Door County Vacation
Even though I am now well into being an adult, I can’t say how glad I am that my family has revived our summer family vacations. When we were younger, we took off as a family to places like Canada, Florida, Wisconsin Dells, the Black Hills, and Lake Beauty Bible Camp. We’d pack a cooler, pile in the station wagon, and set off on our road trip! After many, many summers of not coming together for a family vacation (too many schedules to keep track of during our high school and college years!), last summer we took a family trip to the revisit the Black Hills as adults. This summer’s destination? Door County, Wisconsin!
In planning the trip, we knew we wanted to go somewhere fairly close because we had some complicated schedules amongst our group, so we chose to visit Door County, which is a peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan, just north of Green Bay. Door County is full of cherry and apple orchards, vineyards, quaint towns, and beautiful state parks. No commercial businesses are allowed in the county, so it is full of unique shops, restaurants, and bed and breakfasts. Only Erica had been there before, so it was a new adventure for almost all of us!
We started out the trip the way no trip should ever start–with car trouble! We were caravaning with my parents, and about two hours into the trip, their van suddenly died. We had to call for a tow, discovered it was the fuel pump, and unfortunately had to spend the night in tiny little Thorp, WI. We were pretty disappointed to lose a day of our trip, but we made the best of it by ordering pizza and watching women’s gymnastics.
So when we finally arrived the next day, we were ready to get started adventuring! And adventure we did! A few images from our trip:
Ice cream at the Chocolate Chicken in Egg Harbor. We frequented this place not once, but twice.
Finally made it to the lake! So peaceful.
My adorable parents. Plus John’s shoes.
Peninsula State Park. Highly recommend this place!
Breathtaking view from the top of Eagle Tower.
The newlyweds at Cana Island Lighthouse.
Cave Point Park–what an amazing place!! Pictures cannot do it justice…It’s like a grown up’s playground!
More Cave Point–we were delighted to find this little hole in the rocks.
Ferry to Washington Island. So fun!
Our only full family photo. And everyone actually looks good!
And of course we had to stop to tour Lambeau Field for the Packers Fans in the family.
Overall, it was a fantastic trip and some much-needed family time. I so miss the peaceful views, grilling over the campfire, and setting out for a new daily excursion! I definitely recommend visiting, and hope to vacation there again in the future.
One messy weekend
A few weeks ago, we had a truly fantastically messy weekend. We went to the Midwest Tomato Festival on Saturday, and did the Color Run on Sunday. The Tomato Festival took place in downtown Minneapolis, and featured food trucks, live music, lawn games, and a GIANT TOMATO FIGHT!! I’d always seen pictures of the huge tomato fight that takes place in Spain, and I figured this was as close as we were going to get for a while. We met up with my friends MaryEllen and Kristin, who are always up for a good time, and joined in on the fun. I don’t have many pictures because I didn’t know how I was going to keep my camera clean, but here are the few I do have (thanks to Kristin!).
Pre Tomato:
Post Tomato:
Aside from a very legitimate fear that we would be trampled when the gates first opened (there was LOTS of shoving!), some of those tomatoes were HARD! Supposedly they were slightly overripe and had been run over a few times with an ATV, but some of those things felt like rocks. They got better as the fight went on until literally we were standing in a pool of marinara sauce. We were covered with seeds and tomato skins, and as we walked the many blocks back to the car, we were dripping sauce and tomato bits everywhere. The best part was seeing the facial expressions of the people we passed on the street!
We cleaned up, then prepared to get dirty again the next day at the Color Run. Color Runs seem to be the newest race craze, and for anyone who might be skeptical, I highly recommend it! I absolutely loved it! Guaranteed to cure even the worst mood–who can be upset when surrounded by a rainbow of colors? Here we are squeaky clean and ready to run.
(Note the girl in the lower left corner who photobombed us!!) Periodically throughout the race we were sprayed with colored corn starch, and then we finished off with a huge color throw at the end. It was gorgeous!
Do it! I promise you will love it!
Well, we are off to Ames this weekend for my best friend’s wedding. Congrats to Lisa and Brian!
Stem Festival
I went home to Iowa a few weekends ago. Isn’t it funny that, though I haven’t lived in Orange City for about 9 years, I still call it going home? I guess home is, and always will be, where my Mom and Dad live. 🙂 John had to stay in the cities to take his final round of his board exams, but Erica and I drove to Iowa and were able to celebrate my hometown’s annual Tulip Festival. As a background, the population of Orange City is VERY Dutch (my family included) and is quite proud of that heritage. There are windmills throughout town, dutch fronts on many of the businesses, and wooden shoes and delft everywhere. The Tulip Festival is basically a big Dutch celebration, with Dutch costumes, foods, and traditions.
Before we lived in Orange City, my family still drove there just about every year to celebrate the Tulip Festival with my grandparents, so the festival has been a tradition for my family since I was very young. I hadn’t been able to make it to the festival the last few years due to conflicts, so I was excited to get into the Dutch spirit this year! Unfortunately, because of the unseasonably warm weather this year, the tulips had long since passed, leaving just beds of tulip stems. When that happens, locals call it a “stem festival.” Here are a few photos of my funny little town.
Elementary school students play dutch games before each of the twice daily parades.
Then there is the street scrubbing. The boys and men pour buckets of water on the streets (and on each other, on hot days like that one!)
Followed by the women and girls pushing brooms, “scrubbing” the streets. We Dutchmen like it clean!
Then the parade! Featuring, of course, my high school band, who march in Dutch costumes and wooden shoes. So many wonderful memories!
And many Dutch-themed floats. Here’s just a few.
I was able to meet up with a great high school friend, Amber, for the parade. Amber was my first friend when I moved to Orange City, and still a very dear friend to me!
We also met up with my grandparents for snert (pea soup), saucijzes (pigs in a blanket), and pie. I had my favorite Dutch treat, poffertjes (mini pancakes in rum butter) earlier in the day.
We finished the day watching my lovely mother perform as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady. Doesn’t she rock that ascot hat?
We may not be the biggest Tulip Festival out there (Pella, IA and Holland, MI beat us for sure), but our festival is so authentic and fun. I’m so glad I was able to make it to the Festival this year.
A parting shot of my hometown!
Wedding in the Ozarks
A few weeks ago my little brother, Chris, got married. It’s hard for me as big sister to comprehend that he is old enough to get married (and harder still to comprehend that I am now 27! Where are my 20’s going??). Chris and Kim wanted to have an outdoor beach wedding, and they chose the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. This meant a mini vacation for our family to a new location, and I’d been looking forward to it for several months. It’s rare for our entire family to be able to get together, so we really cherish the times when we do! We rented a great condo for our family right on the lake. Check out our daily view!
For those who don’t know, Lake of the Ozarks looks like this:
Because of the crazy shape, there is abundant shoreline, making it a popular vacation spot and retirement destination. The first evening we arrived was soooo beautiful and warm–probably 85 degrees. We cooked a quick and easy dinner and ate on the porch in the sunshine.
The next day we did some hiking at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park. It was a bit chillier, but we still had a great time enjoying nature and the great views. 
Here’s my mom stylin’ the blanket. 🙂 Like I said, it was chilly!
The sun came out again for the wedding the next day, and it was just beautiful!
We got all spiffed up for the occasion.
And had some fun goofing around after pictures but pre-wedding.
Then the main event! The bride was beautiful, the ceremony was sweet, and the setting was perfect. Congrats Chris and Kim! 
I think we were all wishing for one more day to be able to spend together hanging out at the lake, but alas, we had to get back to jobs and school. Fortunately we have more fun adventures to look forward to this summer! What a wonderful time to see family, celebrate together, and welcome a new member to the family!
A perfect St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s day arrived with the most beautiful weather this year–80+ and sunny! Since it was also a Saturday, we decided to make the most of it. We started out with green smoothies (kale, frozen mango, banana, a little coconut oil, and flax seeds). They are soooooo good, and really get the day started right!
We wore SHORTS! Pretty sure I’ve never worn shorts on St. Patty’s before…just for the record. 🙂 It was glorious.
We went for a walk around Lake Harriet, one of our favorite urban lakes. It was a bizarre feeling to be so warm, but to have a thin layer of ice still on the lake. I hate how this picture makes me look taller than John–I was on a cement thingy so it is deceptive!
Then we walked over to the Linden Hills neighborhood and checked out a bunch of shops. A favorite was the Wild Rumpus bookstore, SUCH a creative little place with cats, chickens, ferrets, a fat lizard, a chinchilla, and various other pets throughout the place. We particularly liked the child-sized door (or in this case, John-sized) set into the regular, full-size door.
At that point our appetites kicked in so we stopped for an outdoor patio lunch at Patisserie 46, a new-to-us little french bakery. Can I say yum??? You’re looking at a ham and gruyere tartine (I had already polished off the side salad). I could eat like this every day! I’m thinking I may need to attempt my own homemade version of one of these babies soon.
We finished the day with a fun craft project. Start with some hardcover books:
And follow these directions to get this!
Finally, even though we didn’t make these on St. Patty’s Day (we made and ate them earlier in the week), I want to leave you with the recipe for Irish Potatoes. For those who don’t know, Irish Potatoes are actually a dessert containing no potatoes. The name comes from the appearance.
I had never heard of them, or had them, so John decided we should whip up our own batch. They are incredibly addicting! Here is the recipe.
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1 vanilla bean (can substitute 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- 1 pkg. powdered sugar
- 2 1/2 flaked coconut
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
A dumpster project
So John and I went dumpster diving. No, there was not any getting into dumpsters involved–but we did pick up a chair that someone had left beside it. (Have we done this sort of thing before? I plead the 5th. But we may or may not have a lamp, end table, and a few flower pots that were abandoned by other apartment residents. I’ll never tell!) The chair was pretty boring and sorry looking when we picked it up:
BUT it is solid wood, and seemed to be quite sturdy. And on these cold winter nights, we needed a project! So we picked up some paint and decided to paint it during one of our Thursday date nights. First we sanded:
Then we painted:
And painted and painted! It took a few coats to finish it. But the end product turned out great! We have brown and this bright spring green in a rug in our living room, and we decided to use the chair at our computer desk. We love it!
I’m hoping to paint some sort of graphic in brown on seat, but I haven’t decided what yet. Leaves or tree? Have already painted too many of those–need to be creative. Dandelion puffs? Fun, but too hard! Flowers? Maybe a little too feminine for John. I’ll think about it until inspiration strikes. If you have any great ideas, send them my way! So we’re (probably a little too) proud of our project, and looking forward to the next one! I guess since we don’t own a house, we are not sick of projects yet. We might need to jump on Craigslist soon to find our next piece of furniture to redo!
Mulled cider
This has been such a strange winter–quite the opposite of last year. So little snow, warmish temperatures (for Minnesota), but still I find myself waiting and hoping for Spring! Flip flops, shorts, the beach, daylight until 9:00, grilling…it all sounds wonderful right about now!! Only a few more months to go–we can do it! In the meantime, I’m making a point to enjoy wintery things, like mulled cider. Mulled cider has got to be one of my favorite beverages of all time–so spicy, warm, fruity, just delish. I know it’s not much of a recipe–it’s pretty simple! But I thought I’d share just the same. 🙂
Mulled Cider
- Half a gallon of “good” apple cider (you know, the cloudy kind!)
- 1 orange, sliced
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2-3 allspice berries
- 2-3 cloves
And that’s it! Put in a crock pot to “mull” for at least 30 minutes, then serve! Soooo good, and surprising how well the citrus blends with the apple flavor and spices. John and I have consumed an entire batch of this by ourselves on several occasions this winter. 🙂 It’s great for a party too!
Christmas letter 2011
Dear Friends and Family,
2011 has been another year of adventures for John and Elena! Beginning with the snowiest and longest winter both of us can remember (nicknamed “snowmaggedon” and “snowpocalypse” by locals), we were eager for nice weather to come. This winter by comparison has been surprisingly mild, and we may not even have a white Christmas this year (a first for Minneosta?).
John continues his studies as a chiropractic student at Northwestern Health Sciences University. He has officially completed his 7th trimester out of 10, meaning that he will graduate in less than a year—November 12th, 2012 to be exact! We are excited that the end is in sight, and eager for what adventures lie ahead. He continues to sharpen his skills in chiropractic technique using the Gonstead method. This past term brought John’s first chiropractic Internship at an office in Minneapolis, where John prepared x-rays, did patient exams, and adjusted patients. This coming trimester will bring more internship hours and less class time, a welcome change.
Elena had a new adventure this year as well. After a year and a half as Program Coordinator at nonprofit Community Thread, Elena was surprised by the news that her supervisor was leaving for a new job. She interviewed for the position, and received the promotion to Volunteer Center Program Manager. The position brings greater responsibilities and decision-making, and has been a wonderful new challenge for Elena. She is currently wrapping up her work with the Holiday Bureau program, which has been much smoother the second time around! Elena also continues to volunteer as Compassion International’s Volunteer Coordinator for Minnesota events.
We filled our summer with fun activities and trips. Minnesota is a veritable outdoor adventure wonderland. We spent many weekends biking, hiking, swimming, and just generally exploring nature. We took a trip this fall with John’s parents to our favorite Minnesota destination, the north shore of Lake Superior, to track down Susan Ballam’s parents’ childhood homes, as well as tour some of the sites.
Additionally, in August we took a family vacation with Elena’s family (minus Chris—who had just begun a new job at Google) to the Black Hills in South Dakota. Encounters with hundreds of buffalo, seeing the four faces, hiking beautiful trails, and driving through the Badlands National Park were just a few of the highlights. We also took a trip to visit the Ballams in Ocean City, NJ and enjoyed a week of boogie boarding, attempting to surf, and walking the boardwalk.
We hope this letter finds you healthy and happy. We treasure each and every one of our friends and family, and hope to connect with you soon! Any takers to visit Minnesota in 2012??? We hope you all have a blessed holiday season, and your best year yet! Love, John and Elena
We are…warriors!!
This past July, the Warrior Dash came to Minnesota. So naturally, John and I decided to do it. We had wanted to do the Muddy Buddies Ride and Run the previous year, but weren’t able to, so we didn’t want to let this opportunity pass us by. Plus I knew we had two friends crazy enough to do it with us–Lisa and Brian!
We fortunately had FANTASTIC weather the day of the event. We were hoping it would not be storming (like it had the day before!) or extremely hot (as it had been for most of the month!), and we really lucked out. After waking up very early, driving to the parking area, and hopping on a bus to Afton Alps, we arrived to find lots of mud–and lots of muddy people. 🙂
The race started with an extremely looooong and steep hill. For those who don’t know, Afton Alps is a ski area, and while I knew the event was taking place there, I didn’t expect we would actually be running up the ski slopes—but we did! There was not much dashing going on at those points… 🙂 The run was interspersed with various obstacles, like climbing through a junkyard, climbing various rope ladders, being blasted with ice cold water, sliding down a giant slip and slide, and jumping over fire. We took a waterproof disposable camera through the race so we could capture some of the insanity.
At the end of the race was a long mud pit. And just to make sure you got sufficiently muddy, they had barbed wire running over the top of the pit, forcing you to army crawl through the mud! So at the end, we looked like this! Would you believe John’s and Lisa’s shirts were originally white?
The cleanup procedures involved standing in front of snow machines that were blasting ice cold water. Not very pleasant, but effective!
We were thrilled with the overall experience. Would I recommend it? Absolutely!
The past few months…
Wow, sorry I am such a bad blogger! So what have John and Elena been up to the past couple of months?
We went skiing with some great friends!
John reached the halfway point in chiropractic school.
My brother Craig graduated from college!
We celebrated a dear friend's wedding. Congrats, Nick!
I had a California girls adventure with my mom...
...AND celebrated another dear friend's wedding. Yay, Lauren! (Yes, I am wearing the same dress/necklace--I liked it, okay!!)
John and I took a day trip to Red Wing, MN.
So that is a very brief overview of our lives the last few months (at least the fun parts!) and has brought us from winter to spring to summer! The time has gone quickly and I can’t believe it is already August! The summer sure does fly by (especially when you live in Minnesota and have to cling to every warm day you get!) John’s summer break is approaching, so we will be taking off for some seriously fun adventures with both families very soon. Hope all of you are enjoying the warm, beautiful days, and that lemonade, beaches, and outdoor fun are a part of them!
Ballam Adventures 