One Last Bit of Minnesota

Here's Jacob drumming at the cabin in the woods in Minnesota. I stumbled across the video as I was cleaning up the photo files. I guess it's "found footage" from our days at the cabin.

Cabin in the Woods (Day 3)

We had a quiet third day at the cabin in Minnesota. Lucy did a lot of building while Jacob showed Grandpa how to play with his robot Alphie.

Not sure what it's supposed to be, but it goes well with breakfast.

Explaining the robot to the grandpa

Later on the children got into drumming on the great kit Granny had assembled.

Explaining the drums to the grandson

A fun duet!

They also visited the ever popular tree fort. Jacob developed a nameless game where someone would hand him a stick and he'd drop it in between the floor boards of the tree fort. That game, like most popular games for pre-schoolers, had really great mileage. Grandpa would egg Jacob on, saying he wouldn't be able to get the next stick through the floor boards. Jacob eventually would pull it off.

Grandpa tries to block Jacob's next move

Lucy provides the next stick

Getting the drop on Grandpa

That afternoon, we made a little bonfire which was vanquished by the afternoon rain. It was fun while it lasted.

Starting it up

Getting better; too bad the rain came

Lucy was smart enough to play inside with the little kitchen set up downstairs.

Checking the cupboard

This night, my wife joined in the zombie antics as we played a four-person version of Grave Business. I tried to get all the parts of the Master so I didn't have to win by points but was vanquished by Helen's talented steal from my vault at the last minute. I enjoyed the game nonetheless. Sadly, the next day would be our last. Our last in Minnesota, that is.

Sunday in the Park with Jacob

After Sunday nap time, we headed out to a local park to enjoy the playground and whatever else we could find there. We'd gone last week and heard the last bit of a brass band concert and found a water fountain that Jacob loves. He calls it a waterfall. It's true, the water does fall. But the playground is still the main attraction.

Not a voodoo drum to control zombies

This week we parked our car on the other side of the park, so when we inevitably went to the potty, we'd be close to the car and not have to walk back through the playground when leaving. That meant we were near the concert stage. This week's performers were Drums Agogo. The group of about twelve plays African drums. We heard about 20 minutes of the concert, which was a lot of fun for Jacob. He loves drumming. I joked once that for Jacob, there's only two types of things in the world. If something isn't a drum, it's a drumstick.

The drums played at the concert were hand drums, so no sticks were needed. Lucy was a little bored by the concert, so she and I went to the little restaurant in the park and bought some ice cream cones. Available flavors were vanilla or Turkish Delight. I bought one cone of each. I had a little trouble getting them back to Mommy and Jacob, mostly because Lucy insisted on being carried and was trying to get at the ice cream. The cones had little cookies stuck in, so Jacob had a treat too. I liked the Turkish Delight flavor more than my wife did, so I ate as much of that cone as I could while Lucy gobbled spoonfuls.

After the concert was over, Jacob wanted to go up on the stage to check out the drums. With a little encouragement, he asked one of the people if he could try out a drum. The lady offered her drum and she showed him how to play it--deep booms when you slapped the middle or higher-pitched thunks by the rim. At first he hesitantly banged on the drum. As he played he gained more confidence and daring. He wound up impressing one or two people, who said he was pretty good. The lady said she had been playing for two years with the group and still hadn't bought a proper bag for her drum. She's been using a plastic garbage bag. She said the drums were about £140 and she hasn't spent more on a bag yet. We may have to check into lessons for Jacob. After the success with dancing, he may be ready to take a class. We will investigate further. We aren't sure about buying a drum yet, but a hand drum will definitely be quieter (and more portable) than a drum kit.

We did eventually go to the waterfall and the playground and had a lot of fun. This type of outing may become a regular for us while the weather is still good and the sun still shines in the afternoons. I wonder what concert will be there next week!