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?

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!