Fall traditions: Burch Barn and Boo at the Zoo

Every fall we have two things we like to do, go to Burch Barn in Spooner, Wisconsin and then Boo at the Zoo. We have done Boo at the Zoo every year since Olivia was just a month old.  

I honestly wasn't sure if we would make it to Burch Barn this year but we went a week or two ago and we lucked out because it was warmer there than it was where we live. It ended up being a really nice day. The kids had a good time, but I think maybe the older two are less excited to do stuff like this anymore. 

Matt and I are generally always exhausted and I know I'm having a hard time keeping up with the kids anymore. I feel like it takes so much more effort to do things lately, and motivation is non-existent. I'm not even sure if this is a mental health thing or just life in general. It all kind of runs together lately, I guess. 

I did manage to get one good photo of all of the kids. Lucy is of course hamming it up as usual. It was kind of funny though, Penelope and Lucy were so bummed they couldn't milk the pretend cows. There was a line of kids and people just not taking turns and I wasn't going to stand there for an hour and wait. Of all the things to get upset about, the pretend cow milking station was it. 

I'll share better pictures after Halloween of their costumes, but this year Penelope is Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas (she loves that movie so much) and Lucy is a giraffe. Her costumes always crack me up and this year her head keeps sliding down her eyes because her actual head is smaller than normal, I guess. It's hilarious because she randomly says, "I can't see" and just keeps walking in the hopes one of us will fix it while she continues on. These two are such a fun duo, you can't help but laugh when you're with them. 

We've still got Scarium at the Aquarium to go to and then it's basically Christmas. Well, that's not totally true. As of right now our plan is to go to Florida around Thanksgiving to see family again and assuming nothing crazy happens before then, we're banking on that. I haven't gotten dates figured out or anything because we'll be driving so it'll be a much different trip than last year. It would be so nice to see my parents though, I really miss them. 

The Strand Six: Iowa Vacation

I know I normally break our vacation wrap up posts with a couple so they aren't so long, but for the sake of time and the ridiculous list of things I have one week to get done... you're getting it all now. 

Before I go further though, everyone has asked us, "why Iowa?" and the simplest answer is..... we needed to cross it off our map. We have a goal of seeing as many states together as we can and we've done a bunch around MN/WI where we live, except Iowa. It's always the drive-through-it state but you guys- we need to collectively stop dissing Iowa. Iowa is fun and Iowa isn't getting the respect it deserves. 

We took off on Friday and I was so damn sick. No, I wasn't Covid sick, I was adrenaline crash sick. The night before was ROUGH and I won't get into that, but just know that as parents, Matt and I are dealing with a lot and it's a constant barrage of stuff and frankly, that Thursday was just really almost too much for me. Well, I guess it was because that Friday my body was like, "girl- you're done". I was on the verge of throwing up the entire day (and the next), I was in and out of consciousness, I felt like it took everything in me just to sit up straight in the car, my stomach hurt so bad and I had the worst headache. I was awful and I very much do not recommend going on a road trip in these conditions. Anyways. The show goes on, as they say. 

We stopped at Minnesota's Largest Candy Store in Jordan, Minnesota. If you've never been, it's worth the stop, the kids absolutely loved it. 

We then hauled it to Blue Earth, Minnesota to see the Jolly Green Giant Statue Park, and this was so pretty. Not only is this little town really pretty, but they have little Sprout statues all over and you can do a little scavenger hunt to find them all. I'm sad we didn't have enough time to do that. We had to hustle to get to Des Moines, Iowa because that was where we were exploring first. 

We ended up getting to our hotel late (for Pep and Lu) and our hotel was just the worst. It really was. It literally smelled like garlic bread and not even good garlic bread. Ugh. 

The next day we went to Blank Park Zoo, which was a really great little zoo. We saw a ton of animals, the zoo was incredibly well laid out and clean. It wasn't the biggest zoo we've gone to but it was worth our trip. 

After the zoo we decided to go on a train ride, mostly because Penelope asked for one. We drove to Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad & Museum because we had tickets for the Fraser Train. We got there a little early, so we explored the museum and got to climb onto a train. The museum isn't near as cool as the one we have local to us, but what they had was a little bit different so it wasn't a total waste. The train ride though? Beautiful. 

We went over a bridge and I'm not kidding, in the fall this would be STUNNING. The views are beautiful but I can say that is the highest up off the ground I've ever been while in a train!

For dinner, we took a chance on the Drake Diner (which Jackson later discovered was home to a couple of murders and I'm telling you, knowing that know makes me feel strange). The food was great and the decor/restaurant was beautiful. It's a cool little gem in the middle of a neighborhood. 

That's how we ended our first full day in Des Moines. We were exhausted but got to hear a dance party in the hotel parking lot for three hours in the middle of the night. Loved that. :/ 

The very next day we had to get up super early because we had tickets for the 9-12 slot at the Science Center of Iowa. This was a pick from the big kids because they really get into science things, but it turned out being a huge hit for all four kids. I can't hate that. Easily the best areas were the Build It area (you can make a building and see if it withstands an earthquake) and the area with circuits. Penelope really enjoyed circuits and making things turn on/off. 

We ended up getting through the entire science center in about two hours so we had some time to kill before we would need to eat lunch so..... we decided to check out a local bookstore! This is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do in a new town, and this one did not disappoint. 

Storyhouse Bookpub was the cutest little shop I've been in. We spent quite a bit of time (and money) here and I just wanted to hang out all day. The owner and her employer were literally the sweetest people, and gave us a little scavenger hunt around this up and coming neighborhood. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday so lots of shops weren't open, but Penelope was determined! She had to find a specific book in each store and have her sheet marked off. She went right up to store employees to ask questions, get her sheet signed, etc. You have NO IDEA how proud she was to get her sticker at the end showing she's a super reader. For real, you guys- this store is amazing. 

Also? Iowa has these awesome murals all over and I could have spent entire days just looking for these. But I love this picture because it's everyone's personality and there's Pep with her scavenger hunt sheet! 

Also? I got so many pictures of our family, of Matt and I, the kids, etc. I really wanted this vacation to count. 

After wandering around, we had about an hour-ish drive to Columbus Junction to see the Swinging Bridge Park, home of the Lover's Leap Bridge. We found it easily enough, had some disagreements on how to get to the bridge, finally deciding to take this weird little path which wasn't a fun one to walk. 

We did get a view of the bridge and doesn't that look like a fun one? This one definitely counts as our adventure card of this trip. 

When I tell you this was a swinging bridge? I am not lying to you. This damn thing swung side to side but also up and down and was the scariest bridge I have ever been on. It didn't help that the people behind us started being complete assholes, knowing full well that we had four kids on this bridge. So that was fun. 

We saw this at the end. Fun. 

We were on the way to city #2, Dubuque. I need to pause though and tell you that Des Moines was maybe the prettiest city I've ever been in. Everything was so clean, everyone was so nice and helpful, I really was sad we had to go, but it made me excited for Dubuque. 

We only had one full day in Dubuque so I knew we had to make it count! I knew during my research of Dubuque that I wanted to find some of these murals and we only got photos of a couple but there were SO MANY. If you are traveling through Dubuque, I so highly recommend you drive around and find them. 

I mean, how bad ass is that? I wish more cities had things like that, tap into the artists of your city! 

First up for Dubuque was the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. It's similar to the aquarium we have where we live (though that is solely focused on the Great Lakes), so I know going in that we would really love this and we did. 

We ended up getting there a little early, so we found a little walkway and decided to just watch the morning wake up over the water. It was really beautiful. 

The museum/aquarium was absolutely worth our time and money. We did everything this place had to offer and the kids were bummed by the time we were done. 

Afterwards we were going to get lunch, and I had found Shot Tower Inn online, and it was SO GOOD. It wasn't without drama though, I wanted to take the kids to take a picture of the mural and some guy, presumably picking up an employee from work, started screaming at me he was going to tow our vehicle away. I yelled at him for being an asshole and then, because I can be petty, proceeded to stand there within his view until the place opened for lunch (we had gotten there like 7 minutes early). We said something to our waitress, who made sure we weren't actually towed, and tipped her really well. She was the nicest and this place was pretty great. 

Next up? The Fenelon Place Elevator! I'm all about an inexpensive, quirky thing to do and for $4 a person, you too can ride on the world's shortest and steepest railroad! 

It goes incredibly slow, has a great view at the top, and the neighborhood at the bottom is full of fun little shops. 

We also found a Little Free Library! We didn't find anything for us that day, but it was cool to visit anyways. 

I inadvertently found a bookstore I had wanted to go to while in this neighborhood, too. When we road the elevator back up, we drove to the bottom and found some parking right out front and went in. 

River Lights Bookstore is beautiful. Again, Olivia and I bought a stack of books we don't need but you know.... buy local, am I right? 

We were going to try to go see some caves but in the end decided maybe the kids were wearing out. Our last stop for the whole trip was always meant to be Effigy Mounds National Monument. 

We literally had no idea what it was before we went and I'll be honest, we only saw three. The three at the start of the trail. 

This was something that Jackson had wanted to see and we realized it was one of the "special sights" places on our map that you cross off as you see, so it was a double bonus. What they don't tell you is the trail to see these? 

ALL UPHILL. 

Sure, there are two trails, a two-miler and a four-miler meant for a more "rugged" experience. The two-miler? Is not for out of shape folk. It's not for anyone with a bizarre leg malady we're still getting worked out, and it's not for a toddler who also seemingly has the same thing but the beginning stages. 

To sum it up? We made it .7 of a mile up the mountain before saying screw it and going back down. 

Looking at this it freaks me out because that is a straight down drop off behind Olivia and her legs kept giving out (it's a whole thing, we don't know what it is, we're in the middle of trying to figure it all out). Lucy had to be carried for awhile because her leg was giving out and she was in pain. Jackson had to hold me up. Only Penelope was ready to climb the mountain, and she let us all know repeatedly that SHE is just fine and SHE could do the whole thing, no problem. 

Penelope is not the motivational coach anyone needs. Unless being shamed by a six year old is what drives you, of course. 

We then drove like 5.5 hours home. It was late when we got home, the last two hours were ROUGH. The kids were all asleep, Matt and I had the music cranked so loud and nobody heard a thing. It was crazy. Was our summer vacation over? Nope! Tomorrow? We play local-ish tourists. 

Christmas was grand(ish).

I know a lot of people were disappointed that Christmas was going to look a little different but I was pretty OK with it. I feel like I was pretty burned out by the time we got to Christmas that I didn't really have it in me to be "on" for others, you know? Despite that, we did have a nice little holiday.  

I did try to bake this year. I was only mildly successful. I would say at least half of the batches of cookie dough I made were totally wrong. I don't know if you know this but egg is kind of a big deal in cookies. Go figure. 

I even let Penelope and Lucy help me with some. If you know me at all, and know what a complete control freak I am, you know that is a pretty big deal. 

My friend Lauren sent the kids the cutest things and I cannot even tell you how many times I have read these books to the kids! Penelope got What Will It Be, Penelope and Lucy got Lucy & Company. If you are looking for some cute stories, definitely check this out. 

On Christmas Eve we were going to go to Matt's parents' house, which was nice, it was a little bit of tradition. On our way there, Penelope decided to pull out two of her teeth out. You know, like you do. Sigh. So not only did Santa come, the Tooth Fairy did as well. 

I got one nice photo of the kids in front of our tree with their nicer clothes on. I made Pep and Lu put their "fancy clothes" on because I spent $10 each on the dress/cardigan that we were going to use for the Christmas concert at their school that never ended up happening. 

The Christmas Eve tradition here is that we get the kids new pajamas and then I do the cute photo in front of the tree. Penelope clearly was over it, but this is a photo for the scrapbook, for sure. 

I only managed to get one photo of Matt and I over the course of two days, but at least it is a really good one. This was right before we going to get presents out and play Santa. 

I barely slept at all that night and I literally sat on the couch from 2:30 a.m. until people started getting up around 6:30 a.m. It was so nice to see everyone's face first thing. (Also, see the little kitty? His name is George, he's one of our two new kitties and I'll do a post on them soon, but isn't he ADORABLE?!)

The house was a disaster. I ended up wrapping up every single thing so it seemed like everyone had a whole ton of presents, and that was really fun but you know, it was a huge mess. Also, I am so paranoid that I am going to rip these handmade stockings so every year I end up laying them on the ottoman or in front of the tree so it always seems more cluttered to me and it makes my eye twitch. 

Lucy was SO HAPPY that she finally got this doll! She would look at it at Target every time we would go, she circled it a bunch of times in some catalog that came in the mail, and she know wants the matching outfit so they can be twins. 

Me trying play Santa and clean up at the same time because my anxiety was starting to get a little out of control at this point.

I also got a few things, a couple of books and gardening things mostly. I will say Lauren got me a personalized embosser for my books! I am so excited and I already started embossing my books!

A couple of stinking cuties. Of course, Penelope was super proud of missing two teeth and really wanted me to get a photo of it. 

I ended up having to take a nap because I was tired but I was also just overstimulated from everything. Five hours later and I got it together to finish making dinner. 

It was a nice little dinner, nothing fancy. Of course, Penelope was being Penelope so.. she's a nut. I have yet to learn how to do a timer on my phone so I can also get into photos but you know... maybe that can be a goal for 2021. 

We took all of our Christmas stuff down the next day and I feel so much better having things put away and cleaned up. It was nice. It wasn't nearly as bad as people lamented it would be. I felt like it was a really good end to the year, we got to celebrate together and really enjoy each other. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

How was your Christmas? What did Santa bring you?

Strangers giving cheer, Christmas with parents

I have a ton of photos (not really, but it feels like it trying to get them off my phone) so I'll split Christmas into two posts. 

To start Christmas, I think it was the day before Christmas Eve that I had to go out to some stores and I absolutely dreaded it. I didn't want to go, I had a bad attitude about it, and I really didn't want to get Lucy all ready and bring her because it's absolutely exhausting for me to do that and I really struggle and usually end up crying in a parking lot. Add to that and it was right before the biggest holiday of the year and I figured people would be out in masses and I would have to deal with all of that. 

Which is exactly how all of that played out. 

But as we were leaving Walmart, and I know I looked like a cat dragged backwards through a bush, this older man approached me. Immediately all of my stranger danger alarms are going off and he says, "Ma'am? Can I ask you a question?" So I say yes because I'm not rude and he says, "It looks like you could use some Christmas cheer, can we give your daughter this teddy bear?". He pulls out this incredibly soft bear and obviously Lucy is all about it so I said yes and thanked him, and he walks off. I have no idea where he went. 

So I'm walking out to the parking lot, kind of in awe that that just happened and Lucy is hugging her bear like she's never had one before, and as I'm completely pissed because I'm realizing what I forgot to get (which is what I came to the store for in the first place), I get to my car and open up the trunk. This blue mini van pulls up and this woman opens her window. Immediately I'm thinking this is one of those people who asks if you have gas money and they have a whole story about their work check not clearing the bank, etc. But no. She says "We give baskets out to people randomly, and you look like you could use some Christmas cheer. Can we give you a basket?". I'm kind of stunned so I know I mumbled something but she gets out, opens up her side door and hands me this basket.

Before I could even process it, the van is gone. Van and woman are gone, I can't even see them driving away anywhere. 

I'm not kidding you guys. 

Now, the basket didn't have anything amazing in it. It was mostly dollar store toys, some applesauce, a little bit of candy, and a $10 bill. Which is WEIRD, because I was going out to dinner with my friend Andrea that night and I was telling Matt I was going to borrow $10 from Olivia because I knew I wouldn't make it to the ATM before I went. 

Not only was there $10 in the basket, but my bill at the restaurant was only $7something so that $10 covered my meal completely. 

I don't believe in coincidences anymore but I'm not sure what all of this meant, but I do think something special happened to me that day.  

Obviously, Lucy is so cute, how could you NOT want to buy her anything she wants?! But I'm not kidding, she carries this bear everywhere since she got it. 

 So that's how my Christmas started. 

The next part takes place on Christmas Eve eve. We celebrated with my parents and my brother, sister in law, niece, and nephew- they drove from Appleton, so it was quite a trek for them. I'm kind of hoping this becomes a tradition because it was so great to see them, do presents and not feel like we had to rush to make a dinner or rush to my inlaws, it was just very laid back and really nice. 

 Lucy and Adriana played together SO well. Penelope and Adriana did, too but it's clear that Penelope is the ring leader and somehow convinces all the other kids to do bad things. Penelope would make a really great mob boss. Subtly gets everyone to do her bidding then stands back with her hands up saying, "I didn't do it, it's not MY fault they listened to me." That's Penelope. 

 Before we did presents, my sister in law was tending to my nephew (he's just a tiny baby!) so I led four kids in crafts. We made slime and we painted some cinnamon ornaments I had baked for them. I got a really great slime recipe from Penelope's teacher and it's just glue, baking soda, contact solution, food dye and glitter. Super easy, wasn't near as messy as stuff I've seen on Facebook, and it comes out almost like putty versus a thin slime that gets everywhere. Anyways. I did slime with four kids and I feel like that should be noted. 

I did have a bit of a panic attack when I heard my nephew cry. I had my putty so I was playing with that and doing my counting/breathing exercises but it was a good ten minutes before I could calm down and rejoin the group. I really hate, hate, HATE that I have a hard time with this. I really wanted to hold him but I didn't think I could and that really makes me sad. I feel like I'm missing something. 

 After craft extravaganza we did presents! 

Penelope was all about it, obviously. 

 Lucy really got into it, too! 

 Jackson got the Harry Potter Lego set he really wanted AND this cool watch that does fancy things that I don't know anything about. Olivia got Beats headphones because my mom spoils the kids and loves it. 

Penelope and Lucy got some cool things. Matt got these mats for his truck, those really expensive nice ones that customize to your actual vehicle. 

My mom got me these really nice pots and pans, and then all of this. I got that AMAZING navy purse from Duluth Pack, THESE wool socks which are so much better than I thought they'd be, the Michelle Obama book, a new shirt, and three ornaments- one with Penelope's name, one with Lucy's name, and one with all of our names. My mom always gets me the best stuff. 

On Christmas Eve we always go out to Matt's parents home to celebrate. I know a lot of people complain about going place to place, but I really don't mind. It kind of works out for us and I'd rather have three days of fun and presents instead of one huge day. This way I can pace myself and it works well for the little girls, too. 

 The big kids go to their Strand grandparent's home often so they enjoy taking up their spots and taking over the place. 

 Grandma and Penelope read Matt's favorite Christmas book when he was a kiddo. 

 Matt and Lucy snuggled as usual. 

 They have a hunting dog named Hank, who is a love bug. Penelope thinks he's GREAT because she tells people she can ride him. Which she definitely can't, but she's completely fascinated with such a big dog. 

 We had a great dinner and took the annual picture in front of the tree. 

 Then we opened presents. I remember I got a lot of books and a gift card, but I can't really remember what Matt or the little girls got. Lucy got this laptop and she furiously types on it, which was funny for us all. 

Oh! The big kids each got a gift... that I can't remember, but their big gift is that they are going to Universal Studios and Harry Potter World with Grandma and Auntie Kate over spring break. I'm kind of bummed we don't get to take them but they are so excited to go. They have both finished the series and that was the deal- the finish all of the books and then they can go. You should have seen Jackson reading large chunks of the books since the end of summer. He was so proud of himself. 

 Penelope wanted a picture with me before we left. 

We left just in time for bed but Penelope and Lucy were asleep before we got to the end of the driveway! 

 Once we got home I gave the kids their Christmas Eve present which is always pajamas and something else. This year the big kids got pajamas and robes (they outgrew theirs), the little girls got pajama sets, and everybody got a new blanket. Which, I'm kind of mad I didn't get myself one of these blankets because they are ridiculously soft. I got these blankets for a lot of people but didn't get myself one. Lame. 

And of course Santa came.