Wrapping Up Summer and Onto the New

The girls finished off the summer with a horse riding camp. In addition to riding, the girls learned how to clean the horses hooves, how to put on a saddle and every day grooming techniques for their horse. Both girls learned that maintaining a horse was a lot of work and riding a horse takes time to get used to. To complete their animal fix, they also threw in some bunny snuggle time at the Washington County Fair and visits over to Chica's house.

When mom was working the last week of summer Dan took the girls on some adventures. They visited Crystal Caves and went to the Como Town/Zoo area. They discovered that Como Town was discounted on the days when the State Fair is occurring, so they got discounted rides. The girls said they went on the tilt a whirl and rollercoaster at least ten times each. They got to bring their friend Lucy along as a special treat and even managed to squeeze in the Sparky the Seal show. Grandma also had the girls for a few days and they did some art projects with the County Library. The girls made unique light switch covers with colorful clay.

As a family we wrapped up summer with a trip to Madeline Island. It was cold this year so we didn't get to swim but we found great hiking trails and explored some new parks further inland. We went to Nearstrand Woods and will definitely need to visit there again. They have some fun waterfalls to play in. We also saw some sea kayaking locations we can try out when the girls are older and found an amazing field to pick blueberries.

The weekend before school officially started, we served at Manna Market in Minneapolis. This market is for both families in need as well as homeless community members who need access to meals or easy things to eat on the go. We served with Erin's friend Joy and met many unique individuals who shared their stories and gave us a new perspective on life. We plan to return later in the year to serve again. In conjunction with our own service projects, Emma and Ani serve the community through their new school. The girls particiated in a Servathon month where they worked at the food shelf, made cards for Vetrans, put together flower boquettes for seniors in the local hospice center, raked within the community and made blessing bags for those in need.

We started school at St. Jude of the Lake this fall. The girls are in a variety of new activities related to the school. Analise started piano lessons and Emma started voice lessons with their music teacher after school. They are both involved in choir for the school and regularly sing at mass. Emma is hoping to one day be able to sing a solo at the podium. Besides choir, the girls are interested in trying out for the school musical, Lion King that will take place in March. Emma has been practicing for the role of Timon. Emma has also taken an interest in cheerleading and goes to practices regularly on Fridays with her two best friends. The friends also have a babysitting business together and regularly hang out at one of the team's houses on Friday nights. Analise has found a new friend whom she walks home with on Fridays. She will be attending her new friend's upcoming Halloween party. As a family, we are so happy to have friends that are so close the girls can go and visit anytime.

The following are some pictures from field trips the girls have already participated in this fall. The school is very into hands-on experiences. The girls take field trips on a regular basis. They also do a lot of work with STEM projects. Analise's class worked on solar ovens and designing homes for butterflies. Emma's class explored the Mississippi through a boat tour. They were able to look for birds, fish and tiny water creatures. The following week they visited a local creek to release the trout last years class raised. They are raising a new group of fish this year in the science lab. Emma is enjoying her elective time on Fridays when she gets to engineer. She has been designing with the 3D printer and working in the robotics lab. She said all the 5th grade girls chose art class and she is the only one who chose engineering. She said the boys just want to work on typing so she gets full access to all the technology and the teacher's attention which she loves.

As a family, we have gotten more involved in church events. We participated in our fall Cornfest by entering the Cornhole tournament. The girls went to play carnival games while we tossed bean bags for almost two hours. Who knew we would actually move through a few rounds. Dan has gone to a few of the dad's meetings with the girls. The meetings help to connect dads to their daughters. Erin hopes to get more involved with the school play and some mom's activities later in the year. Although there has been a lot of new things happening, we still have ice skating lessons and gymnastics to keep things regular. Analise now knows how to do backflips off of high surfaces (I have no idea what the official terms are for what she does but the moves are impressive). Emma can now do a jump while she turns. She was very excited the first time she made it and landed. She started working with a private coach this fall. Throw in a lot of homework, getting the yard set for winter, making sure the house was clean enough to have people over and the fall was filled to the max. Here is our yearly scarecrow display.

We did manage to throw in a few get togethers with friends this fall. The girls got to spend time with Carolyn's daughters when we visited Minnehaha Falls. It was very dry this year with no water flowing. This allowed the girls to climb on the rocks and explore fossils that we are normally not capable of accessing. The girls also spent time with Erin's friend Joy while Erin and Dan got to go on a date (who knows what those are anymore?) The girls explored the park and made Barbie clothes with Joy. They loved spending time with her. Joy has graciously said that she will watch the girls once a month so we can time together. We have gone to a comedy show and gone on a bike ride thus far. Since I don't have siblings, Joy has become my honorary sister and I am so thankful for her. Dan has also gotten some quality time in with his friend Wade. They have been watching games together and going fishing in Wade's boat.

As a family, we are traveling to Iowa over MEA weekend to see the Indian Mounds as well as visit some state parks in the area. We had originally planned to go to Duluth to see the fall leaves, but it snowed last week and became very cold. Duluth didn't seem as inviting so we decided to head south and see if we could get a few warmer days before we head into November.