Jackpine Work Weekend

  This past weekend we went camping. There is a family camp called Jackpine Retreat that we always like to go to in September and this year there was also a work weekend planned before it so that whoever could come could work together to get things ready for it.

   Jackpine Retreat is something that I have attended since I was a baby. I have missed 2 years in my life time but hope not to miss anymore if possible. :-) I loved it as a child and my kids love it too. It is rustic camping in Northern, MN in often chilly September. You can expect to get cold, often wet but there is something about it that warms our hearts. It is a time for Christians to get together and fellowship, to sing around the campfire, to encourage one another, to listen to God's word shared together. We can unwind a little bit from the normal busyness of life and grow closer together through shared experiences that can be challenging.

 The work weekend was not very cold (though the nights did have their chilly times) and we did some sweating during the day but it was fun to see things get cleaned up and more organized. Rotted buildings were torn down, dead trees were cut down and firewood made and stacked, brush was piled and some of it burned and things were cleaned up and painted.

 Lucy and Megan did some painting in the morning and then decided to take on a building project. They aren't probably ready for a carpentry job yet but they had fun and practiced some building skills.

 Water was enjoyed by many.

Sometimes you need to spend a little time regrouping before you tackle the next project.

 Old nails were pulled out of lumber.

 A new outhouse was set in place.

 During a rainstorm we did some relaxing and waiting for supper under the shelter.

 At normal Jackpine Retreat each family/group prepares their own meals except for a group meal for Sunday lunch but at the work weekend we organized meals and all ate together. That was fun. On Saturday we had 29 people there.

Games were played a little bit too.

 On Sunday I believe there were 15 of us still there and we had a nice service around the campfire. Aaron led some songs and Ben L. share some neat thoughts on Unity/Being One Body and then spoke of what Jesus did for us and then we shared communion together.

  I do feel so incredibly blessed to be part of the body of Christ and to be able to spend time and work together with other parts of the body.

Garden Harvesting Time!

 I am so thankful for my garden. God blesses us with an abundance every year. Not in everything - we usually have something or several somethings that struggle in some way but over all we are truly abundantly blessed.

 Our garden got a late start this year due to a wedding and a trip but it is looking fairly lush and lovely now.

 I have harvested quite a bit of rhubarb using some for jams and then freezing more. It is still looking good and I will probably harvest again soon.

Usually my garden gets to be a bit of a jungle as I tend to plant things fairly close together but I love it.

 We have eaten a lot of salads from the garden this summer. This romaine lettuce has grown slowly but we have been blessed by it.

 I love the herbs, many of which come back year after year.

 Aaron has just one lovely looking watermelon this year.

 This was a volunteer sunflower and it is very fun and cheerful.

I harvested a bunch of mint today. That is what we use to make mint tea all Winter (and Spring and Fall) long. We pretty much never by herbal tea but we drink it almost daily. It always comes back year after year and we save so much money by having it.

 Today's lovely harvest. I made one batch of pickles, took 2 buckets of cucumbers to share at baseball and made a chocolate zucchini cake which I also shared at baseball this evening.

 My pepper plants have grown fairly slowly but they are looking healthy and are working at producing so I am happy!

 Megan picked Hazelnuts today. I think we may have beat the squirrels and worms on many of the nuts this year. That is rather exciting.

Another garden picture.
 I heard somebody talking about if you want to save money just skip the garden because it is expensive. I totally do not agree! Yes our fence (to keep out the deer) did cost a bit but there would be cheaper options. However now that we have the fence we pay very little each year. I just buy seeds which I get from Fedco for a good deal. I could spend even less on seeds to provide for our needs but I am generally tempted to try some new flowers or veggies. If I just stuck with the basics it would not cost much. Also, once you get going you can save a lot of your own seed. I start my own plants as much as possible. This year may seedlings didn't do so wonderfully but a friend had extra that she gave me. Use compost, leaves and manure to improve your soil. Mulch with free tarps for the lumber yard, leaves and boxes. We get so much good from our garden each year. It is totally worth it!

They Have Gone Home

One event we love to go to each year is the Itasca Family Music Festival. There we see lots of our homeschooling friends (and some that don't homeschool but that isn't so common) and get to meet new ones too. We hear lots of wonderful music played mostly by family bands in the Bluegrass style. They have really good bands on the main stage and then at various times there are side stages that are open for anybody to sign up to sing and play at. Aaron and I did that at one of the stages. They also have workshops that you can go to and this year there was a duet contest which was really fun and I got to be a scorekeeper for that.



  People come from all over the country to go to this. If you like good family friendly entertainment you might want to check it out.

Picking Berries

 One of my favorite summer activities is berry picking. I never get to do it quite as much as I would like to but I truly enjoyed the times I was able.

   Our first major berry picking of the summer was to go to the up-pick strawberry farm. My sister, Keren and boys and my Sister-in-law, Bea and boy went with us. 

 We got quite a few pails and ate a bunch while we were picking as well. They are so good when they are very fresh and perfectly ripe. It was so fun to see my nephews enjoying the strawberries. They also really enjoyed riding in the ATV that took us out to the field.
 
   We froze most of our strawberries but Megan also made a batch of jam and I made a fresh strawberry pie which is something I always like to have when we have fresh strawberries.

   We have also been blessed to be able to pick some strawberries from our garden but just a small bowl full at a time so we have enjoyed them fresh or in smoothies.
   

 Blueberries were next on the picking schedule. I love picking them. It is so fun to get out in the woods and just find yummy berries. Keren and boys, Aaron, Sharyl (my mother-in-law) and I were the ones on this outing.

   When we went to pick up Keren and boys we figured that they would be excited to go with us as they (Ephraim who is 3- especially ) had really enjoyed going strawberry picking with us. This time however Ephraim was a bit reluctant and nervous. We found out that he had been thinking a bit to much about the book "Blueberries for Sal" (super cute book by the way in case you haven't seen it) and was nervous about meeting a bear the way Sal had. After a few tears we went on our way with Aaron promising to scare away any bears that might come and distracting Ephraim with other books.

   When we got there the fears seemed to have disappeared and Ephraim had a grand time playing in the woods.

 Mathias liked the taste of blueberries pretty well and I gave him some for his little tin bucket which he would happily eat but then he did figure out how to just sit down and pick his own berries.

 My lovely berries.
We did make it to the blueberry patch a couple more times and we are happy to have some in the freezer and I made a batch of jam.

Ken and I also went and picked some raspberries at my parents one evening and Megan and I picked some wild ones around here. With the wild ones I made some raspberry rhubarb jam. I have been finding rhubarb very nice to use in addition to berries in jam to complete the quantity needed. It tastes really good together too!

   I am so glad God made berries!

   We miss Mara at berry picking time especially as that is something that she loves to do. She was sad about missing our berries up here but has been abundantly blessed to find many other things to pick in Kansas. She has picked strawberries and blackberries at her in-laws and then has found gooseberries, mulberries and plums to pick at areas around her apartment. She has been making lots of jam as well. We are so blessed!

Our Family Trip To Washington DC

   Our family (without Mara as she was off being a newlywed 😍) went on a trip to Washington DC. We flew from Minneapolis to DC on May 29th. We arrived mid-afternoon to the Reagan National Airport. Our cost for flying round trip was $832.45 for the 5 of us. Obviously not cheap but also not bad for flying. We flew on Delta. I think we found a slightly cheaper flight on Spirit but then we would have had to pay for some bags as we didn't think we would manage with each person just have an under the seat carry on for the week especially since Ken needed to bring his laptop and Jonathan wanted to bring his and camera equipment. With Delta the seats are slightly larger and you get 2 carry-on bags which was quite sufficient. And actually both times we were able to check the 2nd bag for free so we didn't have to carry them around so much. 

   From the airport we decided to take the free shuttle bus that was being offered as the metro was closed down for repair in that area. Later we realized that was a mistake. We had to ride a while one way and then get off and stand around and wait for a while for another bus and then when we got to the stop we had to walk 1/2 mile or so to our Airbnb with all our luggage in tow. It was really hot and that wasn't so fun. Later we realized we could have gotten an Uber or Lyft for around $10-$15 which we think would have been worth it, while hauling luggage. But we made it to the Airbnb. It was a cute little town house and quite comfortable.

   

After getting settled in we were hungry so we found a nearby restaurant to eat at.

I tried a calamari (squid) salad. We try not to eat out a lot but when we do go out to eat my goal is usually to try something new. We were reminded of why we don't go out a lot when we got the bill. It was over $100. We didn't go out to eat a whole lot while in DC and when we did go thankfully we found cheaper places to go to.
  After eating we walked a few more blocks to get some groceries. We were happy to have both a Harris Teeter and Trader Joe's within walking distance. We went to the Trader Joe's. We bought around $70 worth of groceries enough for a couple of suppers, several breakfasts and a couple of lunches.

Thursday, May 30, 2019 -White House and Museums
The next morning we had to get up in good time and take a Lyft into the city as we had an 8:30 tour of the White House. We were supposed to get their early too. I had arranged that tour through our Congressman and we were pretty excited that we were able to get in. We did find out however that this was certainly not an exclusive tour as the line for it stretched out for a block or so.
      We came in at a side entrance that went by the statue above. We had to pass through multiple security screenings. Ken and I had to present our drivers licenses a couple of times and the kids had to tell their name and birthdate. We had a dog sniff us and more.

 At 8:15 it was already pretty warm out.

After entering the Visitor's door we went through this long hallway area. There were big windows looking out on a flower garden and a yard where a soccer goal was set up.

It was in that area where we could peek in and see the movie theater.

Ken and I wanted some family pictures in various places so we did selfies. Not all in our party were excited about doing selfies as can be seen in the expressions.

 The rooms were pretty much all color themed. It was fun.

 They had arrangements of fresh flowers in nearly every room. I guess the White House employs 4 florists. I think that sounds like a fun job.

 Megan by the Harpsichord in the front entrance area.

 This is also in the front entrance.

We exited out the front door.

 There was a lot of security around.
To go in the White House we could take no bags, food or water bottles. Just cameras (though not too big), phones and wallets. So we traveled light that day. I did notice somebody else that had gone through the White House after they left they went to the Hotel across the street from where we had entered the White House and the lady got her purse from where she had checked it. That is an idea that I hadn't thought of. We hauled our own water every other day which helps to avoid a lot of single use plastic but this day we had to buy water. It was way to hot to try to go around without having a water bottle. On the other days so that my guys that like cold water could have that throughout much of the day I would freeze the bottles of water at night and they would drink them as they thawed.

 Next stop was the American History Museum. Ken and I had loved that when we had been there before. The kids did like it but didn't like to look at it slowly and ended up getting tired of it. That was a little disappointing for Ken and I but we learned to go a little more at their speed.

 Ken and Jonathan by the Ship Philadelphia. It was really old!

 Aaron - our new president. :-)
Megan and I also went and looked at the First Lady gowns and dishes which we enjoyed.

 The boys were hanging out at America on the Move - Ken's favorite exhibit ever I am pretty sure. We had spent a large portion of a day in there another year but he still thought it was a ton of fun to look at this time too.
We ate in the American History Museum Cafeteria for lunch. It wasn't cheap but it wasn't horribly expensive either. The servings weren't large and I don't think anyone went away terribly full but it was fine.

 The family thought ice cream was needed on this hot day. I was trying to avoid corn on this trip so it wasn't an option for me.

 On the mall.

Ken and I at the Smithsonian Castle.

 Megan ready to go in. We looked around in their a little bit as well and picked up a map that we were wanting.

 Then we went to the Natural History Museum. There are tons of neat things in there. My favorite was the exhibit with all the cool stones. Aaron loved all the Animals. In general I decided we could go through this museum fairly quickly because there wasn't much need to read all the signs as they were full of stuff about evolution and an old earth which I don't think is correct.

 In the midst of all the signs on the displays proclaiming that there is no God the things themselves that they were showing proclaimed over and over again of the FACT of a magnificent Designer. I loved that!
  We had supper at the Air BnB that night.

Friday, May 31, 2019 - Seeing friends and monuments.

We started out in our exploring that day at the Lincoln Monument but we actually looked at things around it first before going into the monument. Aaron and Megan enjoyed walking down in the dry part of the reflecting pool.

 The Vietnam Memorial is a moving place when you think about how all those names on the wall are people who gave everything.

Then we walked a little farther on the trail to the Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence. It was on a cute little island out in a pond. That was a fun stop and Ken and the kids wanted to get their picture with William Hooper's stone (though the picture doesn't show it very well) who is one of their ancestors.

 William Hooper was from North Carolina.

 Then we went back to the Lincoln Memorial. I find it a very awe inspiring place.

 It is so big!

 Down in the basement of the memorial there are a lot of neat things to see too.

 Then we went over to the Korean War Memorial. It is another one that I find quite moving.

  We were planning on meeting the Davidsons (our friends- and Ken's cousin from the twin cities area) for a picnic lunch. When we had talked earlier in the day we had figured we had probably meet at the Lincoln so that is why we had hung around there. But then Christy texted Ken and said they were running late - they were getting around to see the monuments on a hop-on hop-off bus tour- and so could we meet at the Jefferson instead. Ken said sure. The only thing was we were taking the free circulator bus and it wasn't quite running on schedule. It also we going the way that took us around in the opposite direction than the Jefferson and another thing we didn't realize was that it took you in a figure 8 and clear down by the Capitol too. Needless to say it took us a good long while to get to the Jefferson - I am sure that the Davidsons could have made it to the Lincoln much quicker. But they were still waiting for us when we got there and there was a lovely shady place to eat and it was so much quieter than at the Lincoln so it was nice.

We finally made it to meet up!

We were able to get a picture of all of us with the Washington Monument in the background.

 Another family selfie - and they all smiled!!!

 "God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever." -Thomas Jefferson
I love this quote that was on the inside of the Memorial.

 We had never actually been to the Jefferson Memorial before (just seen it from the road) so I was happy to get to do that.
We bought a new DC magnet (for our collection) at the gift shop here. That cost from $6-$8.

  When we were leaving there we decided that maybe we were done with the circulator bus so we decided to rent some bikes. They are at stations all over the city and pretty easy to rent. They aren't horribly expensive either.

 We went to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on bikes but the sun was so bright I was having trouble telling what I was taking a picture of so I didn't get a good one here.

 We then rode by the District of Columbia War Memorial.

 Next stop was the World War 2 Memorial.

 Nearby there is an old Lockkeeper's house from the C & O Canal. It is an adorable old home that I was hoping we could tour but it wasn't open. This home wasn't very large but I believe I read that one lockkeeper that lived there had also had around 15 children there too. The canal used to go right by there but in the 1870's they began to fill it in after it had become more of a sewer and a trash dump.

 We had thought it would be fun to go up the Washington Monument with the kids but it wasn't open.

After that everybody was hot and Megan was dealing with a headache so Icecream was in order. :-)

  Riding bikes was definitely a efficient mode of transportation there. The boys loved it but Megan found it pretty nerve racking. She wasn't used the the bike and there we so many people around to move in and out around. We did ride them nearly down to the capitol building.

The kids thought it quite fun to feed some of our leftover lunch to the ducks down by the Capitol.

On the Capitol Lawn there is this really cool little place that had seats and a fountain in it. We ended up having a bit of a water fight there which was nice for cooling down. It is such a pretty little place.

We then went and ate supper in the food court at Union Station (Aaron was quite excited to get orange chicken sold in the Cajun place by Chinese ladies) and then went on the night bus tour.  Before we went to DC I had looked into getting the Washington DC explorer pass. Since the Davidsons were going to be there too we checked into the group rate. The group didn't have to stick together,  you just had to buy together. So that is what we did. We choose the 3 choice option and that was $53.10 for adults and 35.10 for those under 13 (none of our family).We used it for the night Big Bus tour, Mount Vernon and the Spy Museum. The Davidsons did the day bus tour, Mount Vernon and the Bible Museum. 

The night bus tour was wonderful. It wasn't so hot, it was super pretty and the tour guide did a really good job. The kids loved it. With the tour we stopped at the Lincoln Memorial again and the guide took us around a little on foot.

  We rode the metro and then the free shuttle and then walked to get back to our place rather late.

Saturday, June 1, 2019
I forgot my phone that is my current camera at the AirBnB this day. So no pictures. I think surely that Ken and Jonathan did take some but maybe not. They didn't share any publicly that I was able to grab easily.

In the morning we went to the Air and Space Museum (another free Smithsonian). It is pretty cool and the kids seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. Ken and the kids did pay to go on a simulator which they enjoyed. That isn't something that is very exciting to me so I didn't feel like spending money on it.

We had packed a picnic lunch which we ate outside the museum and then went back in to look around some more.

Then we went to the Spy Museum which is not a free Smithsonian but it was something we were able to use the DC Explorer pass for. For some reason we had quite a bit of trouble finding the Spy museum which we found rather funny. We figured that we probably needed to be spies to find the Spy museum. Because of it's out of the way place and the fact that it cost I was hoping that it wouldn't be so busy. It may have been a little less busy than the other museums but not a lot. It was a fun and interactive museum. There was tons of information and fun activities to do as well and we needed far more than the 2 hours that we had available that day to spend there.

That evening we went back to the AirBnB and while I cooked supper the rest went over to the YMCA where we had been able to get a free temporary pass. They went swimming and really enjoyed it.  We had a late but yummy supper. It is nice to have some home cooking while away on a trip. :-)

Then our "landlady" from the AirBnB gave us a ride to the airport so we could pick up our rental car that we were getting for the next 2 days. That was super sweet of her and saved us a lot of time.

Sunday, June 2, 2019 Church, Mt Vernon and Arlington National Cemetery

First thing we went to church at the Church of Christ in Alexandria. It was a very friendly congregation and we enjoyed getting to worship together with them while we were there.

Next was something I was really looking forward to and totally enjoyed - a visit to Mount Vernon.

Now that is a big lawn!

Megan outside the building that was the place that the slaves of visitors stayed. There is a walkway that connects it to the house.

This was one of the areas for Washington's slaves to live.

We got to visit with one of Washington's "friends" for quite a while in the greenhouse.

The greenhouse was truly a lovely building but no plants were in it just now - it is a place for keeping plants safe in the winter. It is the building behind us in the picture.

They had really pretty gardens there. Lots of flowers but many vegetables mixed in as well.

The Blacksmith's shop was interesting.

There was no activity in the weaving room while we were there, but it looked like a fun place.

We happened to go on Martha Washington's Birthday and got to join with her in celebrating. She was only 288.  She liked Megan's gown.

Ken (and Martha Washington) are sitting on the back porch where they can look out over the Potomac river.

Jonathan enjoying that view.

The house on the back side. The sun was bright and made us squint.

The vegetable garden was also very lovely!

Maybe someday mine will look like that.

The ice house.

Standing in front of a very cool replica of a grain bin that George Washington invented.

Next stop was Arlington National Cemetery.

We are so humbled by the service and sacrifice that so many have given to make our country what it is today.

We watched the changing of the guard as rain began to fall. It was pouring by the time we got back to the visitor's center.

Monday, June 3, 2019 Chincoteague and Assateague Islands

 The kids really wanted to visit the Atlantic Ocean (it would be their 2nd time to see it and the other time had been in November) while we were out East. We researched options and decided it would be fun to go to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands (the last being a National Seashore) We had read the book "Misty of Chincoteague" and fun story that talks about the wild horses on Assateague island and the rounding up and selling of some of them that happens annually on Chincoteague island. The Islands where around a 3 hour drive away but so were other nice places on the ocean so we decided to go for it.

   We left in good time and took along a cute travel game that was at the AirBnB. It was fun for making the time go faster.

 We just drove through Chincoteague island without exploring very much. Once on Assateague Island we saw wild horses right away. That was really cool. They were at a distance but there were big herds of them. I know Jonathan got much better pictures with his nice camera but I haven't gotten them from him so I will share what I have from my phone.

 I was talking to somebody that had been there often later on and he said it really was better to see the horses from a distance as they can be quite wild and fierce and will attack.

 We continued on down to the beach where we had fun watching the laughing gulls. They were very interested in us and our lunch as well.

 I wish I could have gotten a better picture that showed how many there were and how close they circled.

 Ken and the kids had a wonderful time playing in the ocean. It wasn't super hot that day (just in the 70's) and it was a little cool for me to want to get all the way in. I had fun wading, walking and watching them. I also explored the visitors center (where I bought a magnet) and took a nap on the beach.

 My sand man. :-)

 We walked up a trail that we were warned had vicious bugs but we didn't find them very scary. I guess we Minnesotans are already used to vicious bugs. :-)

 This lighthouse they started to build before the Civil War and then finished it in 1867. It was quite cute.

Megan was wearing a lighthouse shirt which was found very appropriate.

Tuesday, June 4, 2019 -Capitol, Ford's Theater and Biking in Georgetown
First thing in the morning we headed to Ford's Theater where we picked up tickets for a show later in the day. We had a tour at the Capitol Scheduled for 11:50 am and we still had some time available so we decided to head over to the National Archives. As we walked over by there we heard some beautiful band music playing and looked over to see a parade of flags and a sea of white - Sailors all at attention.

We had happened upon a memorial service by the Navy memorial for the battle of Midway  We stayed and listened for a while and it was really neat. There were around 5 men there who were veterans that had fought in that particular battle.

We then headed over to the National Archives and saw the Magna Carta from 1297. That was super cool. There were also many other very interesting exhibits. We wanted to see the Original copy of the Declaration of Independence that was there but didn't realize at first where it was in the building and once we found it and saw the line there was to see it we realized that we didn't have time to do that before getting to our Capitol Tour.

We then went to Representative Pete Stauber's Office (from Minnesota's 8th district) where we were greeted by some very nice staff members. Then an intern took us on our own private tour of the Capitol. He took us under the road in a tunnel and all around the Capitol. He did a good job and it was so nice to have our own personal guide. He was also willing to be our photographer. :-)

In the Rotunda.

In the room that was the Senate Chamber, then I believe the House met there and then the Supreme court. It is now just used more for museum purposes and it set up as it was in the Senate days.

  We then went and sat in the House chamber and heard some debate there. The kids really enjoyed that and we stayed for quite a while. They were discussing immigration issues.

  After that we went and ate at the Capitol lunchroom. There is quite a selection there. I ended up trying Bolivian food which was pretty good. Megan and I also got some cheesecake!

Then we went up to the Senate Chamber. Unfortunately there they seemed to be on a break of some sort. There were just a lot of staffers sitting around visiting and waiting.

Then we headed back to Ford's Theater. We got to go to the museum there which Ken thought was one of his favorite places of our trip. I had just recently finished listening to Carl Sanburg's audio book on the Life of Lincoln (45 hours of listening pleasure :-) ) and so it was interesting to see so many things that went along with that. Going to Ford's Theater and Museum is generally free but we decided to take the time slot where we also got to watch a half hour play on the stage and that cost $5 per person. That was interesting. Since we watched the play we did not get to go to the house across the street where Abraham Lincoln died but we could see the outside of it.

After that we decided to go biking and we ended up riding around in Georgetown.

 There were some very pretty areas.

 We also go to see the C & O Canal.

 We found a taco shop that wasn't very expensive to get our supper at and a homemade Ice cream shop next to it. That was greatly enjoyed. I had some too. I tried their pistachio and fig ice cream and it was delicious.

 There was a cool outdoor area where we could enjoy our food at.

That area was right on the Potomac river.

 Pretty soon we came to a place where we had to take our bikes up some stairs on the bike trail. They thankfully had a special track to wheel the bike up.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019 - Time to head home.

 We had to head out in pretty good time the next morning. From the picture above you can see that our children look a little weary. :-)

 Here are a couple of pictures of our Airbnb. It really worked out very nicely for us. We had originally lined up a different house but the owner ended up having medical problems and so had to cancel on us. We had passed this one up before as the caretaker of the house would share the main floor with us and come and go. This really was not at all a problem. All she did was pass through occasionally to go to the basement. I had fun visiting with he when she was around anyway.

Here is a link to her listing. If you ever want a place to stay in the DC area I recommend it.
  In my desire to be as waste/trash free as possible this place worked nicely. She had a compost bin that I could use. She also had a sign telling about all the different things that we could recycle and a place to put them. We did still create a kitchen garbage can full of trash that week but it was better than it could have been.

As far as spending on the trip. We definitely did spend money on food and transportation but we found many ways to do that cheaper as well. The only non-consumable things that we bought were the 2 magnets.

  Our trip home went smoothly and it was nice to get there. Travel is lots of fun but home is sweet!

  For some reason this blog post has taken me 2 months to write, I am hoping to get back to writing more often but not so lengthy posts very soon! :-)