Mayo Clinic, Historic Fort Snelling, and My Son

As a mother of four, it's a rare treat to spend an entire day alone with just one child--but that's exactly what I did yesterday. Sadly, it was at the cost of a doctor's appointment, but we made the most of it.

Our three other children went to Grandma's house, and I took our youngest son to a follow-up appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Thankfully he's a healthy, happy little boy. I blogged about his surgery at Mayo two years ago here. When we received the letter from Mayo telling us it was time for his two year appointment, I could hardly believe it!

This picture was taken two years ago
on the day of surgery.

Here was his thumb before surgery.

Our son was born with a "double thumb," or bifid thumb, which means he had two fingers growing out of the middle joint on his thumb. He had surgery to remove one of those bones, and besides a scar, it's almost impossible to see that anything was done to his thumb.

The two of us left our house at five in the morning to make it in time for his appointment. It was a long drive, but he slept some of the way and when he wasn't sleeping, he asked about a hundred questions. The questions were about life in general, which I answered as best as I could. His favorite question lately is: "How do you know?" To which I answer: "Because I'm much older than you."

He was fascinated by the whole process.

Part of his appointment required taking pictures
of the thumb to watch its progress as he grows.

As we waited in the children's waiting room to be seen by the doctor, I was reminded of all the children who suffer in this world, and their parents who suffer along with them. It breaks my heart every time. There were children curled up in wheelchairs, children with no hair, children with oxygen tanks, and so many more. There were moms and dads holding thick file folders, and ones who were called back by a doctor to hear a prognosis, and others just sitting there holding their babies tight against their chests. When we go to Mayo, it reminds me to be so thankful for my healthy children and to pray for those who are battling for their lives.

He loved looking down on the "little" people
from the 16th Floor of the Mayo building.

After my son's appointment, we met with a fellow Minnesota author, and friend, Erica Vetsch! Talk about a treat. :) Erica's stories will be included in the two novellas with mine next year, so we had a lot to talk about. My son did an amazing job being patient while we chatted--probably because he was allowed to play with my phone. :)

Here we are at Newt's in Rochester.

After our visit with Erica, we left Rochester behind. But I didn't want our day to end there, so my son and I stopped at Historic Fort Snelling in St. Paul. We had fun working at the fort, and watching the cannon and muskets fire. We also had fun climbing stairs and looking out peepholes. The fort is amazing, and every time I go there, I discover something new.

Fort Snelling in St. Paul. The round tower is the oldest
building still standing in Minnesota, built in 1820.

Musket drill

Showing my son how they would have made his favorite
food in the 1820's: waffles.

And where they would have cooked them.

Playing checkers in the Sutler's Store.

The Soldier's Barracks. The men would have slept two men
on top, head to foot, and two men on the bottom, head to foot!

Married Soldier's Barracks. Two families would have shared
this room.

Officer's Barracks

Married Officer's Barracks

His biggest smile of the day came when he was allowed
to beat the drum.

Preparing for the cannon drill.

He was determined to wear the yoke. :)

Beautiful day at one of Minnesota's favorite
historic sites.

Showing off his Minnesota Historical Society
Membership Sticker! It says: "I'm a Member!"

We left Fort Snelling and visited Dairy Queen before we headed home for open house at his new preschool.

It was a fun, looooooong day, but I was so happy to get this one on one time with him.

Your Turn: Have you seen a cannon or musket fire? Ever been to a historic site? What's your favorite thing to do when you have one-on-one time with someone you love?

On the Banks of Plum Creek with My Girls & A Winner!

I was overwhelmed by your love and support last week when I made my big announcement! That post alone received over a thousand views this week. Thank you for being with me to celebrate. I'm thrilled to announce the winner of the Little Falls gift basket is Laura McClellan! Laura, I'll be contacting you soon.

Next week I will share a sneak peek of my novellas, but for now, I want to share pictures from the recent trip I took with my daughters and mom to see Laura Ingalls Wilder's home site on the banks of Plum Creek.

My daughters turned ten and eight this summer. A perfect age to read through the Little House on the Prairie series and make a pilgrimage to Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

 

Walnut Grove is three hours south of our house, Pepin, Wisconsin (where Little House in the Big Woods is set) is three hours southeast, and DeSmet, South Dakota (where On the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years are set) is four and a half hours southwest. We chose to go to Walnut Grove because of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant, and because it was the 40th Anniversary of the television series, and many of the original cast members would be in Walnut Grove to celebrate.

I'm so happy we did.

We invited my mom to come with and we enjoyed seeing many small towns in Minnesota we've only heard of. We arrived a bit later than planned, because I relied on my car's GPS and it routed the wrong way (adding an extra hour to our drive), but eventually we pulled into town--and it was packed! Record-breaking numbers we were told.

The first stop was the Family Festival in the park where my oldest participated in a Laura Ingalls Wilder look alike contest. She did a wonderful job, but with 51 other contestants, she didn't win.

Throughout the day, we had people ask if they could take her picture, because she looked so much like Laura. We also had many people ask if she had been in the contest, and if she won. They were shocked when she said no. :) This bolstered her spirits a little.

After the contest, we went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. Now, I'm a sucker for a good museum, and I wasn't disappointed. Very well done.

 

Our next stop was to the site of the dugout on the banks of Plum Creek, where Laura lived with her family. This was my favorite part of the whole day. There was something magical about standing where Laura stood, and playing in the creek with my girls.

 

After a quick bite to eat, it was time to go to the Cast Reunion and Pageant.

I was only able to take two pictures, because my batteries died.

The Cast Reunion was another highlight of the day. It was so  much fun listening to them reminisce about their days on the set of Little House on the Prairie. The people who played Almanzo, Nellie, Miss Beadle, Carrie (twins), Grace (twins), Eliza Jane, and John Jr. took the stage.

All too soon the Cast Reunion ended, and the pageant began under the star-studded sky. The weather was perfect, with a soft breeze. There were over 2,300 people at the pageant! It was amazing to see all the Little House on the Prairie fans--and to have two of the biggest fans sitting next to me.

Your Turn: Have you read any of the Little House on the Prairie books or watched the television series? Ever been to one of the towns Laura lived in?

What's New?

I feel like I need to crack my knuckled and wiggle my fingers a bit to get my hands working on this blog post! It's been much too long since I've updated my blog.

Here's a brief list of all the things that have kept me busy this past month.

1. Homeschooling. We're only a few weeks away from completing our first year of homeschooling our oldest daughter! This makes me very excited. I'm excited that we're almost done, but I'm also excited that the year went so well. We're already planning for next year!

Our oldest doing her school work. We use Switched On
Schoolhouse, a fun computer-based curriculum.

2. Writing My Novel. I finished my third novel on April 13th, just shy of three months after I started it. I try to write during the winter when my husband is home (he has a landscaping business). During the summer we have a lot of activities planned and it wouldn't work for me to write with such intensity. My story already went through the hands of my writing critique partners, and is now with my beta readers. I hope to get it to my agent in the coming weeks.

I spent hours pouring over a local newspaper doing research
for my current novel set in 1927 when Lindbergh came home!
I don't know what I enjoy more: researching or writing! This
photo was taken at the Morrison County Historical Society.

3. Children's Activities. Piano, violin, dance lessons, basketball, AWANA, MOPS, and ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education), filled my winter calendar. All of these are wrapping up for the summer, and a few we have officially "graduated" from. It's bitter-sweet to close a chapter in life. I will miss MOPS and ECFE, but I'm excited for all the new adventures to come. This summer we have lots of fun activities planned. Now that the boys are four, I feel like we can have a bit more freedom to explore Minnesota and start going places I wouldn't have dared to go when they were younger. :)

My husband was one of the coaches for our
daughters' basketball team.

4. The Boys Turned Four! Speaking of the boys, we celebrated their fourth birthday on March 29th! That's a pretty huge milestone in our family. It was also the one year anniversary of signing with my agent. Lots of things to celebrate that day.

My boys turned 4!!!!

5. Judging for the Carol Awards. This year I was asked to be one of the judges for the prestigious Carol Award given during the ACFW Conference in September. The Carol Award is for published Christian fiction. It's been so much fun discovering new authors! I had never read any of their stories before (though I know who they are). I feel like I'm also a winner because I now have three new authors I want to follow.

6. Reading for Pleasure. I also have read a few books for pleasure! Pleasure, I tell you. :) Now that I write, I don't read nearly as much as I'd like--and probably not nearly as much as I should. One of the books I'm currently reading is the second novel by my friend Melissa Tagg. Her book is called Here to Stay and it's a wonderful story. Melissa captures the heart of a small town with perfection. Her hero is Blake Hunziker, who made his appearance in Melissa's first novel, Made to Last.

Isn't this cover adorable? I love it. :)

7. Spring Clean-Up. Now that the snow has finally melted, we've been busy in the yard and house! Cleaning up feels so good after a long winter. We've also had two fires down by the river already, and we're looking forward to many more.

Our first family fire--which meant our first s'mores of the season.

These are the activities that have kept the Meyer family busy this spring! I'm looking forward to spending more time on my blog this summer, and I'll be sure to update as my book moves through all the various stages of its journey.

Your Turn! I'd love to hear what has kept you busy this spring. Any fun plans for the summer?