A Mild Uproar of Fun

Only 365 more days until Halloween!

Here are some photos from the neighborhood:

Polaris - Waiting for October

Apryl’s one-eyed pirate, vampire Jack-O-Lantern rules!

And oh, Evil Eva says “Boo!”

Check out the photos from our Pumpkin Carving Party we held on Sunday!

For our third anniversary, we returned to Minnesota. We’re betting we’ll have a lot more of these trips, so we decided to slow down our pace of moving south along the Mississippi River. This time we wandered back and forth between southeastern Minnesota and midwestern Wisconsin. Our cabin was one of the lovely Hawks View Cottages in Fountain City, Wisconsin. We could even see the Mississippi through the trees outside our windows.

A Hawks View Cottage Nestled in the Trees

Zoomed-In View of the Mississippi River from a Window of Our Hawks View Cottage

One of our favorite parts of the trip was visiting the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minnesota. The center has educational exhibits about eagles and local history. The staff also care for 4 bald eagles and 1 golden eagle who have been too injured to remain in the wild. Each of the eagles had a different personality, like the calm and friendly Donald, the stately Harriet, and the sassy Columbia. We also saw two wild eagles in trees across the river from Slippery’s, the restaurant that inspired one of the hangouts in the Grumpy Old Men movies.

Hayden and Apryl Posing as Eagles at the National Eagle Center

The most beautiful site we visited was King’s Bluff in Great River Bluffs State Park, outside Winona, Minnesota. Fortunately, we had no run-ins with rattlesnakes, despite the signs warning us of possible encounters.

Hayden, Happy to Be at the Top of King’s Bluff

In Winona, we encountered the mystery of Sugar Loaf. Before we went on our trip, we read over and over about the limestone pinnacle called Sugar Loaf. (I wonder just how many places throughout the world share that name.) We stopped at the Sugar Loaf Antiques and Crafts to ask how to get closer to the top. Hayden was given only vague directions and ominously warned not to go there because people who climbed it had fallen off and DIED. Naturally, we tried to follow the directions anyway because we wanted to only take photos, not climb.

After driving around in circles for a while, we went to the Winona County Historical Society for better directions. Some lovely women explained that Sugar Loaf was never much of a tourist destination and that the police now won’t allow it to be listed in official city guides because of all the DEATHS that have occurred there. Instead, the women gave us extremely clear directions to the overlook Garvin Heights. While at the overlook, we heard a screaming child down one of the paths, but he turned out to be only cranky and whining.

Garvin Heights Looking Toward Lake Winona and the City of Winona, with the Mississippi River and Fountain City in the Distance

Despite all the dire warnings about Sugar Loaf, I think that I would have felt safer there than at the creepy attraction Rock in the House in Fountain City. In 1995, a 55-ton boulder fell over 400 feet from the bluff above into one of the house’s bedrooms. The owners moved out, and the house is open for tourists. The giant boulder, which was clearly not going anywhere, was not what disturbed me. The house itself was a bit too reminiscent of an abandoned house in a horror movie—albeit, a much-cleaner-than-normal abandoned house. On top of that, music was playing, no one else could be seen, and parts of the house were shut off. Hayden was busy snapping photos. I was looking around nervously with car keys in hand, expecting someone to jump out with a deranged look on his face and a giant knife in his hand. Perhaps Hayden has asked me to sit through one too many horror movies.

The Rock in the House

Kitchen at the Rock in the House (What lurks behind the tidy facade?)

Fortunately, we survived the trip. It’s taken months to post about it because Hayden has been busy trying to survive a long, exhausting work project and because even though I’ve had free time, I’m not much of a blogger. When Hayden’s current job is over and Halloween draws nearer, I’m sure there will be more frequent posts. In the meantime, you can entertain yourself with more photos from our trip.

Probably today or tomorrow.

Photo by Phillip Parker.

Hayden had to get out of Memphis a second time, for a day trip to a baseball game in Birmingham. A few days later, on our way back to Chicago, we all stayed the night in Nashville with Hayden’s sister Paige and her family.

Birmingham

On Wednesday, Hayden and his dad got to cheer on Hayden’s favorite baseball team, a mere 650 miles away from U.S. Cellular Field. The fates must truly support Hayden’s love of the White Sox. Somehow the stars aligned so that my mom’s surgery was scheduled the day after Memorial Day, putting Hayden in prime position to get to Birmingham the following day for the Rickwood Classic. Only once per season, the White Sox’s AA affiliate, the Birmingham Barons, play at Rickwood Field, “America’s oldest ballpark.” Even being hoarse from his sore throat, Hayden couldn’t help feeling in heaven.

Exterior of Rickwood Field, the oldest operating baseball park in the United States

Hayden up to bat at Rickwood Field

I won’t relate all the details of the stadium and the game, only because Hayden promises to write a full recap later. More photos and video are here.

Nashville

On Sunday, we headed to Nashville—followed closely by Ashley, Sydney, and Clayton—to see Paige, her husband Mike, and their kids, Jackson, Andrew, Reid, and McKenzie Hayden. I don’t know what could have made their dog, Greer, think of making a brief escape. Hayden and I also went out that evening, not for escape, but to see our friend Brad. Fortunately, Eva had plenty of distractions to keep her from wanting to leave Paige’s house.

McKenzie Hayden gnaws on a toy by the pool

Ashley, Hayden, and Paige by the pool

Andrew, Greer, and Sydney after Greer’s escape and capture

Eva on a maize, aka “get it” rug

On Monday, we packed up the car and had a smooth drive back to Chicago—except for half an hour of bad thunderstorms in Indiana.

A thunderstorm on I-64 in Indiana

More photos and video are here.

Starting Memorial Day weekend, we spent nearly two weeks in the South, visiting family and friends.

Greer’s Ferry

Eva and I stayed put most of the trip, she at Hayden’s dad’s place in Collierville, and I at my parents’ house in Memphis. However, Hayden left town the day after we got to Memphis. He went to his dad’s place in Greer’s Ferry, Arkansas, to fish and, of course, look for Bigfoot with his dad, sister Ashley, niece Sydney, and nephew Clayton.

Hayden’s Dad and Sydney fish in Greer’s Ferry Lake

Sadly, both Hayden and our old Canon ELPH digital camera got sick. Fortunately, Hayden’s sore throat and coughing subsided after about a week. Unfortunately, the little digital camera didn’t make it. Don’t worry though; there are still plenty of photos from the rest of the trip. Somehow Hayden was able to get over his loss and pick out a new camera, with his friend Daniel’s help, the very next day. More photos and video are here.

Memphis

I started my trip, without a camera, by hanging out with my sisters Lisa and Stephanie and seeing Summer and Elaina and their adorable kids Silas and Eva (not named after our cat). On Sunday morning, we brunched with our friends Brett and Vanessa. Later, Hayden saw his friends Daniel and Melanie, in town from LA, while I had a girls’ night with some friends from high school and college. Because two of the girls are moving away this summer, one to northern Georgia and the other only 2.5 hours south of Chicago (yay!), I commandeered the new camera.

Amber, Charlotte, Jennifer F, Caroline, Apryl, and Jennifer B R celebrate the last girls’ night for a long while

After sleeping most of Sunday and Monday, Hayden woke up long enough to go to a Memorial Day cookout with my mom, dad, sisters, and brother-in-law Adam. On Tuesday, I got up around 6:00 a.m. to go with the rest of my family to an outpatient surgery center for my mom’s gallbladder surgery. That woman has a higher pain tolerance than anyone else I know; she took only four pain pills and was back at work on Friday. Because she was so lucid Tuesday night and Wednesday, we were able to spend lots of time relaxing and chatting.

While my mom and I were lazing around, Hayden was with his mom cleaning out things in his old bedroom—including lots of old baseball cards—on Tuesday and with his dad at a baseball game in Birmingham on Wednesday (see more in Part 2).

Hayden’s tin of baseball cards

On Thursday, Hayden had lunch with his friend Greg, and I with my friend Becky. Then Hayden did a show on WEVL. After a nice chat with Judy, we went to dinner with my sisters and brother-in-law and stopped by Lisa’s house so Hayden could see how big her crazy cat J.P. Hubert has gotten.

On Friday, we introduced Stephanie to the Bar-B-Q Shop (she and Adam went back a week later) and enjoyed watching the Redbirds play in old Memphis Chicks uniforms (thanks for the tickets, Adam!). We ended the night by staying out much later than we had intended, until 2:00 a.m. Our friend Caroline was having a going away party, and every time we turned around, more friends of ours showed up.

Stephanie and Apryl at a Memphis Redbirds’ game

We dragged ourselves out of bed on Saturday to have lunch with our friends John and Julie and dinner with Brian, Michelle, and their sweet-tempered, smart, and funny son, Joe.

Hayden, Apryl, Julie, and John after a delicious lunch

Joe going down the slide, aka escalator

More photos and video are here.