Summer blends into Fall

I am not sure where summer or fall went this past year.  They were happy and filled with lots of great experiences so not much typing occurred.

The summer started off with a bang when we celebrated Emma's 7th birthday (a water/pool party) and purchased a pug puppy that we called Nala.  She was adorable but also ten times the amount of work that Mommy or Daddy realized.  We even thought about getting two dogs so they would have a friend.  Oh boy, would that have been a mistake.  By about the third week of waking up and running around the yard at five in the morning, Mommy had enough.  She was also having an allergic reaction to the dog on her arms.  With sad hearts we found Nala a new family where there was a dog looking for a companion.

Emma's 7th Birthday

 Girls with Nala

 Nala inspecting the flowers and trying out her harness

Mommy exhausted after all her time with Nala

Over the summer the girls participated in a variety of camps.  We tried fairy art camp, STEM camps related to slime and transportation as well as theater camp.  The girls took their first drawing lessons at the Art Academy in St. Paul and they are still continuing lessons on painting this fall.

 Ani the fairy at theater camp

 Emma the hamster in her play

STEM class on the human body (extracting DNA)

Besides camps, we spent time out on walks, biking and swimming in the lake.  We even got the canoe out a time or two to row around the lake.  We attended a special performance put on by the library to learn about how circus performers develop their skills and then we attended the circus to see the performers in action.

 Learning how they do their tricks

The motorbikes in a ball act.   It is amazing how fast they go without hitting each other.

In terms of vacations, the girls visited Madison for the 4th of July and the family went to Colorado at the end of July.  Both Emma and Analise were able to join in Mommy's organized bike trip for the third through fifth graders at her school this year.

 Swimming in White Bear Lake, Mahtomedi beach

 Central Park Rocket Slide

Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce's boat

Matoska elementary bike trip

There were lots of turtles to save from the roads this year

While in Colorado, we mountain biked, hiked and went white water rafting.  Emma almost fell out of the raft but a quick save was completed by Daddy.  Analise was afraid to go in the boat but ended up loving it.

'

 We went panning for gold

 We love the Mountains

Brekenridge, Colorado

When we arrived back home, we were still up for adventure.  We visited Willow River State Park to visit their waterfall and went to a Saints baseball game.

Towards the end of summer, Analise lost her first tooth as we geared up for kindergarten at Wildwood.  Lots of new faces were at the bus stop this year.

Missing some teeth

 Analise, Adam and Emma

Adam, Drew, Jane, Lucy, Emma and Analise

We said goodbye to Irish dancing at the end of the summer because the girls were interested in jazz and hip hop forms of dance.  They like dancing to trendy music and enjoy using tap shoes.  We also started swimming lessons this fall.  Both girls attend semi-private lessons.  We have seen a dramatic improvement in their abilities in just eight weeks.  They will continue to take lessons this winter.

In addition to sports, both girls are in religious education classes now.  Analise loves all her new kindergarten friends in Mahtomedi and sees a few of them at religion as well.  Emma will have her first communion this spring.  We are always doing lots of projects at home.  This fall we were into puzzles, math card games, building and creating (even Daddy ended up with his nails polished).

Card Games

 Building with Keva Blocks

 Cooking a Cheesy Recipe from Cinderella's Mouse Friend Gus

 How many puzzles can you do on a rainy day?

 Building a guitar

Purple fingernail polish

Besides regular routines, we visited the Renaissance festival and have been to the apple orchard many times looking for apples and pumpkins-sometimes getting a bit lost in a corn maze or two.  We have also visited the regional parks for spooky stories by the campfire and lit trail walks at night.  A few weeks ago we attended the play, Spookily the Square Pumpkin.  The play used puppets and was mesmerizing for all that attended.

Renaissance Festival

 Church Fall Festival

 The Great Stillwater Pumpkin Drop

Daddy and Mommy took a stained glass cutting class and went to a haunted courthouse tour over MEA break.  We are currently in the process of designing a window for Bruce and Jan's new house in Madison.  Both Analise and Emma have visited new friends' houses and had the chance to spend some quality time with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Mark.

Learning how to cut glass

Next week is Halloween.  Emma is Mal from the Disney movie Descendants and Analise is Jasmin.  We are carving pumpkins this weekend and enjoying a bit of warmer weather before the snow comes next week.  Analise wants to make her pumpkin into Belle's castle.  Emma wants to make a star in her pumpkin.  Our new neighbors, Audra, Clark, Adam and Sean will be coming over for carving activities. 

In November, we will be attending many theater performances and possibly some indoor museums.  We will be seeing Elf Jr. at Stages theater and Cinderella at the Children's Theater.  Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce will be coming into town for Thanksgiving weekend.

December will bring the girls dance recital, a trip to the Mill City Museum for a 1920s Christmas retelling and a Disney World trip at the end of the month.

Making It Through the Cold, Snow and Wind

January and February brought freezing cold temperatures and tons of snow this year.  The girls were off of school for five days as a result.  We had plenty of fun both indoors and outside when the temps were okay for sledding, skiing and skating.  Both girls tried cross country skiing this year as well as snowshoeing.  Mommy and Daddy were impressed that the girls enjoyed skiing so much and asked to go again sometime. 

 Indoor camping on our 50 below days

Mahtomedi Ice Skating Event with horse drawn wagon rides

Lots of weekends in February and March were spent with Irish dancing friends.  Mommy was the room volunteer for Emma's group this year.  Having to wait the whole show with the girls backstage was hard but very eye opening into the world of little girls.  Mommy's storytelling skills came in quite handy after about an hour of playing games and coloring.  

 Behind the scenes

 Waiting for a chance to perform

Stage time

Analise celebrated her fifth birthday Fancy Nancy style with lots of frills.  Her best friends all wore their fanciest dresses to the party.  The girls painted nails, did make up, designed fashion clothes, made headbands and of course celebrated with some fancy cake and fruity flavored tea.  Emma was the MC for the girls as the walked the red carpet.  Mommy was exhausted by the end but the girls all seemed to have endless amounts of energy.  They could have dressed up for many more hours.

Our current fascination is gymnastics.  The girls now put on shows with headstands and flips over our yoga ball when they play indoors.  Mommy really likes their current instructor who makes sure all the students are doing something instead of sitting and watching everyone else take their turn.  She uses stations and teaches the kids how to safely practice each station while she helps with the harder skills to master.

First Flight

Over Christmas we went to see Aunt Becky in California.  Mommy was expecting the girls to be amazed by the plane ride and looking out the window but it turned out the girls were more interested in hearing stories and listening to movies.  When we arrived, we spent the remainder of the day in transit trying to get to the house we would stay at for the week.  The girls had fun meeting the owner's cat Lala but Mommy was terrified of her.  One night the bedroom door got left open and Mommy didn't sleep at all.

On Christmas Eve Mommy, Daddy, Emma and Ani went to visit a geyser, a petrified red wood forest and and old flour mill.  We also attended church and the girls got to eat the Christmas cookies they had baked.  Santa visited that night and let the girls know he had delivered their presents to our house because they would take up too much space in our suitcases.

On Christmas day, we all went to the beach as well as the red wood forest.  We saw giant, 30-50 foot waves rushing in when we visited the beach.  The girls collected a variety of teeth, shells and rocks.  Daddy found a giant seaweed and wanted a picture with it.  Mommy got ready to take the picture but neither Mommy nor Daddy was looking and a wave caught them off guard.  Both Mommy and Daddy's shoes and pants were soaked.  Good thing Mommy brought an extra pair of pants.  We were also thankful that no one was washed out to sea.  The posters on the beach were all warning about the waves pulling people back out.  After the beach we headed to the peaceful red wood forest.  In Mommy's opinion this was the best way to spend Christmas day.  The sunlight filtering through the trees and the softened sounds in the forest made it feel like you were in fairyland. 

We visited two wineries on Wednesday.  The first winery had a gondola that we road to the top of a hill in.  The second winery had a castle with farm animals.  This location seemed like a tourist spot to bring kids.  We walked around the outside of the castle but decided against the tour with this one.  After wineries, Mommy and Daddy played frisbee golf for the first time with Sean.  Mommy convinced Daddy and Sean to climb up this very large hill to see the sunset but little did she know that it was going to be very slippery on the way back down.  No one got hurt but there were some close calls.  That night the group went to In and Out Burger which is kind of like a McDonalds but higher quality ingredients. 

The following day we went down town Napa and visited the outdoor market.  Both girls got tooth fairy boxes.  Emma lost a tooth the night before and was in need of a container for holding her tooth.  When she arrived home to Minnesota, the tooth fairy swapped her tooth.  Emma received $1.25 and learned about the concept of interest (which surprisingly she understood and could describe in great detail on her own).  Usually the tooth fairy only brings a quarter so Emma was very pleased with new discovery.  In the afternoon Becky and Sean took the girls to the Children's Museum and Mommy and Daddy got to go explore a park in the area.  The girls loved the museum and probably wished they could have stayed longer. 

On our final day we left Napa early and went to San Francisco for the morning.  We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and walked around Golden Gate Park.  We also visited the ocean one last time as well as a sandwich shop called Mr. Pickle.  Then it was back to the airport where we waited in a long line to be checked in.  When we finally made it back home we felt so lucky we had missed the ice storm.  The ground was completely covered in ice and we couldn't get up the driveway.  Everyone had to get out and walk up to the house. 

As soon as we got home Daddy's body decided it was okay to relax and he ended up with an awful virus.  New Years was pretty dull.  Mommy took the girls out ice skating for the first time but unfortunately she fell on the ice (not at the rink but when walking back to the car) and bruised her tailbone.  She is still trying to get over the pain two weeks later.  We all were in bed by 9 p.m.

 This is right before the "are we there yet" syndrome took effect

 Cactus fruit growing in someone's yard (Mommy was amazed)

 People really enjoy decorating their yards in this area.  There was even a street called Paradise Ave. where every house was lit and they played music to go with their yard's theme.

 Gondola ride!

 The drawbridge and portacullis (Emma is really into castles and their history)

In and Out Burger

A Cold, Rainy Fall

We spent a lot of time this fall in winter wear or playing at indoor locations.  Emma had three indoor Girl Scout meetings one at the local animal shelter, one learning about wolves at the library and one at the senior home making holiday cards together.  Emma said that she enjoyed visiting with the seniors and hearing stories about their family traditions.

 We have spent lots of evenings practicing math facts with blocks, designing with Legos and working on puzzles as a family.

 When Analise went to a gymnastics birthday party, Emma and Mommy went to a trampolene park and chased each other from trampolene to trampolene.  Emma even tried climbing the indoor wall.  She was afraid to fall but was able to successfully push her feet off the wall and land on the floor.

 Strap in and let's go!

 The Stillwater Pumpkin Days

 Looking at World Record Breaking Pumpkins

 Getting ready for the big pumpkin drop.  The pumpkin was made into a pinata that candy flying with pumpkin guts upon smashing into the ground.

 Mahtomedi Fall Festival Bounce Activities

 Tons and tons of stories

 A day at the Minnesota Zoo.  We like pairie dogs and pandas.  With this said, we spent the majority of our time climbing on the natural structures within the zoo play area.

Lego Mania

 Make your own Lego Tile

 World's Largest lego puzzle.  We put together one square as a family.

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with both the Walczynski family and Maas family.  The turkey was a bit overcooked, plates went missing, Dan became our Christmas tree and the girls played one too many game of Go Fish Shopkins style.  The grandmas went out and played a soccer game and we learned how to use the Sphero robotic balls.

The day after Thanksgiving, Grandma, Grandpa, Mommy and the girls went to the Works for some afternoon fun.  We played with a giant Kerplunk set, build a race car track, build a house from foam blocks area, cool activities with light and reflection.  They also had a maze with a variety of sensors. 

On Saturday we went to the James J. Hill house to take their Christmas tour.  We learned that James J. Hill met his wife when she was working at a restaurant.  He paid for her to attend a women's boarding school.  She was the oldest in the group at age 18.  Most girls that attended went as 14 year olds.  We saw one of the needlework pieces she created when she was in school.  Mommy said she would never have the patience to complete a project like the one created by Ms. Hill.  We also learned about the servants and how they were hired from different countries and many of the cooks came from New York.  Many famous people were served in the dining hall at the Hill's house.

 Analise and Mommy build a palace complete with windows and a doorway.  Analise wanted the castle to be as tall as her.

 Mirror, mirror on the wall who has the weirdiest figure of all?