Iowa State Feis and other things...

Felicity and me
County Courthouse
Windmills
Placements

Sandy Kitty

We've been really busy lately! I'll start with the Iowa State Feis report:
We drove down Friday morning and stopped twice. It was a 6 hour drive. It took soooooooooo long! It was awful! Well, when we FINALLY got there, we went swimming. It was the tiniest pool imaginable! And the hot tub was teeny-tiny! We ate at the hotel restaurant. I had so much food, I was feeling sick when we left, but when we went out for a quick walk, my stomach really started acting up. I felt really icky so we had to go back to our room, where we watched a home designer show. After a while, we went to register; unfourtunately, they didn't let you in to see the place. Oh well. There were a lot of weird things at that hotel, when we went to bed there was a smell of smoke coming up through our bathroom air vent. (G-pop: It isn't a pleasant smell when trying to sleep, no matter what else it may be at other times!) Well: the next morning, we got up, ate breakfast at the restaurant, got wigs on (thankfully Mom only had to do two--Izzy and Miranda didn't dance at this one.), and walked across the street to the Ice arena.
After warming up, I got dressed, went to my stage, and found my friend Madi, who is in my age and level. First was Reel. I thought I didn't do it very well! I almost bumped into a girl and Madi fell down! And we were all crowded. The judge made us dance 3 at a time, but thankfully only for this!

I did the best Slip Jig I ever did in my life!! We got to go two at a time for this (thankfully!). I was very pleased with my dancing.

Treble Jig: Very good! I had my favorite judge ever.

Hornpipe: Just as well, but my favorite judge switched places with someone else right before my dance!!!!!

I made a lot of new friends waiting in line! We talked about dresses and schools a lot.

We went over to Sese's stage just in time to see her Slip Jig. After she danced, Mom went to look at Results with me:
Reel: 4th
Slip Jig: Nothing. And I did it so good! I guess there were more good Slip Jiggers than Reelers etc
Treble Jig: 1st!!!!!!!!!!! And they had little trophies (see picture)!!
Hornpipe: 4th. Rats! one more higher placement and I would be qualified for Oireachtas (regionals). For those of you who don't know, in my level you have to qualify for the Oireachtas by getting a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in every dance. I'm working really hard for my last feis (in a few weeks) so that I can qualify!

Sese did very well- she had a little mistake in her Treble Jig but got right back on. She got:
1st: Jig
2nd: Reel
2nd: Treble Jig (She would have got 1st if it wouldn't have been for her break!)
3rd: Slip Jig
4th: Hornpipe

Dad, Izzy and Miranda had packed everything besides feis stuff before we left, so we went to the car, took off our wigs, and got driving. We stopped twice along the way- for McD's and Gas.
You might know from Dad's blog that he got food poisoning. He had to stay home the next two days because he felt so yuck.
I had a little bit of what Daddy did, but definately not that bad!

Well, it was a very long trip. It seemed MUCH longer coming home...I wonder why it seems to not take that long when you're going somewhere but then when you come back it takes way longer? Maybe because on the way back it's not as exciting, you're familiar with where you are.

The last picture of Sandy Mama took a few days ago. Isn't she an adorable baby!!?
Coming soon....Auntie Liz's trip to MN

Broadwater Days 5-8

Me & Lucette- Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart
Anyone know why her skirt's so weirdly shaped?
Swimming through the weeds to get from the AquaJump to the shore!! Blech!
On the boat with Granny
Slumber Party night!!!!!!!

Day 5, Wednesday, August 27:
-We look for the medallion in the morning- the clue is 'I live in a circle.' We look with G-Pop in ALL of the little rock circles, Garden circles, EVERY CIRCLE! Grandpa even dug through the plants!! And we didn't find anything!!
-We went to Seclusion (one of the cabins a little ways away then the rest--we get to stay there next year!!)
-Uncle Howard comes back from town with bows and arrows for our Indian playing!!
-The Stetzlers (very old family friends) come and immediately go fishing.
-They come back and we have news that Mr.Munson/Daddy/Uncle Reed has caught a 23 inch Northern but got the hook stuck in his his finger!!! Mama had to take him to the clinic in town where he had it removed.
-We sat around, ate laffy taffy, and read some very old Mickey Mouse comic books.
-After this, a (seemingly) peaceful afternoon turned into a horror movie as we (Mathias, Sese, Izzy, Miranda, Sophie and me) were chased ALL OVER CREATION by the bully and his brother! They were beating up Mathias (at least they THOUGHT they were-what can five and four year olds do to a kid who's two heads taller than them?) at the main lodge, but Sese went and got Mama and she told them to leave us alone. Thankfully, that was the end of them!!!!
-Nothing else really happened...
Day 6, Thursday, August 28:
-We go to the lodge first thing (Georgie, Sese, Izzy, Miranda and me), but this other girl and her sister came at the same time. The guy put out the clue, it was: "I can see Northern Lights."
That's the name of one of the cabins. I had to think a moment to remember that, but the other girl LIVED at Northern Lights, so she was running there before I was. It was like a race!! I was three feet behind her! But she got there first. It was in a hosta plant in a circle (clue #3- I live in a circle) under a pole (clue #2- Am like a tree) that had a birdhouse on it (clue #1-Hanger is somewhat like I am). And Gpop had looked through all the circles!! Dug through all the plants! (He and Mathias are convinced that the guy who owns the place must hide it the third night, but I don't think we should expect it-even though it's probable.)
-Dance practice and go to town!! We ate at the Sweets Cafe in Hackensack, played at the huge playground in the city park, got laundry done, and got souvies.
Day 7, Friday, August 29:
-Pretty regular day...
-SLUMBER PARTY NIGHT!!! We ate Root beer barrels, Lemon Drops, Licorice, Pink mints and lots of popcorn AS WE HAD Sody-pop and watched the movies. The shorts were two Little Rascals (Divot Diggers and Spanky) and the feature presentation was Abbot & Costello's Jack and the Beanstalk!! It's so funny!! Well after it was done and we were tucked in, we only told two stories and then were to tired to go on!
Day 8, Saturday, August 30:
-Daddy made pancakes for breakfast
-We had the Munson Family Circus!! Stay tuned for more, at the moment I'm not at liberty to tell all of the acts.
-We get packed-this process always takes a long time!!
-Everyone comes into town for lunch again at the Sweets Cafe!
-We have the big farewell (but also see-you-in-two-weeks...I'll explain later.) at the big city park!

We got home at about 7pm. The cats were so glad to see us! The see-you-in-two-weeks business was because my Aunt Liz came up from California for a business conference! She arrived last night, and on Sunday we're having another family gathering at Aunt Em's house. Posts about that will come soon! Next post: Iowa Feis!!!!

Broadwater Days 1-4

"Picture Rock"
Making 'Softy-grungy' (invented by Sophie)
Sonja & Sophie

The One fish I caught (12 inches!)
Okay, here goes on the Broadwater Reports:
Day 1, Saturday, August 23:
-We arrive, greet family, get used to our surroundings, and dance. We stayed in the cabin 'The Chalet.'
-We eat supper and play Indians on the large wooded hill next to the cabin with 6 year old Sophie and identical twin brothers Hankie and Georgie, almost 4 years old.
-S'Mores!!
Day 2, Sunday, August 24:
-Breakfast.
-We leave for church an hour and a half early, so we go back to the cabin.
-We leave for church at the right time!!
-We have a good time at church!
-Dancing, lunch, starting our art lessons in painting 'treasure boxes' that Granny got for us-she taught the lessons too
-BEACH TIME!!!!!! Kayaking, playing in sand, swimming...
-Supper of steaks made by experienced cook, Uncle Howard Jr. ... YUM!!
Day 3, Monday, August 25:
-The search for the gold medallion begins (a fun thing for kids to do-you get a new clue every day and whoever finds it gets $15 worth of merchandise from the main lodge store.
-Clue #1 was: 'Hanger is something like I am.' Sophie suggested a clothesline, but we (Sophie, 10 year old Mathias and me) looked around all of them and didn't find anything.
-Cousin Henning (age 12) rather foolishly goes kayaking all the way across the bay of where our lodge was WITHOUT A LIFE JACKET!!!! Yikes!
-Uneventful afternoon- lots of walks and playing at the playground...well, it was uneventful until a bratty, bullying boy starting being rude and mean to us girls (Sophie, Isabel, Sese, and I) and little Georgie. We went home after that.
-Supper and then a nice boat ride.
-Fishing-catching nothing.
Day 4, Tuesday, August 26:
-Clue of the Day: 'Am somewhat like a tree.' G-Pop'/Grandpa Howard thinks of a basketball hoop, as it's like a tree and has a net hanging from it. I also thought it might be the playground, as it has a sign on it that says 'the Treehouse' and has swings hanging from it. No luck finding it though.
-Just when I had finished dancing, everyone (who had been on a walk) came screaming up to the cabin, they had found a little gold coin thing on a post by a wood pile. Uncle Howard thought all the clues went, but when we went to get our candy, the owner said, "nope, that's not the right one." Rats! So disappointing!!
-We didn't go kayaking that day, it was much to windy and some other people had got stranded really far away!!!

That was all for the first four days. Next post coming soon!