Filed under: St Paul
I just had to share the pictures of Lily on the motorcycle – she is actually on her way to a babysitting job.
Filed under: St Paul
So the time we spent earlier this year roller skating turned out to be a good use of time. Aine was invited to the same roller rink for a Girl Scout gathering and we were pretty comfortable on our roller skates!
Filed under: St Paul
Our Chicago cousins came for a visit over their spring break. It didn’t feel very spring-like because this is the year of the never-ending winter. So we thought we’d do something a little different. We went to the State Capitol. We got a private tour of the Capitol! We didn’t really intend on a private tour, but it just worked out that way.
It was fun to learn about the ins and outs of the building. It was one of the first buildings in Minnesota with electricity. We saw where the legislators vote on issues. We saw where a mouse is hidden in the paintings and we saw a few of the hidden gophers. We also got an up-close look at the big chandelier. They had taken it down to wash it; apparently that doesn’t happen just every decade. It’s kind of cool, so if you’re thinking about a tour and want to see something unique, now might be a good time to visit.
Sadly we didn’t get to climb up to the horses at the top of the Capitol. It was a rainy, yucky day so I didn’t even ask. But that leaves us something for next time.
Filed under: Washington DC
I got a lucky half day in DC on top of my full day. I spent a lot of it working but I did get out. It was a nice day (by Minnesota standards) so I got a good walk in. In the morning I walked down to Georgetown, to the River, around the Lincoln Memorial and to the Jefferson Memorial – which is quite a long walk but through the Cherry Trees. My timing for that was perfect. The Cherry Blossom Festival started the day I got to DC. I bet it’s even nicer when it’s genuinely warm – but it was pretty and if you were down wind you could smell the blossoms.
I also got to walk through the Korean War Memorial. Of the war memorials I saw, I like it best. It showed the soldiers and they seem fairly realistic (from my deep knowledge of being on the frontlines). I think you have to get a glimpse of what the war must have been like to really appreciate the impact for those who made it home and those who didn’t.
In the afternoon I visited places. I went to the Portrait Gallery and saw some Warhol; I went to the Library of Congress and saw lots of cool things. Actually, you can’t really get access to the books and materials without a reader’s card.
Filed under: Washington DC
I am in Washington DC for a conference. The fun part is that to save a lot of money ($800) on airfare, I came a day early, which meant I got to spend a fun day in DC. I missed the family – but the advantage of being by yourself means you only go to see the things that you want to see. And I saw a ton.
I started with a morning walk to the Washington Monument, Cherry Blossom Festival, down to the Lincoln Memorial and past the World War II Memorial and the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial. It’s kind of amazing how just walk from walk thing to another. There are so many things to see. (History lesson of the day – in the Lincoln Memorial they have the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address on the walls – but there is one typo. Well I guess I don’t know if you can call it a typo when it’s etched in stone – but in the Second Inaugural Address [Future] was etched as [Eutur]. I hope you can see the in the picture.)
I retrenched at the hotel, did a little bit of work and went back to another walk to the Mall. I went to the Smithsonian – the Modern American History section. I saw Dorothy’s Ruby Red Slippers, the Muppets, Cat Woman’s costume, All in the Family chairs, the Star Spangled Banner, Julia Child’s Kitchen and more.
I walked around the Mall and visited the Hirsshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. You can take pictures there! I got pictures of art from Max Ernst, Andy Warhol, and others.
Filed under: St Paul
The weekend before the St Patrick’s Day parade was the Day of Dance. Aine had a good time participating as a dancer. Patrick also had fun directing a show as part of the festivities.
St Patrick’s Day was beautiful this week. It was chilly – but chilly in a year where anything but cold and snowing was good. We all went and marched in the parade. We marched with the Irish Gazette, which is always fun. We caught the older girls trying to appear as parade watched for a while, in the hopes that they would get some candy or necklaces. Aine on the other hand was happy to give out newspapers throughout the march.
I have to admit that the St Paul parade really doesn’t compare to the parade in Dublin – but it is always fun to see folks we know and that happens a lot more in St Paul.
Filed under: St Paul
During the spring break we went to see the King Tut Exhibit at the Science Museum with Uncle Billy. It was Way better than the Dead Sea Scrolls. Nearly everything was an original, not “just like the one” used in ancient times. We watched the Omni movie too and it was a particularly good one. It recreated the discovery of the tomb.
It’s kind of amazing to see the work of the kings back in the day – and to think that they started planning for their own tombs so early in their lives. That was a little strange.
We were all impressed with the amount of gold in the exhibit. And of course we enjoyed the rest of the museum as well.
Filed under: SE Minnesota
We wound our way home slowly after our quick trip from Wabasha. Wabasha is where Grumpy Old Men is supposed to have been filmed. Turns out that more happened around Wabasha than in Wabasha – but there are still fun Grumpy Old Men stuff. I got a few pictures.
We also stopped by Read’s Landing on the way home, which is a fun place to see eagles. They aren’t as up close as in Wabasha, in that we didn’t have binoculars, nor were there eagle handlers bring them to us. But it was cool. It’s always fun to see an eagle in the wild.
We had lunch at the St James Hotel in Red Wing.
Filed under: St Paul
For those who don’t know, I am a big Deadliest Catch fan. It started when we lived in Ireland. I don’t love Irish TV. (Those who have seen Killinaskully will understand.) And mostly Patrick’s mom had programs that she watched, which was fine. But on rare occasion, I got control and would always watch Deadliest Catch – the show about the crab fisherman off the coast of Alaska.
It is the best. They fish in all weather. Often you see that their shift starts by chopping a foot of ice off all of the equipment on the boat. Then they scoop up the big crab traps from the ocean. The traps are huge – big enough to trap hundreds of crab (on a good day). Can you imagine working with soaking wet everything in the dead of the winter? The mortality rate is frightening.
One of my favorite episodes is when the Time Bandit (a boat) sees a fisherman from another boat go overboard. Somehow they manage to get close enough to pull him from the freezing water and save his life. But you could see that the outcome is not always so happy with that sort of situation.
So you may wonder why I’m bring all of this up – well I met the Captain of the Time Bandit at The Liffey. We were out with friends celebrating Kathleen’s new job. We had a nice dinner and then moved over to the Liffey for a few drinks. I saw the guy right away but didn’t place him. Really I just figured I knew him from Billy.
Eventually I looked closer and mentioned that I thought he looked like the guy from Deadliest Catch. Well someone else at the table knew he was in town for the car show. Then I realized he was wearing a Time Bandit hat. So I went up and said hello. He could not have been nicer. It was Jonathan Hillstrand – the Captain of the boat who saved the guy who fell overboard.
I barely said hello with the camera when he was ready to pose and came over to talk to the whole table. I think he liked the idea of a table of folks from Ireland and Scotland – and that was our company that night. He was telling us about his friend and fellow fisherman who had recently died. But he also shared some salmon that his brother had smoked. He was great. Luckily for him I wasn’t able to corner him with all of my super geeky fishing questions. (Note: fishing is like cooking for me – purely a spectator sport.)
The funny aside – TMZ, the trashy entertainment news people were there too. I was very careful not to pick my nose or dribble, just in case they got a shot.
Filed under: Minneapolis
Rock the Cradle is a family event sponsored by The Current the non-classical music station of Minnesota Public Radio. It’s a free event held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and Children’s Theatre. Apparently this is the sixth annual Rock the Cradle. We went a few years ago and thought it would be worth another chance. Aine invited a friend and Kate got dragged. It’s definitely an event for the under-tens. The good news today is that the event apparently come rain, shine or snow – because it started snowing at about 10:00 and hasn’t stopped.
We first stopped at the kids’ disco. There were live bands intermingled with DJ music. We caught Koo Koo Kango Roo and Bazillions. The younger girls enjoyed both. I think they particularly enjoyed when the parachute hit the dance floor. There were yummy, free treats in the disco and tattoos. The girls got several.
Next we roamed the halls of the MIA. The younger girls were super excited to see works that they have learned about at school, where they take part in Art Adventure. Art Adventure is a fun program; parents volunteer to introduce kids to art using work from the MIA. They were excited to see Shiva Nataraja and a Tzedakah box. Kate went to the MIA with school just last week so she was able to find the art quickly. I was impressed.
It’s really a nice mix of music and art. They have tons of free things for the kids, and who wouldn’t love that. But I was impressed that what seemed to be the most fun for them was dancing and seeing the art they have learned about it school.
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