Wide Open Spaces

May 24, 2013

After Minneapolis we got to return to visit family again and just relax and enjoy some time. The nice part about the cooler weather was that spring was later to come to Minnesota than where we live. That meant that we got a sort of second spring! The lilacs were blooming and it was just really really lovely.

It also meant we got lots of time outdoors to just walk around and enjoy it. Yay!

Minneapolis

May 21, 2013

Our conference was in Minneapolis so we had to travel a bit further to get there. Our hotel was great. We were downtown and in the middle of a thousand restaurants and shops. The only bad thing was that we'd packed for late May where we live. When we got to Minneapolis there were people in coats! It was really COLD! It just took us off guard. We shopped around a bit for hoodies and long sleeves, but they were mostly gone from the stores. We did our best anyway!

We spent an afternoon at Mall of America. How could we resist? The kids had a blast. Miss L got to ride a roller coaster with her dad and since it was a weekday during the school year it was really empty. Yay!

Here's the view from our room. The kids loved standing in the window and checking out the "ant" people below. :o)

Sweet little man is usually a pretty easy guy but hotels just aren't his thing. He has a TERRIBLE time sleeping. So... this is what happens to you when you don't sleep all night!

One afternoon we decided to head to St. Paul to the children's museum there. All of the kids had so much fun. Here's sweet little man helping the piggie pirates count their treasure.

Miss L and Mister W are working in the animal rescue center.

Who's that turtle? Oh! It's miss L.

...and it really doesn't matter WHERE the children's museum is, our favorite room is ALWAYS the water play area. We spent a good deal of time here and actually stayed until it was almost time to close the museum!

We love to eat and enjoyed finding some interesting places to visit. This was one where we enjoyed breakfast on our last day.

I'm not sure if you can tell but he really loves that pancake. :o)

Our last day included a visit to this really awesome park. I wish I could remember or find the name for it, but it was AMAZING! We'd gotten rained out of another fantastic park earlier in the week and I think that everyone was glad to burn off some steam (and be away from the hotel... not much for three kids five and under to do in a 400 square foot room without any toys). We had a picnic and then enjoyed some climbing time!

After that it was back to the hotel room to wait for Brad's finish to the day. Poor mister W ended up banging his head on the corner of the table and WOW did it bleed! He was pretty proud of his washcloth though and so we took a photo. :o)

Park Day!

May 20, 2013

In the middle of Minnesota there is an awesome little park that features a farm theme. They've got animals, but I think that the best part is the playground. Even though the weather was a little bit dreary, we had a blast running around there!

Tales from the back of the car

May 18, 2013

We're on a road trip! We are headed to see family, then to a conference and then back to see family on our way home. Road trips mean electronic entertainment and miss L took these with the ipad in the backseat. I always think it is hilarious to see what in the world comes up when I sync with my computer. Ha!

We get lots of selfies. LOTS. and lots of pictures of baby dolls. :o)

Garden Plot

May 16, 2013

It's been a really delightful spring. The weather has been wet and warm. It's perfect for starting plants! Except that it's also been a little bit unpredictable. I think I've washed and put away our coats three times already. Sadly, we've had to get them out again for the latest frost that I can remember for awhile. The worst news is that the late frost got our poor tomatoes. Look at those poor guys. I hope they bounce back!

Obsession

May 13, 2013

They tell you every kid is different and you know it's true, but for some reason you just kind of expect them to be sort of similar to one another. My kids certainly don't all have the same "nature" but the "nurture" is largely the same. BUT... if you know my kids, then you know that they are all different creatures.

Honestly, the challenge of differing personalities has to also be one of my greatest joys in parenting. They come out and they are just a bundle of needs. They have a little personality in there but sometimes it's hard to see. When that personality really starts to come out it's an amazing thing. Suddenly this little being that was so attached to you (in some cases, literally) is starting to become their own little person. It's an amazing thing to witness!

Sweet little man is my child that has obsessions. I remember the other kids becoming attached to certain things, but not like this guy. He can hang on to a toy or a book or a thought of what he wants to do for days. Right now, that obsession is with "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Eric Carle. If he sees it then he has to have it. If he has it then you have to read it. If you won't then he will follow you around with it saying, "Brown Bear! Brown Bear!" Sometimes, he will sit and read it himself. We've tried hiding it. We've tried other books. He just loves this one. In fact, the past few nights he has cried and cried while we are rocking him because he wants us to read the book again, but it prevents him from falling asleep.

I know that this too shall pass. There isn't much in parenting that lasts too long (which, as all parents know, is a blessing and a curse) and soon we'll be on to our next obsession. He's just so stinking cute that I had to document it!

A Haircut

May 11, 2013

Sweet little man got a haircut this morning and then we had a lunch date. Don't you think he looks nice?

Garden Plot

May 8, 2013

After a few months of growing our tender tomatoes in the window box it became clear that they needed to get outside in the real dirt. So... we worked hard one evening in May and planted a single row of tomatoes and made another row for them, but we were unable to finish the job that evening. The next day we decided we'd drop mister W off at school and head out to the plot to finish the job.

It was a little muddy from spring rains, but we were proud to get our tomatoes in and growing!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

April 21, 2013

Each year Brad's office plans an outing to a ball game. Even though it was a little cold and a little rainy, everyone had a BLAST. I can't even remember if we won or if we lost, but we spent a good deal of time sitting in the stands (a big change from last year) and the kids are STILL talking about baseball. I can't wait until next year!

Garden Plot

April 21, 2013

After a winter full of planning our garden, buying seeds, drawing and redrawing rows and rows of veggies, it was so exciting when it was FINALLY time to get started. The beginnings were hard. Our 20'x20' plot was covered in weeds that had to be pulled. There were TONS of rocks in the soil that needed to be dug up. Then we started the process of double digging the rows in our garden.

Since we haven't used this plot before we have no idea what the soil has been through up to now. We also know that they till under all of the garden plots so we decided to double dig our plot and add lots of compost to the soil. It was hard work for poor Brad, but it's the sort of hard that is really satisfying. Who knew that we'd turn into such gardeners?!

The kids got their own special part of the garden that we reserved for them because it will be planted over last. They enjoyed digging their own dirt.

...and we got the first seeds in the ground. These are our seed potatoes! Yay! We're looking forward to Yukon Gold potatoes out of the garden this summer.

Zoo Trip

April 20, 2013

It's been a lovely spring. There have been several dips back into winter, but mostly the weather has been lovely. Miss L learned to spell "zoo" at some point this year and she's been asking (almost daily) if we can go to the "z-o-o." Since this day was particularly beautiful, and since there was not a good reason to say "no," we got to say, "yes."

The kids were thrilled. I think this was the first time that we actually made it all over the zoo before it was time to go home. We even rode the carousel. What a great trip! (and no accidents!)