teenagers and other mysteries of the universe

it was a weekend with extended family. sister- and brother-in-law, nephews, husband's ex-step-father and the grown children of his recently deceased long-time girlfriend. on her deathbed, she had requested that proceeds from the sale of her old car be used for a family get-together, so we fulfilled her wishes this weekend. little cabins were rented in a campground in the little village of randbøldal, not far from legoland, so that we could spend the day there with the kids on saturday. we dragged sabin's big sisters along, they are, after all, family too and should take part.

the eldest, nearly 18, has more or less emerged from the sullen teenager stage and is fairly game to the experiences coming her way (this may be a skill she acquired at my sister's place last summer). however, the middle one is 14 and in the throes of pure teenager (read: sullen, sighing, brooding, eye-rolling, hanging back, only grudgingly doing what she's asked, sleeping the day away (i could go on...)).

so it was really funny when i opened my story of the day email today on the iPhone in the car on the way home and read today's story: That's the thing about free will, he told us. You can drag me along, but there's no way in hell you can make me have fun. i do love iowa artist brian andreas' sense of humor. he always seems to hit the nail on the head when it comes to people.

to be honest, none of us had that much fun at legoland. it was crowded to the gills. it was a bit more chilly than you'd like it to be. and the main thing we did was wait in line...for tickets, for rides, for food, for coffee, for ice cream, for legos. in fact, we ended up not buying any legos because the line at the end of the day was that daunting and we'd had enough. of course, the kids did have some fun moments on the rides and it was more worth it to them. but even they were all exhausted and whining by the end of the day.

the day was redeemed by a beautiful dinner consisting of grilled beef tenderloin, salads and a mess of freshly-picked mushrooms that one of the others (who had had the good sense to stay away from legoland) had found in the forest that day. we looked for more this morning, but found only a few porcinis (karl johan) and no chanterelles.

husband has a thing for little local museums. he has taken us to old mills and tiny little amber museums in the past. he sniffed out a local museum within walking distance of the campground and we went there before heading home today. husband drove the car down to the museum and i walked through the woods with the girls, hoping to find some more mushrooms. the woods were hushed and dampened by fallen leaves and filled with the sound of birds and a creek merrily rolling along. it was a beautiful short walk to the museum.

middle child walked ahead, refusing to enjoy any of the experience, and sullenly waited on a bench near the museum, looking thoroughly embarrassed and exasperated at the rest of us, as we stopped to take pictures and investigate along the way.  it makes me a bit sad for her. why do teenagers do that to themselves - closing off from what is purely and only a great experience? the outdoor part of the museum had countless experimental ways of moving water that you could try. she did finally cautiously give herself over and try one of them.

inside the museum, we found a lovely older woman who showed us how to weave and how to make paper. sabin and her oldest sister each wove a long cord while middle child looked on and sighed and occasionally asked how long it was going to take (apparently because she was so looking forward to the three and a half hour car ride home).

they had a whole room full of looms at the museum, where a weaving club gets together on a weekly basis. the museum is on the site of an old factory where they made fabrics and paper from the mid 1700s all the way up to 1974 (hence the two activities you could try). the volunteer staff were so wonderful, i didn't want to tear myself away. it made me want a loom (of course, just what i need, another craft). or at least made me want to find a similar weavers' group in my area so i could learn about it.

in all, despite the crowds at legoland, we had a great weekend. but i do wonder if middle child will look back and regret that she held herself back and didn't allow herself to enjoy it? sometimes i think she'd like to simply sleep through age 14 (and sometimes i wish she would). i hope sabin's not like that when she's a teenager, but i suppose i should brace myself. teenagers are simply mysterious beasts.