Analise Is Famous

First Emma had her spotlight moment in the Bell Museum magazine, and now Analise and Tessa made it into the White Bear Lake Press for their sand castle creation competition.

More Water Parks and Volunteering

This week we didn't have much planned so we decided to visit a new waterpark, Cascade Bay in Eagan. This park had a much faster lazy river and lots of fun waterslides. When we arrived, a mother duck and her babies had decided they wanted a turn in the lazy river and had shut down the ride. Thankfully the lifeguards worked hard and the mother was reunited with her babies outside the river. The girls spent most of their time on the slides and Erin spent most of her time in the pool. The weather was perfect today. They had nice, warm showers for hosing off afterwards as well.

Besides water parks we also helped prepare food at Open Arms food services this week. This is a program prepares and delivers medically tailored meals to individuals with life-threatening illnesses such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, MS, ALS, and others. They use fresh and organic ingredients when they can. Volunteers prepare the meals with exactly the right portions and ingredients for specific individuals. You have to follow a lot of rules to volunteer for them but we like the cause and support individuals who have unique needs.

Our whole family has gotten hooked on the series, "When Calls the Heart." We have been watching it every night together for the last two weeks. Will Jack and Elizabeth ever get together? Analise and Emma are very intuitive when it comes to the characters inner thoughts and intentions. It is fun to see them figure things out just a bit before they happen. The best is when characters go to kiss and Analise covers her head with a blanket. Too much emotion for a sixth grader, we guess.

Sandcastle Traditions

This was our fourth year of entering the sand castle competition and winning a place. This year both groups took home first place. Analise and Tessa entered the castle competition and made a Bear carnival with a ferris wheel, water slides, lazy river and pool. Emma worked with Nevaeh, Tabi and Eloise this year. They made a Pooh bear stuck in a log with friends trying to pull him out. It was a very hot day for making sand creatures and castles this year. We were very excited to jump in the lake afterwards.

Bunker Beach

It has been a few years since we visited Bunker Beach. The girls each brought a friend along for the event. The day was our first warmer one of the summer. The girls started at the wave pool and moved to the slides and lazy river. After lunch, the challenges began.

Erin gave everyone tasks to complete like finding someone whose favorite color was yellow, or finding your doppleganger (or someone that looked at least a little bit like you). The girls decided to team up Analise with Ella and Emma with Nevaeh as they raced to complete every waterslide and pool challenge at the park. Analise and Ella finished first but Emma and Nevaeh were very good sports.

Erin was thankful she was not part of the challenges except to take pictures. Overall, it was an awesome day to be at the park. After we finished the waterslide challenges, everyone needed to get to different events. We opted out of day camps this summer to avoid all the high costs, but that doesn't mean our evenings aren't filled up with lots of activities. As soon as we got back, Ella was off to dance, Analise had gymnastics and Emma had sewing class. The girls said their favorite thing to do this summer is stay up late listening to books on CD and then get up later in the morning. Summer camps always had us up at 6 or 7 a.m. Thankfully Erin has begun to learn the art of taking breaks. She is definitely still a novice.

Paddle boarding

Emma's friend, Lilynn, got a new paddle board this past week. Emma, Bri and Lilynn decided to try it out together on Square Lake. The water is still cold but they had a good time floating around.

Erin still has one more week of school, but the girls are already starting their summer vacation. They plan to go swimming with Grandma Kathy and have friends over to play badminton and outdoor games.