The Great Minnesota Get-Together!

Today starts the Minnesota State Fair.

Have you ever been to the Minnesota State Fair?

No? 

You should visit. It is just about the best time you can have with tens of thousands of your closest friends and neighbors. 

There are concerts - some free around the grounds - and bigger shows at the Grandstand, people watching, a GINORMOUS slide, rides, games, fun activities, people watching, live television and radio shows, and MORE FOOD ON A STICK (or not) THAN YOU CAN HARDLY IMAGINE. 

2017 State Fair

Then there are the barns. I love walking the barns. Horse barn, sheep barn, cow barn... But lately, this little lady below, who is now 12 and not 7, is not quite as enamored of them as she was when she was 7 years old. 

Like, I could NOT get her out of the sheep barn and she wanted to love and pet everysinglesheep! when she was 7!  

Last year? Yawn. 

But Facebook reminds me just how much she used to love petting the sheeps. And that is cool. 

Plus, she still will hang out with me at the fair. 

Fall

Seriously?

If you do not like fall in Minnesota then there has to be something wrong with you.

I mean when else would you see a little bunny hopping in the leaves?



There is nothing better than smelling the crisp fresh autumn air, occasionally punctuated by roasting coffee beans from the Caribou HQ down the road.

I love pulling out the boots and the sweaters - layering on a scarf in a pretty shade that brightens up my normal navy/black/dark wardrobe.

And leaves. I love the leaves....



I remember raking them up with Boo Boo about five years ago when I had just been given my new job, but I had weeks until I had to start...it was heaven.

Boo Boo was in total heaven.



I have to remember she still loves to do things like this...when she gets home on Friday I plan to have a nice big pile raked up for her and her buddy Tess.

(and secretly video tape from the bay window, shhhh!)

Please join us!

Enjoy The Fall.

School Starts Next Week.

I sure hope you are having as great of a summer as we are - we spent time with family, went to a wedding in Houston, celebrated a friend earning their Karate Black Belt at TEN YEARS OF AGE!!! Went to San Diego, swam, ran around and enjoyed the general merriment of the warmer months.  

School starts a week from tomorrow - so of course we have to fit in some end of summer fun!

State Fair anyone?  

Cheers to that with a Grain Belt Blu - a most delicious blueberry beer! Yum.

 

We ate, rode, and saw cool people like Senator Amy Klobuchar!

We pet the animals - everyone but Grandma who said, "No thank you." 

We bought stuff, made stuff, and showed Dad where to get something for ME! :)  

And of course we rode the big slide, but got a TERRIBLE video this year.

Watch this one instead! 

Happy Summer!

Memories of a Mommy Blogger - Chapter Four - We're Going to The Zoo!

This was super fun because T-Bone filmed for me!

We had a super time at the zoo as always.

I actually miss going to the zoo, but our lives are so busy we have not had a membership for over two years now.

Enjoy back when all we had to do was keep Boo Boo alive.  (No gymnastics, Girl Scouts, school, Summer Camps - nada!)


The Scherber's Go To The Zoo! from Lisa Scherber on Vimeo.

Candy and The Cankersaur - #Review

I love to read.

I love to find fun stories for my daughter.

I love local.

So, a local artist and author contacted me about reading "Candy and The Cankersaur" with my daughter, Boo Boo La La.

This book is illustrated with fun characters especially 'Cank' the new pet of our heroine Candy.

She teaches him rules and how to be a nice dinosaur - but then...he is gone!

Where, or more importantly HOW, did Cank get lost? 

My daughter loved the plot of this book and has read it several times since we received our advance copy.  The illustrations are bright and fanciful.  I hope you enjoy it as well - or any of the other books by Mr. Sandberg. 

You can check out his website here - http://www.jasonsandberg.com/ebooks.htm

These books are also available on Amazon, iTunes and Nook.

I think "Baby Julia Feeds The Moon" sounds like our next good read.

Politics, The Bible, and Your Partner.

I do not think it is any secret that I am a liberal - or that I, along with at least ONE of my Auntie's wishes that Hillary Clinton were president.

But it may be less obvious that I go to church on Sunday and LOVE that this year I am not teaching so that I might participate in our Adult Forum.  I went a few times last year when it was not my "turn" to teach our Sunday School Class and fell in love.

My church is not what you might expect.  I belong to an Evangelical Lutheran Church of America congregation with pastors who were raised up here (North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota and  Wisconsin in my opinion are different from the rest of Middle America) and really are like most people I know in real life.  Family men, love the Twins, tolerate the Vikings, and have sensible open minds.  The older pastor recants tales from the farm and growing up there - the younger one quotes popular culture, ex: using "Talladega Nights, the Tale of Ricky Bobby." to relate how following the ADULT Jesus is harder than "Baby Jesus".

They both like to push you to think.

The last Sunday of September they decided to discuss a hot topic in Minnesota; "The Marriage Amendment" that looms come election day.

Well, not exactly.  The pastor, the younger, with a twinkle in his eye said the topic for the day was the types of marriage from the bible.  I found a blog that outlines them too, Unreasonable Faith, so you can read something pretty similar to the handout our pastor gave us.  Well, he didn't have the comment at the end like the blog, but I like that comment ;)

Something he DID say that made me really want to write this post and hopefully change someone's vote November 6th.

What did he say?  He said that during Biblical Times marriage was more "politically and monetarily driven".  Women had NO rights whatsoever when it came to marriage - heck if your brother-in-law would not marry you under Levirate Marriage if your husband died and left you with no son - You became an outcast & a beggar with no rights and no family support.

So why are we making marriage political or biblical?

Our congregation pointed out the word of God said, "Go forth and multiply." But, what about the couples who today cannot, or don't want to, have children?  Are you going to stand up and tell them they can't be married in the church?  They are not worthy of a "biblical" marriage?  And what exactly does "multiply" look like these days?  Isn't adoption a way of multiplying your family too?

I guess what I am hoping to say to you is this; God never said that marriage was between one man and one woman - and there were no other types of marriage.  MEN decided to write the laws of marriage and pretty much made women slaves.  So why NOW when we have given women rights in marriage, and we have set records for divorce in our country, are we saying that no one else can have the right to marry who they love?  Why NOW when we are trying to teach our children to not be bullies are we allowing a few people using the BIBLE for their POLITICAL agenda bully us?

Please think long and hard about who you know in your life and if you want them to be happy, just like you are, before you vote my dear fellow Minnesotans.

Source: theheirtoblair.com via mommylisa on Pinterest

The Minnesota State Fair - I am in love again.

Last year I was not working during the State Fair - and I took a day off from my job hunting to go and visit because @Iambooboolala had never been to it and my Dad loves to go to stuff like that.

Now this year I have a great job and I also have a lot of PTO - did I mention I have a great job?

So we went again.

Look how big my baby got!

 

My Mother doesn't want to go to the fair - my husband hasn't shown much interest since I lost my "free ticket I am a dj" status*.

Since my cousin moved about seven blocks from the Fair entrance we also have free parking - My Dad and I have got to thinking it is up to us to show Boo Boo the ropes of being Minnesotan and the Fair.  Just too bad the Oak Ridge Boys don't play there anymore.  ;)

What does it take to be Minnesotan and enjoy The Great Get-Together?

Bubba the Bunny

1. Good walking shoes.  A must because you will be walking around a lot if you want to see your favorite things. Machinery Hill to the Cow Barn is a long way!
2. An empty stomach - You WILL want a Pronto Pup or Corn Dog, French Fries, Lemonade, and at least a few sweets.
3. A love of the smell of manure.  It actually isn't bad in the barns, but you can't wrinkle your nose or we assume you are from New York City.
4. A map - yeah, it does not help to wander around.  It's better to stand in the middle of the road and stare at the map asking, "Are we on Dan Patch or Underwood?"
5. Cash - because those rides and Pronto Pups are not free.
6. A Blue Ribbon Value Book.  - If you have to ask, you are not Minnesotan.  ;)
7. Know when to go - When?  During the week and preferably on Thrifty Thursday or Kid's Day 
8. Know WHERE to get tickets - Where?  If you work where I do - work.  If you don't Cub of course. 
9. The ability to stand in lines so your child can get their picture with Phineas and Ferb --- or whomever is there that day...ahem.  #wheresperry #platybus
10. Good people to go with - those who won't complain, love the Giant Slide, will have a beer with you at lunch and help tow the wagon with the six year old  ;P  aka - My Daddy.  

I know you are all JEALOUS.  Do you State Fair?

Put your hands in the AIIRRRR!

*When you work in radio in Minneapolis you spend LOTS of time eating cheese curds while you broadcast LIVE from the Minnesota State Fair.  I got rockstar parking and free tickets for all when I worked in radio.

Forgotten, but not missed.

We were driving down the road to the highway and as I was turning on I realized I forgot my phone.

Huh?

Go back?

It's not far...

Nope.  Forge on to the zoo.

Yes, I went to the zoo with my child, no phone, no camera.  She asked me one time to take a picture and I said, "I forgot my phone remember?"  Oh yeah.

Then we just walked around and looked and talked and talked and looked.

Petting and feeding the goats, the one with HUGE curly horns got all of Boo Boo's goat nibbles.  Petting the cows and reading all their names, "Look Mama, Mary - just like Grandma."  Marveling at the roosters - a SUPER fluffy one we decided was Chicken Little's papa.  Riding in the tractor simulator and chatting with the nice young man from a farm in SE Minnesota who is studying agriculture at the U.  And making a craft of pig ears to wear on our soaked heads.  ;)

It was raining the whole time - and at one point pretty speedy drops were hitting our umbrellas and Boo Boo said, "It sounds like pop rocks hitting my umbrella."  It DOES!  "I would eat up all those pop rocks like NUM NUM NUM!"  I would too.

So how was your rainy day?

Boo Boo Saturday - revisited for a special occaision

People (M & M) were super excited because we got on a TRAIN to go to the biggest celebration in the country for the little organization called

Even The Peeps! Got dressed up to celebrate the organization that has 3.2 MILLION girls learning fun things about the environment, being a good citizen, and of course about how to have fun!

 There were fun activities in the Build Your World area...

Picking flowers, digging for silver keys!

And they got to build - for real and pretending with tools at the Taj Mahal.

I was so worried we would be packed into the MOA like sardines, but it actually was pleasent - if you did not want to buy any Girl Scout items in the stores or kiosks.  We didn't.

And now I still have to order the pin online.

 We made wishes, shared hugs.

 Got into "swapping" pins with other Girl Scouts.

And found our own little corner to be silly.

Were you a Girl Scout?  Do you feel pride over the Centennial?

Explore Minnesota!

I was looking for a post in my drafts - and I love this guest post I did for the now defunct blog Life As Eye See It....so the link probably takes you no where now.  Don't you hate it when you lose a blogger?

sigh.

Here is MY Minnesota from the post I wrote in April of 2010.

So I created a guest post for Eye Girl at Life As Eye See It.

VERY exciting.

So today I am going to present to you:

and my little corner of it is right here...

Our home is 104 years old and I have been piece by piece creating a home that fits us all and a garden that I can enjoy.... 

I live on one of the gorgeous parkways that are a part of the National Registry of Scenic Byways.  Since Boo Boo La La was a baby I have taken her for walks down the parkway. 

In the cold of January, bundeled up!

In the HEAT of August, sunscreened and water never far from hand.

My parents raised us here in Minnesota and always tried to take us to fun & educational events.  I continue the tradition with Boo Boo La La by going to shows like...

DISNEY LIVE! - we have also seen Nemo On Ice and a really cute Mickey Mouse Adventure on Ice too.

Then there is the really cool Hopkins Stages Theatre where we have seen several shows including; Alice In Wonderland, The Paper Bag Princess, Snowy Day, and The Wizard of Oz.

My Dear Friends Mr. & Mrs. Wagner took us to a fun show at Orchestra Hall...Isnt' it BEAUTIFUL?

Another place we go to A LOT is The Minnesota Zoo.  We have a membership and spend time there with our friends - Miss J, Miss K & Mr. M, and Miss M.  We even Trick Or Treat at the zoo!

We also spend a GREAT deal of time at our local YMCA...especially now that they have the "Splash Pad"!



Then there is the VERY best thing of all - our family vacation each August to Breezy Point Resort.

And Camping...

And Snowboarding... 

And SLEDDING! 

And of course our annual snowmobile trip...vroom!

And we appreciate all that Minnesota has to offer - both Winter & Summer. 
I hope you enjoyed your little trip to our town.