Earlier this month, the girls and I attending Village Fire, a community singing weekend.  Jon was in Colorado, so we decided it would be fun to spend the weekend singing, playing and meeting new friends.  We gathered at Good Earth Village in Spring Valley, MN, about an hour from here.  We had a great time, despite Lily feeling under the weather, and are excited to go back next year!

Gathering before lunch – the view from the eating spot was spectacular! Up high on a ridge, we could see for miles.

The Welcome barn where various singing sessions took place.

Singing along with Bret Hesla who wrote some great songs, including one of our favorites, I Burned the Beans.

More singing, this time out in the open.

A definite highlight – sleeping in the covered wagon. We ended up only staying one night because Lily was sick, but what a night it was! The thunderstorms and rain were a little loud in the wagon.

Today, two friends came over to play with Sylvia and Lily.  They spent hours outside doing lots of great things, but they spent the most time on Mother Nature’s Palace – restaurant extraordinaire.  They created menus and made very creative dishes using grass, leaves, bark, mushrooms, even cut up bugs and millipedes.  They had so much fun!  It’s amazing what they can do with just a few simple items found in nature.  And I had the pleasure of dining there.  Not quite Fancy’s Diner, but quite fun nonetheless.  Oh – and there are 2 other random photos at the end!

Menu written on birch bark; plates made of tree “cookies”; appetizer (or appetite, as Lily says) made of grass.

The excellent wait staff. 🙂

Mushroom cupcake

Centipede salad (you can see them cut up on the side). You can also see the napkin and silverware to the right.

Nice presentation!

Sylvia made 8 of these Thank You cards for the kids at her birthday party. It took her forever, but she had a lot of fun and they sure turned out cute!

Last day of Kinderhaus! Mr. Steve, Lily, Olivia and Miss MIka