Greetings from Nantucket/Terveisiä Nantucketista!

Getting to Nantucket Island can be an adventure of itself. My very first time going to Nantucket (back twenty years ago) the seas were so rough all the ferries were cancelled. The Captain and I were dating, and it looked like we might have to turn around and go back to Connecticut, as we were not going to share a motel room. That time we ended up flying over (cheaper than two motel rooms), and I'm not sure I have ever prayed so hard than that short flight. We survived.

This time heavy traffic through Massachusetts delayed us, and we missed a boat after another. But thankfully made it to the last ferry of the night (we didn't have the Mothership with us - too hard to park off island, and too expensive to take it to the island), and the Captain's parents picked us up once we got on the island.
 
Despite rain, fog and generally yucky weather we have had a wonderful time with family. Twenty of us together, ten children and ten adults. Lots of games, talks, a mini puppet show, lego building, and naps for some of us. Stay tuned for more...!

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Matka Nantucketin saarelle on joskus seikkailu jo sinänsä. Ensimmäisen kerran (kaksikymmentä vuotta sitten), kun tulin saarelle, merellä myrskysi niin voimakkaasti, että kaikki lautat oli peruttu. Emme olleet vielä naimisissa, joten motellihuoneen varaaminen ei ollut mahdollista, olisi pitänyt kääntyä takaisin. Päädyimme kuitenkin lentämään pienkoneella perille, ja se oli niin hurja kokemus, että taisin rukoilla sillä lyhyellä lennolla enemmän kuin koskaan. Me selvisimme hengissä.

Tällä kertaa Massachusettsin (lähinnä Bostonin) liikenne oli niin raskasta, että matka kesti kauan, ja missasimme lautan toisensa jälkeen. Onneksi ehdimme viimeiselle lautalle, sillä olimme matkassa autolla - ei asuntoautolla.

Meillä on ollut kivaa sukulaisten kanssa, täällä on parhaillaan kymmenen aikuista ja kymmenen lasta. Sää on ollut sateinen ja sumuinen, mutta silti on ollut hauskaa kaikilla pelaten pelejä ja leikkien yhdessä.

First Go Jump in a Lake 2013/Eka hyppää järveen 2013

One of our favorite things to do last summer. Believe it or not, I think today has been the first summer day in Maine, so we had to cool off somehow! Well, some of us did, anyways...

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Yksi meidän lempitouhuistamme viime kesältä. Usko tai älä, tänään on tainnut olla kesän ensimmäinen lämmin päivä Mainessä, joten pitihän sitä viilentyä jollain konstilla! Tai ainakin osan meistä... :)

Healthy Banana "Ice Cream"

We LOVE ice cream here at Our Mothership Adventures. Can eat it any time, winter in Maine or summer in Florida. Sometimes even for dinner!

My favorite flavor is chocolate (or in Finland salmiakki), and rarely have any other flavor, except maybe for coffee/cappuccino/espresso flavors, with chocolate. I'll happily pass on vanilla, or anything nutty, or peanut butter-y.

This year we purchased a Cuisinart food processor for our camp (how did I ever cook without it??), and it came with a little cook book. I very sceptically tried their Banana "Ice Cream", and to my great surprise ended up loving it! In fact we all love it - which is pretty rare in this household of various tastes.

We enjoy it so much we want to share the recipe with our readers.

Healthy Banana "Ice Cream" by Cuisinart

Our recipe makes enough for seven.

6 bananas, frozen, cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces
3 tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoon coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt

Insert the large chopping blade into the large work bowl of the Cuisinart® Food Processor. Put the bananas, honey, vanilla, coconut milk and salt into the work bowl. Pulse 10 times, using long pulses. Scrape the work bowl and then process for about 1 to 2 minutes until smooth. For best results, serve immediately or place in a container to be stored in the freezer. Cover ice cream with plastic directly if freezing.

Go freeze some bananas, and enjoy this guilt-free dessert tomorrow!

You're welcome ;-)

Happy Father's Day!

A free download from DaySpring.


Happy Father's Day to all dads, especially to Captain and Grandpa!
(A special hug to Vaari in Finland, too, even though it's not Father's Day in Finland today:)

Check Out AOP Blog/Kurkistakaa AOP:n blogiin!

"Few homeschool families are as footloose as Our Mothership Adventures, who travel the country in their 1991 RV, letting the roads map new learning experiences for their five kids.

Sennie (Mom) and the Captain (Dad) road-school and homeschool a first-grader and 14-year-old quadruplets, blending life and learning on the go.

“It’s never dull with seven,” Sennie admitted. “Monarch allows us this crazy, nomadic lifestyle.”

The family began using Monarch three years ago after searching..."

Read the rest of the article at the Alpha Omega Publications' blog (click here).

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Kiva pieni artikkeli meidän perheen kotikoulusta täällä.

Stowaway on Mothership/Salamatkustaja Mothershipissä?

Stowaway on Mothership?
Watch this short, fun video here!

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Salamatkustaja asuntoauton mukana?
Katso tämä lyhyt, hauska video täällä!

Dead Sea Scrolls and MOS/Kuolleen meren kääröt museossa

The night before driving through Boston I decided to check the Museum of Science website to see what exhibits they had going on. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw they had a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit there right now!



The Captain had gone to Nantucket Island on a men's retreat, so the kids and I sat down to make a decision. A once in a life time opportunity of visiting the museum, but delaying our arrival at Grandma and Grandpa's house, or skipping the museum, but making it to our destination around lunch time (and maybe possibly going back to the museum at some point??).



We had mixed wishes, but everyone was ok about going to the museum. Our teens have been studying biblical worldview for the past few months, and I thought this tied in beautifully. What a fantastic field trip!



We loved seeing all the artifacts, too. The exhibit wasn't just about the scrolls, it also taught about life in ancient times.



We thought the bathtub looked super comfy!!



The exhibit had one room where the scrolls were arranged in a circular display. The actual scroll pieces were low in the display with very dim light. Next to them, higher up, were enlarged copies of the scrolls, and the English translation. We saw parts of Psalms, Job, and other books.

I apologize for the horrid iPhone pictures. You were allowed to photograph at the exhibit, just not in the room where the scrolls were. Even though I was in the area where I could take photos, I felt awfully guilty for pointing my phone toward the forbidden room. Thus the blurry picture.



The price to see the scrolls was $32/person. We quickly calculated it made sense for our larger family to buy a membership to the museum, and then get the $8 member tickets. That meant we could wonder around the museum after seeing the exhibit. AND the museum has an amazing reciprocity program where we can visit many museums in our travels, and in Florida for free - or at discounted prices. Yay for more field trips!!!



Some of the time we toured the museum all together, at times independently. There is a lot to see and do.



Besides the scrolls, most of our favorite part of the museum was the lighting show. Mr. D had seen it last year, but the rest of us hadn't. What a fun way to teach about electricity and lighting.

Check out this short video. Very cool!

This triceratops was neat to see because Little Miss and I have been reading Magic Tree House books together.



The favorite part for Little Miss was the children's area, which is geared toward children under the age of eight. Mr. D took her around, and they had a great time exploring.

We had a wonderful day learning and exploring. And were so happy to arrive at Grandma and Grandpa's house that night, soooo tired!

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Pohjoiseen matkustaessamme pysähdyimme Bostonin tiedemuseoon, koska siellä oli Kuolleen meren kääröjä esillä. Mahtava kokemus nähdä kääröt, ja muutenkin oppia elämästä siihen aikaan.

Ostimme museon jäsenyyden, joten kääröjen jälkeen kiertelimme ympäri museota. Salamanäytös oli huikea - katso video ylempää. Upea kokemus koko reissu!

Trip Randomness/Matkasatunnaisia

This top picture is from Frolicking Flamingo Folks, who graciously invited us to spend our last night at their place. There were bunch of adults and 14ish kids running around, and we all had a great time.

Except, maybe, the person cleaning the showers afterward.



Still smiling at the beginning of our road trip (sort of).



Overall, our trip north was pretty smooth. None of the misadventures we had on our way south (here and here). The Captain said the Mothership drove very nice this time.



Our first stop was in Virginia, for one day. Such a handsome bunch of cousins!



But, we had to get going again. Boohoo!!!



From Virginia we drove to Pennsylvania.



One of our rest stops.



Another one of our rest stops. I snapped this pretty sunset as the Captain and the boys were dumping our tanks, hehee.



We had a day in Pennsylvania, too. Thanks so much for your hospitality, M-family!!



The trend continues: time to move on.



From Pennsylvania I followed the Mothership in our car. We had a hard drive from PA to Massachusetts. I don't know how the Captain can drive all day - I was wiped out after the third hour.



New England welcomed us with chilly temps. 51F soon after I took this photo. I started missing my Ugg boots, and switched the seat warmer on.



Driving into rainy and foggy Boston. We actually made a stop in Boston, but more on that later!



Before we arrived back at our camp in Maine, we spent a little time with the Captain's side of the family, visiting with Grandma, Grandpa, Nanny, Aunt C and Uncle P, cousins, and Uncle J and Aunt C.



A big storm had passed through this part of Maine, leaving several trees down on our yard. Thankfully, none landed on buildings, and the clean-up had already started.

So good to be here! Even for a short little while..

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Sekalainen matkakertomus. Tällä kertaa matka meni ihan sujuvasti, joskin aika tiukka tahti oli päällä. Floridasta Virginiaan, Virginiasta Pennsylvaniaan, Pennsylvaniasta ensin Massachusettesiin, sitten Maineen. Täällä pohjoisessa on kylymä!!! Ja myrsky oli kaatanut taas puita pihassa. Mutta ihana olla täällä taas, vaikkakin vain lyhyen aikaa...

Sunken Gardens

Photo Credit

One Sunday this May (while still in Florida), we decided to check out Sunken Gardens with two of our kids.



We had heard good things about the garden, and had wanted to go visit, but were conflicted, as some of the online reviews were less than flattering.



The reviews mainly complained of the park not being as well taken care of, overgrown, and small.



We found a Groupon deal, and decided to go see for ourselves.



Yes, the gardens could have used some TLC, and the ponds were pretty murky (and some concrete pools were completely empty). The poor koi fish looked very overgrown in small yucky waters.



But we did have a nice time. There was still plenty to see, and a lot of gorgeous plants were blooming.



If I had actually blogged about it the same day, I maybe could have remembered the names of these plants...



What's neat about Sunken Gardens is it is in the middle of the city of St. Petersburg.



It is a 100 year old garden, and has some of the oldest tropical plants in the area.



"In 1903 a plumber by the name of George Turner, Sr. purchased the six acres that would become a world famous botanical attraction. Using an elaborate maze of clay tiles, he drained an ancient lake on the property, leaving a rich muck soil that was ideal for his favorite hobby – gardening. Neighbors so enjoyed strolling through Mr. Turner's garden, that by the early 1920's, he was charging a nickel for tours. Three generations of the Turner family continued the vision that created this unique tropical garden, with its flowing ponds." (Copied from the website)



Today the garden is owned by the city of St. Petersburg.



Some of these tropical birds spoke back to us, much to the delight of Little Miss:)

So overall, I think a visit to Sunken Gardens is definitely worth while. I know we'll be going back. Just don't expect a big fancy botanical garden (like the one in Dallas or Phoenix), and you'll have a nice time strolling this tropical park.

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Toukokuussa vierailimme kahden lapsen kanssa trooppisessa puutarhassa. Emmimme sinne menoa, koska netistä löytyi negatiivista palautetta, mutta meidän mielestä se oli ihan kiva paikka kävellä ja kuvata, kunhan odotukset eivät olleet liian korkealla. Puutarha on sata vuotta vanha, sen omistaa nykyisin St. Petersburgin kaupunki.