, it's not that bad.

Brooklyn Weekend

I haven't posted any updates on here lately, but I thought it might be about time for another post.  I haven't posted anything about our Holidays, but we had a great time being with both of our families for a week each.

The exciting news in our family over Christmas was that of Rachel and Nick moving to Brooklyn.  They had about a month's notice that they would be moving, so they were busy getting all of the stuff done that goes along that with.  They moved up there the 2nd week of January, and I was able to join them after they had been there 2 weeks.

We had a great time exploring their new area and all that goes with that.  We tried some of the restaurants that are closest to their apartment and walked over to where Nick will be working most of the time.  He's at the Target right next to the Barclay's Center, so I guess they'll become Nets fans.  While I was there they had some snow, but that didn't stop us.

**I was quite proud of the hats they were wearing.  I made Nick's a couple of days before going there because he needed one! I made Rachel's cable knit hat a while ago, but now she really gets to wear it!


We took the subway over to Manhattan and hung out in Soho.  Rach and Nick were very kind and took me to a yarn store that I've drooled over via their blog and website.

Purl Soho...It was just as beautiful as I had imagined it would be.

We decided to eat at Shake Shack for dinner...which as delicious.  Their burgers made me think of Frozen Delite.

 The best part about this picture is that neither of us can remember what was so funny.  Nick just happened to capture that one when we were trying to get this one:

It was a great weekend trip, and I'm looking forward to April when the whole fam will be spending a long weekend with them!

Labor Day Voyage

Last weekend David and I took advantage of the long weekend and headed North to Duluth and the North Shore.

On Friday we got to Duluth and enjoyed going in and out of the shops in Canal Park right on the shore.    We loved a new store called Fizzy Waters which had old candy from the good ole days and lots and lots of cokes (sodas) to choose from.

We were there when a few small boats were going under the bridge, so we got to see the Lift Bridge raise.  The weather was beautiful, it was really windy and almost chilly.

We ate dinner at a new brewery in Canal Park. We ate outside by the shore and then walked back to our hotel.  Saturday morning we ate breakfast down on the shore and then went into a few more stores. We loaded up the car and headed up Highway 61 which goes along the coast of Lake Superior all the way to Canada.

We drove about an hour and stopped at Split Rock Lighthouse.   Our tour guide informed us about the life of the 3 families that operated the Lighthouse back in the day.  Three men lived in their houses next to the Lighthouse by themselves in the Winter and then their wives and children would take a boat from Duluth up to Split Rock to be with their husbands for the Summer.  It was an interesting tour and unbelievable how rough of life it was.

 The building on the left is where the foghorn was housed.  You could hear the horn for 5 miles, so if the boats heard it they knew they needed to change course fast because they were too close to the shore.  The light from the lighthouse was seen 22 miles into Lake Superior and Wisconsin is 25 miles across the Lake.

These stairs are where the tram used to be when the boats would bring supplies to the lighthouse workers.

We got back in the car and kept driving for a couple hours until we got to Grand Portage, MN, which is 6 miles south of the Canadian border.  It is on an Indian Reservation and the only hotel there is the Grand Portage Casino Resort.  We stayed there that night and in the morning headed to the National Monument which is in Grand Portage.

This was a really cool part of our trip.  We enjoyed learning about Grand Portage and why it was important back in the 1700's.   I'll summarize:

The French were trying to find a way to the Pacific through the Americas and canoed through the Great Lakes to Lake Superior and landed at Grand Portage to trade goods from Europe with the Ojibwe tribe whom were bringing fur to the French.  From the 'port' in Grand Portage, the French 'Voyageurs' walked an 8 mile trail called the Grand Portage to meet Ojibwe and others to get fur from the Pacific Northwest.

David in the National Monument museum.

Grand Portage became the busiest trading post west of Montreal and the beaver fur was the most important fur the French and Europeans wanted because they made beaver felt hats (like Mr. Darcy wears) out of the beaver skin.  The French and Ojibwe had a great relationship and the place we were visiting had set up a house, kitchen, trading post, and some teepees and wigwams like it would have been back in the day.

Then of course, the American Revolution happened and the French and British could no longer come to Grand Portage on 'American Soil' so they had to make the American/Canadian border which moved 6 miles north of Grand Portage and made the Ojibwe people lose all their trading and completely took away the need for Grand Portage.  The fur trade moved 30 miles north to  Thunder Bay, Canada.

After leaving the monument we drove 6 miles North into Ontario and took a walk down to Lake Superior.

We got back in the car and stopped at the State Park in Grand Portage to see the highest waterfall in Minnesota.

We then headed back South on 61 to Grand Marais, and ate lunch at a yummy pizza place.  Then we stopped in Lutsen at the ski resort there and went down the Alpine slide.

That's Lake Superior in the background

On our way back home we stopped in Duluth for some ice cream then made it home Sunday night just in time to enjoy Labor Day by not doing a thing!

That's all!