Eli: Our 5-year Old Goodness of Delight

Eli is growing up. It is interesting to see his new self-consciousness as well as his growing self-confidence. A bit of a paradox…

Even though he was all excited about playing at McDonald’s, as soon as he saw there were other kids in the play area, he refused to go play.

We found a large, outdoor playground. Eli didn’t want to go, saying it was too boring. Soon he was being chased by two other boys and loving it. Then he didn’t want to leave.

In the pool one afternoon a mother was playing with her daughters. She was pretending to be a shark and said, “Sharks eat whales.” Eli, the animal expert, corrected the stranger: “No, whales eat sharks. I don’t believe you.”

It was important to Eli to get dressed before going to the lobby for breakfast- wouldn’t want to show up in your pjs. One morning I got them dressed, then started out for the hotel lobby. Eli stopped. Looking me up and down, he said carefully, “You’re gonna wear that?” I looked down. I was wearing red athletic shorts and a normal, not-ratty t-shirt. “Yes…Why?” “Oh, it’s just a little embarrassing.”

At his end-of-the-year party at school, Eli politely warned Evan, “Don’t touch me.” He was slightly embarrassed of his little brother. But he soon had his arm around Evan. They often sit together on the couch, completely oblivious to their tangled, snuggled arms and legs.

Eli has a bit of a fear of heights, which showed up as we walked across a bridge this weekend. Fortunately, it’s not too uncool or traumatic, since his daddy shares a dislike of heights. Eli was laughing about it as we walked across the bridge, but he sure did hang on to my hand.

He can talk to us with such an attitude, then turn around and be completely affectionate.

Yesterday, we bought him a churro, a deep-fried pastry covered in cinnamon sugar. He let us know that it tasted like “sugary delightness.” He really liked it. As he finished it off, he proclaimed that the churro was “the goodness of delight!”

Hello. Goodbye.

There comes a time in life when we need to say goodbye. We are currently at that juncture. A faithful companion has stuck by us through thick and thin for nearly 6 years now. He has been a difficult companion at times- we’ve had to coax and baby him along at times. But overall, he was so faithful to us. We relied on him a great deal during Kendall’s years in school. At times we didn’t see how he could possibly endure another season, though we needed him so. But somehow he limped through those lean years with us. We begged him (and the powers that be) to stay with us a bit longer. Then he surprised everyone by not only making it through school with us, but by also following us to the great cold North (though he had to be carried those 1000 miles). He has worked hard for 20 years and we were understanding when he demanded to hibernate through the harsh Canadian winter.

So we bid a fond farewell to the Blue Weasel. (Or, if you ask Kendall, the Blue Ox.) The $700 we paid for him just under 6 years ago has been well worth it. He proved to be much more valuable to us than that small amount would suggest. (We owe you, Tim.)

Kendall is ready to retire the Blue Weasel/Ox. It would never pass the safety inspection of Ontario. (We’ve been flying under the radar for a year now.) Kendall’s hoping that someone will give him some pocket change in exchange for the truck.

I, for one, will be sad to say goodbye.

On a brighter note, we also get to say hello. Meet our new companion, the “Abominable Snowman.”

Fortunately/Unfortunately, this photo is just a little joke.

Our new companion is actually a ’94 Ford Ranger. We bought it in Duluth, Minnesota. It has an extended cab and 4-wheel drive. That will make it easier for the whole family to go explore the bush as much as we want. (Sadly, I am not able to include a photo at this time. If a vehicle is more than 15 years old, it is exempt from the Canadian import fees. The manufacture date on the new truck was August of 1994. That makes us one month short of 15 years. So we found a place in International Falls for the truck to hang out for a few weeks until we can get it across the border fee-free.)

The first time I watched Kendall pull his new truck out onto the highway in Duluth, I felt a surge of happiness for him. I was happy to see my bushman in a truck that better fit his bushman ways. (And I felt bad for him as he had started to notice more and more people laughing at his precious Blue…..thing.)

So, Hello. And may this new truck serve us as well as (or much better than) the Blue Weasel.

Vacation- Stressful Part

Ah, family vacation. And boy, am I tired. We combined this truck-buying mission to Duluth with a bit of a family vacation. I’m glad we could do it, but being on a mission doesn’t seem very conducive to the relaxing, enjoyable, being-nice-to-your-kids side of a family vacation.

Kendall was on a mission and I was too. There’s something about living in a remote small town that makes you feel like you have to buy everything you may ever need as soon as you get to civilization. For example, I needed a new bathing suit and whether I felt like it or not, this was my chance to find one. And good grief, milk was less than half the price we’re used to paying! Get as much as we can fit in our cooler! Cherries- only $1.40 a pound?! Gotta get pepperoni! You can’t even get this kind at our grocery store! Plain Hershey bars for s’mores? Those aren’t sold up there either! And McDonald’s?! Where’s the nearest Taco Bell?! Ahhhh!!!!!! Dear me… Can you understand the panic we get caught up in?

When I’m at home, I tell myself, “It’s fine, Karen.” I can adjust to more remote living. I can adjust to the higher prices. I can adjust to less selection. I can adjust to not having everything I’m used to. We’re fine. It’s good for me. And anyway, I’m against Walmart. In theory, anyway. But something weird happens to me when I know that “low prices. everyday.” are right around the corner. It’s shameful really. But from what I hear in Red Lake, I’m not the only one who experiences these strange symptoms when driving south out of Red Lake.

Vacation- Happy Part

Now for the happier parts of our “vacation”…

We took our bikes along and went biking on a beautiful trail Sunday afternoon. Eli rode his own bike. We were proud of him. He doesn’t have a great place to ride in Red Lake, so he hasn’t gotten comfortable on his bike. He did great.

We took advantage of hotel swimming pools and spent plenty of time in the water. The boys both did really well with that and, of course, loved it.

I love this photo.

And I don’t know what it is, but there is something about hotel rooms that is so freaking exciting. After four nights we were able to hone our skills in getting the boys settled down and in bed. The culmination of these newly-acquired skills took place on night #4. Everyone was settled into bed and the lights were off. From our bed, Kendall and I heard the following.

Whack.

Whack.

Smack. Whack.

Smack! Whack!

Smack! Whack! Smack! Smack! Whack! Smack! Whack! Smack! Whack! Smack! Whack! (A frenzied flurry of smacking and whacking.)

Snort! (From Evan.)

Waaaaaaa! (A wail from Eli.)

Yes, Evan bit Eli’s hand. And yes, I am sure that he snorted as he opened his mouth in preparation for the big chomp.

So, using our great skills, we gave up and separated the boys and ourselves, each sleeping in a bed with one.

Monday, July 13- First Day of Summer

Well, in reality, it was more like the 6th or 7th day of summer. (Summer-like weather, that is.) We thoroughly enjoyed the sun and the water.

Remembory

Eli has developed a surefire method of avoiding confession. When something is amiss and I ask him about it, his usual answer is something like this: "Umm...I don't really remember."

I'm tired of it.

Tonight I confronted him with his wiley ways. He confidently explained it to me: "I don't have that good of a naughty remembory. I more remember good things. I don't have much of a bad remembory."

Well, that surely does explain things.

A Random Conversation

Tonight as we were watching a movie, Evan turned to me and said, "Why does everyone in the town have lips?"

"I don't know," I answered. "That's just how we're made."

Evan thought about it a bit, then said, "Maybe for sucking."

Happy 30th!

Yesterday was Kendall's birthday. (It was also our one-year anniversary of living in Canada.) Kirsten helped us with baking and we made a birthday cake to take in to Kendall at the nursing home. We made it big enough that he could share it with the residents there. We also made whoopie pies for him to enjoy after work.

As a surprise, I took contributions from lots of other people and came up with:

The Top 30 Reasons the World Loves Kendall Hochstedler

Following are some of my favorite entries:

People love being with you.

Your sense of humor.

Your strength in peacefulness.

Your Shitawi story.

Your honesty.

Your cooking skills over an open fire. (especially those chicken, jalpeno, and bacon things)

Your passion for the outdoors and your eagerness to share that with your family.

Your willingness to try anything.

You swap hunting stories with other hunters and talk about better ways to make explosives.

You are accepting of differences.

You have a calm, easygoing side, but with spiritual strength and passion for life that helps to balance it out.

You are involved and present in fathering your children. You listen to them and see them.

You explore your world. You are not content to just look at creation, you want to be in it.

You know how to be strong without making it obvious or obnoxious.

You wrestle.

You play family soccer.

You can guess who the last 2 are from.

Today is Canada Day. After Kendall gets off work this evening, we'll take the boat out with some friends to celebrate his birthday again and to watch fireworks. (If we don't freeze!!!)