Big Family Vacation part 2 - Pioneer Day

July 24 is a state holiday in Utah, celebrating the day Brigham Young and company arrived in the Salt Lake Valley and he declared, “This is the place.” Each city has a major celebration planned. We joined the Provo festival two blocks away from our AirBNB from 10-2 and then did fireworks in Orem after dinner. Joy visited her cousin Heather while the rest of us did the Provo festival.

The pioneer village and museum (always there) were both open and populated by folks in period clothing showing off skills like leatherworking and blacksmithing. The kids enjoyed a pioneer version of catch played with sticks and hoops. I was impressed by the hair art (pictued) – people would weave the hair of their departed loved ones to remember them by. At the museum, I noticed (on my mother’s behalf) that there wasn’t any bobbin lace, but lots of crochet. Apparently that was the skill the pioneer women took with them to make pretty things. I laughed about the collection of musical organs they had on display. One told the story of how they acquired it and the previous owners were happy that more people would get a chance to play on it. That story was next to a prominent sign: “DO NOT TOUCH OR PLAY.” More than half a dozen century-old organs and I’m not allowed to touch any. So sad!

Nia: I made a dolly out of corn husks! There were very few places to sit at the museum – one spot next to the bathrooms.

Hy: And the sign said you could only sit in the chair to look at the display case next to it. At every pioneer thing I’ve been to they’ve had that ring toss game and I enjoy it because I like sports.

Nia: I’m terrified to do that again because when I launched the hoop aiming at JT, it flew too far and went through the fence and broke! So I am afraid of doing that again in case I break the toy and ruin it for everyone else. I liked milking the bear.

<We all stare at her. She reminds us.>

One of the toys was a toy, wooden bear that had two ropes through each paw. By pulling on the ropes really fast, alternating back and forth, the bear would “climb” the ropes to the top. This was there to teach the children how to milk a cow.

Nia: So it was milking the bear! You milk the bear up the wall.

Hy: If I tried to milk a bear, I would sure milk it up a wall.

 

They had many games. Despite Hyrum’s great strength, the heavier person won each stick pulling contest.

Nia: Dad pulled Hyrum to the side to win, but I actually went up, so I lost with style!

We did a root beer chug as a family plus one guy we didn’t know. He won. I came a close second and the kids came close to exploding before they finished. That guy incidentally won the citywide root beer chug at noon.

Hy: So you feel less bad?

Yes. Only the winners of the “family” chug got to participate in the full contest. It reassures me that I could have placed better in the rootbeer chug than I did the pie eating contest. I mentioned to some of the other guys in the pie eating contest that if you looked to your side and see someone Way ahead of you, the winning strategy is to slow way down and just enjoy your slice of pie. Turns out the guy next to me was the clear winner, so I slowed down pretty early on and enjoyed it slowly, shared some with the kids. One remarked that they could see when I gave up. There were also food trucks so we could have something resembling real food too.

Hy: JT and I raced ducks. They have two paths of water and we both get a small rubber duckie and a straw that we turn so that when we blow down, the air shoots out forwards. We raced to see who could get our duck to the end fastest. Most of the booths gave prizes for participation. My real success in the festival was in the ring toss. It was very difficult because the bottles in the center were close together, and I got on in the back. They only gave prizes to actual winners at that one, so that felt like my real prizes.

A bunch of crafts were on display. I took pictures of this crochet dragon. We assembled a bucket, which is a lot like a 3D puzzle where you have to put the puzzle pieces in a particular order. Nia and I added to the crochet chain everyone did. There were wood carvers. Joy got a couple miniature pencil sharpeners (a grandfather clock and a grain mill).

Nia: I bought a tiny crochet octopus! There were some really cool earrings!

Joy: It was really cool to be at the pioneer park on Pioneer Day. Since we don’t usually get to be in Utah for the holiday.

The Orem fireworks were Very well attended. We couldn’t find a place to park, so paused our car in the middle of the parking lot and everyone but me got out to watch. An older couple had set out lawn chairs behind their parked car, so we were with them, knowing we weren’t blocking them from getting out. I tried playing some music to go along with the fireworks, but the kids kept asking me to turn it off. ☹  It was a very nice display.

We set off sparklers, poppers, and some flower-works at home afterwards and had a late sleep.

JT: It was really sad when the last flowerwork was a dud.

Nia: It was!

Joy: The fireworks were really neat. We haven’t seen a display like that in a long time.

Nia: The 24^th of July is like a million times better than Stephenville’s celebration of the 4^th!

Hy: I noticed the Y on the mountain was lit up.

Moscow 2 - assorted architecture and art

I enjoyed my walks from the hotel to the metro and then to the university. Aside from the Christmas decorations I mentioned in my last about my January trip 10 months ago, I enjoyed the architectural motifs, the murals, the statues, and other works of art around the area. Here are some of the pictures I took that fit in that category:

Moscow State University's admin building. It's worth googling to see some amazing shots!

The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed - I was interested to learn that St. Basil's is only one of the domes here, and not even the largest.

Kazan Cathedral, also on the Red Square

This building is undergoing construction, so they put a screen up on it and at night this was projected on/through it. During the daylight I never knew this was the building I was passing.

A mural of Napoleon's defeat in the subway station

I stood staring at this building for a long time, noticing at every moment yet another decoration engraved on its surface. Doesn't look like much from this size - click to enlarge.

I appreciate the significance of a mural of people being watched under a magnifying lens in Moscow.

The church by the hotel

Of course there are many stalls and stores willing to sell things to tourists on the Red Square (capitalism!) and I was quite taken in by this display. Faberge eggs have long been a favorite in my family going back generations.

Spring Break: Day 3-5

Day 3 and 4 of our project, Joy and I managed to fill in the cement cracks for 2/3 of the driveway - all I had prepared on Day 2. We were very pleased and surprised at how quickly we were able to fill the cracks. Joy poured the cement and I used the trowel to smooth it out. I think next time we have a free weekend we'll be able to fill in the rest of it and be done!

Joy got to spend her afternoon Thursday with Nicholeen Peck at the conference and she really loved the time. She even got to help her mentor at her booth and answer people's questions! She hopes she'll be able to help again next year. The kids and I had a nice time together, working, shopping, and preparing to leave.

Friday was a very busy day. We dropped Joy off at her conference and I took the kids to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (aka the US Mint). We got to find out about how they make the currency. They've done a really nice job of it - informative, entertaining for my 6 and 10 year-olds. Sadly, however, they discourage bringing anything and everything into the building. Especially cellphones. So no pictures. The metal detector and guards are all at a second building a ways away from the main building (pictured), but they have two trams to carry you back and forth.

There's a nice little "people in your neighborhood" movie where the people who do the work talk about their jobs and how much they LOVE working at the BEP. The kids enjoyed some hands-on exhibits where you can zoom in on the money to detect flaws or see how the ink has shiny metallic bits in it. They had actual people to talk to who were very good with the kids and a self-paced audio tour where you saw the money actually being made. Real nice. The kids were impressed.

After lunch we went to the Kimbell Art Museum. Since Superstar completed his Cub Scout Bear that week, he is officially now a Webelos Scout and just HAPPENS to need to go to an art gallery! So he was very happy I was dragging him there.

This was my favorite painting - some Dutch 1600s landscape. I tend to rather like Dutch and Flemish painting from that era.

There were several places for kids of varying ages to make their own art. Princess and Superstar made fish collages. JT made a birthday wish and stamped it with a Chinese fan picture to hang on a tree.

We learned that Princess is particularly interested in sculptures. She and Superstar's favorite was a golden statue of the crowned Virgin Mary with baby Jesus. We talked for a while about comparing and contrasting two pictures of "some guy" - one in a slightly impressionistic style, one in cubist style. Princess posed with an Aztec god of spring and rejuvenation (below).

On our way out, I suddenly realized we had passed a Monet, so we went back to see the Monet Weeping Willow. The children were not impressed.

Mo' Monet, Mo' Problems

Vortrekker needlework

Far more impressive to me than the view were the arts and crafts stored in the basement of the Vortrekker Monument. A fellow named Coetzer was commissioned to create a series of needlepoint tapestries in commemoration of the trek. They are beautiful! They are impressive! As a fellow needle-worker, I was really impressed.

Here are three of my favorites, with more below the fold.

I LOVED this.

This sculpture is made out of icing. It was made out of icing in 1984 and it is still here.

Toys for vortrekker children to play with.

Things I want to know:
Did Vortrekker children sing as they walked and walked?
Did little Vortrekker children gather berries for food and chips for wood?
Do I have to walk a thousand miles or more to be a Vortrekker?

Part painting, part stichery.

Of all the things I've lost...

Last week, the AC (power) adapter for the iPad AUN gave me died. We can't find a replacement in town, of course. I can still recharge it, very slowly, by plugging it into the computer for 24-someodd hours. Overall, we have lucked out greatly. The electric supply is not only unpredictable, it is erratic in how strong it is. There are surges that can easily fry electronic equipment, even when it's plugged into a stabilizer AND a surge protector ... like my AC adapter. So far, we've only lost that and two AUN cords for my computer and the latter AUN replaced.

... I miss my mind the most

Labor is cheap around here. So it would have been totally possible for us to repair Joy's shoes. But someone seems to have thrown them away. I don't ever keep track of her shoes to know when one needs to be thrown away and she wouldn't have. Our only guess is that the maid threw them out... but that means Joy is down to only a pair of sandals and a pair of church shoes that haven't broken.

Our camera died. No idea how since it's never plugged into the wall. It just won't work anymore. So the only pictures we're getting now are on my iPad. Or the DS, but we're having trouble transferring DS pictures to computers or Facebook.

But the thing I miss the most is my Eagle project. [As I type this, I can hear my mother gasping.] I've been working on that for half of my life. It's a cross-stitch/needlework project of an eagle soaring over mountains and forests with a rainbow. I started it after I got my Eagle Scout award. I work on it off and on (mostly off, clearly). I took it with me to Ethiopia in February to work on during flights and at the hotel. I know it made it out of Ethiopia. I'm almost most positive it made it to the hotel in Abuja.... But we can't find it anywhere here. We spent the whole time between general conference sessions looking for it, but I can't find it anywhere.

Addis Ababa: Lucy's home

While in Addis Ababa [three weeks ago now], I visited the national museum. It has some interesting artifacts and paintings, but none of it is the Real Reason to go there. So I'm going to keep those pictures small. You can see more detail by clicking on them.

The brands on the top right were used in place of signet rings to mark who stuff belongs to. I think they look pretty cool. I could go for that. On the left, you see a teeny rendering of Gondar, once the capitol city and also known as the Camelot of Ethiopia. Of course, all I can think about is Gondor, and it's one more proof that life really did begin in this neighborhood.


On the right is a massive throne. The seat itself is about at my waist height and the chair is more than a story tall. They have some interesting ceremonial garb.

There was a group of school children there. That was fun because some of them wanted to see a little model city outline on a pedestal but couldn't reach. Using appropriate international sign language, I picked one of them up and let her see. The grin I got in response was precious.

Upstairs they have some pictures I rather enjoyed. Among the things that makes Ethiopia interesting to me is the history of Judaism and early Christianity there. (Did you know Ethiopia is mentioned in Isaiah?) 

 




A painting commemorating the 1984 famine.








The real reason to go to the museum is to meet Lucy. She's buried in the basement. But she isn't conveniently located at the beginning of the downstairs where the other 2-4 million year old skulls are. She's down a lot of corridors and turns to force you to see the rest of the saber toothed bunny rabbits and gorgons and whatnot you didn't come here to see are before you finally find....