Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Going home, part 1



As part of our jaunt in the midwest earlier this month, we spent part of a day in my old hometown, Red Wing, Minnesota. If you've never been there (which I'm sure is the vast majority of you), it's definitely worth the trip some day. Red Wing is an old, historical river town south of St. Paul just full of lovely old buildings, neighborhoods built on bluffs overlooking the river (that's THE river - the Mississippi), and more inborn charm that Chandler, Arizona could ever hope to create.

Red Wing will always bring back memories of childhood for me...

...including the YMCA where I took swimming lessons and was part of the city-winning girl's softball team...

...the gradeschool where I discovered Olivia Newton John and "I Write the Songs" in the 6th grade coat room...

...and the neighborhood grocery where my brother Travis was caught and convicted of candy bar theft at age 6 or 7. Of course, we've never let him live that down. :-).

The downtown area itself brings back so many memories...especially the library (shocker). I actually wanted to take a picture of the row of shelves that contained the Nancy Drew mysteries and the Betsy, Tacy and Tib books. However, the library was closed at 4pm on a Thursday. Ah yes, small town life.

Right next to the library is a beautiful town square surrounded by four different churches, all of them made of stone and absolutely gorgeous. The Methodist church in the background shows the bell tower that provides chimes throughout the day. I'm wondering if somehow this beautiful flower display got into my subconscious early on and is part of my garden longings. The smell of roses and alyssum was just lovely.

The town theater is also right across from the library. Yes, this is where I recall seeing "Return of the Jedi," "Sleeping Beauty," and a Don Knotts/Tim Conway vehicle called "The Private Eyes."

No upper-midwest town should be without a shop proudly displaying and profitting from its scandanavian heritage. In Red Wing, that's the Uff-da shop. "Uff-da" can fill in for almost any nonsense phrase ... and it really is a cool little store.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The Villain Who Tried To Hurt Spider-Man

We're back! Sorry it took so long, but since we got back from vacation I've been in a writing fog (writing that actually pays me something, I mean) and had a deadline today. Now my stories are sent off, I can breathe for a couple of minutes, and I wanted to share what's been keeping Evan in a writing fog this week. All I can say is, you've gotta love a Spider-man lovin' 8 year old's story! My two favorite lines: "Venom kicked Spider-man in the face. Spider-man kicked him back."

Love, Natalie

P.S. Vacation updates and photos coming soon!


The Villain Who Tried To Hurt Spider-Man
By Evan Morris

One night Peter was watching T.V. with M.J. in the living room. Then a mysterious villain crashed through the window. They were so shocked!! He was creepy with a black suit. Peter changed into Spider-man. The villain took Spider-man to his lair.

In his lair was a cage to capture Spider-man. He put Spider-man in the cage. The bars were made of super strong metal. Spider-man could not break free of the cage. The villain went “roal!” and said, “You’ll never break free of my cage, Spider-man.” There was a white spider on his black suit. M.J. kept looking and looking but she still didn’t find Spider-man. Just then the villain said, “You like my old cage, Spider-man?” in a sarcastic voice.

Just then Mary Jane found the villain’s lair and got Spider-man free. “Are you okay, Spider-man?” said Mary Jane. “I sure am, M.J.,” said Spider-man. All of a sudden, Mary Jane found out who the villain was. It was Venom! Venom was surprised that Mary Jane had freed Spider-man. Spider-man shot his web at Venom but Venom broke free easily. Next, Venom shot his black web at Spider-man and Spider-man broke free too. Spider-man and Venom started battling for good. They battled and battled. Venom kicked Spider-man in the face. Spider-man kicked him back. Finally the steel bars fell from the ceiling of the lair and the symbiote got off of Venom. Then Spider-man discovered Venom’s true identity – Eddie Brock. Eddie Brock said “Noooo, my precious symbiote!” One of the steel bars fell on Eddie and he was defeated. Venom was never heard from again.

The End

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Cousinly love

Hi everyone,
Sorry it's been so quiet around here this past week. Our niece and/or cousin Miranda was in town for 9 days, so we kept her busy playing Game Cube, swimming, going to the mall, watching "Pride and Prejudice" (hey, she liked it!), and beating us in cards.

A favorite memory of her visit is that one of her few requested activities for the week was playing "Apples to Apples" with my parents. This may have been a first. For any of you who've had the ... good fortune (??) to play a game with my parents, let's just say it's an experience. Anyway, we ended up having a good time and she was a good sport. Hey, she asked for it!

Evan and Bennett were especially sad to see her go, but it helps that we are off to see lots of other cousins tomorrow! At approximately 4:30 a.m., we will valiantly drive away from our house, head to the airport, and fly to the Land of 10,000 Lakes. For those of you who've never been to Minnesota, this is not an exaggeration. Case in point ... we are headed north to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th birthday. Guess what her town of 300 people is called? Of course. Round Lake ... because the actual Round Lake is a mile or so outside of town. I'm excited for Matt and the boys to see the town that plays such a huge part in my childhood memories!! Plus, I'm going to see cousins that I haven't seen since I was in my early teens. Weird.

Anyway, just wanted to explain why things will be quiet for the next week or so. But we will return with a vengeance with lots of stories from the Midwest road.

Love to you all!
Natalie

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Who needs front teeth anyway?

Finally ... after endless months of waiting ... Evan's front teeth came out a few nights ago. It was all quite dramatic and a little bloody, but I'll spare you the details. Needless to say, Evan was THRILLED and we are enjoying his cute new smile. Check out the new look!




By the way, it's been a while since anyone commented and I also got an e-mail from my sister-in-law (the lovely Lisa) that she was having technical difficulties posting a comment. Is everyone else having technical difficulties or am I just talking to myself? I'm okay with talking to myself, just want to help if folks are having trouble. :-)