Visit to Eau Claire

Black Friday morning, we got up bright and early and headed out to Eau Claire for the weekend.  It was a beautiful, unseasonably warm day and we took advantage by getting to spend a little  time with the horses at Grandpa Jim and Grandma Marcia's house.  Nolan was super eager to go for a ride, so Auntie Annalyse saddled up Jazz and they went on a "trail ride" around the property.  He grinned from ear to ear the whole time, and even agreed to show in leadline at the horse show next summer.  He also spent some time with Uncle Luke practicing casting with his fly fishing rod.  I think Uncle Luke may have an over-eager, reckless with a fishing pole, kind of fishing buddy next spring!

On Saturday, we made the trek down to Grandpa Arnie's Whitetail Christmas Tree Farm.  Though Grandpa doesn't sell trees commercially anymore, there are still a plethora of beautiful, slightly wild looking Frasier Fir and Balsam trees to cut and adorn the houses of nearly all the Weisenbecks during the Christmas season.  I remember well the many Decembers our family spent working on the Christmas tree farm.  Grandma Edie had their little camper parked there, which was kept toasty warm with the propane heater and we would sip hot chocolate and pass out candy canes to the many people who came to pick their perfect Christmas tree.  Grandpa was outside directing people where to go, using the tractor's special shaker attachment to shake all the dead needles out of the tree, and baling up each family's perfect pick for easier hauling back to their home.  As we got older, Lucas and some of the other cousins began helping with the shearing and  painting of the trees during the summers so they would be ready for the Christmastime harvest.  They used sharp machetes to take off the out of place branches and trim them into the perfect Christmas tree shape.  Also, the Scotch pine and White Pine trees often were painted in order to make  their green color more vibrant.  Through the years, our family always had a beautiful Whitetail Farm tree that was made extra special because of the land on which we got it.  Later on in college, Grandpa donated a huge, beautiful Christmas tree to St. Mary's University to be lit up in the plaza for the Christmas Light Service.  Grandpa's farm also provided my very own first Christmas tree in my apartment in Long Prairie.  Nolan and I have both discovered that we have a bit of an allergy to the pine in the house, so  we use a artificial tree now.  But, it was fun to spend some time at this special place, helping Grandpa Jim and Grandma Marcia pick out their perfect tree for the season.

Since we were already most of the way there, we decided  to continue on a little bit farther and head to Lark's Toys in Kellogg, MN.  We've often heard about what a neat toy store it is, with it's handmade wooden toys, huge selection, and indoor carousel  and it didn't disappoint. Nolan saw all the cool animal figurines, loaded up his arms, and asked us where he could find a bag.  They both enjoyed playing with the displays, puppets, and though they were nervous at first, they ended up loving the ride on the carousel.  

Unfortunately, because we were still a bit under the weather, we ended up not getting to visit our great grandparents.  We did NOT want to pass along any of our germs and made things any more difficult for them.  But, we had a great time spending the weekend with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Marcia and look forward to our next visit!

Eric thought he was going to throw up.