Beautiful Girl

I know I might be a little bit biased, but once in a while I sit back and think wow, isn't she beautiful???

And the scary part is that she's becoming beautiful now and not cute! :) *sigh* :)

That's Bo

Here's Bo in his car jammies. I'm pretty sure he lucked out in the laundry cycle and was able to wear them 3 times in about 4 days. He loves the cars, planes and helicopters on them. But what he also loves doing lately is checking himself out on the camera after we take a picture. He'll point and say "That's Bo!"

Thanks Again Uncle Earl

One of the funny things about Bo and things with wheels is that he wants to do anything and everything no matter what it is, how big it is or scary it is. Wheels takes away all inhibitions and he's ready to rock!

In short, Bo just wants to say his own "Thank You" to Uncle Earl for getting this super sweet bike for his big sister. :)

Roller Slide!!!

The end is the best... You might have to listen twice! :)

Click here to view on YouTube.

Afton Orchard '10

I can't believe it was three years ago that we were last at the orchard! Thinking about how little Hailey was it reminded me how fast time flies.

This time we met Miss Kendall and Miss Sarah and we had a high old time! What a couple of pumpkins! :)

After the wagon rides and pumpkin patch, it was off to the playground and petting zoo. Mom and Bo are checking things out and making sure things are in order.

Hailey liked the sheep! "Here sheepy sheepy sheepy!"

LLAMA!!!!!!!

The playground area included this roller-slide. All the way down you could holler and hear the little voices going bumpity bumpity bumpity all the way down!

Then I think came the kids personal favorites. The cow train! Each car held one kid and were aptly named. Hailey's name was Donna! "Awwwwws" all the way to Japan! :)

Bo's cow was named Pumpkin. He was completely in his element. Neither of us were worried that he might get scared. He was buckled in and ready to roll. On his way by, he was waving at anyone he could find!

Last but not least was the food barn. The kids got to ride the cow bench while we did some shopping! We got an apple donut, cheese curds and honey sticks. (Yeah, I know, I can never ever turn down real Wisconsin cheese curds!!!)

Wait!! Your Droid has a flashlight?!?! My Droid doesn't have a flashlight!!

My Dad and my husband have both succumbed to the ultimate gadget. They both own a Droid. They are both the most unlikely people I know to own a cell phone, much less a fancy pants cell phone, but there you go. The story is that they both "need" the Droid for work. I'll let you be the judge.

Little Prognosticator

Well, I suppose this isn't technically a prediction, but none-the-less, good fun for this weekend's events (namely Monday evening) :)

Click here to view on YouTube

Hungry Hippos

The last time I said there was "one more from the weekend" I apparently was just kidding. There happened to be another one too! Bo really had a blast getting into hungry hippos! Although he couldn't really master the hippo chomping yet, he had fun taking the balls and moving them in and out of the play area! Once the rules set in for him, I think this will be a fun 4 person family game!

Trains!!!

This morning Hailey, Bo and I went to the Minnesota Transportation Museum. I would have never known this place existed, but I'm glad we found it!! Our library has a Museum Adventure Pass program that allows you to check out a free passes to visit several museums in the area. We haven't used the program in ages, but this week Hailey asked if we could get a pass. I read her the descriptions of the different museums and let her choose which one to go to. I was so surprised she picked this one!! She told me she was really excited to walk around on the inside of a train.

Mission accomplished!! Here are Hailey, Bo and Ducky climbing around on a restored passenger car. It was over 100 years old. Hailey was surprised by how narrow the hallways were, how small the beds were, and how may pottys were on the train!!

Bo's favorite part was the train tables. They had 4 or 5 train tables for the kids to play at. It was WONDERFUL!! We got to play with some other kids, but there was enough room for each kid to have a decent section of train, and to play without running into each other. We'll go back for the train tables alone!!

My favorite part of the museum was the volunteers. A bunch of sweet retired men in engineers caps. They loved trains, and loved sharing what they knew with the kids. Hailey, Bo, one of the volunteers and I stood next to a window and watched a train going by together. I looked at that man and could tell that he loved watching trains every bit as much as Bo (and that's a lot!!). It was a neat moment!!

I have no pictures of this, because I was busy being nervous mama and trying to keep everyone from falling off the edge (no idea where I got that from), but we also got to ride the turntable. The man that suggested it acted like he was giving us a very big treat, but to be honest I had no idea whatsoever what "riding the turntable" meant. Hailey asked me what we were going to do and I whispered, "I think we're going on a train" under my breath. No, WE were going to ride the turntable. We all got on to the railroad track and then he spun the turntable around. After that he let us back into the shop where they work on restoring the big steam engines. Bo had been pretty reserved on the turntable, but as soon as we got into the shop he sprang into action!! He wanted to be let down, and he strutted around that place with his Minnie Mouse case full of cars, pointing at stuff and jabbering as fast and as loud as he could. It was like the mother ship called him home!!

Enjoy It While You Can

With an 80 degree day in late September, we were outside enjoying it the best we could! Who cares about shoes?!? We don't need no stinking shoes! :)

One More from the Ducks

I am happy to report that Bo made it to the duck races on Saturday as well! It was so much fun to have Grandma and Grandpa here and seeing Bo's face here just reminds me how much personality the little man is getting! He has a really funny sense of humor, a contagious laugh and a tickle-me-til-I-cry grin. So... All of that said, don't you want to come visit? :-D

Warm Clothes Selection

We made it to the park after dinner tonight! Now that its getting colder outside, I asked Hailey to go upstairs and put on something warm. She asked if she could choose anything and I said she could. Bo and I hung out downstairs and when she didn't come down for a while, I was a bit curious what was happening.

When she came down, this is what we got! Warm clothes underneath and cool on top!

Duck Races

Hailey was a proud camper at the Great Minnesota Duck Races today!! She had a lot of fun doing the different things the kiddos could do!

Here is Grandma and Bo and his minnie-mouse-car-stash! Enjoying the day!!! What a couple of cuties!!!!!

Lincoln Logs

Seeing pictures of the kids playing with a set of Lincoln Logs really takes me back to the monstrosities I used to create when i was little. We just purchased a small set with some clothes and toys with a place in Stillwater called "Bee Bumble". I'm thinking that we'll have to find a few more sets just to see how big of a house we can really make!!!

Dance Class!

Hailey had her first dance class today!!

It was another occasion for me to remember what I prayed before she was born....that she would have a strong will, would know her own mind, and stick to it. 4 years later I have said time and again that God answered my prayer!! I saw it again today when we walked in to dance class. It was a sea of little girls in pink tutus. Hailey commented about how pretty they all looked, and introduced herself to a lot of the girls. Then she went strutting in the door in her blue tights and leotard just KNOWING that she was fabulous. I honestly couldn't wipe the smile off my face!!

I didn't get to see a lot of her class. They asked us to wait out in the hall so we wouldn't distract the dancers. Since Bo was with me, I was very relieved to hear that. I did not want to spend 45 minutes dragging him away from his sister!! They left the door open so we could peek in, but every time I did that it reminded Bo that he wanted to go see Hailey. We played matchbox cars in the hallway instead. I wish I could have seen more, but they are planning a mini-recital on their last class. I'll just have to wait, and come up with a good way to distract Mr. Bo.

In other news, Tony had a successful first day of work. We missed him after having him home for 5 days, but we do appreciate the paycheck!! Thanks for your prayers!!

Dance Preparations

Tomorrow has two firsts associated with it. The first being Hailey's first dance class!!! Here she is getting ready and trying on her tights and leotard (seriously, why call it a leotard? Just call it a fancy swimming suit you can't wear swimming!) Oh, that's probably too many words. Leotard must be latin for fancy swimming suit that you can't wear swimming. :)

The other first is that I will be having my "first day on the new job" for the first time in over 8 years. I'll be starting my new job as 'Manager of Application Development' at Apex Print Technologies. I'm really excited and nervous for a few reasons. But the biggest one was from the last few days of being with the Darlene, Hailey and Bo has really reminded me of why I want to work so hard to succeed! I love keeping them happy and ensuring that our needs are continually met as a family!

So if you're reading this tomorrow, say a few prayers to help my new job start off on the right foot! Thank you!!!

Car Man

Bo really inherited a lot of "car" genes! It doesn't feel like we did anything much different than Hailey, but in all respects, he loves cars! From his Grandpa's to Great Grandpa's to cousins and uncles... He loves cars and tractors. Hailey and I bought Bo a set of 5 Matchbox cars and he just LOVES them. It's fun to see him try and carry all 5 cars, 3 trains and his weasel under his chin! Since he couldn't do that, he decided to use a Minnie Mouse lunch box for transport. As a concerned Dad, I would use this as a point of note that if you are looking for presents (Christmas is still just 3 months at 11 days away...) he needs some better transportation for those cars! A new car or tractor probably wouldn't hurt either. :)

My New Clothes

Hailey got a new pair of pants today. They're a little on the big side so we put in a nice purple ribbon/belt to hold them up. They also had nice pockets for a couple of her mini-guys! She has pretty good taste in clothes as I had asked her to pick out a shirt and this is the ensemble she chose! What do you think? :)

Clean Teeth Club

This would make our dentist happy! Both kids stepping up and brushing their teeth when asked! Bo really enjoys his turn after our turn. Hailey enjoys being able to do everything from loading the brush to spitting in the sink!

5K Run

The kids and Darlene came out to watch me run the James Page Blubber Run today!! It was the first time I ran a 5K in probably 10 years (last one was the valentines day 5k with Darlene which happened to be my first race ever) My goal of under 30 minutes I'm pretty sure I hit. I was scolded by the peanut gallery that I didn't wear a watch... But based on the start time and rough time afterwords when I finally saw someone's watch (granted it was on time) it was about 28 minutes. :)

Anyway, the kids had a lot of fun on the Stone Arch Bridge. I had forgotten how much I like that area near downtown Minneapolis! When I ran by, Darlene pointed me out and Hailey was looking everywhere but at me. When she finally found me I went over to her and she handed me a fist full of rocks. I was going to carry them and give them to her at the finish line but figured the extra weight would slow me down. :) So I just gave her a hug when I saw her! What a fun way to start the day!

Special Delivery

Bo was wondering if you'd like some milk. He'd really like you to have some! Every day we are thankful he still enjoys the rice milk... It's gotta be hard for the little guy, but he definitely is still growing! At his 18 month appointment (actually not sure if we posted anything about it) :) He was in the 65th percentile for height and weight! I think that's amazing considering how many foods he can't eat!

Graham...

CRACKERS!!!!

Yup, that's right... Home made graham crackers were made today and I think the kids were seriously interested in helping!!!

Seriously... Can't you see the excitement!

As well as the seriousness!?!?!

Actually though, they each had their own rolling pins and were able to help out... There were no pictures due to direct parental supervision that didn't allow for the taking of pictures. :)

It Wasn't Me!!

Well, it wasn't me either!!! I'm pretty sure there isn't anything I can write about this, I'm just laughing at how cute the little dude is!!! Don't you agree?

First Day of School!!!

Hailey and I did her first day of school today!! We're trying out homeschooling for preschool right now. We're really taking it slow with the intention of getting her excited to learn, rather than trying to do a whole lot of educating right away.

I was surprised that Hailey actually seemed pretty suspicious about the whole idea of school. I think I've been hyping it too much. In retrospect, I realize that I only hype work that I'm trying to disguise as fun. If we're going to play at the park, I just tell her we're going to the park. If we're going to clean the house, I come up with a list of reasons why its going to be such a great day. She's on to me for sure!!

Anyway, I told her that we'd only do school for 30 minutes, so she didn't get sick of it right away. Then I pulled out a new toy that we brought from the homeschoolers conference in April.

Its a puzzle with pictures of kids standing in all different positions. First she took them all out and sorted them by color. Then when she put them back in she tried to copy the position they were in with her body. At first she just quick tried to stand in position and then put the piece back in. Then she really started getting excited about it.

Pretty soon she was bouncing all over the room with puzzle piece in hand, imagining how that kid was walking, jumping, etc. I love her creativity!!

The other thing we did was this little squirrel project. She's starting to get really good with her scissors, and is really wanting to cut lately. This was a 2 piece puzzle. The pieces had to be cut out, glued down, and the the picture colored.

She decided to make a red squirrel for her Daddy!! She was pretty proud of this guy, I think she did a good job too!!

When the timer went off after 30 minutes she said, "Well, I'm not sick of school yet." That's good enough for me!!

Fair Slides

This was the second slide that Hailey did at the fair. The first was the official Giant Slide that we both did together on gunny sacks. This one was a little obstacle course with a few challenging things on the way to a super fun slide. Here is the culmination of all her work to get to the top!

Click here to view on YouTube.

The Meat and Potatoes of the Fair

Well, here are the rest of the pictures from our adventures yesterday at the fair. The primary themes for the day were animals, rides and food. All of which were either very good, very fun or very yummy!

First things first in terms of transit for the day... Ducky had a prime seat for navigating the park. Hailey wanted to walk the entire time. I'd ask her if she wanted to ride and she'd just say nope! I was amazed at how much she walked and how good of a girl she was!

We hit up the Miracle of Birth Center first since that was the first thing on the way in. I'm thankful Hailey wasn't totally aware of what was going on as every TV in the place was showing live footage of a cow in labor! Oysh! Maybe next year we'll just skip that place... :)

After avoiding the monitors, we found our attention on the babies that she could pet! Here's a baby chick!

Baby rabbit!

Of course we had to pet the duckling! The only one I didn't get a picture of was the piglet. Talk about a cutie, but I had already put the camera away on the way out. Oh well :)

The first ride we hit was the Ferris wheel. About half way through, Hailey was asking me if she could be done. I didn't know what to say since I couldn't control the ride. I just acted surprised every time they sent us around again!

Then it was onto an old fighter airplane that she thought was a blue whale...


Then we actually found a ride that was a blue whale!

I didn't think Hailey would be interested in these car rides... But I'm thinking that her brother's interest in things with wheels is rubbing off on her.

Oh yeah, last but not least was the food! We shared cheese curds, each had a corn dog with cheese and Hailey wanted ice cream. So I treated her to her very first chocolate malt. Wowsers was she excited!

I totally can't wait to take her again next year. We had such a good time and felt like we really connected! On the way out I was carrying her and I told her that I really loved her... She replied, "Daddy, you're the best man I've ever known..." Awww, talk about melting my heart! Of course after that I'm going to take her again!!!

The Great Minnesota Get Together

We made it to the fair again this year! I have a short night ahead but will be posting the rest of the pictures tomorrow. I apologize!

Last year just inside the gates. Gosh, I almost forgot she wore her kitty boots there! :-)

This year, we were rocking out in style! Check out the fashion queen! We really did have a blast and can't wait to show you the rest of them tomorrow. Have a wonderful day!

Inspite of Sickness

These guys can still be a little cute once in a while. According to news reports, this is as snot-less as they've been all day! I'm happy I could enjoy it though! :-D Have a nice holiday weekend everybody!!

Apple Thief

We are looking for a stealer of apples... Have you seen these hands???

These hands are often seen carrying cars and pointing at trucks. If you've seen them, please contact us immediately!!!

On a side note. Here is Bo trying out an apple for the first time! He actually did a pretty good job with it! (unless you count the messy peels he left under the table... But really, we're not counting!)