Well it's been about 3 weeks since we last updated our myspace journal but we keep tabs here in the good old paper and pen format. The second half of our Minnesota leg of the journey went so quickly. We got real comfortable having been able to completely unpack, the creature comforts of a home cooked meal every night, a nice cosy duvet and of course the luxuries of modern living. There has never been a dull moment living in a home with a 7 and 10 year old. Some of you are probably thinking "I thought they we travelling?". Well yes, but we thought we would break it up with a 7 week luxury stint in Minnesota.
So as we write from a Chicago hostel, it's back to tortillas and salsa for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Anyway we will tell you more about Chicago once we have lived it in a few weeks time. The last time we wrote was the 20th June, so we have done tons of stuff since then. This last few weeks has been a season of firsts for both of us, and of all places in the quiet burbs of Mid-West, USA.
First and foremost we need to make a big noise and shout out to the Cooksey's, who of course with the added bonus of being family have also made Burnsville, Minnesota home for us. The have indulged us with lots of healthy and organic foods, introduced us to some spiritual uplifting thoughts and ideas, and not forgetting good old fashioned laughs. We made some great friends whilst there and can't forget Veda and Alan all the way from sunny South Africa, just to bring a little bit of Amy's homeland right to us. Well, lets update you all with what we have been up to.
Well on the 21st of June Brett took the day off work and we headed off to the local theme park, Valley Fair for homeschool rate day. Of course when you are travelling on a budget you latch onto anything with the words discount, sale, clearout or we really like the word FREE. You see the bank balance is only going one way right now, that's down! We had a great day, scorching sun and a very quiet park in midweek. We braved all of the coasters and even our nephews joined us for their first exposure. Isn't it crazy that you can be just tall enough not to fall out and yet crave more twists, turns and the need for speed. It's funny because we normally would indulge in all of the traditional theme park fare, but the smell of deep fat fried doughnuts did not appeal. We are organic converts! So we tucked into a good old spelt bread home made sandwich. For those of you who haven't yet considered organic, trust us within a few weeks you will notice the difference. We were previously sceptical.
Of course we cant forget our morning wake up call. In fact we get two, one from Rascal the 2yr old Yorkshire Terrier scratching on the door for a play and then usually a cap gun through the window or a plea to come play Xbox360, which for me is not usually an issue. So back to the hustle and bustle of a busy city with lots of noises to get you going in the morning.
Friday was a chill out day to recover from an adrenaline pumped previous day, but a Friday night tradition in the Cooksey house is home made pizza and movie night so we indulged. We watched the Disney 3 Musketeers (remember there are kids so no Alien vs.. Predator) and also some real cheesy movie with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, 'Music and Lyrics'. Amy loved it, it was a real chick flick but for me, I am not the greatest Hugh Grant fan so, it was painful endurance. Anyway I digress.
We spent all day on the Saturday clearing out the double garage in anticipation of the addition to the house of a combined school room, office and music studio. Folks in England are probably thinking that's a house?! Well yes in England, but here in the oversized USA, just a modest addition to what we know as a mansion. It's amazing we all accumulate junk, so a trip to the thrift store to offload a few things and a pile ready for the skip/dumpster to arrive on Wednesday. So we thought we had worked up an appetite and headed to 'Cold Stone Creamery'. This is America right so food is always on the agenda. There is nothing organic about this stuff, good old full fat ice cream, made with as many flavours and toppings all to your taste buds delight. It's a must for any visitors to the US.
So Sunday again was a chill out of course being the Lords day of rest we must oblige as we have been for the last 3 months, but taking every day as a day of rest. Terrible shame for you all stuck in sweaty offices back home. We have become accustomed to hot days here, so we needed to cool off with an afternoon around the pool at the Hall's. Our tans are shaping up pretty good now and we are getting it all levelled off quite nicely. No t-shirt tans here!
Monday was geared up to be another chill out, again relaxing and swimming in the Hall's pool, but with the weather being so hot how could we resist an afternoon out on the jet ski. So Brett got off early and we packed up again for Lake Marion a few miles down the road. It was real quiet on the lake so felt like we had it all to ourselves. Brett, I and three boys in tow (Jonny came with us one of Daniel's friends) went off to the launch and the girls went and got some shopping in for a bbq on the beach at the lake. What more can you ask for?!
So, here comes one of our firsts. Amy and I went for an afternoon on a pottery wheel. Yes, I know very craft orientated for a shaven headed thug like me, but flip was it intense. It's real hard but we both finished off tow great pots although one of mine went a little skew so it became a pitcher. Not bad for a first attempt though. Amy being the more artistic of the two of us of course whooped my booty at it. Of course your mind runs off with what colours and patterns am I going to paint it. For a guy this is pretty tough as pots and bowls are usually associated with leaves and flowers, but me being a man decided that the handle to my mug would be a snake. How masculine. We headed off later that evening to eat at 'Punch Pizza', genuine Neapolitan pizza cooked in a clay oven with wood flown in from Italy. For those that know us well, you will know we have a weakness for pizza, well folks this is the best we have tasted. To date it cannot be beaten, and believe me we have tasted a lot of pizza from across the world. We had made home made Parfait for desert but it really wasn't like Momma Middleton used to make it. We just didn't have the secret ingredient whatever that is.
The next morning we were awoken by Rascal banging on the door at 5:30am which freaked us out as he looked like he had seen a ghost. He was throwing himself at our door literally. How weird! So following the disturbance we slept until 10:00am what bliss. Then we went to see the boys in their last morning at Vacation Bible School. They put on this cool little presentation and of course the little kids stole the show as always. We made ti-die t-shirts (a first for James) which came out cool but will more than likely end up as pyjamas.
The next day again was Friday and blisteringly hot so we headed out to Cascade Bay water park and then back home for a bbq with Alan and Veda. Brett and I crowned the evening with a movie, 'Chronicles of Riddick', a real lads movie till late. We got news also that my brother had arrived safely in Sydney to start his new life, "down under". The rest of the weekend was packed with yes more food, we had 'Famous Dave's' ribs for lunch followed by a calorie killing bike ride, then on Sunday out to 'Good Earth' for desert. I had an ice cream sundae and Amy a piece of cheesecake. All organic but unfortunately lots of calories.
Today was a start of a new week and our last full week in Minnesota before flying out to the neighbouring state of Illinois. So we kicked it off with a day on Grand Avenue in St Paul, looking at some cool shops, art galleries and just a little indulgence in cosmo city life. Oh darling! Earlier that morning we headed out to drop the critter at the groomers where we checked out some reptiles and I got all excited about seeing my snakes again. So we collected a clean and trimmed Yorkie, dressed with a bandana which looked very cute but, a Yorkie in a bandana? He looked like Wyatt Earp's dog, and I am sure our family in Yorkshire would not approve. Later that evening we went with a group of 15 other adults and kids to a local organisation that pack nutritious packaged foods for children in poor nations. There was a great vibe and altogether as a team we packaged 4,000+ meals enough to feed 11 kids for a year. There was a great sense of achievement and a great programme to get involved in. We have put some more info. about 'Feed My Starving Children' in a blog on our myspace page.
The next day we headed out to some friends of the Cooksey's. It's a real sad story actually. They are a young family who just 2 weeks ago lost their dad/husband to cancer. On the morning that he passed away the daughter Anika had a dream of her dad in heaven and wanted to paint where she saw him. So, Mary the mum called Amy to see if she could help Anika paint this scene, which she had been unable to paint because of all the gold and crystal waters. Incredible, really, there is nothing like knowing a friend/family member has gone to a safe and happy place. Later that evening we took 'babootie' a traditional South African dish to the Hall's household for dinner and spent the night chatting politics and life in each others country.
So, finally we reach the climax of the British calendar, the day we finally shook off those Yanks for a bit of peace and quiet, the 4th of July. The day we celebrate our Independence (sorry our American friends I'm only kidding). To be honest it wasn't as hyped up as we thought it would be, just another excuse for a bank holiday we thinks. A couple of families headed over to us for a bbq in the early evening so lots of conversation but more importantly Xbox360 tournaments. Oh yeah! We went to Apple Valley High School for some fireworks in the evening and said our first farewells to a few people.
The next day was a relaxer, so Veda came over and we chatted life, religion, politics, and the worlds problems... and we resolved all of the above. We went to paint our pottery as it had now been kilned, but unfortunately one of Amy's bowls had an air bubble so exploded, so sadly just the one piece that survived. We painted them ready for their next kiln session to seal them with glazing. The anticipation was really hotting up now for the end product. We spent the following day at a few art galleries and also went to check out some graffiti at this one huge studio. It was so cool and we took some very 'ghetto' pictures some of which made it onto myspace. To crown the day off Brett joined us at about lunch time as he was done so we headed off for another afternoon of jet skiing at Lake Marion and then onto Alan and Veda's for a meal and movies on their Colossus 50ins Plasma TV to watch 'Fantastic 4'.
The weekend had arrived and this would be our last with the Cooksey's until ???? So, an early start and a 2 hour drive North towards Alexandria to the home of Bob, Sandra, Karissa and Carter for some weekend action on Lake Amelia. We arrived at this great little place in the middle of nowhere. We set up camp overlooking the lake and headed out on the jet ski and lots of lounging around. Later that evening we washed in the lake and climbed out for some time around the fire pit and marshmallows. The sunset was stunning and we took some postcard perfect shots. Early to bed for another early start out on the lake. The kids soaked up some action on the tube and after lunch we headed out on the neighbour Randy's 4.3 litre monster boat. So, this is another first. I learnt to water ski followed by the old professional herself. Wow, what a buzz, it took a few times to get up out of the water which kills your arms for like a week but well worth it when you are up. They just couldn't shake me baby, oh yeah! We packed up and headed home .
The next day was an early start lots to do before we left for Chicago the following day so we headed out to a few of our favourite shops for gifts and some toilettries. We couldn't leave Minnesota though without one final trip to 'Punch Pizza'. Tuesday again was an early start lots to pack and time with the family for farewells. Jane and Amy spent a few hours together painting and chatting, I on the other hand couldn't help but find some time for a final Xbox360 challenge. So we played and played and then we played some more. I had to get my fix as it will be a long time now until I even see a game console. Probably Australia in October! We packed the car up and headed 10mins down the road to Minneapolis International Airport for our American Airlines flight 1093 direct to Chicago O'Hare. Lots of emotional farewells, a few tears but we got checked in fine, before a 3 hour delay due to thunderstorms in Chicago. It was fine, and we eventually made it in at about 7:45pm. So, that concludes our time in Minnesota, and until next time Cooksey's thanks for everything and hope to catch you soon. We'll be updating you next either from San Francisco or Las Vegas in a few weeks time.