Finding Gold & Snow

Over the winter we went to Sovereign Hill. An open air museum town set in the 1850's gold rush era.

We got to pan of gold
We took a horse and carriage ride
We made our own coloured candles to take home
We saw tent villages where the miners use to live
The pretty dresses the ladies use to wear
We saw re-enactments
It snowed very fake snow in the main street

There was an ice sculpute display and we got to experience what minus 10 degrees feels like
But most fun of all and my favourite thing of the day was the Ice Slide. My brother, mum and I raced down it about 20 times. I want to go back next year if they have the ice slide again.

Pinky goes to Disney On Ice

Hi Ashlyn,

We hope you are enjoying your summer holidays. Mikaela is also on school holidays. She has a 2 weeks break between second and third term. She had had a really busy and fun break and returns to school next week.

Mikaela and her Nanna went to the Forever Barbie 50th Birthday Exhibition that is on in town. She like it so much that I am taking her back there this weekend. She got to see how Barbies are made and they had one largest collection of Barbies and Accessories ever assembled in the world on display. At the end of the exhibition Mikaela got to design her own Barbie Doll.

We also took a trip to Sovereign Hill an 1850’s gold mining village. They had and ice sculpture exhibition, and ice slide and snow there, but it was not real. We will post about our adventures her soon.

The most exciting part of Mikaela’s holidays was going to Disney on Ice. We go every July when the show comes to town. This year the theme was Princess Wishes.
Pinky came along to the show and she dressed up in her very best pink dress for the occasion. When we took our seats an usher approached me and asked if Mikaela and her brother would like to be in the show. Just before intermission when the Little Mermaid was on. I took Mikaela and her brother down to the side of the stage and they hopped in a boat and were pushed around the ice. They got to meet some of the Disney characters too. It was a very special day to be picked out of a crowd of about 10 thousand people.

Please tell us what you have been doing on your summer holidays, we would love to know if you have any special traditions and how you’re spending your summer vacation.

Mikaela & Liss

Sharlene's First Week In Minnesota

Here are some pics from Sharlene's first week in Minnesota. Of course we had to take her fishing.
Sharlene has made friends with a fluffy white duck named Peepers. Peepers & Sharlene joined my Mom, Dad, Sisters and Grandpa while we fished on Blackduck Lake for walleyes.

The lake was very busy that evening. We didn't head out on the lake until 6:00 in the evening. Here is a picture of all the boats waiting to get in and out of the lake. There was a line of five boats waiting to be put into the water and about four other boats waiting their turn to get off the lake.Sharlene helped me fish. Mom or Dad would cast my line out for me and then Sharlene and I would slowly reel the minnow and jig back to the boat.

Sharlene and I caught the first fish. It wasn't a walleye so we didn't keep it. It was a northern. When my Mom was about to take this picture my Grandpa and I backed up so she could take it. Well Grandpa tripped over the minnow bucket, knocking it over spilling minnows all over the floor. We just about fell out of the boat and Grandpa dropped the fish, which made my Mom scream and jump on the seat because the northern tried to get her foot. It was so funny. We quick took this picture, released the fish and saved all the minnows. That is why we are laughing in the picture.

We fished until it got dark outside. It was neat watching the sun set over the lake. We saw bald eagles flying over us and pelicans landing in the water near our boat.

We caught 21 fish total. In Minnesota people have to have a permit to fish - but kids don't. People are able to keep six walleyes for each person in the boat and they have to be a certain size, if they aren't you have to throw them back into the lake.

Here is a picture of me holding a walleye. You have to be careful when you hold them because their fins are sharp and they have sharp teeth. My Grandpa is proud of me that I will hold the fish, because my Mom is to scared to hold them and my Uncle (my Mom's brother) will only touch the fish if he has gloves on.

Sharlene also came with my Mom and Dad to my school to watch my second grade musical. The musical was called Kids In Space. One of the teachers at my school wrote the musical. We all had to wear red shirts and sun glasses. Sharlene loved the musical. After the show Mom brought Sharlene down to my classroom so that she could take my picture. This is a picture of Sharlene and me with two of my really good friends - Nick and Tucker. Tucker and I have been in the same class since Kindergarten.

Sharlene Arrives

Sharlene has arrived in Bemidji! Here are pics from the day she arrived. Ashlyn opened the package while she was at her Grandpa and Nana's house. She was so excited to finally meet Sharlene.

Ashlyn immediately took her down to show her the lake, since that is where we spend a lot of our time in the spring, summer and fall. Ashlyn and Sharlene even spent some time digging for gold coins in the sand box by the lake (a pirate left a pile of gold coins buried all through out the sand box and the girls have lots of fun looking for them).

Ashlyn will be posting about what she wants to be when she grows up soon - here is a hint it has something to do with her two favorite things - water and animals.

When I grow up

When I grow up I want to be a Florist. I love flowers. My favourites are roses, violets and blue bells. I would go to the flower market each day and get the freshest flowers I could find to put them into special bouquets for people to come and buy for all different occasions. I would like to make people happy with my flower arrangements. I would have a basket of flowers especially for little kids so when they come into my shop they could pick a flower out of the basket.

My mum tells me I must go to floristry school where I will learn about all different flowers, how to arrange them and what flowers you give for each different occasion.

To be a florist in Australia you need a minimum qualification of a Certificate III in Floristry. This is a 1.5 years full time course or 3 years part time.

I know Red Roses are for love, so when you go on a date with a boy he should give you red roses.

Brightly coloured followers are good to give to your friends for their birthdays or to say thank you.

White lilies are given to people you love very much when they die.

Ashlyn, what do you want to be when you grow up?

*****

Quick News Update:

Sorry we haven’t posted for a while we have been busy. Mikaela spent all of last week off school as they shut down due to some confirmed cases of swine flu.

**

We thought we had lost Pinky on Saturday. She had gone to Nanna’s for a sleep over a few days before. Thankfully on a search of Mikaela’s bedroom we found her hiding tucked up in between Mikaela’s bed and the bedroom wall. Pinky, had us scared for a minute bit is very safe now.

**

Mikaela went to a fancy dress party. Her costume was a 60’s Rock ’n’ Roll outfit. Here she is with her cousin.

Pinky's Weekend

Pinky played peek a boo at the park

This weekend we had a sleep over at Nanna’s because Mum went out to a birthday Party. When mum came to pick us up on Sunday morning we went for a drive to Harcourt to buy fresh apples.

(Harcourt is about a 1 hours drive away located in the Victoria’s Goldfields district and it is know for it’s apple orchids).

On the way there we stopped a Malmsbury. It is a small town with a nice park. We like to play on the playground. There is an old train bridge at the back of the gardens. My brother thinks it is Thomas the tank engine’s bridge. We like to watch for trains but one never came while we were there.

(The Malmsbury Viaduct is the largest stone bridge in Victoria. It consists of 5 x 18 metre arches and was built in 1862)

After we looked at the bridge we went for a walk in the park’s lake. There is no water in the lake because of the drought and all the ground was cracked.

(The reservoir that feeds the local river and this lake is only 5% full. I will be posting a story about this at my blog sometime this week)

Then we drove to the apple shop on the side of the road and got some apples and a pie to take home.

I hope Sharlene had a fun weekend too.

Love Mikaela

Minnesota Wildlife

Ashlyn has spent a bit of time the last two days gathering facts about area "wildlife" from a few different categories. Here is what she came up with:

Bald Eagles:

They are white and brown. Females are larger. They are a symbol of America. We have lots of them around where we live.

Loons:

They are our state bird. They live in every state except Alaska. There are lots of them where we live also.

Walleye:

Fishermen catch and keep 3.5 million walleye in Minnesota each year. They are our state fish. The cousin of the walleye is the sauger. This is a picture of my dad and I last summer - it was the first walleye I caught of the season.

Deer ticks:

Deer ticks suck on people blood. They are like wood ticks but smaller. They live in the woods.

Chipmunks:

Chipmunks are really fast and hard to catch (me and my sisters have tried). They live in trees and are brown and white and black.

Foxes:

There are lots of different color foxes. Foxes hunt alone. They eat mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, birds, snakes, fish, insects, nuts, seeds and berries.

Clams:

They are members of the second largest group of animals that live under water. They live in rivers and lakes in Minnesota. We like to gather them in buckets when we swim at my Grandpa and Grandma's house.

Snakes:

There are only two species of venomous snakes that live in Minnesota. They are very rare and do not live near our town. Venomous snakes are dangerous but there bites are rarely fatal in Minnesota.

Turtles:

The Snapping Turtle is the largest turtle in the upper midwest. Their shell is normally covered with algae. We also have mud turtles that look the bottom of their shell is painted orange, red and yellow. This is a picture of a mud turtle swimming by the boat.

The types of wild animals I have seen in Minnesota are:

Deer, Bears, Wolves, Owls, Loons, Eagles, Snakes (Non Venomous), Turtles (lots of turtles), Muskrats (my Mom is terrified of these), Beavers, Otters, Fish, Foxes, Rabbits, Porcupines, Racoons, Skunks (usually dead ones on the road) and Woodchucks.

Nature Walk

On Wednesday, me and mum went on a nature walk to see what animals live in our local habitat.We walked over the bridge and along the creek. We saw a magpie and a crow. We heard frogs croaking.

Next we walked to the park. There were signs to say that Blue Tongue Lizards, hawks, the golden sun moth and copperhead snakes live in the Craigieburn Grassland Habitat.


(The copperhead snake grows up to 90cm to 150cm’s long and is venomous, but we have not seen one yet)

Blue tongue Lizard - coperhead Snake

Then we went back down to the creek and saw a big storm water drain and a little duck on the water.

Sometimes on the way to school we see flocks of sulphur-Crested Cockatoos and Glaha’s. They are very noisy birds.

Glaha - Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

My Trip To The Zoo

Today I went to the zoo! We saw fish, giraffes - a mom and her baby, lions, sea lions and my favorite - MONKEYS! I love monkeys. After seeing the animals we went to the gift shop and I bought a bunch of little toy monkeys. The last thing we did was go to the conservatory and see all the flowers and plants.

Love,

Ashlyn

** A Note From Ashlyn's Mom**

The zoo that we visited is not in our home town. Como Zoo is in St. Paul and is a free zoo. They have lots of animals to see and a sea lion show during the summer. My favorite part is visiting the conservatory to see all the flowers. I will be posting the pics of some of the flowers on my blog this week. If you want to check out the zoo's website I am attaching the link: http://www.comozooconservatory.org/

Have a great week!