Little Chickens & Hibachis

Editor’s note: I started writing this on Monday, October 10th.  As you can tell I didn’t get it finished then…it has taken me nearly 2 weeks to finish this post.  Enjoy the flashback. ~nil

This weekend (Oct 8 & 9) was mostly quiet though we did go out both days.  Let me back up & talk about our week.

Abe had to finish up some work in Dickinson, ND this past week (Oct 3-7) which meant leaving me & the kids on our own.  I decided pretty quickly that I wasn’t quite ready to do it all on my own 24/7 so I talked Mom into “letting” us stay for as long as I needed.  (I admitted I needed help; I must be growing up….)

Bright & early Monday I was awakened by the dogs barking at the Fed-Ex man.  He was about to leave a note when I pelted down to the front door.  Dressed in a long sleeved tshirt, no glasses (or pants), barely conscious I managed to take delivery of my replacement phone.  Were I looking more fetching I’m sure me, answering the door sans pants, would have been the Fed-Ex guy’s favorite stop of the day…

Anyway, I managed to pack everything the three of us would need for a week, take a shower & get both kids ready and in the car by just a after 1.  A fairly quick stop at Verizon to get the new phone activated and we were on our way to the farm.  Magnus was very excited to see Grandma B & I was happy to let him chase after Grandma.  It was a really good week & things went very smoothly.  Magnus only had one night where he decided to have a screaming fit at O’dark-thirty.  We spent one afternoon in Tyler playing with the cousins & Auntie Jenn took some photos of Marit.  We also got to spend time with Auntie Zia & cousin JaZiah.

Magnus was working on his walking while we were at the farm.  He will take one or two steps on his own when he wants to but simply refuses to just let go and really go for it. (yeah, don’t we all have that problem with so many different things in life?!)  Magnus also worked on his words…he doesn’t speak English but rather he has a language all his own.  He babbles non-stop but I’m the only one who really understands a lot of it.  He will say a few words: dog, cup, juice, Momma & his big favorite is “Wow”.  He has two kinds of wow.  The first is just a plain spoken “wow” in a normal tone of voice.  The second is the one that means he is really impressed with something.  His little mouth forms a perfect “O’, his voice drops to a whisper & he says, “Woooow”.  There’s almost a hint of “wh” in it and his eyes get really big, eyebrows arched super high.   It is the funniest thing & so fun to see Magnus delight in discovering his world.

Anyway, Friday we saw Auntie Beth & then headed for home.  I called Abe to see where he was only to find out he had arrived home about 4:30 AM.  Here I had thought he was driving back from ND and he was already home.  The kids & I hurried home & Magnus was beyond excited to see Daddy.

Saturday we bummed around town & visited a few shops because it was gorgeous outside so we took a stroll through downtown Sioux Falls.  We also met up with my brother & his family at a local orchard where there was a harvest festival.  Magnus wasn’t too keen on getting his photo taken with a pumpkin but I did manage to snap a couple of Marit.

After a little time in the pumpkin patch we walked over to the main event area.  There were more places to take photos (hay bales, pumpkins etc… we didn’t avail ourselves of them though as none of us were dressed for proper photos), a general store, food vendors, pony rides, bouncy castles & a petty zoo.  The pony rides were too expensive & Magnus is still a bit young, the bouncy castles were serious trauma waiting to happen so into the petting zoo area we went.  Magnus wasn’t very impressed with the goats or donkeys but he LOVED the little chickens.  I don’t know exactly what kind they were but I know they were a bantam breed.  Very cute little gray speckled chickens with bright red combs…Abe & Magnus got down close to the fence & watched the chickens pecking in the dirt.  Magnus was full of chatter about the little chickens & he kept pointing to their pen as he talked about them.  We kept going back to the pen because he didn’t want to say goodbye.

Sunday we went watched the Vikings lose (again) before going out again & to run errands in the afternoon.  We did the basic Target/Wal-mart/Hy-vee run.  After that we decided to meet up with my brother Rob & his family for dinner.  After much texting back & forth we decided to try the new hibachi/sushi place that recently opened.

Tokoyo Sushi & Hibachi is a nice casual restaurant & is fairly kid friendly.  The food was fantastic!  Easily the best fried rice in town.  I am looking forward to saving our pennies & trying some of the more spendy items on the menu (lobster, shrimp, maybe even the squid if I’m feeling brave).

Anyway, Magnus was in awe from the second the chef created his trademark fireball.  Magnus immediately began to clap & the “Woooow!” in full sotto voce was heard about 1000 times. The more the chef showed off his skills with the spatula & fork the more Magnus clapped & bounced on my lap.  His cousin, Grayson, was equally impressed & kept waving his hands in the air like he was starting “the wave” at a sporting event.  I’m pretty sure that no matter how long that chef cooks he will never find a more appreciative audience than our boys were that night.  Magnus thoroughly enjoyed the fried rice & chicken as well as the taste of shrimp tempura. These were jumbo shrimp & I had to fight for my share as Magnus wasn’t keen on sharing.

All in all it was a fun night out & made even better by having Magnus along.