EVERYONE Loves a Good Festival!

ANOTHER FEW LAZY DAYS IN SOUTHERN California, but the blog must go on . . .

Love babysitting little Miss Mary

two times a week!

Friday's usually mean SLEEPOVERS with Jacob!

 One Friday, we started with

miniature golf in Ventura

Proud after sinking yet

another par putt

Well, there's par and 

then there's par . . .

 Sleepovers are highlights

 You had to be there

Santa Clara Elementary School

Fund Raiser

Chocolates are the building blocks of a healthy Catholic body according to an encyclical by Pope Francis.

Last Friday's Sleepover started

with the movie "The Boss Baby"

We both liked it.

Get a good meal soldier

Saturday was April 1st, aka, April Fools Day in the USA.

We were foolish enough to take Jacob and go to not one but two major events in Ventura County on this glorious Saturday.

Up first was . . .

The 42nd Annual

Scandinavian Festival

at California Lutheran University

 Cool Viking Encampment

Great storyteller explaining how

the names off the days of the week

coming from Scandinavian lore

For example, did you know that Thursday comes from Thor's Day?

  

A boy and a dead Wild Boar

A KUBB FIELD!

Kubb, aka, Kill the Peasants, is a great game that Jacob loves to play in our back yard.

He had fun executing a few peasants before lunch.

 Viking Weaponry

Colorful Viking Tent

 Jacob wanted a photo of

this pig head

 Nice outfit

Not sure if it is truly seaworthy

A boy and a steam begging

to be crossed

Sweden soon

Did you know any of these Swedish facts?

Under its Constitutional Monarchy, the Sovereign of Sweden is King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Sweden is a country made up of 158,927 square miles making it the fourth largest country in Europe and about one tenth larger than the State of California.

The population of Sweden is approximately 10,015,000.

While the nation's capital and largest city is Stockholm, the two most important cities from both historical and athletic perspectives are Uplands-Väsby and Hässleholm.

You could look it up.

 CLU's giant Martin Luther statue

wearing the Noble Prize

Bob Dylan winning the 2017

Nobel Prize for Literature

was interesting

  

Jacob could win one in 2063

Time to hit the kids' craft making booths.

Sanding down a

wooden butter knife

It was INTENSE work!

Time for a snack break

A healthy cold plate in the sunlight and a delicious bowl of Swedish meatballs, lingonberry jam and mashed potatoes in the shadows.

 The booth to make Swedish

Christmas tree straw ornaments

was packed

Denmark, not so much

 Making a Danish fish

Sort of a Danish origami feel to this.

 Jacob and the Fish

Sounds like a Disney movie.

Making a Norwegian rock troll

A call to . . .

. . . dance?

. . . to eat dainty Swedish pancakes ?

. . . to start gorging on sausages?

. . . NO, it was time for an

old fashioned Viking battle!

I lost my wing man early

in the fighting

DAMN THE ENGLISH! 

We had a GREAT morning at the

Scandinavian Festival!

Now it was time to drive about 15 minutes to beautiful Moorpark, California for . . . 

16th Annual The Blue and The Gray

Civil War Battle Reenactment

 The Battle of Antietam is

THAT-A-WAY!

Private Billy Otis Streeter

of the 2nd Vermont Volunteer's

Company E

He eerily looks a lot like our son Michael.

Practicing their battle techniques

Or maybe just trying to impress the ladies.

 Jacob helping Billy Otis

to set up his camp

Jacob and Billy Otis Streeter

 Is that a Civil War era laser

beam on his hat?

 This General likes to relax by

smoking a pipe before a big battle

This like a stogie instead

Laurie liked these lace sun umbrellas

They are quite fancy indeed!

The Union forces marching

into battle to face . . .

. . . the undermanned Rebels

 "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

What does that mean?

It means KABOOM!

More Union troops

 The Battle was on now!

Reb cavalry behind the Union line

 Colorful

 Billy Otis SURVIVED the battle!

Jacob joined Billy Otis on the

march back to the Union camp

Saturday was a loooooong day but we had a lot of fun, being grandparents can be daunting at times.

Now we absolutely need to get out to Las Vegas soon to see grandson Kevin and his Mom and Dad.

Reading Is FUNdamental

 Swedish Noir at its finest

The 20th of the 22

Jack Reacher novels that

I have read

This is all Mike D'Antuono's fault. I only need to find the two newest Reacher novels to finally catch up to Lee Child's writing efforts.

Not the best story in the series but Reacher did have an amazingly high body count to offset any holes in the story.

Another Mike D'Antuono

recommendation

Actually, it can.

Published in 1935, this work has some amazing parallels to today's zany, volatile American political scene.