Bison and Pipestone

We are so happy to be at home. This past weekend my children and I went with a couple friends to Blue Mounds State Park near the South Dakota border. We did an pretty fair amount of hiking, but also viewed the bison heard that the park maintains. We also visited the Pipestone National Monument and the Jeffers Petroglyphs.

Pipestone has been the site where Native Americans quarried Catlinite, a soft stone named for a European explorer who "found" the site. The stone was and is often made into ceremonial pipes and sacred figures. My children each got a piece as well as I. The items made of this soft stone will have to be placed up in a "safe" spot in our home and left alone--a true challenge for my small boys.

We also returned to the petroglyphs. While the we had been there last summer and were very impressed. Mary and Kathryn seemed to enjoy them as well. Kathryn went ahead of us to look at them; it seemed to fascinate her, but she really likes Native American culture and history.

The petroglyphs, estimated to be about nine to be about nine to twelve thousand years old, are beautiful. Blue mounds also had some wonderful sites. There is an alignment of rocks that are in line with the sun on the first day of spring and fall. The outcroppings of Sioux quartzite are pinkish red, however, when the lichen grows on them and the sun hits them, they appear blue in color. From one, a person is able to view Iowa on the left and South Dakota on the right.

I had always thought that southern Minnesota was a bland flatland devoid of many features. It is, in fact, a vast prairie that has wonderful sites from the small cacti and unique flowers to the magnificent rolling hills. I am glad my kids don't have to wait for years to discover that all of our state should be appreciated.

I was happy that Mary was able to stop to see her brother and parents. It was a pleasant surprise for them and I think she enjoyed the impromptu visit. It reminded me of my father and then again of the bittersweet nature of life. It was an exhausting weekend for all of us, but I definitely want to do it again sometime. Perhaps in the fall.

dancing, music, and running

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have written. Can it be over a month already and May is nearing an end? How fast time can go. We are happy to be sitting at home cleaning up at a slow pace.

Last weekend seemed to go by in a whirlwind. Friday morning I brought the kids up to the cities for some field trips. We first went to the 20th anniversary of the Minnesota Dance Festival at the Fitzgerald theater in St. Paul. We saw a cute dances from several ballets, including swan lake and a new children's ballet which I cannot think of right now. We also saw a cute couple of tap dancer's that had a funny routine and a flamenco dancer who was accompanied by a guitarist. Very cool morning.

After the dancing, we went to Burger King--I think the last time we went to BK was last year's dance festival! Since it happens to be Minnesota's sesquicentennial this year, we are lucky to have hosted the only original printed copy of the Declaration of Independence that travels on exhibit. Since it is a printing press copy, rather than a hand written copy, we were told it actually came out faster than what we think of when "Declaration of Independence" is mentioned. It was nice to see just the same. We had hoped to see more of the Minnesota History Center when we were there, but we left to meet up with my brother and his kids.

Later that evening, when we went to a full performance at the Minnesota Orchestra. The boys had had enough of sitting by the end of it, but all in all, they were pretty good. We stayed at my brother's that night because we had to be back up in the morning. I was glad we did it, because we got back to his house at 11 and it would have been midnight if we had to drive home.

The next morning, the kids were running in the Medtronic Twin Cities Kids' Marathon event which allows kids to choose a half mile run or a mile run. It was fun because they get to run with other kids, get a free t-shirt, cute medal for running and lunch afterward. It really was a fun morning. After getting home the kids went horseback riding--Alex with the other volunteers at RideAbility and the boys at a dear friends home. Mary, Kathryn and John are truly wonderful and my family so appreciates theirs.

A very, very full weekend. I was happy to spend Sunday morning writing and the afternoon lounging. This spring has been extremely busy with the horses, my daughter's work on the farm, school and my work. Even with all this, my poor hubby has been working crazy hours and I think this is the first weekend we have actually spent any time together.

I also wanted to add the following for anyone interested. The page is a link if you want to try the test out yourself. I found a typing test on another blog. As a homeschooling mom, I know my kids will be curious. It is a fun way to encourage them to use proper typing techniques to get faster.

76 words

Speedtest

I hope you have fun doing it as well!

Cold Camping on the Iron Range

Last week, my children and I went ventured to Northern Minnesota and went winter camping at Savanna Portage State Park. Having had friends from across the states, many would think we were insane. Truth be told, many here thought we were crazy--maybe even a little of ourselves did. However crazy it sounds, we went.

The days weren't too bad at about 38 degrees Fahrenheit; even the nights only went down to about 27. While the temps may sound cool to non-Minnesotans, they really were not horrible. I felt a tad guilty calling it "winter" camping when it was that warm. It was truly spring camping, though we had plenty of snow on the ground surrounding the camping pad that had been plowed clear. We used several layers of blankets under and over our bags and slept fully covered. The worst part was getting out in the morning.

While we were there, we did an oral interview with an old miner and went to Ironworld. Ironworld, since renamed the Minnesota Discovery Center, is a cute museum in Chisholm which is dedicated to the history of mining on the Iron range of Northern Minnesota. We also did a small hike, though that was kept short because of the snow. Walking in snow is kind of like walking in sand--it takes a lot of work!

My kids learned more about mining, saw some incredible sights and realized that they are survivors. I think it was an wonderful experience that built both their understanding of our history and of their inner strengths. I loved it!