Johnson Sister Campout 2009

The Johnson Sisters & Co. took Giant City State Park by storm last week! Tucked away in the hills & forests of southern Illinois, this unassuming little park had the honor of hosting the all the Johnson grandkids and their parents for 4 days of camping fun. You name it, we had it - bonfires, s'mores, scraped knees, thunderstorms, leaky tents, kickball, horse rides, one toad, two hikes, five+ tics, and nine cousins under age seven absolutely bursting with energy. Click on this link for the photo album or watch the slideshow below. And when you've finished, list your favorite moments from the campout in a comment. Enjoy!

Svenska Flaggans Dag (Swedish Flag Day)

A Happy Swedish Flag Day to everyone! Continuing with our blogging theme of saluting the homelands of our ancestors, yesterday, on June 6th we celebrated Sweden's National holiday, a.k.a. Swedish Flag Day.

So what happened on this day? In 1397, the Queen of Denmark formed a union between Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. It seems that Sweden was okay with this arrangement as long as it still made most of it's own decisions. In 1520 the King of Denmark tried to take more control of Sweden's affairs by sending in troops and ordering the death of all the nobles in Stockholm. Sweden fought back, kicked out the Danes, crowned it's own King, Gustav Vasa, on June 6th, 1523, and became in independent nation that we know today, 486 years later.

Where were Michelle's Swedish ancestors on this day? We're not sure, but the genealogy work done by Michelle's grandparents trace the Beckstrand line back to 1570 in Jönköping, Sweden (located southwest of the capital Stockholm, at the southern tip of Lake Vattern). And that's only 50 years after Gustav Vasa was crowned king on the first Swedish Flag Day.

As Michelle is a hearty 34.375% (11/32nds) Swedish, we decided to celebrate with Swedish Meatballs. We then called on Grandma and Grandpa Johnson for a good Swedish dessert and they recommended fruit soup: 1. Boil dried fruit 2. Add a little bit of sugar 3. Add quick setting tapioca 4. Top with cream or canned milk.

Helen decided to wear her new princess dress to celebrate.