The Other Three-Quarters

Well Jay isn't the only one having a good time. Maggie, Zoe and I returned to Minnesota to hang out with family for a few weeks. We decided that since we had to be back in Minnesota for a wedding in August that we'd come back early and have some fun. When Jay heads out fishing we often hang out in Francine, which is fine, for a few days. A few weeks, and we start to go a little stir crazy. Maggie was craving some friends and I was craving some adults, so off to Minnesota we went.

Now you must understand what visiting the Larson cousins means to Maggie. It is uninterrupted Maggie time. She has 4 cousins that range in age from 12 to 4. This alone would be great company for her and a nice break for me, but on the cul-du-sac that the Larson's live on the are somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 children. No, just kidding, but there are more children than I can keep track of in a day. The Larson clan has the fewest number of children on their block. Most families have 5, 6 or even 7 children. It is amazing to look out and see all those kids running around and playing. Maggie instantly made friends with everyone in the neighborhood. Many of the girls upon seeing Maggie said "AWE, she's so CUTE. I wish she was my cousin...." Maggie just grinned from ear to ear. Add to this that every other yard has a pool, a swing set and a trampoline and there is no end to what can be done in a day. Maggie has "perfected" her swimming skills to the point where she swam without the aid of her floaties. It wasn't the prettiest thing to watch, but it worked for her.

A few days after we arrived, the girls came in to tell us that we were needed next door for a "show." Maggie, her cousins, and a couple of other neighbor girls were putting on a show for everyone. Cousin Mollie was the MC and introduced the girls to the sell out crowd. I think there were 10 adults in attendance and 20 kids. Maggie sang "Sweet Caroline" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Her fellow performers played the violin. Each was dressed in the fanciest dress-up clothes they could find. I was amazed by the lack of shyness of all the girls. Here is a short video of Maggie's performance.





In addition to playing in the neighborhood, we spent a little time out and about. Mollie attended Korean Culture Camp for a week. It was down in Minneapolis, which is a trek from the Larson house. One of the days we loaded up all the cousins and headed to Science Museum of Minnesota to help pass the time while Mollie was at camp. What an amazing place. We played Mini-Golf there while learning about Watersheds. We saw dinosaur skeletons, experimented with light and water. We even saw how the body works. It was a very fun day. Below is a picture of everyone playing in the large sandbox. The sloping sandbox had water pumped into it at the top to create rivers. Children could make sandbars and dams and put culverts in to divert the water and watch how their changes effected the river's direction.

With so much of Maggie's time spent with other kids, I found myself with very little to do. Missy, my sister-in-law and I spent much of my time lounging on the couch actually reading whole novels and completing full sentences without interruption. I barely saw Maggie and had to drag her in to eat. It was heaven for all.