Lots of New

We have been trying lots of new activities these days.  Yesterday we went to the Maplewood Boo Bash.  The girls met up with Ani's friend Sasha and her sister for the activities.  We attend the puppet show in the Halloween themed barn, saw an owl and falcon up close and played the witches brew game where you stick your hand in mystery boxes filled with different types of gloop.  Emma was brave enough to touch the "witches fingers" which she discovered were ice cubes.  Besides the Boo Bash, we spent an hour picking up trash at our local park with the Girl Scouts.  We even earned a badge for our hard work.

Unfortunately this year the rain has stopped us from going outside very often during September/October but we did manage to visit some new parks with some really neat playground equipment.  We absolutely love the spin swing behind the White Bear YMCA.  Maplewood has redesigned a few of their parks as well.  Our favorite park is still Lake Elmo with the crazy amount of equipment to play on.

Both Emma and Analise have been taking some online art courses with Mommy.  We have worked on drawing water droplets together as well as a butterfly.  Mommy is looking into more kid classes for Emma and Analise so they can work at their own pace learning concepts.  We have also been trying to find indoor activities to participate in because of the rain.  We have visited the Works, the Children's Museum and attended Suessical the Musical in Stillwater.  The girls are both interested in being in the Mahtomedi school plays in the near future.  

Emma is learning how to program in the mornings when Daddy drives Ani to school.  Emma is working with the Scratch programming system and enjoying the experience very much.  Analise is currently into puzzles and completes a puzzle almost every day.  Both girls are practicing read skills daily and becoming experts at sounding out words.  

Horsing Around

When the Groupon showed up saying there was a discount on horse riding lessons in our area, Mom knew the importance of signing up.  Both girls received their first lesson in horse safety, care and riding tricks.  When we arrived, we had a hard time finding the trainer.  She was at the back of the barn.  As we walked in through all the horse stalls some let out loud whinnying sounds that startled the girls.  We looked at all the horse names as we waited for our turn to learn about the horses.

After watching another girl end her lesson, the girls were introduced to Solie, the horse they would learn to ride.  The girls started to get used to Solie by learning how to pet and brush her fur.  They also learned how to clean out the horses hooves and how to get her to stand with one leg raised.  After learning how to take care of Solie, the girls walked her out to the indoor arena.

Emma got on Solie first.  She showed great bravery when she was asked to trot with Solie as well as stand up on top of the horse and raise her hands up in the air.  But she couldn't top Analise who wanted to try the most brave stunt of all, riding backwards.  I am sure Emma will be asking to ride backwards if we decide to return.  Analise's gentle hands calmed the horse and the horse keeper let her know how the horse was responding to her.  Her ears when forward to show she was happy and her belly gurgled which was a good sign.  Analise gave the horse many affectionate hugs while she rode.

From the way it currently looks, we will be returning for more lessons soon.  Besides real horses, Emma has been horsing around with her hairdos as well as styling Mom and Dad's hair too.  She is becoming quite the ponytail expert.

 Learning how to pet the horse and brush it

 Feeling the tailbone and horse hair

 Analise riding backwards with a big grin on her face

 Emma getting on Solie for the first time

Emma "horsing around" with her hairdo

Some Leftovers

Dan and I went through pictures from the summer and first days of school last night.  Here are a few of the captured moments that didn't make it into the original blog posts but they are still great ones to view.

 Canoeing Madeline Island (Pitcher Plants...they exist...whoa)

 Learning to make drip sand castles with another family we met from Madison

 Madeline Island family photo and Ferry ride family photo

 Helicopter Ride, Stillwater Lumberjack Days

Strike a pose there is nothing to it Vogue...Minnehaha falls

 First Days of School 4 and 6 years old

 Kite flying with grandpa

Farmers Market Bound...Let's go get some ground cherries!

Lantern Lighting, Madeline Island Camping and Visiting Friends

In early August we visited mom's friend Robin and her two Golden retrievers.  Emma loved throwing their bones for them.  Both girls swam in the lake and Emma put a dead fish in our beach bag.  Thank goodness Analise told Mommy it was in there before we left the lake.

In mid August, we camped on Madeline Island for two nights.  The girls did extremely well.  We canoed in a lagoon, collected blueberries and agates near the beach and even found some wintergreen.  We also built a large sand castle with another family that was visiting for the weekend.  Mommy and Daddy celebrated their 10 year anniversary out on the rocks.

The final activity to wrap up our summer was to launch wishes for the year on lanterns that were sailed out on Lake Phalen.  The night was very memorable with so many people gathered together to put kind thoughts and wishes out into the world.  The moon that night was low in the sky and the same color as the lanterns. 

 Thousands of lights

 Make a wish and set it free

 Hopes, dreams for a better future

 Together

Shine your light brightly, girls!

Irish Fair

My goodness, this year was a hot one for Irish Fair.  The girls were completely wiped out even after our first day of dancing in ninety degree weather.  The heat lead to lots and lots of whining.  Thank goodness for gargantuan freezy pops that can be used for bribery as well as backyard swimming pools.  Every single day seemed to be consumed by preparing to dance, waiting in unbearable heat, dancing and then trying to recooperate from all the excitement.  In Mom's opinion, the best part of the weekend was definitely playing in the pool after everything was over.  Dad and Mom even got in the mini pool and did some running belly flops.  Dad had the girls play 500 in the pool and Mom created a shark attack game where the girls clung to the sides of the pool and were pulled backwards by their feet.  Of course there was loads of giggles and "Do it agains" being uttered.

Emma was very thankful she was allowed to wear the summer dance outfit instead of the full dress that the other girls were wearing.  Yes, as seen below, they have on velvet with long sleeves, long leg stocking and wigs in 90 plus degree weather.  Analise's group even had a special glue that they attached to their legs so their socks would stay up.  Emma asked Mom if she could wear a tank top like the older girls.  She thought they were so lucky.  Mom just reminded her that it was lucky she was in a t-shirt with her school logo and the full dress was left hanging in her closet.  She was very thankful at that point.  Unfortunately, Mom was so focused on getting a video for Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce so they could see the girls that she didn't end up getting a picture that could be put on the blog for Analise's group (I was just lucky to catch Emma's group at the end).  During the winter dance performance we will be sure to get a photo with Analise's group members.

Emma's group

Gwyneth, Sophia, Maura, Aurelia and Emma (teachers Kate and Lillie)

Lots Can Happen in a Week

If you could have seen the bunnies and the emu!  This past Wednesday we attended the Washington County Fair and were filled with many amazing sites.  We started by roaming through all the rides and pointing to our favorites.  We stopped for an amazing camel ride and to check out the chickens and bunnies.  There were bunnies, ducks and chickens of every size and color in the barn.  The girls were able to pet their favorite long haired baby bunnies.  As we slurped our malts from the dairy barn, we checked out the sheep, goats, cows and wild animals.  Emma was brave enough to pet a crocodile.  We saw wallabees hopping around in their pen as well as the biggest owl in the world (for real the sign read largest owl in the world).  After seeing all the animals, each girl decided on two rides they wanted to go on.  Emma went in a giant bubble and walked on water, Analise tried out a ride with cars and one with planes.  Because the fair was not well attended, due to cold weather that day, the ride conductors even let the girls go on a few rides for free.  Emma and Ani tried out the fun house of mirrors and saw their bodies morphed into a variety of shapes, and Daddy tried to win our family another goldfish.  No luck this year.

 The bunnies are blending into their surroundings

Be brave...he's a wiggly one!

Towards the end of the week, Mommy and Emma packed up their gear for a weekend at Girl Scout Camp!  Mommy was excited to take Emma around her old stomping ground at Camp Lakamaga.  When we arrived we found out we would be in the Lockbre cabins with two other moms and their daughters.  We excitedly trekked all of our bags out the site and set up our sleeping bags and pillows at our favorite bunk bed.  After unpacking a few things, we joined the other campers for some getting to know you games and smore roasting.  We sang and danced to silly camp songs and read books using a flash light late into the night.  The next morning we ate a pancake breakfast and were surprised when Emma was picked to be the lead for the color guard in the flag raising ceremony.  Emma walked proudly and helped to lift the flag to start the days events.  

 Emma and Bella cabin mates

Bunk bed extravaganza 

Leading the flag ceremony

After the ceremony, we headed to the lake to kayak on the water.  It was windy and started to rain so we only stayed out for a bit.  For every paddle forward we were pushed two steps back.  After we beached the kayak, we headed for the lodge to pick up a scavenger hunt.  We clomped all over the camp looking for animals, plants and natural wonders.  Mommy helped Emma see what platform tents look like and Emma got a chance to use the latreens, the scariest part of camp for Mommy when she was a young girl.  Now they spray the potties down with orange scent and they don't have all the spiders partying it up in the corners.  After our hunt, we went to the art hut to make a journal craft.  Emma made a book that used her camp name, "Artzy" and Mommy made a journal for Analise.  We decided Analise's camp name would be "Chuckles" because she makes us laugh.

 Raising the flag

Emma at my old campsite.  All of the platform tents have been taken down.  A sad day for Mommy.

We rounded out the morning with some archery lessons by the Mary Randall Troop House.  Emma and Mommy got to shoot three arrows each. Mommy hit the target twice and Emma got her arrows very close.  After target practice, we attended lunch of subway sandwiches in the dining hall and then went off to play some field games with friends.  There was a new game we learned where you hit a ball around an octagon and try to jump out of the way before the ball hits your feet.  Biking was in store after some field games.  Emma made her first attempt at riding with no training wheels.  Mommy held onto the bike only enough for Emma to feel what it was like to wobble.  Even though she did well on the trail, riding on the grass proved to be the best way for Emma to learn.  Hopefully we can find a field at home where she can practice.  

Fun new team games

After biking, we read from our Judy Moody story and then returned to the art lodge for some button making.  Mommy made a peanut butter jellyfish button for Ani and Emma made an "Artzy" button for herself.  Once buttons were finished we played a full group mystery game where we had to figure out who stole the dessert that we were supposed to have for dinner.  Each girl got a notebook and had to go from camp leader to camp leader asking them for clues.  In order to get a clue the girls had to sing a song, tell a fact or share some interesting information with the counselor.  Emma and Mommy quickly figured out who the culprit was and even had time to spare.  All of the girls chased after the counselor who did it (it was quite the ambush).  

Artzy making her journals

The evening wrapped up with a spaghetti dinner and brownies.  After helping to clean up dinner, the girls sang a few more camp songs, lowered the flag and said their farewell to friends.  As we headed home Emma drifted off to sleep.  Mommy realized she left her lunch container at the camp as well as some extra snacks she brought.  After parking in the garage, Mommy turned around to look at Emma.  She was completely out and had drool sliding down her chin.  We will have to go again when Analise is old enough to attend the Mommy and me event with us.