10 Questions About…

Could I be any slower getting the rest of the vacation stuff on the blog? I doubt it but maybe I can catch up quickly today.

One of the fun things they do at Fair Hills is the staff put on a show. I’ve included a sample of the acts below and links to more videos from the show. The girls *love* the show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdJ7fZOwM6M – Lily, Aine & Kate with others on stage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fo1i7ZZaWM – Larry & his sister with Wide Mouth Frog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GSxm0rWUkA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyR7paeURY

A golf course, a sheet of plastic, a ton of water. That’s all I’m going to say…

So apparently Detroit Lakes is on butterfly migration path to Mexico! And they all stop at Fair Hills. The place isn’t exactly inundated but it’s fun to see the monarchs and as you can see we saw at least one good branch-load of butterflies is a fir tree, which kind of surprised me. I thought they’d like a softer looking tree.

We’re in Fair Hills Resort this week. It’s up in Detroit Lakes. It’s like a Minnesota-flavored Dirty Dancing resort. There are loads of kids’ activities – and some adult stuff too. There’s a talent show and a show (Hootenanny) that features staff talent. There are 3 meals a day. The chef can make pancakes in any shape!

These were our activities from the first full day:

• 7 am – I walk with Barb, who leads about 20 people on a 1 hour walk around Big Pelican Lake. A boat picks us up in time for breakfast. Lily joined me. We saw an eagle
• 8:00 – breakfast
• Morning: It rained so the best activity was swimming. All of us swam for about 90 minutes in the pool and hot tub. It rained steadily the whole time – but it really was perfect for swimming!
• 11:00: Zumba – a new aerobics-dance exercise class, which the big girls and I loved!
• Noon – lunch
• 1:00: golf lesson for me, Kate & Lily
• 2:30: Aine got to ride a horse and play on the playground with other 4-8 year olds. Lily and Kate went for the water games – and they both jumped off the high dock-thing. Kate did not love it. I watched her on the high dock thinking about jumping – other kids trying to convince her, her thinking, getting close to the edge and backing off, but eventually she jumped
• 6:00: dinner
• 7:30: Ice cream social and volleyball game
• 10:00 everyone is asleep!

So that’s kind of a typical day. Rather than catalog every day like that I thought I’d just post highlight posts for the rest of the week – short but sweet. Maybe with some videos.

We were sad to have the week end. We ate breakfast, took one last dip in the pool, and came home. I took one picture of the war memorial in Belgrade on the way. I had intended to take a picture of the world’s largest ball of twine too – but everyone fell asleep about 10 miles out of Darwin!

Aine is already asking me when we’re going back to our cabin in Fair Hills.

Friday morning was the last official walk. There were huge caramel rolls on the boat back to the resort and everyone got a Fair Hills Walking Club T-shirt.

Did I mention that we had perfect weather after Monday? Friday the kids enjoyed the kids fair. Patrick and I played more tennis. Friday lunch was served on the deck with the marching band. It was hot, but nice.

Friday afternoon we swam. Kate is a diver!!! She worked really hard on it but now she has it. Lily is getting closer to being a diver, but she wasn’t working on it as much. Aine has NO FEAR of the water. She’s happy to jump in anywhere. She’s even happier if everyone is the pool area is watching her.

Friday night was the big dance. There are a few contests, a few songs like the Macarena, and a full moon. It was a nice ending.

Thursday morning the big girls had swimming/diving lessons. Aine did the little kid activity. Patrick and I got some work done. Thursday afternoon was Kids in the Kitchen. So the girls got to go and make treats, something they loved from last year. I got to help post a cabin rental on VRBO. I know, not fun to everyone, but fun to me as I hadn’t posted anything there before.

Early Thursday afternoon the kids all did scavenger hunts. Aine did the little kid scavenger hunt – the big girls competed in the big kid hunt. They had to find a dead fish, get a signature form a Turkish and Russian worker, and find horse manure. They all enjoyed it. Patrick and I played tennis. I was winning until the girls showed up and started asking me lots of questions. Late Thursday afternoon we went on the family Pelican Cruise. It was fun to be out on the boat. We talked to some of the other parents a bit. Mostly it was just very relaxing.

Thursday night was the big Talent Show. I have videos of the big performances. Aine did not do a solo and she was very mad at herself when it ended and she didn’t have her time in the limelight.

After the Talent Show we had a mini campfire. Larry got everyone to sing songs – especially the too infectious “Baby Shark” song. We’ve been singing it ever since. The night ended with s’mores.

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OK I should have been better about writing up our vacation during our vacation. A week has gone by and the details elude me.

Wednesday morning Aine had a swimming lesson and the other girls and I worked at being the super vacationers. What is a super vacationer? Well, Fair Hills has a list of about 60 activities around the resort. The super vacationers are the ones who do the most activities – and not to kill the suspense but in the end the girls were ranked number 2 for their age group.

Wednesday afternoon the kids went on the Pelican Cruise – where you take a big boat out for the afternoon with the rest of the kids and have a picnic lunch on a sand bar. The ship was attacked by pirates! Luckily they didn’t get much. While the kids were boating the parents enjoyed a cocktail hour on the deck and a dinner without kids. It was nice and quiet!

I think we took it easy on Wednesday night, which was nice.

Tuesday night is the night of the big show at Fair Hills. The staff put on a really fun show. The kids love it. In fact the dining room and show are open to non-resort guests as well. We did well by scoring front row seats.

Some of the songs everyone knows, some you learn in your first year here, and some are new. My favorite this year was the First Year Spanish Spanish Love Song. Aine loved the song where the boys wore dresses, which was also really good!

I have posted one video here but you can see more (like the boys in dresses) on the Fair Hills blog. (I picked this video because the star (Emma) is the kindest swim instructor in the world. She was booked out but managed to fit in swim lessons for Kate and Lily during her free time. With her help we will be diving by Saturday!)