Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Schooner Hindu in Key West

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The highlight of our visit to Key West was definitely our experience with schooner Hindu. Such a stunningly beautiful old wooden boat, this schooner is a 79-foot (length overall) half-scale model of a 19th century Grand Banks fishing vessel.

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She was built by the Hodgdon Bros. in Maine in 1925, and first named Princess Pat, for James W. Hall from New York City. The boat changed names and hands many times, but after being used to trade spices between India and United States 1938-1940, she was named Hindu. During World War II Hindu assisted U.S. Navy Coastal Patrol along the Eastern Seaboard, and even engaged a German U-boat more than once. (More history here and here.)

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Sadly, Hindu fell into disrepair, but in the last two years she has been going through major restoration process. You can see photos and read more about the restoration process on their website.

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We really enjoyed meeting her crew Cheyenne Dutcher, and Josh and Bonnie Rowan, who own an Airstream motorhome like ours, pictured on our Thanksgiving card.

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Our first night in Key West we sailed Hindu on their Sunset Sail.

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Well, to be perfectly honest, land-lubber mama had some alone time in the Mothership, and may or may not have had some Key Lime Pie for dinner. But who knows? There was no one else there and she is not telling.

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What a perfect night. For all.

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On your next trip to Key West, make sure to find Hindu, and say hi. Better yet, go on a sail - you won't regret it - next time even this mama is planning to go:)

Visit their website for more details, and if you are a homeschooling family, ask Josh about his homeschooling days. Once he lost his homework because their boat sank. True story, but you'll have to ask him for more!

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Key Westin kohokohta meidän perheelle oli vanha puinen laiva Hindu. Jos olet koskaan Floridassa, ja Key Westin saarella, suosittelemme purjehdusta Hindulla. Minä tosin jäin asuntoautoon illaksi yksin (!) mahdollisesti syömään Key Lime-piirakkaa, mutta ensi kerralla minäkin menen mukaan. Ylläolevasta tekstistä ja linkeistä löytyy historiaa ja kuvia meidän purjehduksesta, sekä heidän nettisivuilta laivan korjausprojekista, englanniksi.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving From Our RV to Yours:)

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                                            Happy Thanksgiving to You!! Wherever you are:)

We have been invited to spend Thanksgiving with friends in Orlando, so we'll be leaving the Florida Keys today, and will slowly start making our way back north. Yes, all the way to Maine. Eventually. Not quite yet.

We'll be bringing some yummies to our friends house tomorrow, and one one of them is a new favorite. I usually make my own cranberry sauce, but tried a crockpot recipe yesterday that is soooo good. And healthy! Too bad I didn't double the batch... The recipe is from skinnyms.

I used all ingredients below, smashed the berries when I took the lid off, but I didn't cook it as long. I think my crockpot tends to heat up fast. I first cooked the berries about 3.5 hrs on low, then without the lid about an hour.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

1 (12 oz.) bag fresh cranberries
1/2 cup 100% orange juice (no sugar added)
1 large cinnamon stick
1/2 cup honey

Directions

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook for 4-5 hours on low, or until berries are soft. Then, remove the lid and continue to cook for 2-3 more hours on high. Removing the lid is very important so the liquids can cook out. In the second half of the cooking cycle (after removing the lid), it is important to stir occasionally. (You can also smash the berries with a fork to shorten the cooking time a bit.) This keeps it from burning and allows you to check thickness. It should cook down approximately 3/4 of the way from where it started. Chill in fridge overnight to set.


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Huomenna Usassa vietetään Kiitospäivää, eli hyvää Kiitospäivää kaikille sitä juhliville:) Me olemme tänään lähdössä Florida Keys-saarilta kohti Orlandoa, jossa vietämme Kiitospäivän ystävien luona. 

Mekin tuomme mukanamme eri herkkuja ateriaa varten, joista yksi on karpalohillo - kalkkunaa varten, tietenkin. Teen joka vuosi karpalohillon tuoreista karpaloista, mutta eilen kokeilin uutta reseptiä, josta tuli heti suosikki. Tämä resepti on tätä crockpot-hellaa varten, mutta etenkin jos sinulla on kaasuhella, jonka liekin saa todella pienelle, voit kokeilla sillä myös. Käännän reseptin kuitenkin crockpotia varten. 

Tarvitset vajaa puoli litraa karpaloita, noin 1/4 litraa makeuttamatonta appelsiinimehua ja saman verran hunajaa, sekä kanelitangon (toivottavasti meni määrät oikein??). Sekoita kaikki ainekset yhteen, anna hiljalleen kypsyä kunnes marjat ovat pehmeitä (minulla kesti vajaa 4h). Ota kansi pois, muusaa marjat haarukalla, ja anna kypsyä noin tunnin vielä. Sekoita muutaman kerran. Anna jäähtyä jääkaapissa yön yli.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Thank You So Much/Kiitos paljon!!!

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Thank you so much, dear readers, for voting for our little blog! We are so excited to tell you Mothership Adventures won in the Best Photos Blog category in 2012 The Homeschool Blog Awards! It is because all you took the time to vote and support us, and we are so grateful. It is so encouraging! And I think it's time to find a camera shop and get our Nikon fixed, I have renewed desire to learn how to take better photos:)

You can check all the other winning blogs here. Congratulations to all the winners! A big thank you to The Homeschool Post for hosting this fun event!

PS. Who is going to be the 100th person to like Our Mothership Adventures on Facebook?

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Iso kiitos teille kaikille rakkaille lukijoille äänistänne! Meillä on ilo kertoa Mothership Adventures voitti Parhaat kuvat kategorian Kotikoulublogien kisassa. Siksi, kun te kaikki jaksoitte äänestää ja tukea bogiamme. Olemme niin kiitollisia tästä rohkaisusta! Nyt on aika löytää kamerapuoti, joka korjaisi meidän kameran, nyt löytyy taas uutta intoa opetella ottamaan parempia kuvia:)


Täältä voi tsekata muut voittajat.

PS. Kuka tulee olemaan sadas seuraaja meidän facebook-sivulla?

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Florida Keys - Long Key

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We left Miami yesterday, and started driving south to Florida Keys. Such a beautiful drive! We had spent some time in Key Largo a few years ago, but never made it to Key West. If I remember correctly, we just made it about mid-way to a hospital with Mr. D before heading north again.. (Watch out for those furry caterpillars here, they can cause a serious allergic reaction...!)

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We stopped for a picnic lunch at Long Key State Park, and when we heard they had one campsite on the ocean available, we decided to stay here. I mean you can't really beat this site for home, sweet home (for the night). We can continue on to Key West a little later...

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The kids went to check out a boardwalk trail ahead of us, but came running back: "Too buggy, too smelly!" So we decided to skip it. There was also that sign that said: Watch for Venomous Snakes - which made me want to stick close to our Mothership.

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The colors last night were amazing! I was snapping away with my iPhone, wishing our Nikon was working properly... But the iPhone did a decent job, too - these pictures are unedited except for watermark and some cropping.

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Ahhh, we might want to come back here after Key West....

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Eilen lähdimme ajamaan Miamista etelään. Olemme muutama vuosi sitten viettäneet aikaa Key Largossa, muttemme koskaan päässeet Key Westiin saakka. Emmekä päässeet vieläkään, mutta ehkäpä tänään:) Pysähdyimme piknik-lounaalle Long Key-saarelle, ja kun kuulimme, että heillä oli yksi leirintäpaikka meren rannalla vapaana, päätimme jäädä tänne yöksi. Niin upea paikka, että ehkäpä tulemme takaisin Key Westin jälkeen?

Saturday, November 17, 2012

A Stop in Miami/Pysäkki Miamissa

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Driving in Miami is wild. Driving in Miami in our Mothership motorhome is even wilder! I sure am glad the Captain does not expect me to drive our beast beauty. He does such a great job.

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Yesterday I looked in the side mirror to see a guy hitching a ride in the back of the Mothership!!! Scary. (And of course I had to stick my phone out the window to get a picture of him - sheesh, the things you do for blogging..!!!)

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Stopping in Miami was for work, but us girls managed to squeeze a very special shopping trip to our day: The American Girl store! Only the second time for us, and our budget was very small, but both girls got to pick something special for their early December presents (not only do we celebrate Christmas, but a lot of birthdays, gotcha day & adoption day, too!). Such fun!

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Last time driving through Miami we weren't too impressed, but this time we got to see some very pretty areas of Miami and Miami Beach (not the beach itself, though). We stayed at Larry & Penny Thompson Campground, which was a nice place to stay (even though the pool was closed the entire time).

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Pretty sunset last night!

Now off to the Keys.

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Meillä oli ihan kiva pikainen pysäkki Miamissa. Edellisellä kerralla näimme vain kamalia pelottavan näköisiä alueita, mutta tällä kertaa ajelimme nättien asuinalueiden, satamien ja ostoskatujen läpi, ja yövyimme ihan kivalla leirintäalueella. Miami Beachilläkin kävimme, muttemme rannalla, alkoi satamaan, ja meidän piti mennä jo seuraavan asiakkaan luokse. Tyttöjen kanssa pääsimme American Girl-nukkekauppaan, iso juttu meidän neideille.

Nyt jatkamme matkaa etelämpään: Florida Keys-saarille!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Last Day to Vote/Viimeinen päivä äänestää!

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Would you? Could you? We'd SO appreciate it if you voted for Mothership Adventures at The Homeschool Post Blog Awards for Best Photos Blog. Last day to vote! Thank you!!!!


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Viimeinen päivä äänestää Mothership Adventures kotikoulublogien kisassa - kiitos tuestasi ja äänestäsi!!!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

VW Bulli Brigade

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A couple of days ago we started noticing vintage VW buses everywhere. At our campground, on the roads, driving, camping, being towed.. It turned out there was a big VW Bulli Brigade in St. Petersburg this Saturday. So cool. Of course we had to go check them out!
 
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We've always thought it would be neat to tow a silver VW bus behind our Airstream motorhome - and it actually would be one of the few vehicles that could fit our large family, too. Of course, ours wouldn't be able to have a table and chairs in it, ours would be filled with benches to sit on, lol.

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Our current budget might be able to accommodate one of these vintage ones. Maybe.

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They sure are funky and fun.

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When I was about seventeen years old (and a brand new Christian), we had a youth group drive to northern Italy from Finland in one of these orange VW buses to help out the local church. That trip required a lot of faith... from all the mothers ;-)

I think the drive went fine, although I remember everybody passing us on the German autobahns, and all of us pretty much gagging our way through the long Swiss tunnels as there was no way to block the fumes from coming in.

Good times, good times.

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It would be neat to know how many VW buses were at this Bulli Brigade. A hundred? Maybe even more. Most were decorated, too, with all kinds of vintage items.

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My little nephews would have LOVED being at this event. In fact, I think all boys in our family were loving it, too. The girls weren't quite as impressed.

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We were told the Big Event is in Lakeland, Florida, in March. Meet ya'll there?


Pst... Did you want to go over here to vote for our blog today? Thanks so much :-*


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Lauantaina kävimme ihailemassa näitä kaunokaisia. Muistojen tietä sai taas kulkea, kun teininä matkustin oranssilla VW bussilla Suomesta Italiaan.

Oikein hyvää Isänpäivää Suomeen, vähän myöhässä...

Ja muistattehan äänestää blogia täällä, kiitos :-*

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Five Minutes at the Beach/5 min rannalla

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The girls and I needed to stop by 'our' beach yesterday briefly. And it was gorgeous!! I think I grieved the rest of the day we couldn't stay and enjoy the quiet, warm beach. I gave us five minutes...

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The water wasn't bath water, but definitely warmer than our Maine lakes. I know my boys and Little Miss would have loved swimming yesterday!

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And the girls skipped along happily. (I may have, too)

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We are so glad the beach has come back (for the most part), after tropical storm Debbie came through with tornadoes this summer.

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Did anyone catch why we may have been at the beach?

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Yes, our favorite Florida hair salon is right there!

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I think these girls look gorgeous!!!

Again, I didn't have my camera with me, only my iPhone, and our camp site doesn't get internet, so I didn't edit these pictures, only added a watermark on a iPhone app. Please excuse the crooked photos:)

You can still go vote for us here *wink*.

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Kävimme tyttöjen kanssa eilen meidän lempirannallamme, ensin hiustenleikkuussa, sitten kävelimme rannalla viisi minuuttia. Tällä kertaa siellä ei tuullut, ja olisi oikeasti voinut käydä vaikka uimassa.. Muttei meillä ollut siihen mahdollisuutta, nyyh. Ehkä joku toinen päivä.

Vaikka nämä kännykkäkuvat ovat surkeita - eikä edes editoituja, voit silti äänestää meidän blogia täällä:)

Friday, November 9, 2012

In Florida/Floridassa

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We have been staying at 'our' campground in St. Pete for a few days now. In a way, it is our Florida home base for us. When we come to Florida, we either rent a place or stay in the Mothership. This time we decided to stay in our motorhome, so we would have the flexibility to move around, and our time frame would remain open.

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Living at this campground has its' benefits. We often get to park at a waterfront site, and this campground is absolutely gorgeous. Each site is nestled between palm trees and other greenery, giving more privacy than in a campground that is like a field, having every trailer and motorhome be right next to each other in full view of each other.

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Since we are in Florida, we get to enjoy our meals outside on warm days, and there is enough seating at the picnic table for our whole family (our RV table seats only four). Cleaning up the crumbs is a breeze after eating outside ;-)

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The kids enjoy the campground activities, too. There is room to play four square, you can walk to the
playground, and Little Miss is riding her scooter everywhere (thanks, Aunt C!!!). Homeschooling is easier while at the campground, than roadschooling on the road.

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We are also close enough to our favorite places when we had rented a condo here. Yesterday the girls and I drove to our favorite beach, met some of our favorite friends, and stopped at our favorite ice cream shop. It was too cold to stay at the beach, but we loved visiting.

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Hopefully we'll get some warmer days (or less windy days!) to come swim. I can't wait to see the sunset here, and walk on the sand to the pink hotel for some ice cream.

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We really love being in Florida.

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On this post I skipped the parts that are challenging when living at the campground, but I will try to take some snapshots of the daily grind too, and make a post about how to make our days run smoothly while living at the campground.

Two questions:

1) Are raccoons a pro or a con when you live at the campground?

2) Would you like to go vote for our blog here?



Thanks for visiting our blog!

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Hups, tämä blogipostaus lähti kahdesti eteenpäin ennen kuin se oli oikeasti valmis. Tässä siis kuvia Floridassa asumisesta leirintäalueella. Tämä on yksi suosikkipaikoistamme. Tähän postaukseen en lisännyt niitä arjen hankaluuksia, miten suurperheen elämää pyöritetään täällä asuntoautossa, mutta yritän ottaa kuvia myös siitä tavallisesta elämästä, ja tehdä toisenkin postauksen. Mutta oikeasti tykkäämme todella paljon olla täällä, ja asuntoautoelämästämme!

Kiva kun tulit vierailemaan blogissamme, ja täällä voit käydä äänestämässä blogia:)