Another week of RSCM camp has come to an end! This year, Turkey, Bunny, and Ladybug all attended for the second year in a row (this was Turkey’s fourth year!). When we dropped them off on Monday, it was raining, which was unpleasant, but the rain didn’t last the whole week.
For the first time, their Saturday Evensong service was in Belleville. The church was beautiful, and they sounded beautiful!
This morning, as they have every year, they sang for Mass at St. Louis’ Cathedral Basilica.
The biggest difference this year was that they sang in the balcony of the cathedral. And it was hot up there! So instead of wearing their robes, they wore their RSCM t-shirts, which was kind of a cool change:
They had a great time, and their singing was amazing, but I’m sure glad they’re home!
Who else is partying like it’s 1969?!? The 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing has me in a festive, mid-century mood!
In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that our big Apollo 11 anniversary party was last Saturday, because I knew that the majority of our family wouldn’t be home today. So I started on my preparations extra early:
I found a lot of cool stuff, both around the house (it’s not like we’ve never studied space before!) and at the store. These Moon Landing Oreos were a huge hit!
I planned our party in several parts. I decided to really achieve the proper 1960s atmosphere, we should have a “cocktail hour.” I tried to come up with period appropriate appetizers, which wasn’t too hard. The menu included deviled eggs, cocktail meatballs in grape jelly, “California dip” (you know, the classic Lipton’s onion soup dip), shrimp cocktail, olives, cheese, and Chex mix (a relative of the especially appropriate nuts and bolts snack mix that I have only the vaguest memories of). For our “cocktail” I made Shirley Temples, complete with swizzle sticks!
We spent the day watching both documentaries and movies related to the Apollo program. We also built Lego’s new Lunar Lander, which was a really fun project, and looks great (if not to scale) with our Lego Saturn V rocket!
I tried to go with a 1960s dinner, as well, which was a little more challenging. After considering my options, I decided on Chicken Kiev for the main course. We also had mashed potatoes, cauliflower topped with Cheez Whiz and browned Ritz crackers (a holiday staple from my childhood!), and orange Jell-O (there had to be Jell-O, and since I was feeling nice, I didn’t even make a weird flavor with vegetables!). We also had the astronauts’ drink of champions (Tang) and Schlafly’s Lunar Lagers for the adults. The meal was a hit. Well, except for the cauliflower, which I’m pretty sure only I liked!
For dessert, we had cake (pineapple upside down, another mid-century classic) and (astronaut) ice cream.
If you know me, you know I even had the perfect outfit to wear, from my moon earrings to my space skirt, and even a cool brooch!
And a few treats for today, the actual anniversary, for those of us at home…Moon Pies (of course), and Moonsicle soda made by a local bottling company, Excel, to commemorate the anniversary of the moon landing:
I’m not sure I’ve had this much fun with a special theme since The Great American Eclipse…I wonder what event we’ll celebrate next?
When we visit Chicago, I always try to plan one last special activity that we can all do together on the way home. This year, I decided we should visit the Lincoln Park Zoo in the city, something I haven’t done for probably 35 years!
There’s something magical about seeing exotic animals amid the skyscrapers of a big city:
Even when those skyscrapers are partially hidden by fog. I was hoping for a better view of the skyline, but what we saw was lovely in its own way.
We didn’t stay long, because at this point, Ryan had been out of town for a full week, and we were all anxious to get home. But we really enjoyed having a chance to see another Chicago landmark before we hit the road!
This week was Kantorei Kamp week at Hope Lutheran Church in St. Louis! This time, only Ladybug and Moose were at camp, so Turkey, Bunny, Chickadee, and I had some adventures while they were making music. On Monday, we went to the St. Louis Zoo for a nice walk before it started raining (again), and then went for a treat at Ted Drewes, since the choristers went on an ice cream walk that day:
On Tuesday, we visited the Missouri Botanical Garden, and then joined the choristers for a swim at the YMCA:
We spent the day Wednesday with the choristers, first for their performance at Laclede Groves, and then to take in a performance of The Marriage of Figaro at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. It was the first time the Fab Five and I had ever seen an opera!
Today we went to the Butterfly House, and then back to Hope for an evening recital of vocal, instrumental, and handbell music!
Oh, the Fab Five and I also had a pizza picnic at Tower Grove Park for dinner:
Here’s a look at several of the pieces the choristers presented this year:
The choir not only has talented singers, but talented musicians, as well, and they joined together for a special arrangement of “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.”
They also did two just-for-fun pieces, which were very popular!
And just like that, another year of Kantorei Kamp is done. We’ve very blessed to be able to have our children be part of such great musical instruction!
I really think Frankenmuth, MI, also known as Michigan’s “Little Bavaria,” is the most charming town I’ve ever visited. The German architecture, specialty shops, and Bavarian flags everywhere really make you feel like you’ve stepped into a storybook village!
We might not be able to visit Europe as part of this year’s summer school, but I think going to Frankenmuth and experiencing the culture (and food!) of the town was the next best thing!
When we decided to go to Frankenmuth, we knew we’d have to try one of their famous fried chicken dinners. There are two places in town that offer such a meal, and they’re right across the street from each other! After checking out the full menus, we chose to dine at the Bavarian Inn:
It’s a beautiful (and extremely large!) building:
There are many dining rooms, each one as charming as the last:
They had both their own beer and root beer on the menu:
And they start you off with bread, both plain white bread and stollen. They also offered us fresh rhubarb jam to go with it!
We decided to try their ultimate family style Bavarian dinner (the perfect fit for our European-themed summer school this year!), which we had a coupon for, and which would allow us to sample many of their offerings, including the famous fried chicken.
We started with noodle soup and a variety of salads:
The fried chicken was just as good as promised:
We also tried the sauerbraten, bratwurst, kasseler rippchen (smoked pork loin), and schnitzel:
There were also plenty of side dishes, including buttered noodles (my favorite!), vegetables, dressing, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and potato cheese puffs. It was seriously delicious, and we definitely did not leave hungry!
The meal included housemade ice cream for dessert, and I tried the cranberry, which was amazing…I can’t believe I’ve never had cranberry ice cream before!
We also split a piece of apple strudel:
This was a pretty expensive meal for our family, even with the coupon, but it was definitely worth it…and we even had enough leftovers for a second dinner once we got home!
Monday morning of our Michigan trip began with another walk along Frankenmuth’s Main Street while we waited for some of the shops to open. It is such a beautiful place!
We stopped at the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus, where we picked up a few things to try at home. It’s an amazing store!
We also visited beautiful, historic St. Lorenz:
The main event of the day, however, was stopping at Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland, A store I have wanted to shop at for years! And of course I had just the right outfit to wear:
There are many photo opportunities throughout the store, and I took advantage of several of them:
Some people say Disney is the happiest place on earth, but I think Bronner’s is. It’s always Christmas there!
We also visited their Silent Night Chapel, a reproduction of Oberndorf’s monument which stands on the site of the former St. Nicholas Church, where “Silent Night” was first sung.
All too soon, our time in Frankenmuth drew to a close, and we had to say “Auf Wiedersehen.”
Our fun for the day wasn’t over yet, though. We stopped for lunch at Big Boy!
And stopped to see beautiful Lake Michigan from its eastern shore:
And then, for the second time in less than a week, we got to eat at Portillo’s!
It was quite late by the time we reached home, but we got to cheer the St. Louis Blues to victory along the way, which helped the time pass. Look for more details about our visit to Frankenmuth in the coming days!
Last Sunday was a very busy day! We started with breakfast at the restaurant where Ryan had his first job as a teenager. I had a Greek skillet, which was basically gyros for breakfast…delicious!
We then headed over to Christ the King’s second campus, where the retirement festivities were held, beginning with the Divine Service, where both Ryan and his mom got to sing in the choir.
There was a very nice lunch reception after the service, and it was obvious even to an outsider how much that congregation loves their pastors. It was a lot of fun to be part of it, even if we weren’t members there.
After the reception, we drove through Detroit on the way to our next destination. We stopped at historic Fort Wayne on the Detroit River (not to be confused with Fort Wayne, IN, which was named for the same general), to see a place that had been built as a defense against Canada, of all places! Unfortunately, much of the fort is falling apart, but we still got a good sense of what it used to look like.
While we were there, we saw two fighter jets flying overhead, which seemed very appropriate:
We then headed over to the Detroit Riverwalk, where we once again got to gaze upon Canada, but this time, in a more urban setting:
We also drove past Comerica Park…I know it’s home of the Detroit Tigers, but I couldn’t believe just how many tiger statues they had outside!
And then after what seemed like a longer drive than it was, probably because I was so excited to arrive at our destination, we reached Frankenmuth, Michigan’s “Little Bavaria!”
Even our hotel, which is definitely part of a large chain, had a Bavarian look!
All of Main Street is in on the Bavarian architecture, and it was just as charming as I expected it to be!
We had late dinner reservations at one of the two restaurants in town that are famous for fried chicken dinners…the Bavarian Inn. Our dinner was amazing, but you’ll have to wait a few days for the full details!
Even though our dinner lasted almost two and a half hours, it was still light outside when we were done. We were so far north, the sunset was almost an hour later than it is here at home! So we were able to enjoy a nice after-dinner walk, and actually see the town. I loved the covered bridge…but I’m really glad we walked across it instead of driving over it!
We stopped at the Bavarian Inn’s lodge, where they have a huge fun center, and we found my favorite game…skee ball! I think the dinner weighed me down, because the best I could do was tie for first!
We needed to stop at the store and pick up a styrofoam cooler for our dinner leftovers, and I was tickled to discover that even the Kroger looked like it was built in Bavaria!
It had been a long day, and we were all full and tired, so we headed back to the hotel after that. I really wish we could have spent more time in Frankenmuth, but we did have a few more stops planned for Monday morning before we left town!
Last Saturday, we were up dark and early (again), this time for a short road trip to Michigan. I think we were all dreading the long drive, but it ended up feeling really quick, and I think that was partly due to a brief stop in Casey, IL, which is home to many of the world’s largest items, including this rocking chair…it’s seriously huge!
Anyway, it was a really good drive, and we arrived at the Hampton Inn in Southgate in a good mood, even though rain was starting to fall. I can’t remember the last time I stayed at a Hampton Inn (if ever)…it was a really nice hotel!
After we got all of our luggage into our room, we headed to Bishop Park in Wyandotte, where I got to look across the Detroit River at CANADA! I know it sounds silly, but this was the first time I’d ever seen another country with my own eyes, and it was very exciting!
We then visited the church that Ryan grew up at, Christ the King, Southgate. We loved the beautiful stained glass windows!
We also drove by Ryan’s old house:
And then stopped at a convenience store so we could introduce the children to one of the best drinks known to man:
Did I mention why we were in Michigan? The pastor from Ryan’s childhood church was celebrating his retirement last weekend, and the church was having a big celebration in his honor. He and his wife hosted a lovely reception at their home for out-of-town guests Saturday evening, so that’s where we headed next. Fortunately, the rain abated while we were there, and we enjoyed our dinner outside. Afterwards, we headed over to Meijer, a store we don’t have in the St. Louis area.
The reason for our stop? To stock up on the previously mentioned world’s best soda:
After that, we headed back to the hotel, where we enjoyed a swim in a pool that had cool lights that changed color:
I know that this is going to come as a shock, but when we got back to our room, we didn’t watch the Food Network…instead, we watched Nick at Night, which was showing Full House and Friends!
