Selbstporträt in Grün

It's been a while since we've shared any of Myrna's artwork. Here is my favorite of her recent drawings, a picture of herself that she sketched on Monday. She was very satisfied with it, and I was too, and so we agreed that I should draw a frame around it.

A Weekend in Mt. Morris

Last weekend we made a long, long overdue trip to Mt. Morris, IL. Now that we're in Indiana, that destination could be reached in just a few hours. I think the last time I was in Mt. Morris was around the time I'd finished college. Kelly and Myrna had never been - though of course they'd both met my terrific grandmother.

We were spoiled the moment we arrived. In the week leading up to our visit, Grandma had baked a pie, brownies, and a batch of snickerdoodles. But even before those were on offer, Myrna had warmed up to Grandma pretty well on her own, sometimes calling her "G.G." (as K.K. and Abbie do) and sometimes simply "Grandma." Myrn roped her into reading stories, and had most of the livingroom upended by the end of the day Friday. Grandma had picked out a fine pumpkin for us too and after dinner that night, Myrna carved her very first jack-o-lantern. We named him "Jack," and he's since followed us back to Valparaiso, where he sits in our window.

Saturday we took in some of the local sites. We looked in on Lorado Taft's 125-foot Black Hawk statue, and even forded the river at the White Pines Forest State Park.

Grandma graciously did not kick us out after Saturday's Illinois - Ohio State game (Kelly being something of a Buckeyes fan), and Sunday morning we all attended St. Bride's Episcopal Church, where there were more than a few familiar faces. St. Bride's is also my grandfather's resting place, and it was nice to bring Kelly and Myrna around for a visit.

We had such a fun weekend with Grandma. And Myrna's been talking about her ever since we got back to Valpo. Of course it helped that Grandma loaded us up with cookies and brownies as we headed back Sunday, but I know Myrna's fondness goes much further than that.

Sunny Chicago

We've been enjoying a proper Indian Summer (as I was recently told, you first must have frost (which we had a little over a week ago) and then hit temperatures in 75-80 degree range). We took advantage of the sun, for an action-packed weekend.

Saturday we drove into Chicago, enjoying the beautiful Chicago Skyway toll booths, and headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Myrna was extremely excited to see a wild boar, and I discovered on Friday night that the zoo was lacking in wild boar, and we would have to settle with warthogs and/or pigs. But the animals were kind of the least of her concern. She was much more interested in snacks, running around in the sun, and the "Kid's Zoo" attractions. An 8 foot high system of platforms and mesh siding was the key attraction to all the kids. The problem was, of course, there was no way to "rescue" a stuck kid, and Myrna got stuck in a bottle-neck led by a terrified girl, being cheered on by a crowd of parents.


Myrna then found the zoo splash pad, for some mulching leaf collecting fun.


Even if we didn't see each and every animal, we wore Myrna out so she could nap and we could enjoy lunch at Goose Island Brewery.


She would wake up during a much anticipated Trader Joe's shopping spree. Then we made our way downtown to get coffee at one of the few Intelligentsia cafes. The Chicago Marathon was on Sunday, and the city was filled with runners carrying their grab-bags. Pre-Marathon race days always make me jealous. (Sunday was also the day of the Portland Marathon - and it was 10 years ago that I first ran that - how time flies). Myrna too was in "running mode" as she has adopted the UW football jersey as her "running shirt" and insisted on wearing it.

Sunday at the Orchard

We joined a group from St Andrew's to head out to County Line Orchard, for apple picking and more. Myrna found trouble as we waited for everyone to arrive, and tried hard to steal a staff cart (sadly it was empty, and not full of apple cider).


Then it was off into the orchard on a, as Myrna describes it, "really scary ride" (a tractor) "so scary that we needed to have a service man" (a priest). The big kids all got off for the corn maze, but we headed straight to the orchard to do some exploring. Immediately Myrna was picking apples off the ground to taste, and her parents finally gave into temptation and tasted a few off the trees (I needed to know what a Blushing Gold tasted like before we put some in our bag to buy). We didn't, however, break the rule "no climbing in trees," though we came fairly close, letting Myrna climb up on her dad.


We picked only 3 lbs of apples - 4 Jonagolds and 4 Blushing Gods - which set us back a good $5. Then it was into the Kid's Area for lots of playing in hay.


Chris and Myrna tried the hyped up apple donuts - and later that evening we enjoyed some apple pie (made by the orchard - not me). I think come lunch time, I'll be ready for another apple.

Indiana Dunes

We waited until a misty and cool Sunday to get ourselves to the giant Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan. So, it wasn't a perfect weather day, but we had lots of fun. Myrna was a bit nervous at first

But in no time, she was frolicking in the water and stripped of her clothes (at which point our public sharing of photos stops). I guess it wasn't that cold, but we certainly were not looking forward to having to jump in the water to grab her.

And as an excuse for why we are so behind on the updates; after sitting through endless Myrna accounts, we're just tired:

White Dresses, Cakes, and Dancing Shoes

An added bonus of moving to Indiana was that we were able to attend my cousin Becky's wedding in Peoria, Illinois - something that certainly would've been more difficult had we still been in Sweden.

It had been over ten years since I'd been back to IL, and entirely too long since I'd caught up with all the good folks on my Dad's side of the family. And so, in addition to going to the wedding, we had a great opportunity to spend some time with my grandmother, catch up with aunts and uncles, and sort of meet my cousins all over again as adults. The wedding turned out to be a very thorough family reunion, and Myrna got the full Burkhalter introduction in one quick weekend. This was, in fact, even her first time meeting my grandmother. Here's four generations of the Burkhalters:

Here's Myrna with the adorable Martin girls, inspecting Aaron's camera.



And a nice shot of Aaron and Norah with my grandmother ("G.G.," she's called these days).

Meeting the full Burkhalter clan wasn't Myrna's only first that weekend, either. She pulled her first fire alarm - but let's pass over that story for now. This was also Myrna's first wedding. In the month leading up to Becky's wedding, Kelly helped form impressions of all that a wedding is, and Myrna definitely took in the ceremony and reception with keen interest. Dresses, cakes and dancing seem to be the salient points she walked away with. She talks about these things often and in detail, and also pretends to talk with Becky and her husband Toby on the phone. They are usually invited over for dinner.

As for the dancing, well...



Ben even caught a video on his iPhone:



Myrna was doing this til about 11:00. She even got in a request (Rihanna's "Umbrella," one of her car stereo favorites). A month later, she still dons her pink dress and starts bouncing around the livingroom every time she catches a danceable rhythm. And she was quite irritated to find that, with all the records I have crowding the walls of our new apartment, there's not a copy of "Boogie Shoes" to be found.

The whole weekend was a great time, and we were so happy to be there for the wedding. We took a couple pictures during the weekend, but Aaron's are way better, so I've stolen some of his for this post. Further documentation can be found here.

We've also finally put up a few photos for August, which you can see here. We'll try to catch the blog up as we settle into the new apartment, job, etc., u.s.w.

Master Gardner

My grandfather has a beautiful garden and Myrna is extremely interested in it. She loved helping with the watering, composting, and daily (or more like hourly) she was on a hunt to find the bunny rabbit that calls the garden home. She is very insistent though that the tomatoes are for little girls, not bunny rabbits. If we were lucky, we might get a taste of the cherry tomatoes she would sneak off the vine.

Over our time there, she learned the names of the flowers (much more quickly than I did). In fact for a few days, the word of the day was hydrangea. There really isn't anything cuter than hearing a 2+ year old talk about petunias and hydrangeas with her great-grandfather.

National Railroad Museum

While still in Seattle we stumbled upon my old photo albums. We found a photo of myself at 8 and my sister Christina with the caption "at the train museum in Green Bay." One of Myrna's favorite spots in Stockholm was the Transport Museum, so there was no question that we would be visiting the National Railroad Museum. I guess I don't really remember what it was like 25 years ago, but I'm fairly sure it got a lot bigger and a lot cooler since then. We were fans of the drumhead collection.


There were lots and lots of trains to run around in. Myrna tested out a sleeper car, but only after she stopped to take off her sandals, as shoes are not allowed in beds.


She's still learning how to work the engine, though.


And what trip to a train museum wouldn't be complete without a ticket for a train ride.


This was the first outing just the three of us took in the midwest, and we were thankful that Myrna wasn't too disappointed about the lack of non-parent-company. Keeping in the railroad theme, Chris and I enjoyed a late lunch at Titletown Brewery (housed in an old train station a few miles away) while Myrna slept off her train frolicking. Not quite sure which would be more (un)-comfortable: her stroller or that sleeper car.

Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary

By Tuesday, July 19, most everyone had headed home, with the exception of Chris and Myrna and me and my mom. The house quieted down a bit and we were so lucky to take a trip to Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary. We were accompanied by the best guide, my cousin Kristen, who knows the park inside and out and could tell us all about every animal we saw.


We had a great time running around the park, meeting an opossum, giggling at the otters and feeding the ducks shelled corn.

Bay Beach Amusement Park

Before everyone left Green Bay, we did get in a trip to Bay Beach Amusement Park. We were spoiled as the Monday heat kept the crowds away, and Lisa, Nae, Myrna, Chris and I never had to wait for a ride. Of course, Myrna now thinks she can always get her first choice of color of lady bug, or airfighter jet, helicopter, or race car...


And it's always nice to return to an amusement park where the price or rides hasn't changed since I was a kid; Myrna got lots of 25 cent rides.