Continued adventures in fencing!

Happy new year! (somewhat belatedly...) I hope 2016 is off to a good start for you and yours. For us, life continues on in it usual hectic manner. Aaron started working again in December, so we're all adjusting to having both of us out of the house full-time. It's a big change but a very good one.

Since I last posted, Maisie's fenced in two tournaments!

The first was in December, Windy City Super Youth Circuit (SYC), in Chicago. This was a tournament of many firsts: her first traveling tournament, and her first time fencing kids from other sword clubs. She did quite well!

She and I arrived on Friday morning. Her event was Saturday, but we didn't know at what time, so we came down a day early so as not to cut it too close... and to have some free time in Chicago! After checking in at the hotel, we hopped on the El to downtown. We stopped by Cathy and Jim's office for a brief but lovely visit, then we went over to the Christmas market! I'd heard a lot about it but had never been before. Maisie had hot apple cider, in a keepsake little booth-shaped mug, to warm up!

The whole time she was like "My friends are in school and I'm in Chicago!!" like she couldn't believe it.


Saturday was the big tournament day!

Maisie was ready to go. There were 9 girls in her age/weapon group, and in fencing tournaments, the top 8 are awarded medals. So her goal, which seemed really achievable, was to medal. (Also I did NOT want to see how upset she'd be if she were the only one who didn't medal!!) So with that, we were off and fencing...

The tournament itself wasn't the best-organized for the girls. There were 3 strips going, so as soon as one bout finished she'd get her mask off but would immediately be called to her next bout. There wasn't a chance to take a breather or listen to her coach!

At the end, she made her goal, placing 7th.

I was (and am) so proud of her! She worked really hard. I think she was a little disappointed in herself, but it ended up a very positive experience.

Then yesterday was another small tournament at our home sword club. This one only had TWO girls in the age/weapon category - Maisie and her buddy Inga. They fenced two bouts - a seeding round that Maisie won 5-3, then they did the final bout, which goes to 10. Maisie got down 1-6, fought back to bring it to 9-9, but ended up losing the match point. She was incredibly disappointed, cried a lot, and asked to go home immediately afterwards instead of sticking around to watch other fencers.

She perked up when I asked if she and Ella wanted to go to the Mall of America to ride the rides, and even ended up putting her medal back on and smiling about it.

Next up for Maisie is the North American Cup, in Salt Lake City in March. I've never been to SLC before. I'm looking forward to it! She's excited about seeing mountains for the first time, and seeing some of the girls she met in Chicago.

She's really enjoying fencing, and I'm really proud of how well she's doing. She's working hard and seeing the results! It's a lot of fun to watch.

Colonial Williamsburg vacation

Every year, Minnesota schools have a short fall break in mid-October while the teachers' union has their annual conference. A lot of families like to take a family vacation during the break, and we are no exception! Last year we went to Chicago; this year Gramma Liisa, the girls, and I went to Colonial Williamsburg!

Many many pictures follow, with the trip narrative...

We got a VERY early start on Wednesday morning, leaving before 7:00 a.m.! The sunrise was really beautiful, though - not a perspective I'd seen before.

We landed in Richmond, VA, picked up a rental car, and were off to Williamsburg! We didn't have much in the way of plans... it'd been a long travel day, and the girls had been very patient which meant they had a lot of pent-up squirrely energy to get out. So first thing we did was to go swimming at the hotel!

This is a favorite activity on any trip!

After swimming, we went to get dressed so we could go to dinner, and guess what... SOMEONE forgot to pack Maisie's clothes!! (it was me) All she had in her backpack was swimsuit, pjs, socks, and underwear! So she put back on the clothes she'd worn before, and we went to dinner... with a stop along the way at a nearby outlet mall that had a Children's Place store. Oops!

Thursday morning, it was off to Williamsburg! They had a costume rental place at the main visitor's center, so of course the girls needed to rent colonial costumes.

People took their pictures all day, which was really funny... their footwear was totally not period.

The Colonial part of Williamsburg is about six blocks long and three blocks wide, right in the middle of the town. We walked around it all morning, with the girls playing a scavenger hunt game that led us through different houses, stores, and all kinds of places. The weather was beautiful on Thursday - sunny and mid-60s. Perfect!

These pictures are from the magazine...

box of sabers!

There was a town square outside the magazine, where these two people started playing some really fun music. That's the courthouse in the background.

We took a tour of the George Whythe (pronounced "with") House, which General Washington used as his headquarters during the Revolution. Here's his bedroom!

You can see Washington's red saddle, towards the rear of the room on the left.

George Whythe taught Thomas Jefferson to read law in this room

He then went on to found the law school at William and Mary. It was amazing to see these rooms... some of the houses are partially or fully reconstructed, but many of them are original, down to the floorboards.

We also took a "tour" of the jail, which wasn't quite as spooky as we'd thought it might be. We held shackles and manacles, and talked about the court process. We then went into the jailer's house, which was quite nice. The interpreter talked about how most of the people of Virginia at the time would live in one room with their whole family, maybe 8-10 people, with dirt floors and log walls, so to be a jailer and have the housing as part of your job was quite a coveted position, even though it meant literally living with prisoners, with cells in the attic and basement and your family in the middle.

We didn't get to see the cells that were downstairs (men) or upstairs (women), but we did get to see the ones out back. Some were for particularly violent offenders, and others like this one

were for debtors. The interpreter said "It's not illegal to owe money, but it is illegal not to pay it back. So we come out and hold you, take your things, and then sell them to pay off your debts. Once your debts are paid... or your things are gone... you're free to go."

So after a long day with much walking...

It was back to the hotel for more swimming, then dinner and bedtime. Friday was another full day!

We started off at the "sanitarium," which began with this view of a patient's cell. (Note the shackles embedded in the wall.)

Maisie and Ella quickly said "I don't like this place!" so we headed to the connected colonial folk art museum, which we all LOVED. The art was great! This is a jar of SAND!

"From Nannie to Nellie" the artist who made these would sell them for a few dollars each. Can you imagine the patience??

I just loved this jug... the sun looks so chill.

Maisie liked this guy.

It had been a rainy morning, but by the time we were done with the art museum, the sun came out! So we wandered back to the colonial village. We took a tour of the Richmond house, which was owned by Payton Richmond, President of the first and second Continental Congresses, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and owner of 27 slaves. It was a difficult discussion - the interpreter spent a lot of time inviting us to imagine how it would feel to be a slave - forced to stand and serve for hours, while Richmond talked to his friends of freedom... listening to people like Patrick Henry say they'd rather die free than live a slave... knowing that at any time,  you could be sold away from your family. We toured the house, and saw the contrast between the sumptuous beds Richmond and his family slept in, and the pallets for slaves in the hall. It was not fun - at the end, poor Maisie burst into tears - but I think it was important, and I'm glad we went on that tour.

Afterwards, we got a little snack and then walked around a bit, over to the courthouse. It was one big room with two smaller rooms, one on each side, for jury deliberations, witnesses, and the like. It was funny - technology aside, it wasn't really all that different from a modern courtroom!

Outside, the girls had to try out the stocks.

(different from a modern courthouse)

We also visited the weavers' house, and the girls got to try their hands at carding wool and picking cotton. It was a favorite stop!

A few blocks away is a pedestrian mall with shopping, so we wandered over there for dinner and souvenirs.

Then back to the colonial part...

Maisie in front of the one-room courthouse

For one of our favorite activities of the trip... the ghost tour!!! Ella got to help carry the guide's lantern from the first stop to the second...

Immediately after this picture was taken, though, Ella said she was too creeped out! So she and Gramma Liisa went back to a Barnes & Noble a few blocks away to read books and enjoy a treat. Maisie and I continued on the tour and heard some of the best ghost stories we've ever heard! It was a great way to cap off our trip.

Saturday morning, it was back to the airport in Richmond. After a brief layover in Chicago...

where we had pizza, because hello, we were in Chicago...

it was back home to Minneapolis. Everyone had a great time, and we were happy to be home having learned a lot about colonial times! (Myself included!)

Orlando pictures, part 2!

A lot less narrative, a lot more pictures on this post :)

Early morning flight out of Minneapolis

Day 1: let's swim in the pool!

Day 2, at the park!

In Diagon Alley... a bunch of muggles outside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

Looking down Diagon Alley towards Gringott's

Inside Gringott's

Knight bus!

enjoying ice cream from Florian Fortescue's outside the Three Broomsticks

Peeking into the windows of Honeyduke's... so many choices!

Then back to the hotel for more swimming!

Park, Day 3 - the Hogwarts Express

We tried pumpkin juice... it was really good!

Rawr!!!!!

Day 4... heading for home.

So much fun! We can't wait to go back.

Orlando vacation & picture dump (part 1 of 2)

Oh my gosh you guys. My sister Laura and I took our kids to Universal Studios Orlando and it was So. Much. Fun.

This is going to be the recap post with pictures from my phone. I also brought my camera but can't find my sim card reader! So, once I either find it or buy a new one, there will be a post with better-quality pictures. But I didn't want to wait any longer to write up our AMAZING vacation!

We started with an 8 a.m. Sun Country flight on Thursday May 7, which meant getting up even earlier than we do on a normal weekday! It was an easy, direct flight and by 1:00...

Sistercation!

we were poolside with Laura and Dylan!

We stayed at a Doubletree near Seaworld, and it was beautiful! We'd talked about heading over to Universal on Thursday afternoon, but Laura convinced me not too. Everyone was having too much fun swimming and running around in the sun after an early morning and a three-hour flight!

As you can see, the pool (pools, actually - there were 3 of them!) were outside. What you can't tell is that they were salt water! It made for a really pleasant swimming experience, without the super-dry skin and gross chemical smell you get from a chlorine pool.

We swam, played, relaxed, and chased little geckos in a futile effort to catch one. Ella said she wanted to grab one by the tail so it'd drop its tail, which she could then bring home! I am glad she didn't succeed!! Dylan managed to catch a few of them - he has faster hands than the rest of us!

Pretty soon the early morning, hot sun (it was 85 and sunny!), and exercise took its toll, and deck chair naps were had.

The next day it was time to head to the park, bright and early!! It was great going early, and on a Friday - the crowds were very light, and we hardly had to wait at all, even for very popular rides like Minion Madness. (That one was a particular favorite for some of us!)

I had to get it for her! It had her name on it!

The rides were very cool. Most of them were 4D, where there's a screen in front of you (sometimes 3D) that shows some kind of wild ride, and then your seat moves like you're bouncing around on a roller coaster or zooming through space. It was a LOT of fun!

After a few rides, we went to DIAGON ALLEY!!!!!!!!!!!! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was a huge draw for me (and the girls, but let's be realistic, mostly me) and it did NOT disappoint! When we walked through the brick wall hiding it from Muggle eyes, my jaw dropped. It was like walking on to the movie set!

Inside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Edible Dark Marks, Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Fainting Fancies...

We also caught the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade, which was ALSO amazing! The castle was beautiful and the attention to detail was astonishing. I could've hung out in the Three Broomsticks all day!!

All the employees working in the park were 100% in character the whole time, which I was not expecting but really enjoyed. Whenever I'd buy something they'd say, "On the Muggle plastic" when I gave them my card. And when I bought the girls animals at the Magical Menagerie, they told me my total as "your adoption fees today come to $42.50..." It really added to the whole immersive feel of the experience!

Also, butterbeer is delicious. They served it hot, cold, or frozen like a slushee. Cold was good - it was like a butterscotchy cream soda - but frozen was AMAZING and totally worth the extra $1, especially given the heat!

After a full, fun day at the park it was back to the hotel for dinner, swimming, movies, and a solid night's sleep. On to Saturday!

Purple minion on the loose in King's Cross Station!

Ella'd gotten a bit of a sunburn on her shoulders on Thursday/Friday. She wore a tanktop to the park on Saturday, but the sun was pretty quickly hurting her shoulders, so I let her pick out this shirt. And we HAD to get the minion goggles to match!

Saturday was more of the same... Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and a few favorite rides from Friday that we wanted to go on again. The Simpsons, E.T., and (one of my favorite movies) Men in Black! It was a "training exercise" for new recruits - you had a laser gun to shoot aliens that'd escaped from a prison transport. The line was longish but it went past some cool things. like the MiB break room, featuring some of my favorite characters from the movie!

After a full day at the park and a delicious dinner, it was time to head back to the hotel for our last night. Because in the morning...

Airplane nap

back to the airport to head back home.

It was an absolutely amazing trip and I cannot WAIT to go back! There are so many things I want to see that I missed, and so many things I want to do again!!

And, a very special thank you Laura and Dylan for being such completely awesome travel companions!! We will go on vacation with you again any time.