Syette Mai

The Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll on May 17 in the year 1814. The constitution declared Norway to be an independent nation. The day is celebrated as Syette Mai. I learn something every day.

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As Wisconsinites know, most every little town has a summer celebration of some kind and generally there is a queen crowned as part of the festivities. Luck, Wisconsin has 2 celebrations; Lucky Days in the summer, and The Luck Winter Carnival. Miss Luck is crowned as part of the winter carnival. This year, my great niece Emily, was crowned Little Miss Luck as part of that event. So, this summer, we will be visiting many of the small town celebrations to see Emily and the rest of the Luck royalty ride on the float in the parade. The girls are scheduled for 22 parades this summer, I won't go to all, but will try to see as many as I can.

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So, Syette Mai: it is the name of the celebration held in Woodville, Wisconsin each year. The first parade of the season and yesterday's turn out was huge. 

Woodville has a high concentration of Norwegians in its population, one downtown business is Ole & Lena's.

Happily, it was a beautiful warm, sunny day as the parade lasted about an hour & a half with about 80 different floats / units.

The Luck float.

The Luck Royalty and 'parade wave'

Megan and Owen loved gathering up the candy that was thrown towards the kids from many of the parade entries, but Owen did not like the loud horns of the fire trucks and other large vehicles in the parade.  He kept hiding behind Angie's chair to get away from the noise.  I agree with him and also think those loud horns are quite annoying, but it is all part of the parade environment.  The candy was nice, but it was not the only give away:  chocolate milk, frozen juice tubes, emery boards, cheese curds, bottled water, pencils, rulers, and of course political 'vote for me' stuff.

After each parade, there is a 'tea' for the visiting queens, hosted by the home royalty. Here are our Luck girls at the tea.

Krystal Ouelette, Morgan Pullin, Michelle Tomlinson, Shardae Garcia

Addie Musial, Emily Chivers

Most of the visiting queens posed for this photo. Our girls are on the lower right, but kind of hidden. 

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It was a fun day, I got some sun, got a nice walk in, to and from the car, and bought some Lefse from Ole & Lena.

Life is Good.

My First trip to The Dells

On Saturday morning, I was packed and headed for Wisconsin Dells. It was a very foggy morning, so my departure was delayed for an hour to be a safer driver.

Once the fog lifted a little, I had a very pleasant drive to The Dells. It is about a 3.5 hour trip.

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Andy is home from Iraq on leave for 2 weeks, I was invited to join him, Michelle & Alyxis at their timeshare at Wisconsin Dells for the night.

Captain Johansen

We had lots of fun, what a fabulous family vacation spot. Indoor water park that is beyond imagination if you have not been there. Lots of opportunities for adult beverages while you watch the frolicking in the many swimming pools.

Alyxis

After our pool fun, we headed for a haunted house and then to the old time photos.

Michelle

We ended the evening back in their room with pizza and dominoes. My first time playing with 'the bones', and it was big fun.

Of course, I had to try the goggles

It was so great to see Andy and this was really my first chance to spend family time with him, Michelle and Alyxis.

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Life is Good!