Como Town

On day 2 of our wild Minnesota Adventure vacation, we met up with our friends, Michele, Laura and Nate. They used to live just a couple of blocks from us and Evie and Laura were friends since they were tiny babies. Our trip of the day was to Como Park where they have installed "Como Land" since we moved. Well, there was something similar to Como land before, but it was much more rickety and carny. Now everything is permanent and looks all fancy and new. It was a hot day, but we were armed with lots of water and 4 very excited kids. Evie kept calling it "Kokomo Town". I thought that was funny.

One of the very few rides that all four rode together. The big girls often took off on a ride that Annalise didn't have the courage to go on. Nate could care less, because he was having a ball on those cars that have 4 steering wheels and drive in a circle under a big umbrella.

The girls attended "Como Driving School" where they all got their own little car. It's similar to a PowerWheels. They got to drive wherever they wanted. There was even an area called "car wash" because it was close to the sprinkler park.

Annalise got the hang of it very quickly and was serious about driving. When they exited the ride, they each received a "driver's license". I couldn't convince any of them to drive back to WBL in the station wagon while I took a nap.

All four rode the swings together. Annalise and Nate really enjoyed it and went 3 times in a row. That was nice because it took a long time to get the swings loaded and Michele and I could sit and chat in the shade.

At this point, the crowd was pretty thin so we let the big girls journey out on their own (of course, we could almost always see them because Como Town wasn't much bigger than a school playground.)

They finally worked up the courage to go on the Tilt-A-Whirl.

They didn't spin much, but we think they had fun on it.

Meanwhile, Annalise put out fake fires on top of a ladder truck.

The big girls went on this frog hopper about 10 times. It was a great day, but hot. After refilling the water bottles several times, we decided to head back to WBL for some cool refreshments.

The cup N Cone looks exactly the same as when we left. The kids working it still can't do math either because the 2 times we visited, and ordered the same thing, we were charged 2 different prices. Oh well. It was good to be back in the true heart of town. I was reading a book about communities and the author was talking about the places people could meet up. Your house (the first place), my house (the second place), and a location that is comfortable and a gathering space for all in the community (the third place). The Cup N Cone is definitely the third place for all of WBL. It is everyone's home away from home.

These three girls could barely eat their ice cream fast enough before it melted. That night, when we returned to the hotel, Jim asked me what kind of rash I had on my leg. Just ice cream drips. I was so hot and sweaty, I didn't even notice.

Nate, also hot and sweaty has the face of someone who has been stealing ice cream from his mom.

Mall of America

On the first day of our trip to Minnesota, we woke up earlier than most of our friends. After a leisurely breakfast and a trip to Target, we drove to our friends, the Larsons, house. We ate some lunch, played and caught up with one another. And then we headed off to the Mall of America to visit Underwater Adventures. It is an aquarium that features a walk through tank so the sharks and such can swim all around you.

Like everything in the Mall of America, it was bigger and more colorful than anything you could imagine (I would also like to take this time to say that the Mall of America is a very loud place. Especially in the amusement park area where you basically need to be yelling the whole time to be heard).

Evie and Erik pose in front of the beaver lodge. Erik is 5 and Underwater Adventures is one of his favorite places to visit. The kids were so excited that they practically ran through the entire exhibit.

Probably the best picture I took all of vacation. I love the reflection as Evie sees the turtle. Annalise seems to care less.

We also spent a good amount of time examining shark teeth and fish parts. As you see, you need to look very closely.

Erin and Peder play on top of the pirate ship in the play area. Thanks for being such a great host Erin!

A treasure greater than gold.

Ditto.

After Underwater Adventure, we headed over to the Lego store/exhibit. The girls had a great time playing and building stuff while I visited the Apple store just around the corner to get help with my ipod.

Peder stacks up blocks with great concentration.

Erik worked very hard on his creation and had to have a picture taken of his building before we could leave the Lego area.

Annalise build, what else, a farm.

evie raced her vehicle down the track. It completed its journey smoothly.

We finished our shopping and got a few things to bring home. Then we went over to the giant blue store across the street.

I never thought the day would come where I could use "Smalland" inside of Ikea to take care of the kids while I shopped, but it came! We had a nice shopping trip and the girls got to stay in the cage and throw balls at the birdhouses on the wall. Thanks Erin, Erik, Peder, and Kym for accompanying us on this fun trip!

Smells like Wisconsin

On Father's Day, we set off our our weeklong adventure to Minnesota. Jim had a training up in Chaska so the girls and I tagged along to see some of our old friends and go to our old favorite places in the land of their birth. There wasn't much to take pictures of until we got to Wisconsin. I have never been to the House on the Rock or seen the geology of the Dells (outside of the fake rocks in a waterpark), but we now stop at the Cheese Chalet in DeForrest, WI every time we drive through. And every time, it is a treat for the senses. Annalise was so excited to have her picture taken with the big cow.
And on the inside of the store, she found some stuffed cows to love on.

Aunt Becky, this one is for you. An entire case filled with cheese in a jar, curds, and shaped cheese covered in wax. These are your people, Aunt Becky, they want you to come back. Did I mention how awesome the weather was? Not even close to 100 degrees.

This sums it up. I love Wisconsin Cheese. We picked up some curds for the drive north and then got in line to pay.

Of course, someone had to put on the cheesehead. She looks so natural if she was only wearing carharts and a neon orange hat.

Later, we had to make another pit stop at one of the scenic rest stops. This one had a trail up to an overlook. You would think that we were conducting a death march up the side of Everest the way these kids were whining. Heaven forbid you get out of the car and leave the DVD player for 10 minutes. Annalise complained all the way up that a bug was in her eye. What are you going to do? The bugs were everywhere. She's lucky that she wasn't eaten by a bear.

At the scenic overlook. I don't know what setting on my camera was pressed to make all the white appear as pink. It looks a little cool, I guess. This would qualifiy as our Father's day hike.

When we got to St. Paul, we decided to have dinner at a bar that we saw on "diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" on the Food network. It was called the Nook. They are known for cheeseburgers that have the cheese in between two hamburgers. The Nook also had some great beers on tap. What a good way to spend Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day

We had a Father's Day celebration a day early since we were driving to Minnesota on the actually Father's day. The girls had fun wrapping the presents for dad. Annalise would give him something and then tell him what it was before he opened it.
I can't remember what everyone was so surprised about in this picture, but they were sure having a good time.

I kept asking Jim what he wanted for Father's Day and he never really gave me an answer. So I told him if he didn't tell me something, I would get him something that I wanted. We have been getting a lot of rain around here lately and I have been wanting a rain gauge.....Viola. The perfect Father's day gift. He was less than excited about it.

And during my many trips to Meijer, I found Jim the perfect sweatshirt on the clearance rack. Now he has something to wear to church this fall.

Swim Meet

Evie is participating in the neighborhood swim team again this year. She is pretty excited about going and swimming every morning and has done well at the 3 meets. Just a bunch of string beans hanging around the pool. Can't believe how tall and lanky she has become since last summer.
Here she is with her buddy, Lauren.

Her first event was backstoke. She also swims free style (or more commonly known to the parents as "anything that gets you to the end of the pool") Evie is in the lane in the middle of the pool.

Look how smooth she glides through the water.

Here she is getting ready for the breast stroke. She means business with a start like that. She ended up participating in 6 events that week and came home with 4 blue ribbons. Wow.

Soccer and Splashing

Annalise is participating in her first soccer season through the Parks and Rec district. We have met for the last two weeks at an indoor soccer place because of rain. This was her first outdoor "practice" and it was pretty nice outside for a change.

At this age, everyone gets their own ball, and even then, some of the kids lose interest.

Annalise has 2 coaches, some girl and then a young man with a thick accent named Carlos. He's pretty good at soccer.

The name of the game in 3 year old soccer is run til you drop.

The park where Annalise plays also has a sprinkler park. We didn't go to this park at all last summer so they were excited to run around. The air was comfortable and the water was COLD!

Somehow, I managed to talk them both into wearing tankinis. This almost never happens, but when it does, it is way easier to get in and out of a wet suit when someone has to go to the bathroom.

Evie may be outgrowing the water park a little, but I think she still had fun.

Not sure what prompted this funny picture.

Annalise spent a lot of time following Evie around. that's ok with me because Evie is a rule follower and I can pretty much trust her. It was the first time I was able to sit on the sidelines and just watch them play. it's only taken me 6 years to get here.

then they decided to pick wildflowers in the park. they were pretty and all in bloom and it touched my heart how much they enjoyed picking clover.

Their bouquets. Evie is so busy so far this summer break. She is at swim team every morning and has swam in 3 meets. She also is doing art lessons once a week. the biggest chunk of her time is devoted to reading. She is reading beginner chapter books and could read 4 or 5 a day if I let her. Her summer reading record for the library is almost complete, but I don't think she will stop reading when she is done. I love that she reads, but I have been trying to broaden her horizons from the Rainbow Fairies series. Last week, we brought home a book of poems by Shel Silverstien. She really liked those.

Annalise gets dragged everywhere for Evie's stuff. She enjoys soccer and following Evie around. she is also into "reading". I have to say that I feel guilty that I don't sit down and read to her as much as I did with Evie at this age. she just isn't that interested. She would rather be playing with her tiny plastic animals or playing in the "polly village" that she inherited from her big cousin, Marin. Annalise is making friends of her own at swim team practices. Other little sisters who are too young to swim. they all run around with their pink striped towels and play Barbies. it's cute.

Our two girls are growing up fast.

But one tends to still be a monster.