One Leg

This week Emma learned a new skill on the trapeze. She is able to hold on with just one leg and then flip off onto the net. This was her last class as part of the month long session. Emma would like to continue training but lessons cost a lot, are further away than other sports we participate in already and we will have a lot going on in the next few months.

Berry Picking and the Beach

Erin and Analise got to spend a bit more time together this week. We visited downtown Stillwater, the YMCA pool, the library, went berry picking and visited multiple beaches. Friday was full of friend fun with Ella, Elsie, Fiona and Juliet. We went blueberry picking at the Berry Patch and then to the Big Marine Lake. The girls were in search of the perfect berry and found many delectable specimens.

After berry picking they took turns holding the knee board as each girl tried to "surf" the waves. Erin hung out with Ella and Elsie's moms to learn more about their summer vacations.

Transportation Wrap Up

Transportation camp ended with a bang (literally) when the Emma's team's popsicle stick bridge snapped and crashed to the floor. Emma's team took first place with their hydraulic lift bridge being able to hold 25 pounds. The group behaved like a bunch of jumping beans as they watched their bridge hold more are more weight. One would pop up with excitement and then another and then another. Besides discovering whose bridge would hold the most weight, the group designed roads, and went to the mine. They watched crews dig for specific stone and then were able to create creatures from stone molds. Emma plans to paint her creatures and use them as bookshelf holders. Emma also got to learn about various types of transportation, even self driving cars. They even toured a self driving Tesla! Her favorite part was seeing the Tesla have a dance party. She especially enjoyed the field-trip to Life-link, a service that helps transport sick or injured people to a more beneficial hospital by helicopter or plane. She thinks she might want to have a job doing something like Life-link. We will just have to wait and see what she decides.

Serving Where we are Needed

Analise and mom went to volunteer at Every Meal this week while Emma finished up her transportation camp. We packed 44 bags with fresh vegetables and herbs that will be given away at local HeadStart programs throughout the metro area. We had a great time with our first visit.

Mom returned with Emma and her friend Hannah the following week. The team packed 48 bags for Headstart. Many more tomatoes were ripe this week as well as cucumbers.

Then in August we will help harvest vegetables from the garden as well as attend the large scale packing event that starts up the school year program for students that need food on the weekends. Emma, Analise and Erin picked tons of tomatoes, green beans, egg plant and peppers at the garden.

Our large scale packing event went smoothly. We had two lines of packers and each girl took on a specific job. We chose some of the songs they played while we packed. The girls chit-chatted about school and upcoming events. Everyone is both anxious and excited for welcome back night.

Flipping to New Heights

Emma started flying trapeze this month. Check out some of her cool moves.

We definitely have some talented flippers in our house. Analise was one of two younger girls invited to tryout for the high school gymnastics team this summer. Mom suggested maybe we wait a year to try for that...gulp.

Midsummer Days

We have reached the middle of summer which was filled with family and friend events. We spent time with Jan and Bruce on the 4th of July. Even though it was raining, we did get to see the new Inside Out II movie in the theater. We also went mini-golfing and played some games on the front porch as it rained off and on.

On Sunday we visited with Carolyn, Brian, Angelica and Samantha. The girls had an awesome time reliving their younger years at the Children's Museum. We visited the city bus, the mail room, the new monster play room and the big slide. Glad we had time to catch up and the girls had fun playing together.

This next week is camp at the Bell Museum. Emma is participating in a camp called Global Change: Imagining the Future where she works with scientists from the U of M to explore how we are changing our planet. She will learn how human actions are affecting the world’s water sources and discover how we can use new technologies to grow food sustainably for our growing population. Analise is taking a camp called Nature Investigations where she completes a nature "puzzle" each day. They figure out how skeletons fit together, discover secrets about birds and plants and learn from scientists at the museum about meteorites and other pieces they have on exhibit. This week also brought the introduction to Emma's transportation camp. Emma and her friend Hannah made it into the final 30 students that were chosen to be part of the camp this year. They are excited to see how transportation plays a role in how our city functions. Their two week journey starts next Monday.

While Emma and Hannah built bridges and traveled the city, Analise participated in volleyball camp and hung out with friends in the afternoons. Analise also spent the day with Tessa which included visiting their community pool and doing lots of gymnastics.

We also helped out at Feed My Starving Children with Aunt Joan, Elsie, Juliet and Fiona.