A weekend of wacky waterfalls

Brian was telling me about this radio commercial in which a dad is trying to give his kids the experience of a fun vacation on a real budget, so he leads them to the "wacky waterfall." "Dad," the kids say, "it's the shower."

Brian then (lovingly) compared me to the dad. "Perhaps," I replied. "But the difference is our children still believe in wacky waterfalls."

I know they won't believe in wacky waterfalls - or Santa, the tooth fairy, the St. Patty's Day leprechaun, and all the other magical parts of childhood - which is why I try so hard to capitalize on it while I can. Before it becomes just the shower, so to speak. And this weekend was full of them.

Friday
Friday was a snow day. It started snowing Thursday night and snowed right clear through Saturday morning. School was canceled on Friday. By that afternoon, it was approaching blizzard-like conditions at times and the snow was building fast. So I suggested we get outside and go for a walk. Because I have one child in particular who has energy enough for the entire neighborhood and thus effectively burning it is key to my sanity. Plus, I'm from northern Minnesota, where, as I've previously mentioned, we go on family walks until about 20 below, after which it just becomes too cold. And we've got the gear. So we bundled. Brian was working from home, so we left Mason at home to nap. This simplified things significantly.

The snow was really driving, and Lucas got instantly whiny. I thought fast. Then I suggested we pretend to be a polar bear family on an arctic adventure. My kids LOVE to play pretend. That was all it took. Our 90-minute snow adventure included hunting for seals, stopping to rest in dens, and the occasional group polar bear huddle for warmth. We ended our walk at the park, where the children transformed themselves into penguins and went flying down the slick slide into a snow pile, and creating dens under big evergreen trees. It was seriously fun, and had the tiring effect I was seeking.

When we got home, we warmed up with stove top hot cocoa and homemade marshmallows, my first attempt at homemade marshmallows. I despise store-bought ones, they make me wanna hurl. These were easy and fabulous!

Then we hauled out the play forts and the kids snuggled in them while I read some "Little House on the Prairie" to them. We had been reading it for a fun reason, more on that later. Isabel decided to create a fire in front of hers like in the book.

We watched a movie, then make snow ice cream after dinner. This was novel and interesting, not something we're likely to repeat. :)

The kids carried over the polar bear theme into Saturday, and I was so amused at their creativity. They pretended to ride the "Polar Bear Express, have a polar bear campout where it's "easy to get a great night's sleep (Mattress King slogan), and called their polar bear parents ma and pa (Little House on the Prairie).

Saturday
Weeks ago, I had signed up Connor and Isabel to attend a Laura Ingalls Wilder Birthday Party at the library to celebrate Laura's 145th birthday (it was for ages 6 to 10, which is why Lucas didn't go). It was taught by a nationally renowned historian and expert on all things LIW, and she did a fabulous program. The kids did pioneer crafts and games, listened to fiddle music, heard stories from on of the Little House books, got to take home some fun items, and had cookies and lemonade, including homemade gingerbread cookies that were Laura's favorite recipe. Oh, and the children were encouraged to dress in period clothing. Game on!

Did you love LHOTP when you were young? Oh my, my sisters and I had all the books and rushed home from school to watch the show. I think I was as excited about the party as my kids, who only recently became acquainted with the books and show. Not surprisingly, Isabel has grasped onto them the most.

A few years ago my mom gave me some clothes she had made me when I was a girl, and one of the was very prairie-looking. I found some fabric that coordinated with it, along with an online tutorial, and made her a bonnet to go with it. LOVE the end result. She got so many comments at the party! They both looked so great.

Isabel working on her calling card, just like Laura and other women carried with them to leave when they called on neighbors and friends-

Connor with the button toy he made and the lob cabin he built-


Sunday
After church I told the children to don their swimsuits, we were going to have a luau (idea inspired by my sister Lara who has to get very creative to survive the depths of winter in northern Minnesota with three young children, and one time threw an indoor winter beach party). I didn't really have time to plan much other than a tropical-themed dinner and some activities. They didn't care. They thought it was fabulous.

Please do not judge Lucas in this swimsuit. It was in his drawer, I don't know where it came from, he would never be allowed to wear it in public for its sheer hideousness and the fact that it's about 3 sizes too small. Oy. And they donned sunglasses and some random plastic leis we had around, but after the photos were done. Oy.

We had the Superbowl on, didn't pay much attention. Dinner was baked coconut shrimp (unbelievably amazing), tropical fruit arranged a la Pinteret, coconut limeades (where were different from the original plan thanks to my blender burning out in the midst) and banana spring rolls.

During halftime, we turned off the television, cranked some Caribbean steel drum music and had our own show. This included doing the hula (I could hardly contain myself for the sheer amusement of watching my white boys try to sway), the limbo, crab walking and pretending to be fish. This, again, was designed to burn off what remained of some energy before heading back to school. I love how much we all laughed. Even Mason got really into it!

See? We're still chasing wacky waterfalls.