809 Kennedy Court

Before we left we took a few minutes to take some pictures with grandma in her house and of her house. I have a lot of good memories of the summer here. We got some good family shots and photos that bring back memories for me. I considered taking a picture of the laundry shoot (hours of fun putting things down that and into the basement laundry), but instead I'll keep that memory in my head.

There was one special find downstairs in the basement. A trunk from Norway from 1872 that belonged to Guro, a family friend that came over from Norway to Minnesota to help raise some children. Inside that trunk was her old Lutheran catechism in Norwegian, published in 1849 and given in 1854. If you look closely you'll see the cover of the book is actually very thin pieces of wood, held together partially by the paper covering. Pretty amazing to find something almost 170 years old in grandma's basement.

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

Some of you reading may not know this, but I share the same birthday with my grandma. Instead of 1926, it's 1978, but otherwise all else is the same. It's pretty much why I'm her favorite grandchild. Plus I was the first. It's hard to beat that at home kids.

My mom was able to make preparations in advance for her party. Friends, neighbors, and family were invited to attend the reception at The Seasons at Rose Creek Golf Course on Saturday afternoon. Most of the people were from the area, but some had flown in from Colorado (cough) or driven from Wyoming and the Twin Cities. Michelle might have won the award for farthest traveled from California. 

The reception was great. I was able to recognize a few faces from when I was a kid and some I had seen more recently. Grandma was looking forward to this day and seeing everyone from the time planning started. I'm pretty sure she's still smiling about it now. We got a few good pictures. So glad we were able to come up and celebrate the 90th birthday of my favorite grandma on my Mom's side, Pauline.

Hjemkomst Center

We arrived in Fargo for Grandma's 90th birthday.  It was a homecoming of a different sort, much like the name of the museum we visited the next day.  Both the replica viking ship and stave church were handmade, ornate masterpieces. I've included the details from Wikipedia of each of these attractions below the pictures, if you care to read up. Just be warned, the gift shop is crawling with angry viking warriors!




The Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center, commonly known as the Hjemkomst Center, is museum in Moorhead, Minnesota. Hjemkomst Center first opened in 1985 and serves as a home to Hjemkomst Viking Ship, Hopperstad Stave Church replica, quarterly museum exhibits, and county archives.

 

Hjemkomst

Hjemkomst, which means "Homecoming" in Norwegian, is a replica Viking ship that is permanently housed in the center of the museum. The ship is a full-scale replica of the Gokstad Viking ship that was discovered in Norway in 1880. The idea for building Hjemkomst was that of Robert Asp (1923-1980), a guidance counselor at Moorhead Junior High School. Construction on Hjemkomst began in 1974 at the Leslie Welter Potato Warehouse in Hawley, Minnesota. The warehouse site was then transformed into the Hawley Shipyard during the construction. That same year, Asp became diagnosed with leukemia; however he still continued to build the ship; he had help from other volunteers.^[4]

In July 1980 the Hawley Shipyard was torn down for the removal and christening of the completed ship. Hjemkomst was shipped overnight to Duluth, Minnesota, on August 5, 1980. Asp held the rank as captain during the ship's maiden voyage throughout Lake Superior until his death four months later on December 27, 1980. In May 1982, Asp's three sons and daughter along with eight members of Hjemkomst crew decided to sail Hjemkomst to Norway, which was Asp's original dream. The ship departed New York City on June 8, 1982 and arrived in Oslo, Norway two months later on August 9, 1982. The ship stayed in Oslo for a year until it was transported back to Minnesota on MV Brunto.^[5][6]

 

Hopperstad Stave Church Replica

The Hopperstad Stave Church Replica is a replica of a Norwegian stave church located on the grounds of the Hjemkomst Center. The church was built in 1998 by Guy Paulson and was constructed of cedar, redwood, and pine. It is a full-scale replica of the 12th Century Hopperstad Stave Church in Vik, Norway. The church serves as a reminder of the Scandinavian heritage in the Red River Valley.^[7]

Little Adults

Jonathan heading off to "work school" like Dad...spiked hair, belt, watch, badge and nice shoes...

Here is Jonathan at Sawyer's (dressed as a Star Wars tiger) birthday party.  Aaron is his other buddy from school, but his paint paint job looks like, well, I don't really know.

Julia at a sleepover (with Jonathan and Mom).  Spa night with homemade oatmeal and cucumber to relieve all the puffiness on the eyes. Playing and 2nd Grade is so stressful.

Surfing Video

Here is a very poor quality video of the kids surfing (mentioned earlier).  I am super-bummed this didn't turn out very well, but all we had at the time was my old camera. It doesn't take very good video.  This was the last straw.  I have been pushing off getting a real video camera for a long time and I will now be getting a nice one.

Miscellaneous Hawaii Pictures

Sometimes these are the best shots of the trip. Descriptions in order.

The view from the back patio of our condo the first morning after we arrived late the night before.
The view from the roof of our building, looking towards Waikiki.
Waikiki sand showers.  Used almost if not daily.

Standing below the huge Banyan tree at Waikiki. Check out the roots descending from the branches.
Spot the goofball at opening night at Sweet Home Auntie's (a restaurant owned by a friend of Susie's).
Goofy picture controlled by my Watch by Julia.
Famous Hawaii shave ice!

First BBQ lunch had at Mario's office. Susie and staff cooked us a spread and gave us all leis.
A photo at the Seattle airport on the way back home that will make your heart melt.
A snowy ride home after a red eye flight.  The quote Lloyd C "some people just aren't cut out for life on the road".

Surf's Up!

One of the things I'll remember most about our trip to Hawaii is renting a surfboard. Although I took it out for a little bit, the kids mostly used it.  There was a small area behind some breakers where the waves were just the right size for the kids.  I would tow the board out as far as I could (probably 30 - 40 feet from shore) and then wait for the perfect wave. I was able to give the board a big push so that it would catch the wave while the kids were sitting down.  After the big push the kids would stand up and ride the wave to the shore.

This was also great entertainment for the rest of the beaches goers (many smiles/laughs). A few other kids bummed a ride here and there too. The kids were talking the rest of the trip that they were the "famous surfers" and that they were "so good even after the first day".  We probably spent 4 - 5 hours doing this over the course of two sessions. Julia enjoyed it a lot more since she was more sure of her balance and could keep her head above the water more easily.  She also looked like a surfer girl with her blond hair and sweet moves by the end.

Waikiki Sunset

Nothing like watching the sunset on Waikiki Beach (and then deciding to play in the ocean in your clothes). Especially when it's snowing back home...

Genki Sushi

One of the things we miss most about Hawaii is the food. When we went and visited our old neighborhood we stopped at one of our favorite sushi restaurants. This particular place is on the lower end (more like the fast food of sushi), but it still tastes good and you can eat a lot.  The kids even tried some new things.

One of the things the kids really liked was how the food was served. The different sushi options snake around the seating areas on a conveyor belt...priced by the color of plate they are on. If you want to order something special from the kitchen it's all done on touchscreens and then a space shuttle or race car comes zooming to your table with the food when it's ready.

There are a few of these restaurants in California and Washington, but they are mainly located in the Pacific and Asia. Jonathan didn't try sushi - he was too busy eating the french fries. I didn't try the local special, spam sushi, but I tried pretty much everything else...