I am a wife and the mother of two beautiful adult daughters and a wonderful new son-in-law. I am a seminary student and also do some part-time freelance writing, editing and graphic design work. My interests include reading, photography, baking (mostly bread and chocolate), and studying God's Word.
A Teddy Bear Tea Party was the highlight of Day 5, our final day.
We invited five little friends, and their favorite stuffed animals, to join us. Course 1 included assorted bear sandwiches, baby bear cheese bites, carrots and cucumbers. Course 2 consisted of berry and white chocolate scones, clotted cream and fresh berries. And chocolate teddy grahams and gummy bears rounded out Course 3. We also served cinnamon plum tea and lemonade. Lemonade was certainly the favorite with this crowd, but most of them tried the tea. I’ve never hosted a tea for seven kids, ranging in age from not quite 2 to 8, but I was amazed that nobody spilled anything! They were all quite polite! After the tea, we read the book Jenny’s Bear, our favorite story about teddy bears.
For the fourth day of our stay-cation, the girls and their bears camped out in the guest room in our recently finished basement. This was a special treat because they don’t usually sleep in the same room, plus they were able to test their new sleeping bags.
Of course, no bedtime routine is ever complete without a story. We read several teddy bear books throughout our stay-cation. Here are our favorites:
Jenny’s Bear / by Michael Ratnett; illustrated by June Goulding
Day 3 took us to Stillwater, one of our favorite Minnesota cities, to explore Teddy Bear Park with our very dear friends, the H family. This was no ordinary park for the 7-years-old and under crowd. Greeting us near the entrance was this huge granite teddy bear.
This smaller granite bear resided in the ampitheatre. Isn’t he cute? If only he were fuzzier…
Linnea tests the zip line.
Our little climbers requested this shot. It was hard to tell where the faux rock wall ended and the real rock bluff began. Pretty amazing!
I can’t resist another picture with Fuzzy Wuzzy.
Time to speed away from Teddy Bear Park…
And enjoy a scoop of ice cream while watching the lift bridge over the St. Croix River.
On Day 2 of our stay-cation, we ventured to one of our favorite parks to hear the Teddy Bear Band live in concert. It’s BYOB, of course. Bring your own bear. So Sassy and Brownie came along for the fun. Good thing they have thick fur — this July was the coldest on record in Minnesota.
Laurel does her Elvis impression.
This is Panda, who lead our girls and dozens of other small, bear-toting kids in a dancing train around the park. Laurel loved this but was disappointed that she did not actually ever get to hug Panda. Maybe next year.
For a minute, the Hokey Pokey really was what it’s all about.
Bear! Bear! Bear in the air!
What goes up, oh you know, must come down.
Stay tuned for Day 3 of our Teddy Bear Stay-cation!
Last month the girls and I embarked on a week-long “Teddy Bear Stay-cation” in lieu of traveling elsewhere for an actual vacation. So today I am kicking off a 5-day blog series showcasing our local bear-related adventures.
Day 1 featured a trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop to stuff, groom, dress and name two brand new teddy bears — Sassy and Brownie.
Sassy gets filled with stuffing, and it’s a noisy job.
Sassy gets her first hug.
Linnea runs the pedal on the stuffing machine; Brownie is filled to just the right level of fluffiness.
Brownie gets her first hug.
Brownie needs a quick “bath” with the brushes to remove extra fur.
Sassy also gets groomed.
Fashionably dressed, Sassy is a ballerina bear, and Brownie is a bride bear.
Day 1 down. Come back tomorrow to read all about Day 2 of our Teddy Bear Stay-cation!
“Never have I asked an August sky, ‘Where has last July gone?’ “
That’s one of my favorite lines in the song “Many A New Day” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma.
Here’s where July went for our family:
4 more sailing trips
2 trips to the beach
1 trip to the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus
1 teddy bear tea party
1 trip to the Arboretum
1 evening playing in the sprinkler
1 trip to Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater, Minn.
1 Tiny Party that was BIG fun
2 birthday parties
1 trip to Lowry Nature Center
1 church picnic
1 Teddy Bear Band Concert in the park
1 trip to Sonic Drive-In
1 trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop
1 visit to see newly hatched Bantam chicks
1 beautiful wedding & fun reception
3 trips to various playgrounds at nearby parks
1 trip to the community center pool
1 paddle boat excursion at Centennial Lakes
countless picnics
Perhaps you notice a re-occurring theme? Teddy bears! I’m putting together a more detailed post complete with pictures of our Teddy Bear Stay-cation. (That’s like a vacation, only you don’t leave town.) Stay tuned for that post later this week!
It will be the 4th of July in a few hours, and we’ve come to that part of the year when everyone sees the back-to-school clothing ads and says in a freakish sort of tone, “Where has the summer gone!?”
Here in Minnesota, it truly feels like summer is just getting started. The lake only warmed up to swim-able temperature a couple of weeks ago. We haven’t even made it to the beach yet! So, in an effort not to join that familiar chorus of summertime blues, I’m adding up all the fun we’ve had since our fabulous Memorial Day weekend trip up north.
Here’s the math:
3 sailing trips
1 swim in the lake
2 tea parties
1 night at the movies to see Up!
4 Arboretum trips
1 piano recital
2 fishing trips
1 afternoon at the Old Log Theatre to see Treasure Island
5 nights of Vacation Bible School
1 afternoon playing in the sprinkler and eating popsicles
2 afternoons playing in the backyard kiddy pool
1 family gathering with BBQ and bubble wands
1 family gathering with Bailey the Dog and Chinese food
2 fun get-togethers friends who feel like family
countless picnics and park visits
All this and just one bee sting! Of course, I must mention that I was stung immediately upon entering the Arboretum. The bee flew into the van, stung me and flew back out all in the 15 seconds it took me to show my membership card to the guy at the entrance gate. Welcome to the Arboretum! Ouch!
Notably, Michael was hundreds of miles away on his four-day, guys-only trip to the Boundary Waters when my arm started swelling up. The pain only lasted a few hours, despite the fact that I did none of the five post-bee-sting treatment steps spelled out on www.surviveoutdoors.com. I just sat on a park bench, watched the girls play and tried to avoid the wasp that kept lingering nearby.
Despite leaving us alone to fend off the bees and wasps, and despite coming home with lots of smelly, fishy laundry, Michael did get some royal treatment on Father’s Day.
Father's Day
And here’s one of our tea parties; Aunt Lilac and Great Gramma were our special guests.
Tea with the GreatsGreat Gramma
For the 4th of July, this afternoon we made these fun desserts — fruit pizza in red, white and blue. Yum!
Starlight Writer 