Exploring Minnesota: Shopping, Art, and Laura

This week Grandma P and HG visited giving us a great opportunity to explore our new state.  We hadn't seen much outside of the Twin Cities.  We hadn't seen much of  the Twin Cities.  Our guests arrived Thursday late afternoon.  On Friday we visited the Mall of America.  I think we saw all of the third floor and we wandered a little through the 1st and 2nd floors as well.  Our favorite stops were the Lego store, a game store, and getting Jelly Belly Jellybeans from a little candy store.  We browsed the American Girl store and the kids all bought something at the toy store.  Maybe sometime we will go to ride the rides at the theme park.  We saw a bowling alley, movie theater and putt putt golf in the mall but did not run across the new Aquarium.  Maybe next time.

From the third floor you can look out and see some amazing lego designs.

We miss the Spencer family.  I took a picture of this display just for them.

Across the aisle.  Game heaven in this store for sure.

The American Girl store is two stories and has a cafe and hair salon for girls and their dolls.  We made no purchases here.  Yikes! Can you say EXPENSIVE dolls.  Maybe if JJ gets into it in the future but not before.

JJ in the Lego store.  She loves Woody.

This may be a fun future visit.

Outside the lego store is a play place with.....legos.

The lego store.  The dragon runs the length of the store and can be seen from overhead too.

Another future visit may have to include a meal at Bubba Gumps.

Friday night Erin, Grandma P, HG, and JD went to see the Twins play the Tigers.  They were a minority cheering loud for the Tigers, but the Tigers won so they came home happy.  Target field looks like a nice place but I'll leave it for my boys. :)

On Sunday evening we went to the Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis.  It was bigger and fuller than I would have thought.  We had been told that we couldn't live here if we hadn't seen the "spoon" so here we are with the giant spoon bridge sculpture.

Really not sure what JJ is doing here.  Some weird pose.

The kids thought after this that they had to pose with every piece of art.  After a while we stopped taking pictures but it really was a nice evening and a nice walk.  We will go back sometime and see the few parts we missed including the longest poem which is written on the bridge crossing 16 lanes of traffic.

I really did think this was an interesting piece of art and could be a great photography subject.

The Spinner.

Walking through an archway.

Not sure what these are but the kids enjoyed climbing on and posing with them.

This was called something like: Spider at night.  Interesting...

Tuesday was JD's ninth birthday.  He wanted a Narnia cake so I thought through a couple of ideas and ended up with this.  He chose it from some pictures I found online.  I don't think it turned out too bad.

 For his Birthday JD wanted to visit Walnut Grove, Mn. which is 2 1/2 to 3 hours away from us.  We loaded up in the van and did the whole touristy thing.  I think he enjoyed it.

Walnut Grove water tower.

Our first stop was the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum.  It had a lot of memorabilia from her life, a lot of information, and a room of mermorabilia from the show including the fireplace mantel from the set.

JD as Pa, HG as ma.

JJ as Laura

 I really liked that the museum was very welcoming to hands on learning.  This pump organ was free to be played.   Erin tried it out and so did two of the kids.

JD and JJ try out writing on slates.  JD was VERY excited to try this.

Wouldn't you know....she had to try on the shoes.

A clothes line and clothes to try out washing and drying.  A badger fur on the table and a bison head on the wall.  This room was so family friendly.  We spent some hands on time in here.

HG tries out the original jail cells that had been removed from the Walnut Grove firehouse.

This is a replica of the dugout.  Built to the size Laura describes in her book.  This one is actually above ground rather than built into the bank.  It is tiny.  I can't imagine living here at all, let alone with a family of 5 including young children.  Dirty and gross.

JD teaching school.

 Another hands on area included an old time grocery store, telephone booth, and post office.  It also had a display of a covered wagon filled with all the belongings a family may have taken across the prairie.  It also had Walnut Grove's old printing press.

JD doing a little shopping.

JR was very intrigued with the old phone.

JJ found a horse and that's all she needed for a fun day.

 I also appreciated seeing the prairie grass that had been replanted in the area.  It was very pretty.  It was very tall.  A young child would have been swallowed up in it running along side the wagon train.

There is still a depression in the ground where the original home stood.  Landmarks talked about in the book are also pointed out on this farm where the owners have opened the historic site to the public.

 We ate lunch at Nellie's Cafe.  A just for fun place.  There wasn't a Nellie's Cafe in real life but the TV show made one up.  It is about the only place in Walnut Grove to eat.  It is a very small town.  We also shopped at Olson's Mercantile.  A just for fun tourist place.  On the way we drove through Sleepy Eye and passed near Mankato, two places talked about in the TV show.  I'm pretty sure at least Mankato is mentioned in the book.

Little by little we are exploring our new state.  We saw more of it this past week than we have since we moved.  We look forward to more visitors to help us explore more of Minnesota.

A Father, A Daughter, A Family

Imagine a phone call telling you your brother is hurt and needs help.  He has been in the hospital only to be released and find out his daughter has been taken to another state by her mother.  Your niece has been living in a garage behind a meth house.  She has been taken by protective services who found her with a broken leg, a shattered temple, and a severely bruised and swollen face.  She is only 18 months old.

My friend Lisa has found herself in this very position.  She and her husband, Brad, have chosen to take in her brother and fight for custody of the little girl.  The legal system and Social Services have been no help and have made grievous mistakes in this case. Check out Brad's blog to read first hand just some of what they have battled against.  Brad's Blog

As you probably can guess taking all this on has been an expensive venture.  Brad and Lisa are asking for help.  We all have the call to step up and take care of hurt and abused children.  One way to do this is to give toward the cause of Madeleine. Click here to help

I get so mad when I see the ads on TV asking for money to save abandon and abused animals.  I don't think animals should be abused, but when I know of stories like this and others I have heard from foster and adoptive parents I just cringe.  Celebrities want us to stand up for and give money to animal protection agencies but what about the children facing the same or worse abuses?

Lisa's brother is a kind man and will be a great father to Madeleine.  So often our system favors the mother but in this case that is wrong.  I have seen this man interact with my own daughter.  Living with her father, Lisa, and Brad; Madeleine will not be able to find a more loving and stable place to grow up.

Would you give to help save the life of a child both physically and spiritually?  Madeleine deserves the chance to grow up in a loving home with her father, not an abusive home with her mother.Click here to help!

Every little bit helps...

The Havens "on Tour"

The last 10 days we Havens have been "on tour" as one of my high school friends put it.  I put out on Face Book a few weeks back that I would be in Michigan and Indiana and tried to spend time with everyone who said they'd like to visit with us.  Here's how our week and a half went.

Friday morning we got up and ate a hurried breakfast so we could get to the Minneapolis airport in plenty of time.  I was nervous to fly with the kids by myself.  Erin dropped us off and we got through security and to our gate with no trouble.  The kids were great as we walked forever to get to our tiny gate a million miles from where we went through security.  We had extra time so we chilled for a bit at TGIFridays and got a little something to supplement that hurried breakfast.  After we got to the gate and had one last potty break, I looked around and thought, "No wonder this place is so small, who flies to Flint?  Wouldn't it be weird if someone we know is on the flight?"  And someone we know was on our flight.  The Strengs made a connecting flight in Minneapolis heading also to Flint.  Just what I needed to calm my nerves, a familiar face.

JJ and I sat on one side of the plane.  She liked  the window seat.

JD and JR sat across the aisle.  They traded seats so each got a window view.

We arrived in Flint and were greeted by Grandma Pointer and our friend Margaret who helped with the kids while I waited in line forever to get our rental car.  It was full of features we found to be a luxury.  I was very spoiled.  I loved the color too.

We went to Meijer to get some items I couldn't fly with.  JJ was pleased to once again ride "Sandy".

At Meijer a horse ride is still only a penny!

On Saturday we spent some time with our friends, the Spencers.  They fed us a yummy lunch, the kids had fun playing and I had fun playing a round of Settlers of Catan with friends.  We were pretty tired when we returned to Grandma's house.  It was day #3 of no nap for JJ.  We relaxed and then went to see Cars 2 and picked up pizza for supper.

On Sunday it was great to return to BRCofC.  As my friend Marcy says, it is a Church family that is irreplaceable.  We both know moving away from such a place creates a void that is hard to fill.  It was so nice to see how much we are missed and once again feel the love of the people we left behind.  It was also nice that our trip coincided with Marcy's and I got to visit with her.

We ate lunch and visited with friends at an open house for one of the teens from Church and then it was time for JD to head to camp.

JD's camp counselor was Chris Bowman, a family friend.

How nice that JD got to be at camp with his best buddies from Madison Academy.

On Monday the remaining four Haven's hit the road again.  Erin headed out to Arizona for work.  He was supposed to be the first of his group to arrive but due to mechanical difficulties on his first flight he ended up being the last to arrive.  It was a long day for him.  JR, JJ and I headed down to Indiana.  We ate lunch with my sister and I was able to meet my new nephew.  Later that evening my little ones went to VBS at EGCofC.

JJ holding her newest cousin

JJ and LA playing dress up.

JJ practicing for the VBS play.

JR writing about something God has helped him with for the God Wall.

On Tuesday we went up to the Bourbon Park to meet up with two of my High school friends.  It was nice to catch up with them both but especially with Christina who I hadn't seen since we graduated  from high school.  How nice to have time together again and meet each other's children.

JR and JJ at the Bourbon splash pad.

Wednesday we hit the road again.  We headed to Angola, In. to drop off JR and LA for day camp at the camp I grew up attending.

Then we met my brother and his family for lunch at Applebees.  It was cousin time for five of the six youngest Walter family cousins.

Me with my youngest niece and nephew.

JR would be picked up from camp later and stay a few days with Grandma and Grandpa. JJ and I headed up to Michigan to meet JD for family night at camp. Then we stayed the night with some of our good friends, the Palmores.

JJ eating a corn dog at the family night carnival.

JD at camp.

JJ eating the pink cotton candy she badly wanted.

Thursday JJ and I visited some of our other good friends, the Bellers.  We had Jet's Pizza for lunch, yummy.  It was a very nice visit.  We had to cut it shorter than we would have liked because JJ was very short on naps for the week and was getting too tired and whiny.  A nap had to be had on Thursday.

JJ and SB

Lisa and her brother, Daniel spoiled us with a delicious dinner. We took a walk and then Lisa and I had a late chick flick night.  It was a lot of fun.

JJ and MP on a walk.

Friday was our last day in Michigan.  JJ and I returned our rented van and were picked up by Grandma Pointer.  I did some bargain hunting at Kroger and picked up Dawn Donuts for Erin before we headed out to camp to pick up JD.  The three of us hitched a ride to Indiana.

JD all worn out from a full week of camp.

Saturday the family was reunited again.  It was so nice to have us all back together.  Shortly after Erin arrived in Indiana we headed out to my cousin Megin's home for a cousin picnic.  Not all were there but it was nice to get together with those who were able to come.

Me, Lisa, JJ, RW

The kids loved the trampoline and sprinkler.

Sunday evening we went to the Bremen Fireman's Festival to watch fireworks.  We took along popcorn and enjoyed the sights.

Ready for church.

Waiting and eating

Popcorn everywhere.

Monday was Independence Day.  We went to Nappanee for a little parade and back to Kim's.  We relaxed and the kids spent some time playing at the park and splash pad.

JJ and LA all dressed up in red, white, and blue.

What a happy bunch.

A small parade but we still got plenty of candy tossed our way.

The highlight of the parade.

WW2 era fighters flying over the Napanee, IN 4th parade.

Tuesday we headed home.  Our tour over but ready to sleep in our own beds and be done with suitcases, packing, and repacking for awhile.

If we have to travel for many hours at least the bulk of the trip is the beautiful, Wisconsin farmland.
  I can't wait to see how it looks in the fall.

Carr Valley Cheese.

A for fun stop along the way.

Dinner at a new family favorite, Culver's.
There's one at just about every Wisconsin exit.

The bib says it all.

Home again.  We are spending a day unpacking and relaxing.  It was very nice to see so many friends and family.