Average

It's a typical day in the neighborhood.  A delicious, plain Jane,  our favorite under $15 bottle of wine, Caesar salad from a bag, TV watching, video game playing in the neighborhood day.  And ooooooooooooooh does it feel good.  There is nothing going on.  Allow me to repeat that...there is NOTHING going on.  Nothing but easy homework, kids chores done, open windows (in November) and a serious game of paddle pushers.  This...is the good stuff.  As much as I love our exotic travels to South Dakota (yes, you saw that right..."Exotic" & "South Dakota" in the same sentence) I have mucho amore for the "nothing" of everyday life.


Tonight, after a long day of what can only be described as torture for a type "A" person like myself, is just what the doctor ordered. What did did the Dr. order?  Problems I can solve, like 5th grade grammar and a teething toddler.  No 8th grade math homework, just planning for our field trip tomorrow.  And a husband who's only beef is that he wants me to slow down and sit on his lap to eat dinner.  These are problems/issues that I can tackle...I got this:)  


The first to get knocked off the list?  Dinner on my husbands lap, while he works and I finally get the opportunity to rant about the weekend.

Brandon = "geek sheek"
This is my view...skulls, monkeys, water bottles, wine glass, binary clock, uber cool animation software thingy...stuff.

The view from my desk is not as "cool", but I have her....thank you Ave Maria:)

Baby boy played with baby Cal...

Someone...anyone... give this photo a caption...

Baby chucks are almost as awesome as baby toes

When I got home Sunday, my dinning room table was full of gifts.  Brandon's mom had sent a backlog of presents with his brother.  Anniversary and my birthday.  After 5 hours of travel with a sick baby I was in no mood to open and really see/feel gifts.  I made the wise decision to wait until I was less distracted, until I could appreciate the sentiment behind the gifts.  Boy am I smart.  Finally...tonight... after a quick clean up of the family room I was ready to drink my wine and open gifts.  What can I say? I'm a little OCD, I can't open gifts in a messy room on a rug full of dog hair.  Another blog for another time perhaps.  What I do know...is that I'm a lucky girl:)

Leather in the frame:)  And if you look closely ...dog hair in the rug><

It was our 3rd anniversary this year...leather and crystal.  Never one to miss a single detail, Brandon's mom once again nailed it.  Leather in the chalkboard frame & a crystal wine stopper.  I was all geared up to take a photo of the amazing crystal wine stopper, but Liam had other plans for it:(  It can be fixed, I swear.


But the piste de resistance...less than a month after I acquired my first ever Redwing Stoneware crock...this adorable little tidbit of a crock...(Webser, SD Pumpkin Festival treasure)...

She gives me this for my birthday...with this beautiful note:  "Ericka, This crock was given to me by my mother-in-law and I want to pass it down to you.   Maybe someday you will enjoy passing it down to your daughter-in-law.   I love you dearly, Mom Schapekahm"

I'm sure someday I will enjoy passing it down.  But for now, I'm going to enjoy having it:)  And now that I have the Lumowitz, I can appreciate what kind of woman it will take to get him...and this crock... away from me.  You can tear my son and my crock from my cold dead hands.  That sounds about right. 


And that my friends...is a wonderfully typical night in my life.


The girls playing "paddle pushers" during a Law & Order SVU marathon Tuesday.  

My devastatingly yummy husband reading books to our Lumski.

And me...content in my own little corner of our office, with my babies and husband behind me filling my night with the most joyful ordinary sounds of life.  Ahhhh.  

Precious Autumn Sunshine

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house.
So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.-  Nathaniel Hawthorne

And so it was in this spirit that my babies and I loaded up the suburban loser cruiser for yet another road trip to South Dakota.  It was a perfectly planned 4 day fall weekend away.  From having everything packed and ready to go the night before we left to scheduling parent teacher conferences back to back, on the way out of town.  This was a perfectly planned trip.~sigh~

The first sign of trouble...I showed up to Annika's conference an hour early.  I don't know why, other than I was so high on my brilliant planning and execution of this little vacation, I assume I was on autopilot.  The conference was scheduled for 10:50 am and at 9:45 am Annika and I were speed walking to the school.  All I saw in my head was my outlook calendar "10...conference."  During the walk home Annika quietly mentioned she knew we were early.  Why didn't she speak up?  "Mom...you know what you are like when you have a plan."  

Second red flag...I failed to get the picture I had planned all week of the departure.  The fall colors burning on the trees in our yard, the warm morning sunshine, new fun fall hats (rainbows, Kermit, pumpkin) and hoodies.  And the morning delivered, it was all there, but there was no time.  Somehow I lost time!!  Liam, the dog, maybe a lost phone charger...something sucked up picture time and suddenly we were now rushing to make it the conference I was just an hour early for!!!!  

Third...Autumn's conferences were painfully unorganized.  The teachers were at tables in the library and the idea was to plop down at the table...conference...move on to the next.  We made it to two tables in an hour.  Two...in an HOUR!  And she had 6 teachers there.  As I stood in line (after each conference you move to the back of the line for the next one) I started doing the math...we would be here all morning.  And as more parents showed up...I noticed they were too.  Suddenly, there was an air of desperation...and competition.  It began to look and feel like a game of musical chairs, without the music.  A chair would open and grown adults would run to it, cursing as someone plopped their behind in it with a smug grin.  

I looked at Autumn's report card.  It was fine...we left.  

As we pull away from the school, Autumn pulled out the 13 year old girl dramatics and declares that this is the worst start to a trip she can remember.  Immediately my cheerleader/human resource skills kicked in and everyone in the car endured a top notch motivational speech and I clicked some photos to commemorate the beginning of what I promise to be the best singalong, mad libs, movies in the car, junk food treats, golden fall sunshine in your face road trip!  

~sigh~ I had the wrong Hipstamatic lens on..but I still dig them.

Autumn took over the role of DJ and for a good 1.5 hours...we are girl party on wheels.  Liam fell asleep to the sweet musical stylings of his mom and sisters accompanying a rad 90's mix cd.  Noteworthy moment, Autumn discovers the Goo Goo Dolls:) = my heart sings:)

And really, this is the last carefree moment of my vacation.  Right at the halfway point, Autumn rolled down her window...she is getting car sick.  While it is a stunningly beautiful day, the breeze coming in from the window is chilly and it wakes up Liam.  Annika  yells at Autumn for walking the baby and making her cold.  Autumn gives Annika the choice between "having some fresh air in her face or some fresh vomit."  These words no more than leave her boca...and Liam starts to throw up.  Alot...over and over again.

I don't have many photos of the last 3 days, of the vomit and diarrhea.  Of the loads and loads of laundry my mom has been doing to keep up with the blow outs.  What I do have is this:

Liam destroyed his entire outfit while at the bookstore.  We had a little naked time in the van.

No wipes for this guy, just a good hosing down in the laundry room sink.

We tried...and failed to do many things the first day or so but ultimately it was clear this time would be spent holding baby boy and trying to keep his tush from exploding.  He has been in a good mood despite his digestive issues...he is such a funny baby.  So what if we can't shop?  We still got to pretend Grandpa's calculator is the coolest phone ever.

Liam and I were up early waiting patiently for the sunrise.  When it came, it brought with it cool pinks and blues.  And I realized the leaves are gone, the crazy fall wind has taken them all away leaving the trees gray and naked.  It was cold, and so quiet.  

And I wanted to get back inside and cuddle my warm little man.  And a sense of loss took my breath away.  The colors of fall are already gone and with them the buzz of fall.  The warm sunrise on my face...is gone and replaced by the cold, blue wind of the pending winter.  My friend Michelle is gone too and I'm overwhelmed by the thought of a locked in winter without her voice to bring light to us.  

It's amazing... how in our busy, hectic lives, we can deal with all this loss so gracefully and routinely, until a moment like this...when a simple sunrise shines it's light on change and loss and sickness...the cool blue & gray tones life.  These colors aren't lively or loud, they don't scream adventure and joy, but they are life none the less.  They are the quiet, the difficult, the contemplative, the sorrowful & peaceful...just as deeply felt.  

Share your wisdom with me oh wise old tree...

"Oh sorrowful child...what we do know...

"...is this too shall pass."

Rest in peace my dear friend.

Pumpkin Fest

And while we shared the Ren Fest with thousands of our best geeked out friends , we shared Pumpkin Festival with the entire town of Webster South Dakota.  It’s the tiny little community I lived in until I was 10, that my mom grew up in, and her dad before her.  It is where “The Farm” is located, my magical home away from home I so often reference.  You may have assumed this was a made up place, but it does indeed exist.   

This is a huge deal for us.  We pack up babies and big dogs in our uber cool & hip suburban loser cruiser and hit the road!  Piled front to back with Pumpkin Festival “must haves” like favorite hoodies, chunky knitted scarves and fingerless gloves, supplies for pumpkin decorating and homemade party decorations.  Autumn made some fantastic construction paper garland.

My mom traveled to Webster with a car full of pumpkins, ingredients for fall soups and bread bowls.  This is what it’s about baby…Fall Festivals!  Throw on the orange turtleneck sweater and do it up.  

Everyone had arrived by Friday afternoon in  flurry of phone calls that went something like this..."We are an hour away, what do we still need for dinner?"  No matter how meticulous the planning, there are always reasons to "run into town."  I love that phrase, I am going start using it again.
  
This year the first dinner was at Aunt Maria's.  Us "kids" owned the kitchen while the matriarchs took the night off.  It's nerve wracking to cook for these women...thus the beer & wine trip "to town."  We packed ourselves into her kitchen and crossed our fingers as we worked as a team to ensure the meal went as planned, hors devours out, drinks served, salmon and grilled veggies timed perfectly and keeping mothers out of the kitchen.  


They had jobs...

Water the babies

Love them up

And these babies are so easy to love up....

so are the fur babies.

And most important...laugh

I give them a GOLDSTAR on all tasks.  


It's hard to describe what happens to this family when we leave behind our cities and our work to come here.  There are no boundries...we share children, mothers, fathers, pets, food & drink.  And oh so much laughter.

That's right...fest jammies.

Day two...up early...because it's time for the 5k and fun walk.  This year the mommas decided to walk with the babies and the dads ran.  Always the perpetual cheerleader, my mom hooked us up with a uniform.  I love this stuff.

Team Coffee Cup Fuels Stop

Liam can hardly contain his enthusiasm.

Someone anticipating pain?

Teresa strapped on Cece rocked the fun walk like a champ.

Turns out it was a record year for the old "Pumpkin Fest" 5k and Fun Walk.  I hope it grows to be as epic as it is in our minds.  It's only a 5k, but in alot of ways it's our 5k.  We've made it one of the rare occasions we all make the trip to Webster, no excuses.  And to see more and more people come together on these beautiful fall mornings makes my heart happy...it means there will be more Pumpkin Fests for us to come together for....no excuses.
The rest of the day flows effortlessly.  Omelets at Pereboom's, walk through the city flower garden and guess the giant pumpkin weight.  

Liam gets it...stop and sit in the flowers man.

So many huggy moments.

Pumpkin decorating contest

AND SHOPPING!!!!!


A rookie would drive through Webster without thinking to stop and shop.  A rookie would..but we are no rookies.  There are treasures everywhere.  The Antique stores never fail  to deliver, the drug store occasionally sells grab bags (one year we cleaned them out, just the Wattiers...it was every man for himself)  but the destination is always...Fiksdal's.  


I can't describe it, and I was too busy shopping to snap enough photos to do it justice, but  here is a taste...

My husband loves the food samples... the unique & delicious items you can buy here.  He moves towards the back of the store on autopilot.  He knows there are dips and jellies and always his favorite pumpkin bars.  

I bought my favorite apron here, my favorite jalapeno jelly, favorite dish rag, favorite little birdies, favorite coffee mug and this year I found my Pumpkin Fest treasure here.  I present...my lady bug ring...

And there are others  just as precious.  And only $10.00.  Finding treasures, that's what it's all about.   And boy do we find them.

So...what does "South Dakota Style" mean exactly?  


It means this little town throws open its doors and welcomes the world into its cozy, festive, Norman Rockwell's  fall spot.  And it is groovy.  And we go all out.  We are in the 5k, even with hangovers from a late night of wine and laughter on the farm.  We cruise every antique store, snatching up Kiss albums vintage fabrics and cookie presses.  And we are once again sipping wine to stay warm during the Parade of Fall Lights.  We are city kids, trying to drink in every second of this festive country weekend with its unbelievably rich colors and textures of life.  Where our lives are dazzling smooth stainless steel, this life is a warm patchwork of flannels and denim.    And when we are here, we are completely committed to it…we are farm kids again. 

The Festival of Life

As previously noted, each year, fall rolls in with much fanfare at our house.  For us, the ritual includes FESTIVALS...The Renaissance Festival & The Pumpkin Festival.  We could attend the Renaissance Festival when it begins in the summer, but we wait for the last weekend.  We wait for a chill to hit the air and the humidity to go on vacation.   It is a day trip for us, never a few hours.  This year, a friend gave the girls authentic costumes from her earlier days as a fest employee.  This has earned her rock star status with my girls…and me:) But look at her…she is a rock star…

some girls idolize pop stars, mine idolize dragon slayers...awesome.

Real fairy dust...

I want this to be the color of my makeup...my hair...my nails...my life

My little "Puck"...

And my "Arwen".  My apologies if you aren't fluent in nerdese:)

And of course there is the food.  Is there anything more sinful and decadent than "festival food?"  All bets are off on the healthy life style when I'm in a festival environment.  There are no food rules at all...giant turkey leg?  Yes, please (vegetarian? me? not today.)  3 or 4 halved oranges filled with Italian Ice?  Absolutely!  Chocolate, wine and pickles...OH MY! Sangria...several.  And of course...the ale.

Food glorious food!!

And a little hay...why not?  

I have this theory...that there are "State Fair" people and there are "Renaissance Festival" people.  Both love people watching, both live for festival/fair food and both have a  deep passion for the event. And while "State Fair" people enjoy the thrill of the ride...the adrenaline rush...us "Renaissance Festival" people love living in another time for a day.  Whether you completely geek out and role play, or just enjoy those that do, you still get to escape modern day noise and commotion for much more organic kind noise and commotion.  Flutes and fairies, drums and dragons.  Everything surrounding you demands your attention...the colors, smells, sparkles, fire, music and of course...the people. 

There is a kinship among those inside the gates, a sense of community.  Every year as we dance to the drums at the end of the day, we talk excitedly about how wonderful it would be to just live this life always.  Pick up the accent and a marketable trade skill and live a beautiful Bohemian life!  

But inevitably the sun goes down, and we begin the long trek to the car... pushing a very tired baby across a bumpy field , our girls realizing  that they've been on their feet for 10 hours...walking around.  And we are suddenly hit by exhaustion,  we finally feel the dirt in our hair and on our feet, stomachs churning from the quantity and variety of foods we've enjoyed.  The ride home is silent as little festival bodies pass out and slip into a sugar coma.  Once home, there is a mad dash for the showers, followed by the pre bedtime show of all the cool trinkets from the day.  And it's at this point every year that I say a silent prayer of thanks for the sweet little bohemian life we've created right here in our home.


Up next...PUMPKIN FESTIVAL...South Dakota style baby.