Other Things to Try...Yes!

Here are some other things I tried over the weekend:

Pickled Quail Eggs

Caviar

Assorted Cheeses

And a few different vodkas (some were plain and others were flavor infused) from around the world:

I also met new people without peeing my pants or making a complete ass out of myself...but I didn't try the pickled herring or pickled lemons...I had to draw the line somewhere!

~The MFP

Green Onions

My older two kids (aka Social Guy and The Artist) are growing up fast. This summer they have started getting more and more freedom and of course more responsibilities too. One of the best examples of a growing experience happened just last week. It was a few days before our family camping trip and we had just returned from an amazing long weekend at a friend's cottage. We had a lot to clean up and a lot to get ready for. Our errands list looked something like:

Get Social Guy a hair cut
Go to Cub Foods and pick up green onions
stop at body shop for estimate
go to the bank
go to Target (just because I like to browse and Target is one of my favorite stores...Did you know they have *everything* at Target?)
stop at the library to pick up a book on hold
pick up flea and tick junk for the dogs at Chuck'N Dons
plan the upcoming menu
double check to see that we have all school materials
dishes
laundry
blah blah blah

So I drove up to Great Clips and asked Social Guy if he needed me to come in or if I could just hand him $20 and he could get his hair cut on his own. He agreed that he could get his haircut on his own, so I dropped him off and told him I would be back.

I pulled into the auto body shop. Walked in and talked to the receptionist. She told me to hang out for a bit and one of the estimators would be with me in a couple minutes. After a few moments the estimator, The Artist, and I walked out to the car where he looked it over and took notes. The estimator told me to wait there and he would have my estimate ready in just a few minutes. The Artist noticed I kept looking over at Cub Foods, which was right next to the auto body store.

The Artist, "Do you need something from Cub?"

Me, "Yeah." *at that moment wishing The Artist was more like Social Guy and would be able to run over there and get those green onions for me.*

The Artist, "I could go over there and get what ever you need?" (Yes, she said that as a question.)

Me, "wow! That would be cool. I need green onions. Do you know what green onions are?"

The Artist, "No, but you could describe them to me."

I went ahead and tried my best to describe to her what they looked like and where they would be in the produce department. I handed her $20 and said, "Thanks!" A few minutes later she comes back. She's looking pretty proud of herself and hands me the bag.

The Artist, *in a beautiful, happy, sing-song voice* "These are the green onions, right?"

I look inside the bag....nope. I smile at her and say, "No, these are collard greens."

She was disappointed and mad, more at Cub Foods lousy produce labeling then at herself. I didn't show her the ribbon on the collard greens that said 'collard greens'. I did look at her with a huge smile and said, "Hey, I've never cooked these before. What an adventure! We'll go home, look up a recipe, and try them out. How cool!"

So that night we added a couple things to the list:
look up collard green recipe
make collard greens

The Artist grew a lot that day due to a mild mistake and our whole family tried something new AND loved it! Collard greens will become a new family favorite food and story to remember :)

Tiaras and Tutus~
The MFP

The Third Child...

We have three beautiful children together:

Mine: The Social Guy [The Oldest] - He can talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere (and I am NOT kidding). He remembers faces and names, unlike his mother. He will make friends no matter where he goes. He loves, loves, loves people.

His: The Artist [The Middle Child]- She has the most amazing stories in her head. She can take you on the adventure of a life time without you ever leaving the living room or backyard. She can write them or help you act them out, even at the grocery store.

Ours: The Brainiac [The Baby] - He can figure out how anything works and will tell you how he could make it better. He is happiest in the garage or working with Legos thinking up his next greatest invention. Oh, and he has a really weird East Coast accent.

The three of them are a great mix and most of the time they make a beautiful blend of oil, herbs, and vinegar (in no particular order). But sometimes they separate and it makes parenting their different styles difficult. So one of my favorite things to do is to take them camping. It's a few days when the "Olson Family of Five" is nothing but a perfect blend.

Some of our frequent places to visit are the MN State Parks. The State Parks are usually very clean and quiet, enough privacy and enough running water. We like to hike and "rough it" (rough it = double decker air-mattress for me and hubby, nice sheets, three room tent, mini tents for the teens, organizers, flat top gas griddle, gas grill, gas burner , adapter for the car battery to run plugged in appliances (yes I 'could' bring and run my microwave), reclining chairs, mp3 player and little baby speakers....I think you get the picture.) for as many weekends as we can each summer. Unfortunately we were only able to go family camping once this summer. But, there are so many blog-able events that happened over the weekend you can expect a few blogs this week :)

Seeing that the kids are older (15, 14, 8), they got a lot more freedom this year. The teens went to the showers by themselves. All three kids took the dogs for short, but adventurous walks throughout the park. Our requirements were simple: stay together and bring a walkie talkie.

Then there is the Third Child...
Considering his age, he was probably allowed the most freedom of them all...

Eight Year Old, "Hey dad, I wanna make a fire."

Dad, "ah...no? I paid $4 per tiny bundle of wood and you are not making a fire at 3:00 in the afternoon."

Eight Year Old, "but dad, I really, really want to make a fire. You always make log cabin fires and I wanna build a tee-pee fire."

Dad, "You can make a fire closer to dinner time."

Eight Year Old, "but-sep-for [except for] I wanna make one now."

Dad, "Fine. Go get your own wood and you can make a fire."

Eight Year Old, "All the wood is too big for me to carry."

Dad :::hands Eight Year Old a saw::: "Okay, go saw it into smaller pieces."

Fifteen Year Old tunes into what is going on, "WHAT!?!?! Did you just give the Eight Year Old a saw? AND tell him to go cut his own wood?"

Dad, "Yeah...so?"

Fifteen Year Old :::silently thinking::: "what the FUCK are you thinking?"

Fifteen Year Old, "You never gave me a saw at eight!"

Mom, "oh, you don't even remember being eight."

Fifteen Year Old, "wow"

***Hours later Eight Year Old starts fire with Dad's $4 per "small" bundle of wood***

And of course we didn't give The Oldest Child, aka The Social Butterfly a saw at eight! He would have sawed his finger off while talking to the people at the next camp site...

Tiaras and Tutus~
The MFP

Oops!

I was on the freeway yesterday and missed my exit. It actually happened twice in the same outing. The first time I missed my exit I realized it right away and was able to take the cloverleaf around and around until I was once again facing in the right direction. It was an easy fix and I even found it to be a little soothing: the ease of the circles, no need to merge, no need to look for my exit or question which way I was headed. I just simply followed the path ahead of me to get back on track...

The second time I missed my exit I wasn't so lucky. There wasn't a cloverleaf and I had to drive about half a mile to the next exit. I didn't even know for sure if I would be able to get back on the freeway after I took it. I made my exit, waited at the top for the light, crossed the bridge, waited for another light, went back down the way I came, and finally hit the right exit.

I thought of it all day. I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if there was a 'cloverleaf' for life?" If we made a mistake or a bad choice we could just circle around smoothly until we found our way again? But...I feel that life is more like my second missed exit of the day. We aren't always sure and we're surrounded by choices to make, some of them clear, some of them not so clear. It can be maddening at times, scary, and frustrating.

In the end, I think we always end up pointed in the direction we need to go.

Star Von Bear

Just the other day I received a copy of the autobiography of Star Von Bunny from my sister. For those of you who aren't familiar with Star Von Bunny, she is a beautiful bunny who became a top model. I read about her adventures and stardom and immediately fell in love with her. Imagine my surprise when on my run this morning I see laying in the side of the road her cousin, Star Von Bear.

I was on my four mile run. I was tired and sore. I was stiff and hurting, mentally exhausted. There she was, laying there in the gutter on the corner County Road 9 and Vicksburg. I saw her and my heart ached, but I ran past. I had a run to do. I had things to get to. I had goals to achieve and places to be. I NEEDED this run.

Stride after stride I could not get her off my mind. Who's bear was she? Why was she there? How did she get lost? Is someone looking for her? I struggled to my half-way marker and I knew I would have to stop and see her on my way back.

She looked tired. She was dirty and sad, long forgotten and quite a bit mad. She was hurt, hungry, and confused. She needed a hug, a kind word, a bath, and a meal. I picked her up slowly so I wouldn't hurt her anymore. I held her gingerly and decided to bring her home.

The trip was difficult at first. I held her little, dirty body out away from mine. I was afraid of her filth. I didn't want the mud and the sand against me. I had my cutest running shirt on and what if she stained it? What if she dripped on my shoes? And as I ran and thought of her life and where I found her, what she had been through....I gripped her against my chest. I held her tight to tell her that I was happy to have found her. I wanted to let her know that she would be okay. I would take care of her. I would clean her up. I would hug her. I would laugh with her and let her sleep in my bed. I will love her.

To the little girl or boy who lost Star Von Bear at the corner of County Road 9 and Vicksburg: I found her. I know she's not "mine" and I will love her for you until you need her again.