Sick, Really? Now? In August?

Yes, it is true. Everyone in our family is sick right now. Of course it varies by person, but here's how it has gone the last few weeks...
C: has had a cold/cough for the last 2 1/2 weeks; still hacking today
A: got a cold and a temp on Monday; still has both today; got her checked out-no nothing; has to run its course
J: temp; super, super tired, in bed right now
Me: temp; aches; should be in bed right now instead of typing

Of course this would all happen as we are headed back to school tomorrow for workshop to start. Grrr...I know there could be worse things. But really? In August? On the day we were supposed to go to the State Fair? Oh well...this too shall pass and we will all feel really good really soon! Right?

There's a Door There, Honey

If you know A, you might know she is not the most coordinated girl around. Sure she does gymnastics, has done ballet and will start soccer tomorrow, but when it comes to walking around and doing every day things, sometimes she has a hard time.

We were at the cabin last weekend; the kids were in the porch taking off their life jackets while we were still coming up the dock. All of a sudden I hear crying and C saying, "I didn't do anything to her!" Funny that this would be his first response, but that was about the way it went. I then sped up to see what had happened, only to find her saying through her tears, "I ran into the door! I didn't know it was shut!" Sure enough, there was A's face print on the sliding glass door. Poor thing.

The there was this week-at the cabin again-getting ready for bed. A is brushing her teeth and again, one second she's standing right there, pretty soon she's not-and this time she fell backwards into the shower! Sometimes she is just standing and then she's on the floor. We find it funny, even though it's not always polite to laugh at your kids. It's those little laughable moments we remember that make us smile!

Movie Quotes

If you are married or have any guy friends, you will understand what I'm saying in this post. Let's put it simply: Guys remember many trivial things. By this I mean things that don't really matter in the scheme of things. I mean sure, J remembers a lot more than me in many areas and never forgets a birthday or anniversary. But when it comes to sports or entertainment, guys have this knowledge and memory I don't understand. Where do they put all of the useless information like who won the football game in the third week of the season in 2006? Or who has won the World Series for the last 10 years (J just went through all of those teams for me last week!)? Then there are the movie lines. It doesn't matter when the movie was made, when they saw it or if they've even seen it! It could have been a friend that has seen it...And so it begins with C.

Now granted, C has seen some Disney movies, some Nick Jr. shows and PBS. I know...maybe he's a bit sheltered in his viewing options, but we've kept him to these options for now. This doesn't matter when it comes to what he's quoting though! The "guy thing" is coming through already at age 4. We just watched "The Princess and the Frog" this weekend and the next day we hear C say, "When a woman says later, she really means never." Seriously?! Of course he doesn't really know what that line means, but the fact he's remembering specific lines like that is just crazy to me.. It isn't just with movies like "Cars" or "Toy Story" that he has watched more than others, but it could be a "Wonder Pets" show he was 2 weeks ago where he is spouting out lines left and right. We've even had to go as far as banning lines from movies and shows during mealtime because that's what our conversations ended up being all about!

I know this is just the beginning, and it's something embedded in being a male, but I thought I had a few years before this all started! Guess that was wishful thinking. To the friends he meets in the coming (20) years...just be prepared for movie quotes a plenty!

Fairs, Fairs and More Fairs to Come!

It is summer. It is August. August means many things: the last official month of summer; the warmest month of the summer (sometimes); many days spent at the cabin...but best of all, it means fair season. You know, fair like as in County Fairs and the State Fair. What's that? You don't go to the fair? Well, I did and have very vivid memories of going to the fair with my parents. If we didn't go, it was definitely an "off" year. I remember going to see all of the animal barns, watching the 4-H shows, eating malts, pronto pups and cheese curds-and yes, we do all of these things with our family too!

This year we went to the Dakota County Fair first. We met up with our friends-A & C were very excited to see Lillian! It never fails that we pick the HOTTEST day of the year to attend a fair/festival/parade/zoo-you pick it, we do it when it is H-O-T. This day was no different, but the kids didn't seem to mind too much. We started in the children's barn where the kids saw many baby animals. We found some tractors, too. Then it was off to find some food. Malts first, per my request! Then on to pronto pups. We found our way to the rides, which was a treat for our kids. We haven't done many rides before, and they don't remember going last year. The kids rode on the carousel,cars and motorcycles. They went down the slide-C got a slide burn, but was a trooper! And the last ride we went on was the ferris wheel. They had never been on one before and loved it! A & C thought it was pretty neat that they were so high in the air. Then it was on to the animals. The last thing they did was tye-dye...they got to make their own shirts! One side note to Coldstone Creamery: if you would like to know if children are dipping their little paws into your candy jars of mix-ins for your ice cream, I suggest you move your sign so you can see these little rascals and their paws. Thank you. Yes, that would have been C-as A was making her t-shirt, he was opening the containers to get some candy. He never actually got any, but we ended up getting the kids their first gumballs. Yes, they both swallowed them after about 3 minutes. Oh well! It probably won't be the last, either!

Then it was on to the Mille Lacs County Fair the following day. This is a much smaller fair, but nothing to scoff at, that's for sure! The kids found a clown who was tying balloons-A got a bouquet of flowers and C got a Spiderman. We found the dirt race track. The kids participated in a "Little Farm Hands" area and gathered and planted various things. There were animals to see...We ate (again) and got stuck in a storm while listening to polka. There could be worse things! Mamma Jo and Papa Kevin took us to this one, so of course the kids had a great time.

You might think we're done with fairs for the year, but guess again! We're not! Just waiting another week or so until the State Fair is upon us! Look for a post about that to come soon. I know you're all waiting on pins and needles...

Family Pics

Hooray! Hooray! Not that it has been oh-so-long since we had our pictures taken with our dear friend, Em...but I just couldn't wait to see how they turned out! I just love them! This year we did things a little different and did a more urban shoot rather than what we had done in the past few years. I just love what I see already. It was a little warm that afternoon (hasn't it been for a while?!), but the kids still did great!

Thank you, Em, for continuing to capture our kids' personalities and our family as we are today!

Hot fun in the summertime

It's hot. Did anyone else notice this fact? Well, it is. Today is especially hot. I mean when the heat index is 103, you just about melt. And of course on this hot hot day, we decided to be outside for the afternoon.

We went to a "festibal" (as A calls it) in our neighborhood. There were lots of fun things for the kids to do: watch puppy demos (at the puppy school), jump in bounce houses, make a spin painting, go bowling and of course...eat ice cream! All of these things happened on main street by our house at various businesses along the way. It is a great way to get people out and about in the neighborhood. We went into many places we had never been to before like a banjo store, a baseball card collection store, an art gallery (I never knew was there!), and a bicycle shop! The kids did great for how hot it was. Thank goodness for wagons.

Let's just hope that things cool down a bit as the week goes on...the thing is, I don't think it's supposed to! Oh well...that's what summer is for!

Superheros

Superheros are great...

adults or kids...

life-saving...hilarious superheros...Batgirl, Batman and Robin

Swimming Like Fish

Our children are slowly turning into fish. At least that's what I think! Today they were lucky enough to go swimming with their friend, Audrey, who is also a fish. They swam and swam for about 3 hours! My kids wanted oh-so-badly to jump off the diving board they saw their friend jump off of.

I said, "Maybe when you're older and a little better swimmer."

A said, "But Mommy, how old is Audrey?"

"4."

"Well, we're 4 too!! And we can swim too!"

Hmm...that doesn't seem to work when you have friends the same age as you doing different things. Well, swimming lessons, here we come! At the end of the next 2 weeks, maybe our kids will be able to do some more fishy things! Swim little fishies, swim!

National Night Out

Last night was National Night Out. It's a good time to get together with neighbors who you may not see on a regular basis. Last year we didn't have a party, but this year we were back on with a small get together on our block. We had the regular block party food...lots of snacks and some grilled fare. There were people from 7 different houses, I think.

The highlight of the night was when a police officer stopped by with his squad car. He let each of the four kids sit in the seat and try out the horn and lights on the car. He also let them talk over the loudspeaker. Then he opened the back door and they got to sit in the back. This was fun for them and funny for us! Part of this was because our kids don't know what being in the back of the squad car means. Perhaps we have sheltered our kids too much, but they don't know the bad part of a cop's job. Meaning that the back seat of the car didn't mean anything to them. C even asked what the bars separating the back seat and the front seat were for. When it was finally discovered what that was for, A freaked out by saying, "No!! Don't take them away!!" as someone had shut the door on C and his friend, Owen. We all had a good laugh about that. Clearly we need to expose our children to the "real" things that happen with police officers and their job!

We had a great night and are thankful we live on a great, multi-generational block with lovely neighbors!

Riding the Trolley

Call me antsy, but I guess I can't just sit around on these lovely summer nights and do nothing. So tonight after dinner we went down to Lake Harriet to ride the trolley. It was great! It was something I thought the kids would really liked-something we walk by every time we're at Lake Harriet. So, tonight we rode it!

We had to wait behind the "safety line" until the trolley came back from the ride it was on. Then we got on, put our token in, and found our seat.

The people who work the trolley are all decked out in the full uniform on the trolley and where we waited for it to come. I thought it was neat-the kids didn't really notice, though.

The kids loved looking out the open windows to see what was coming up next. We rode the trolley to Lake Calhoon, where it stopped (it's as far as they could put the tracks) and went backwards to the stop again.

It was a short-lived trip, but the kids loved it anyway!