Como Park and Cafesjians Carousel

Early fall is about the best time in Minnesota for a picnic. The humidity is usually at a comfortable level, along with the temperature. While rain can’t be ruled out, at least snow is only a remote possibility. It was with this in mind that Dad decided that we should have a picnic with my brothers and their families while I was home. We decided on Como Park , perhaps because I had yet to visit Cafesjians Carousel in its new location.

Side note: I love carousels, and am a collector of all things carousel-related. I hope to one day have a full-sized, wood-carved, carousel animal in my house (don’t tell Andrew…). Cafesjians Carousel was originally build in the 1910s for the Minnesota State Fair. In 1988 it went to the auction block. A group (calling themselves “Our Fair Carousel”) raised money to purchase the carousel whole. They then went about trying to find a new home for it. For a while it resided in a mall in downtown St. Paul, but it was hard to get to (parking and all). In 2000, it was moved to a better location at Como Park. Como also has a free zoo and conservatory, which both draw a lot of people each year. Hopefully that will mean that the carousel will be able to get enough ridership and donations to continue operating for years to come.

Anyway, we had a nice picnic with Mom, Dad, Kevin, Brock, David, Jennifer, and Kira. Brock’s birthday is in a few days, so we also incorporated a birthday party for him. After that we went up to the carousel, which everyone knew that I would have to ride — everyone else rode too.

Here’s a not-too-great picture of the carousel, and a picture of Dad on his horse.

After riding the carousel, we walked through the zoo. I can’t remember the last time I went to the zoo, but it must be at least 10 years. It was fun to watch Kira (my 22-month-old niece) watch the animals. She’s still at the point where she’s discovering a lot of things for the first time. Since my brother, David, doesn’t like the idea of zoos (I can’t say I like it much, either, but I still go), Kira hadn’t been to one yet.

All-in-all, a great time with the family.

MN State Fair — Butter Sculptures

Every year counties across Minnesota crown dairy princesses. At the state fair, each princess has her bust done in butter. What other material would you use to sculpt the bust of a dairy princess??

I have pictures to prove it:
   

Both are pictures of the cooler in which the sculptures are made and displayed. The sculptures take about 6-8 hours each are are done with a 90-pound block of butter. In the first picture, there is a completed sculpture facing out of the cooler. In the second picture is the princess (on the left) and the sculptor (on the right), both wearing jackets to keep warm.

So, what do they do with the butter that is sculpted off of the 90-pound block? In past years I have been around when someone brought out trays of the butter on crackers. I assume that they still do that, though not while we were watching.

The princesses each take home their own bust at the end of the fair.

MN State Fair — Stuff on a Stick

A lot of people I’ve met in my years since leaving Minnesota just don’t understand the whole food-on-a-stick craze that I’ve described to them. So, on my trip to the MN State Fair this year, I decided to document some of the food-on-a-stick. Here are my results:

A hot dog on a stick — that’s not too weird. Most of us call them corn dogs or proto pups, though.

Perhaps cheese on a stick isn’t that weird, either, since Minnesota is farm country.

I suppose condiments on a stick isn’t all that weird either…what were cocktail toothpicks invented for, anyway?

Now, these are a little weird —
   

Pork chops?? (And not just at one place!)

And don’t forget dessert!
   

The Mother Load

Mom and Dad ended up taking Grandma (Dad’s mom) out for dinner, since she hasn’t been dealing well with Denny’s illness. (Denny is Dad’s brother, and has been fighting cancer for over a year now. He took a turn for the worse this week.) So that left Sweetie and me to figure out something.

I suggested Chevy’s, which is located conveniently across the street from the Mall of America. Sweetie wanted to look for a few things at the Mall so we went after dinner. Our trek took us past the Lego store. I was going to resist the urge to drag Sweetie into the store, but I saw from the hallway a fully constructed Star Destroyer! I thought these were only available on the web, so I had to go look!

Drool.

Sweetie engaged the sales guys in conversation while I drooled and snapped my picture. I vaguely remember her complaining that she doesn’t have the type of job that could have a Lego set made from it. Hmmm…”I’d like the health insurance and benefits specialist Lego set, please.” Yeah, I can see her point.

Somehow it came up that she is my “dumb friend”, and I turned to the sales guys and said, “Well, I’m an astrophysicist, so all of my friends are my ‘dumb’ friend, really.” I instantly realized that that comment made me sound somewhat…um…bitchy? elitist? stuck-up? So before they could say anything else, I piped up, “Gosh, that makes me sound really mean, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, but you guys are funny, too.”

Sigh. I should really learn when to keep my mouth shut.

Oh, and I did not buy that Lego set, but I’m debating whether or not I should beg Andrew for it for Christmas.

Cute Kittens

I was telecommuting today, so I was able to catch Artemis in a (not so rare) cute moment. (Just ignore the mess that I call my bedroom.)

Baltimore

Wow! We did a lot today, and I can barely move!

We started in Fells Point Baltimore , where we had lunch at a cool Egyptian restaurant.

We did not have enough time in Fells Point — I think next time we’ll dedicate at least half a day to the area.

From there, we headed a bit north to the American Dime Museum . I’d been there with Andrew earlier this year, but I thought Maggie would enjoy it. It’s a bit weird, and not everyone I know would “get it”. (In fact, a couple people, possibly a mother and son, came in after us, and had disappeared before we had even completed one room.)

Finally, we went to the National Aquarium . I’d been waffling on whether to bring Maggie there or not. It wasn’t that I thought she might not enjoy it, but I’ve already been three times in the last couple years, and it’s expensive! But then I thought that it might just be the highlight of her trip. As it turned out, it was the highlight — especially the sea horses exhibit as a whole and the sea dragons in particular.

(Mental note: Arrive at the Aquarium after 3PM. You avoid all of the school and daycare groups, and have a much more manageable child-to-adult ratio. Plus there are just fewer people there.)

Oh! And, we also saw the While You Were Out truck in Baltimore — right across from the Aquarium. Looks like someone in the Baltimore area might be in for a surprise soon! Sigh. I didn’t see Andrew Dan-Jumbo, though.

All in all, a very tiring day. But loads of fun!

Biking in Vienna and The Reduced Shakespeare Company

Since Maggie and Jim have recently taken up mountain biking, I thought we could go for a bike ride while Maggie was here. We rented her a bike at Spokes, Etc. in Vienna, and went for about 4 miles up the W&OD trail (Washington and Old Dominion — an old railroad that was turned into a bike trail). Maggie quite enjoyed being able to go fast, since usually she’s going up and down so much that she can just take off. We reached 17 mph on a straight away, and on our way back down a hill, we got up to 26 mph!

This evening we had tickets for The Reduced Shakespeare Company ‘s All the Great Books at the Kennedy Center. I’d seen RSC’s Shakespeare performance on PBS last year, so I was really looking forward to tonight’s performance. I was not disappointed!

Picture of Andrew and me on the viewing deck of the Kennedy Center, with the Lincoln memorial in the background:

Annapolis

Maggie needed to see water, so we went to Annapolis. While we were there, we shopped up and down Main street. I took just a couple pictures:

I think my best find of the day was a “Mad Scientist Tigger”. I didn’t even know they had made one, but apparently it was available at the Disney Store (where I rarely shop). I found it in a toy-collectable store.

Basket weaving class

It took the whole 7 hours that the instructor scheduled for the class, but I was able to finish it! (Though in the last few minutes, I had a bit of extra help from the instructor.) I also bought a kit to make another, identical, basket….let’s just hope I remember how!

Bookcrossing in Alexandria

While we were in Alexandria, I released a book “into the Wild”. (Check out Bookcrossing.com if you don’t know what that means — it’s a way cool web site! You can also check out my bookshelf .) I released it on a bench in the Market Square

It’s hard to see, but the book is on that bench — way to the left.

I was worried that it might get rained on, since the forecast called for thunderstorms.

Nothing to worry about! Someone picked it up, and registered it today!