Happy Halloween!!!!!

We have had a whirlwind weekend full of festivities. Last night we got dressed up in our costumes and went to my school for the Halloween Dance. We had pizza and juice for dinner then ran around in circles (dancing) in the gym. It was a great time!

Here they are....Eliah was going to be Bat Man...but complained of his costume being too "itchy".....so he chose to wear his dragon costume again. Here is the dragon trying to eat a flower! Ha!

The sweetest flower I've ever seen!

Here we are at the dance. Ava did great...but wouldn't let me put her down. Eliah and I held hands and danced in circles.

She loves wearing her costume!

I thought this pix of Eliah was so sweet. FooFoo is under BooBoo....clearly tuckered out from a busy night!

The kids got their own mail today from Island G&G! Eliah's card had a Halloween scene with stickers to decorate! Fun!

Heading out for Trick or Treating.....Ava learned to say "treat!" just in time. That little ghost in the tree is what we made a few weeks ago. Sadly, we went to carve our pumpkins last night and they were rotten! EEeeeewwwww!!!!!! So, no pumpkins on our step this year :-(
I love how he's holding her hand in this pix....

Sugar = Speed for kids........

After trick or treating Eliah helped hand out the candy and thought this was GREAT fun! A couple times he stepped outside during some lulls and yelled "Hey guys, come get your candy over here!" Ha!

So, now everyone is in bed, totally crashed from sugar highs. A very good day for sure. Happy Halloween to you all!

A busy weekend.....

We had a crazy busy weekend...all fun for sure, but now I'm exhausted! Friday we had some friends over for dinner. We had a great time, but after a few glasses of wine, some coffee seemed necessary.....well, I never drink coffee anymore....especially at night...and the real stuff....so I was up ALL night. I finally fell asleep around 6 but then was up at 8:30. Ugh! Then Saturday we went down Aaron's grandma's 80th birthday party. Great fun seeing everyone! Then it was off for cousins night for an evening of pool and lots and lots of laughs.....however, this turned out to be a late night too. And here's another "hurrah" for grandparents! Not only do they watch your kids at night...they are built in for the morning too! So, here it is Monday...and I really need another weekend to recover from this last weekend. At least we gain an hour of sleep this coming weekend, right?

Ava LOVES black olives....no surprise since I'm her mother! Well, Grandpa is pretty creative and makes eating food fun! Bet you never thought of using your fingers to hold onto your olives, huh?

Here is Eliah being a very good "helper" and taking care of that tough job of opening birthday cards and gifts!

Ava was a little snuggler this weekend. She got passed around and snuggled with many. Here she is with awesome Cousin Hannah.

Auntie Joyce was even in town. Ava sure likes her. She does all these funny things with noses.

And guess what Ava did today?! You got it! She went pee-pee in the potty!!!!! Of course, just a little got in the potty...I think she surprised herself and stood up as she was going....sort of defeating the purpose, but hey, she's not even 2 yet so I consider that a success! Hooray Ava!

Another new little news tidbit is my school is offering all day, every day Kindergarten next year at no cost! That is if we pass our levy next week. It's a huge savings to not have to pay for it... so, if all goes well with the levy, Eliah will be coming to school with me next year! Crazy!

Leaves

I was supposed to post pix from our pumpkin patch outing from yesterday, but once we were at the farm, I realized I brought my camera....but no memory card in it. So, I had 6 precious pix that I could store on my camera internal memory. Hmmmm.....now I need to figure out how to get them off the camera.....too many days will go by before I figure that out....so on to the pix from today.
What a beautiful day it was! Kids were out with me working on the yard most of the day. We pulled weeds, leaves, trimmed, clipped, raked, bagged, etc.....a very busy day for sure! Here are my helpers.
Ava couldn't decide if she wanted her mittens on or off. In between these times she played dump trucks/excavators with Eliah scooping up mulch. She's also layerd in my family knits....the green sweater made by me and underneath (I know, you can't even see it!) she's wearing a sweater that my FarMor made for me that I wore when I was her age! How cool is that!

We raked up all the leaves in the backyard and made a fun pile for jumping in. Here he is in action....tongue sticking out and all! Air Jordan!

And here's my first baby. Oskar has had a tough couple days dealing with a limp...we think it's from his front leg or shoulder...although it's hard to tell as it doesn't always bother him. Here he is outside with us (not at all afftected by his leg most of the day) in the front and back yard...loving every moment of just being near us. He is the sweetest and most lovable dog I know.
And beautiful! Just look at him!

Cookie Bakers

The sun is shining today and I think it might even hit 50! What a heatwave! Good grief. Ava is napping now and when she wakes up we'll head to the pumpkin patch....finally. We been keeping busy over MEA and doing a little play and then I've been catching up on some things around the house. Finding all the winter gear and washing it all, organizing the hall closet and putting sandals away and replacing with snow boots and slippers. Feels good to get things done.
Yesterday for an activity we made ghosts and bats to hang in our trees and around the front door. We also got some of that spider webbing to put around the door too. Kids were pumped and excited to make everything, but of course, once we got outside I was quickly abandoned to hang everything up myself. Hmmmm......so much for teamwork.
Here are a few pix of Ava. She got into my make up bag and found eyeliner.....she was quite pleased with herself.

Here's a new shirt for her....I thot it was pretty cute. I give a hoot!

Today we are making our Halloween Cookies! Wow.....flour has the amazing ability to get EVERYWHERE when baking with a 1 and 4 year old. Also tricky since we don't have a kitchen table right now. Aaron has it in the garage to strip and re-stain it. Hoping to have it back tomorrow. But anyway, the kids had a great time....Eliah didn't stick around for the decorating....but Ava stuck with me til the end.

Having a yummy cookie after lunch. Oskar in his usual spot, of course.

Stay tuned for Pumpkin Patch Results! ;-)

Someone Special

Okay, Eliah continues to crack me up just about every day. Here are his latest:

We were reading Stop, Drop and Roll....a book obviously about fire safety. So we were discussing what exactly those 3 words meant. When I told him to always remember that if his shirt were ever to catch fire then to just roll all over the ground. He got a little excited and looked at me with his big eyes and said, "Mommy, if you shirt catches fire.....you should just change it!" ;-)

Then yesterday afternoon from the back of the car I hear him ask, "Mommy, will I ever get married?" Good grief...where did that come from? So, I say something along the lines that he doesn't have to worry about that for a very long time. Then he asks, "But Mommy, what if I never find that someone 'pecial?" Oh my goodness......after some questioning, I'm figuring he probably heard something like that at daycare....one of his friends asking a teacher why she isn't married and her response something along the lines of not having found that someone special yet....something like that anyway. Oh, so hilarious!

Ava is sick today. She has a horrible nasty sounding cold and a low fever, a little lethargic at times, but other times happy as can be and playing all over. We took her in to Urgent Care tonight. Nothing comes up on the radar. Her oxygen levels were good, throat and ears good, lungs sound clear too....probably a respiratory virus of some sort, but at this point, not RSV. Told to watch her for increased temp and rapid breathing, but should otherwise move out on its own. The Urgent Care was BUSY tonight and everywhere I go I hear of people being sick....gross....just waiting for it to hit me as everyone else in my family has had some form of it. Ugh.

On that note.....it's MEA tomorrow and Friday! No work til Monday! Hooray!

Oh Poop

So Ava is ridiculously interested in sitting on her potty. She pointed to the top of her closet Sunday afternoon and said "poop" while pointing to her potty. Figured, why not?! So, I brought it down and we took off her diaper and put her near her books. She never actually went in the potty but spent a great part of the day trying....or at least talking about it! We're just making it fun...but she is one determined little girl!
I was home with the kids today. Ava has come down with a slight temp and a nasty cough. She was VERY clingy with me and just wanted to be held. Poor baby. I took this pix earlier in the day when she was feeling a little better. I have her in the Sweetheart Cardigan I knit her. It's plenty roomy....but doesn't she look just so sweet in it?

Bath time continues to be one of our most favorite events. Thought it would make her cold feel better having a bath before bed. Well, it must have helped as they were both SO silly in the tub. Here they are putting their ears in the water to see if they could hear me.
And yes, apparently when you're 21 months wearing two "toggles" is very much necessary.

Fall

Life sure is busy lately as I look back and see it's been almost forever since I posted last! Ha! The days are just plain busy and blogging seems have taken a few steps back on the "to-do" list. But, here it is a Friday night....and I am finally home and sitting with my feet up on the couch...feels so good.
Last week on my day off I took the kids to one of our favorite parks....we were all alone! After an hour or so, another mom came with her son, but that was it! Funny, this mom and I started talking about daycare and I told her about Eliah's daycare....she enrolled her son a week later! i think we should get some sort of discount for a referral....I should check on that. Anyway, it was a chilly day as Fall finally arrived, but fun to have the whole park to ourselves.

Here is Ava after coming out of the big, twisty slide...she loves them!

Eliah usually spends a good chunk of park time at the digger...very important work, you know.

This one made me giggle.....Eliah taking huge scoops of sand....Ava picking up individual sand pieces....so funny!

Big brother showing baby sister how an excavator works.

Last weekend we went down to Aaron's parents as his dad is back in town for a few weeks. We had lots of fun going out with Aaron's siblings and shooting pool for an evening! The only thing that gets better than grandparents babysitting...is staying at grandparents house and having them to get up with the kids in the morning after a late night out! Hooray!

Sunday afternoon we went to the local fire station and toured the trucks and saw them put out some practice fires. Fun! Aren't they sweet?

And how cute is this....

So, it's conference time at school again. Yikes, these are long weeks, but we all make it. Tuesday was my day off, but I had to go in for conferences that afternoon/evening. Aaron had a late meeting, so I brought the kids to school with me for just 30 min or so until Aaron could get to my school to pick them up. I had to laugh at how different they are. Eliah was fascinated with my staplers and stapled just about every piece of paper on that table together! Lots of moving.

Then there is Ava. She sat at this spot for over 20 min coloring on the paper....and later all over herself....you can see her face and they joy she has showing off her very colored hands. She has a history of coloring all over herself....my artsy one with purple hair and tattoos perhaps?? ;-)
This weekend is looking to be cold! We have our neighborhood fire station open house...we'll see if we get that. Also think it's pumpkin patch time, but.....brrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

I also have to share my latest swimming achievement. I've been stuck at the same yardage for some time now and decided to start increasing my workout. So, my goal on Wed was to hit 1.5 miles (2650 yards/106 lengths) and I did it! Then today, I went even more and got 2800 yards in! I'm pretty pumped to have that done in a 45 min swim. 3,000.....maybe not too far off??!!!

Como Zoo

Tuesday was another beautiful day and heading outside was a must for our day off together. Eliah chose to go to the Como Zoo. What a GREAT day! With all the big kids in school and summer sort of "over" we had the zoo to ourselves...other than a bunch of other moms with strollers. Was nice and quiet! We started out checking out the conservatory and Eliah loved all the huge tropical plants, flowers and fish. These fish were big! Wow!
Just look at that splash of color!!!!! All those flowers....joy!
So here we are checking out the fish. Ava seems really drawn to the animals. The Spider Monkeys were leaping everywhere and the gorilla put on a show of pounding his chest! It certainly got their attention!
Here we are just before heading home. Aren't they just the two most precious creatures ever?? When we go out and about, we gets lots of compliments and comments about their hair and how light it is...people really seem amazed by it. They just about melt me when I see them sitting close like this....
Eliah had a blast building this lego castle! We haven't done much lego building before and I was amazed with how quickly he was able to understand and read the visual diagrams. He learned he needed to count the "bumps" of the legos to get the right sized piece. But can I just say DAMN! Legos are expensive!!!!!!!! Yikes!
And here again is the little lady.....she loves to have me blow the bubbles off her hands so they go flying in the air...here she is trying it herself!

Summer in September

After such a cool summer, we now have summer in September and it feels great! While I'm normally pretty ready for jeans and a sweatshirt, I know those days will soon be upon us and I'll take these hot days and enjoy them. We played outside with the sprinkler and the kids washed Ava's little car. Good fun!

Like always, the kids have kept me laughing each day. Here was one conversation with Eliah in the car the other morning:
Eliah: Mommy, why don't all birds get to hang upside down?
Me: Hmmm, I'm not really sure any birds really hang upside down.
Eliah: Yah they do....
Me: Which ones?
Eliah: The ones at the south pole.
(Took me a moment to realize he meant they hang upside down as they are on the bottom of the earth! Oh for real...too funny!)

Ava is also starting to do two word groupings. She'll now say: one bite, more please, help please (usually while trying to put on her shoes), no puppy, no meow (her word for cat and of course bossing the dog and cats around), and when she tries to get by people she'll now say "me"...her version of "excuse me"...she'll try to say just about any word you ask her to say...but she still won't say her name yet. When you point to her pix...she still says "baby".

Starting the 2nd week of school tomorrow. I have Tuesday off with the kids...weather is looking great so I'm sure we'll go on some outdoor field trip. Yay!

State Fair 09

What an absolutely beautiful day to go to the State Fair! We headed over and grabbed the shuttle bus around 10 this morning. We checked out the animals first and made it just in time to see piglets being born in the Miracle of Life barn! How cool is that?! There was a cow in labor and due to deliver in a few hours...that would have been really cool too. Then we wandered over to see the horses, cows and other pigs. We of course need a treat so Eliah's first choice is a blueberry Icee...which he shares sweetly with Ava.....after a little prompting that sharing IS the nice thing to do.
Here is Ava at the pig barn. She doesn't seem to understand why I put these silly ears on her head.
Here's the Biggest Boar. Eliah thought he was pretty cool. But you know, the Biggest Boar also has the Biggest....ummmm.....how do I say this sweetly? Well, you get the idea....anyway, a number of people got quite the laugh today until I was able to get over and tell Eliah that the pig really didn't need to be patted there.....
Here's the Giant Slide. Eliah is in the yellow and Aaron and Ava are just behind him. He said he wanted to go all by himself, but once he got down he told me he was really scared. Good thing the fair only comes around once a year as I think it will take him that long to go on it again! Ha!
Aaron and Eliah went on the Sky Rider while I took Ava over to the Craft building to see a friends knit project...I got to check out a few other projects too....so many amazing pieces!
The girls.
The boys....this is a great way to meet up with Aaron and Eliah....found them right away!
This was probably Eliah's favorite part of the day. They didn't have Grampa's tractor there like they did two years ago...but they had this fancy little thing! Grampa could probably use one of these too!
She looked like a little birdie here. She'd turn around and open her mouth like that until we filled it with chocolate malt!
We came home to take a late afternoon nap and then headed to a friends house for a bbq. We weren't sure if the kids would be too exhausted, but they did great! What a fabulously fantastic day!

Sweatheart Sweater

Before I begin with my latest knit, I have to share these pictures. I forgot I had taken pix of the raisin saga. This is after I had tilted Ava upside-down and used the flashlight to look up her nose. She thought it was great fun to shine the flashlight up her nose on her own! That's my girl...just trying to help out!
Last Sunday we went to the lake near our house and had a great afternoon. Swimming, sandcastles, picnic, splashing, etc. Ava thinks it's really funny to get sand in your toes!
Eliah is busy swimming, making castles, rivers.
Okay, here's the Sweetheart Sweater. I wasn't really sure how it would all turn out but I'm really pleased with it! Seems too big for Ava for now, but shouldn't be too long out before it will fit her nicely. I kept with the pattern but opted to do just 4 buttons on the top half instead of all the way down...didn't seem to fit with the ruffles to have buttons going to the bottom. I think it will look really cute with a pair of jeans and a pink, long sleeve shirt under it.

19 Months

I took Ava in for some pix today. She was all smiles and loved the attention from the photographer. Here are some of my favorites. Recognize the dress?? Yes, that's the one I knit for her (yes, yes....I am patting my own back here! :-)






Isn't she just a doll?? I don't know how often we'll actually use her real middle name (probably when she's a teenager and turns on us! Ha!) but for now I seem to be substituting her official middle name with Joy. My little Ava Joy is the happiest baby I've ever met!

So, we had an adventure last week. Ava was sitting in her chair at the table eating raisins when I see her finger in her nose. Something looked funny. Sure enough, she had a raisin in her nose. So, I try to get the darn thing out but little toddler nostrils are pretty small...especially when already filled with a raisin! So, I turn away for just a moment to get something to help get the stupid thing out. Sure enough she takes that split second to jam her finger up further in her nose and the raisin is now MIA. Ahhhhh, lots of questions start going thru my head....how bad is it to have a raisin jammed in your nose? Will it come out on it's own? Get sneezed out or snorted thru??? Hmmmmm, so I put in a call to the nurse line. When I explained the nurse let out a little chuckle and mentioned that this sort of thing happens quite often. So, I was told that it could get snorted thru, or blown out....but if it's stuck she'd have to come in. How do I know if it's still in there??? As I mentioned earlier....toddler nostrils are really small...I tried holding her upside down and got out the flashlight (that probably would have been a good photo for the album!) to look up her nose....just can't see it! So, we waited it out....nothing gross started to ooze and she never got a fever so I think it's okay to say the raisin made its way out one way or another. When I ask Ava about the raisin and where it went, she points to her nose and says: Nose.....Bye-Bye!!!! That, is my Ava Joy.

Camping, Mowing, Baking and Bath

Four posts in one is what you get here! Camping, Mowing, Baking and Bath. Last weekend we did a group camp with friends and what fun it was! The rain held off until Saturday evening but what a storm or two it was! Thankfully the kids were fine with the thunder and lightning and didn't wake up from round two.

Here is Ava playing "Camper Family" with Bella.

Science Teacher, Jennifer, brought along a science experiment....Dry mustard and water....poured over dirt and watch the worms come up! So amazing!

Amy brought tattoo markers for the kids...Ava had GREAT fun coloring all over herself. Note the streak of blue next to her eye.

I have NO idea what the boys are doing...but I love how still Ava is between the blurry boys!

This is what the van looks like on the way home....we obviously had lots of fun!

Okay, do you think 4 1/2 is too young to take over the lawn mowing? They did the entire front yard like this and Eliah was all smiles!

We've had two rainy, cool days now. It seemed like a perfect afternoon to make Snickerdoodles. Ava camped out on the counter to "help" make the cookies. She did really well and dipped the ball into the cinnamon/sugar and then set them on the cookie sheet.

Finally, bath time continues to be one of Ava's favorite things. I also have a graffiti artist on my hands as her bath crayons are a hit! Awesome little crayons that you can use to color all over the bathtub walls (or yourself!) and it just washes away with a wash cloth. So fun!

Another fun trick she has is turning pretty much anything into a phone. Did you know that these items can act as phones: a pencil, rock, marker, shoe, leaf, toy car, chicken sandwich, Club cracker and my favorite.....a raisin. She'll put these items up to her ear and say "Ha-llo? No? Bye-Bye!" and will do this over and over again. Of course, when I noticed after lunch the other day that she had a raisin sitting IN her ear....she may be taking this phone business a little too far...clearly she wants to upgrade to Bluetooth headset.

A great pix of the two of them from Andrea's photo collection....silly kids!!!!

Two Wheels!

Eliah learned how to ride on two wheels last night! I feel like a such a sappy parent as I stood there with a huge smile cheering, incredible amount of pride but with a few little tears in my eyes as this means the beginning of a whole new world for him. My baby is no longer a baby. The best part was watching his face. Once he figured it out a bit, he had a HUGE smile on his face and we could hear him say "Oh ya, Oh ya...whoo-hoo!" The neighbor boy who is a year older was good motivation as Eliah really wants to keep up with those big boys down the street. He was so proud of himself! This morning I asked him what he wants to do today and he said he wants to go for a bike ride. So, that's our plan this morning before it gets too hot out!

Duluth

We celebrated our 11th anniversary in Duluth this weekend for a very much needed getaway. We had Eliah and Ava along and at first seemed like a lot to organize everything for another trip, but it was worth it! We headed to Duluth Saturday late morning and watched the temperature drop a good 20 degrees as we headed north. It was cloudy, foggy about about 60 when we got there but no big deal! We went to Canal Park and bummed around, went to the Lighthouse, the Lift Bridge, threw rocks and had dinner. A fabulously fun start to our weekend. Sunday we got up and went to the Depot to the Train Museum and for a 1.5 hour train ride up to Lester River. Eliah LOVED the old trains and being able to sit up inside where the engineers did. The train ride was also great fun to watch the lake go by and wave at everyone along the boardwalk. Afterwards we had a late lunch, then down to the lake for over THREE hours of rock throwing into the lake. It cracks me up how a huge pile of rocks and a huge lake can keep two busy little people completely entertained for hours.
Monday we went up to Enger Tower and then headed home. It was a fantastic time being able to relax and focus on fun and not worrying about catching up on things at home. Very much needed after our long trips and our time apart. On the flip side, I put Aaron to work cleaning out the garage the moment we got home! Ha!

I LOVE this pix of Eliah! He was so interested in the bridge and lighthouse!

Rocks and waves = smiles and laughter

Love this one of Ava too! She also likes to throw rocks!

On the train.

They started a collection of small rocks...they are both helping fill the water bottle with rocks.

After 2 hours or so, I felt we needed some more fuel. I left them by the rocks and went up to The Malt Shop and got us two of the most amazing chocolate malts ever. When Aaron and I were dating in college we would occasionally splurge on the $6 a piece malts and take a walk on the boardwalk by the lake....good memories. No romantic stroll this time with kids in tow, but the malts are still amazing as ever and the memories are even more sweet. I shared with Eliah.....I didn't get very much! Ha!

At Enger Tower.

And look at my new favorite tree! It's like a copper birch! I haven't had time to google it yet to see what it is....but it shines just like copper! Just beautiful!

Island Time

Finally! A post! From July 27-Aug4, the kids and I were out on the island visiting my parents. Aaron was still in China with his family which made for a very strange month of July, but both trips went very well! Here are a few from the island...which was very HOT the week we were there...I only pulled out my sweatshirt on the last night...so unusual!

A little cuddle time on the deck with Gramma.

Driving the boat with Grampa.

The little lady loving all the "bubbles" in the water.
More hugs....
Play-doh time....
Only real viking women wear their helmets in the hot summer!It didn't seem right that only Aaron, Eliah and Grampa had viking helmets! So 3 (with braids!) were made for us girls. Here are two of them photographed for my knitting site.

Check out this slug found in the compost bin!

Lots of time was spent around the pond looking for fish and climbing the rocks.

...and of course, hours and hours were spent on the tractor. I can't think of anything this little boy enjoys more than going tractoring with Grampa!

A great week with wonderful memories! More photos can be found on the RaksoPix Link to the right.

Beach Day/Auntie Day

It's official....the kids have sucked the very last ounce of energy out of me...I'm exhausted. Not just the kids, but our activity level the last 5 days has been crazy. Tomorrow we have no plans (at this time) and I'm kind of happy about it!
Yesterday we went to the beach with our friends, Carter and Maddie. The kids get along great as they are each only 9 months or so apart. The beach was awesome! A nice groomed, clean, sandy beach that goes out forever and the kids can still stand...another great deal as it's only $5 to get in. We were there for four hours...which did result in a massive melt down upon departure, but the glassy eyes and irrational behavior were the obvious signs of exhaustion caused by too much fun.

Here's Eliah and Carter.

Ava and Maddie

Today we met Auntie Mar and went to the Arboretum. What fun to see all the sculptures, ponds, fountains, waterfalls, bridges, going thru the maze, having lunch and leaving just as the thunderstorm began! What a great day! Here's Eliah with AM.
It was stormy here this later afternoon. This is what happens when the kids need to find indoor activities....the dog gets decorated in hair clips! Poor Oskar....this little clip stayed on him for quite some time and it didn't seem to bother him. He's at his usual spot in the evening....under Ava's chair waiting for goodies to fall down. Doesn't he look pretty???

Sculpture Garden

So we finally made it to the Sculpture Garden today. It was so nice to finally see and feel the warm sunshine. We packed a lunch and off we went. Eliah didn't understand where we were going and asked if there were rides or playgrounds there...was disappointed when I said no. But, he really got into it and didn't want to leave! The ducks swimming in the pond by the Spoon Bridge and Cherry were a hit. He also asked to see the glass fish again. The highlight was probably going up all the steps to the walkway that goes above 94 just before the tunnel. That was VERY cool! And loud! Afterwards we met Henni for ice cream for a short visit...we had gone WAY into nap time!

Here's the big fish Eliah loved! He also though it was amazing palm trees were in there!

Picnic lunch....

Looking at the ducks with Spoon Bridge in background.

Walking bridge just above the tunnel.

Busy days

Well, we are keeping busy and trying to fill our days the best we can. We've had some fun the last few days doing a play date with friends at the Y on Friday. Kids swam like crazy, then we came back to the house for lunch. This meant a very good nap for everyone! We finished the day with McD's playland for dinner.
This morning we got up and went to Ikea and then to the MOA for some ride time. Kids had fun....we'll leave it at that! Ha! Then we were invited to our friends house for dinner and playtime. Wow....big day! Eliah was more than exhausted by bedtime.
The weather actually looks to be nicer tomorrow...maybe a trip to the Sculpture Gardens since we never got there a few weeks ago. Who knows...after our last two busy days...a quieter one may be better.

Here's Ava....this time I grabbed the camera in time for the shark goggles!

I also caught her feeding her GlowBaby (glow worm) a sippy cup! Playing with a doll TWICE now....hmmmm, looks like we may have a little princess on our hands! Ha!

Today at the MOA.

Oh this was fun! Very fast...he had to hold on tight! Big smiles!

Wild River State Park

We spent the weekend at Wild River State Park on the St. Croix River. This is a beautiful park! The trails are great and the campsites are private, shaded, wooded...just gorgeous....all except for site b2...."partially shaded" my #*%! Oh well. Another funny was the prediction of fabulous weekend weather...only a 20% chance of a passing shower on Friday ....somehow that turns into 5 hours of steady rain....which also means getting 5 people and a large, furry dog in a tent for dinner. We sent the kids to bed early and Aaron and I sat in the tailgate of the van and laughed at it all. Saturday made up for the horrible campsite and rain the previous night. We had a great hike and found an awesome swimming beach along the river. The boys had a blast digging in the sand and wading in the water. Oskar fetched sticks and was thrilled to be in the water. We were all a sandy, wet mess, but the long hike back had us dried off and sand-free in no time. We all slept well last night. This morning was another yummy breakfast of pancakes and hashbrowns (breakfast is one of my most favorite things while camping). Crazily it ended up raining again, but we were able to pack up and go for a little hike without too much trouble.

Here is Ava who got out of baby backpack to walk for awhile.

Oskar was in heaven splashing, chasing sticks, rolling in sand and smelling other wet dogs. He slept well last night too!

We decided that "partially shaded" must only be during sunrise or sunset....

Oh how cute!!!!

Ava went to bed. Apparently she wasn't ready to settle down yet as she found the zipper next to her pack and play for the window. I hear a little voice say "Momm-y!!!" and see this little face peeking out from the screen. What a silly girl!

4th of July

We had another great picnic and Aaron's Annual Family 4th of July Extravaganza. The morning was drizzly and we got rained on for a little bit but then the sun came out and we had a spectacular afternoon. Eliah had a BLAST playing with cousins, riding on the golf cart, exploring in the woods and setting off fireworks. Ava was taken in by a couple of the girl cousins and for the first time ever....I saw her play with a doll! Of course, this isn't just any doll...it makes noises when you put the pacifier in its mouth and it closes its eyes. Very cute! So, apparently she just needs a doll that's interactive and a little friend to show her how to play with it! So funny!
After the picnic we went back to Grandma's house and watched the fireworks in town. A very fun weekend.

Lots of games to play....

Lots of golf cart rides

Ava checking out the garden...

Ava putting the pacifier in the baby's mouth...

Wow! Playing with dolls can be just as fun as trucks!!!!

So, we had a great day at home today. After our busy weekend I just wanted to stay put and we played and played. Eliah was fantastic and is still excited about earning his stickers on his chart. Ava is my creative little girl...she loves to color and playing with play-doh. I found her today with a handful of markers....and a very colored in face...especially around the eyes. It was quite the look! I somehow failed to get a pix of her like that. I also failed to get a pix of her walking around the house with swimming goggles on her face...she is such a funny girl!
Then just tonight, I had finished giving the kids baths. I went downstairs to talk to Aaron for a minute and Eliah was supposed to be upstairs getting in his pj's. I hear the little boy next door talking to Eliah and I heard Eliah's voice from up on the deck responding. The next piece I hear from the kid next door is "Eliah....why are you naked?" Ahhhh.....Eliah....get back in the house!!!!!!! Seriously....my kids have kept me laughing all day today.

Tomorrow we have a play date set up with some friends for a picnic at a park. Should be fun!

Keeping Busy

We have been busy this last week! We started the week out celebrating my 33rd birthday on Monday and I had a great day. I took the kids to Como Zoo with a friend and her kids. It was perfect weather for being at the zoo...cool and cloudy! Later Aaron took us out for dinner and then home for gifts and ice cream cake. Fun! This is what I found in the large mystery box from my parents. Knitters....you may start your ooh's and ahh's now. The tan and cream twist is a fabulously soft organic cotton and is screaming at me to be made into a little cardigan for Ava. The two shades of green....something felted perhaps? And then do you see that enormous puff of white? That, my dear knitting friends, is 100% Alpaca. But not just any Alpaca...it's over 16 oz.....1200 yards of the most heavenly, gorgeous and simply yummy yarn I've ever laid eyes on. That's right...1200 yards.....the possibilities are endless.........joy...pure joy!

Here Eliah and Mahdi are looking at a poisonous frog! Cool!

Ava and Linah with the lions in the background.

After the Zoo we went to Como Town and hit some rides. What a great day!

This one made me giggle. Eliah and Ava got these little sleeping mats from my friend Jen. They've been playing sleep over in the living room all week. Ava actually will lie down quietly and pretend to sleep....Eliah is always fixing his covers and never quite gets to the sleeping part.

Happy kids are kids that get outside. So, we went for a long walk up to a park. Ava was all about this slide and Eliah stepped up to the big brother role and took position as "catcher" at the bottom. It looks like she's holding onto the sides but she's really cruzing along here! Make the pix bigger if you can to see her smile.

The long walk home. Eliah rides his bike and Ava helps walk Oskar.

A couple other fun notes....my kids LOVE fresh pineapple. They both pulled chairs up to the counter to watch me cut apart the whole thing...Eliah ate it up like candy.

Ava's vocabulary and word recognition are growing like crazy. Her new funny is saying Ta-Da!!!! At dinner the other night she stuck her finger in her green bean piece so it was stuck to the end of her finger...she put her finger in the air and said Ta-Daaa!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I am starting a Good Boy chart for Eliah. He suddenly seems to be whining ALL the time. So he'll earn stickers for not whining and can lose them for doing so. I don't know if it will help, but what I've tried so far hasn't had an impact, so I try something else. Maybe it's just the age, a phase or whatever...but it's driving me nuts!

Also tomorrow I am taking all 3 kids to the Mpls Sculpture Gardens. Maybe pack and picnic lunch and finish the trip at Sebastian Joe's.....for those of you unfamiliar.....i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m!!!!!

Children's Museum

After a long string of hot days and starting to get bored playing in the back yard (did I just say "bored" two weeks into summer vacation??!!!!) we decided to go on a field trip to the Children's Museum yesterday. I have a feeling Wednesdays will become field trip day just to break up our weeks a bit. We had a great time and it was fun to see Ava exploring everything. I'm sure I've mentioned my frustrations at child/parent behavior while out and about, but I'm always shocked with what parents let their kids do while in public. Now, don't get me wrong....my children are FAR from perfect and I have one child, in particular, that can get rather emotional and has created quite a scene on more than one occasion. With this being said, I feel I most often follow thru with a time out or a consequence or we leave altogether! The last one is always hard to do...but I think it's sunk in now and I can now use it as leverage....and he knows I'm serious. Anyway, I'm just shocked how parents will stand by and let their kids grab supplies out of another child's hands and not do anything about it. I know there are times when you can't control a child's outburst, but for pete's sake...if you're out doing something FUN...your kid should be in control and if they can't...then you should take them home! Phew....I feel better after that!
So, we had fun exploring the different areas of the Museum. The Clifford Exhibit was open and that had some fun stations. The WaterWorks was fun with water tubes and bubbles. Eliah loved the construction station and crawling in the enormous ant hill. It was a good day!
Today we were supposed to go to the beach to go swimming with some friends but Eliah woke me up at 4 am saying that he threw up in bed. Lovely. He's been struggling with funny tummy most of the day, poor guy. Leaves me wondering how we'll handle camping weekend....plus, it looks like possible thunder showers on Saturday. Hmmmm, we'll see......Eliah obviously needs to feel better to even go at all. So, hopefully he'll have a speedy recovery.

Here's Ava playing with a ping pong ball at the water tubes.

These bubble-makers are awesome! Ava got very excited at this station.

A grocery store made kid-size!

Looking for produce....

Working together....

Ava is the check-out lady....

Turtle...

Drive

I forgot to post a funny about Ava. Yesterday I found her sitting on the floor of the Gator...sort of fussing as it looked like her head was stuck under the steering wheel. So, I go over to help her out...she only fusses more and she's obviously mad that I'm interfering with her "fun" of being under the steering wheel. So I back off only to see her take off in the Gator! The reason why she was sitting under there was to use her HAND to press the gas pedal since her foot doesn't reach! So, I had to take off running and stop the gator before she hit a tree or the fence. She, of course, was all smiles at this new find! Oh my.....she's quite the smarty pants for sure! Here she is riding like a responsible young lady.....

Mine!

So, Ava has some new words that she is VERY fond of using: Mine! and No! She has been using them quite often lately. Yesterday she was determined to tuck Oskar in with her blanket. Keep in mind it's over 90 outside....the last thing I'm sure Oskar wanted was a blanket on him, but he just stayed put and let her tuck him in. I caught these pix just at the end. However, once Ava got him tucked in, she stood there and looked at him for a moment as if satisfied with doing a good job...then grabbed at her blanket and yanked it away and yelled "MINE!" So funny!

The heat of the last two days has apparently caught up with Eliah. Yes, I turned the air on the other morning and we are enjoying the cool house, but we spend much our day outside splashing in the pool and playing with the hose. I called everyone in for dinner tonight which was a huge bummer for Eliah as he and Aaron were involved in a massive water fight together outside. So, he comes in completely in tears and not wanting to get out of his swim suit. I try to calm him down and here is our conversation:
Me: Eliah, why are you crying? (No answer from him...just more crying)
Me again: Eliah, stop....why are you crying? (He pauses for just a moment)
Eliah: I don't know Mommy.....Can you tell me why I'm crying???? (Followed by hysterical crying again)
Eliah: Mommy....you tell me why I'm crying.......

Aaron and I laughed and laughed as I held him and let him cry it out. Hmmmm, think someone was tired?? Ha!

So, for a twist to our week...and also a break from the heat, we are going on a field trip to the Children's Museum tomorrow. The Clifford event is there, so that should be fun. Thursday we're going to a local beach with some friends.

This is what the kids have looked like the last two days....swimsuits and sunscreen have been the attire..fun, fun!