Happy Holidays

Nothing says Happy Holidays like the first round of conferences with the kids' teachers. We learned a lot about their daily schedules, and how well they are both adjusting to their new surroundings. We came home with so much great stuff that the kids had been working on, I decided to go ahead and share them on the blog!

Fall Conferences

Bluefin Bay

We took full advantage of the days off of school that the kids had last week, and we set off for a full weekend of relaxation and adventure at Bluefin Bay, in Tofte, MN! We really enjoyed the resort - it is a great place to take a vacation with kids in tow - we were even able to bring Toby!! We all enjoyed the indoor pool area and the rec. room there. We were also surprised to find that they let guests use really nice mountain bikes, trailers, bike helmets, lawn games, board games, and pool floaties - all complimentary! We did eat at the resort for lunch and dinner once or twice & the food was wonderful - more so at the Coho Cafe located on the other side of the resort, than the Grille. But we were also thankful that we packed some Easy Mac, and makings for PB&J's for the kids to make in the room whenever we needed something quick for them to eat that didn't cost $10 a piece.

We also took trips to both the Split Rock Light House & Grand Marais. We decided to hit Split Rock on Saturday since we received an email (did I mention that the rooms all had free wi-fi!) from my dad letting us know that there was going to be a lighting of the lighthouse ceremony that afternoon. The lighthouse has been decommissioned for many years now and they only light it up one weekend a year - the weekend that marks the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald 31 years ago.

Grand Marais was fun, too. We went into the Trading Post to look around, and we found many neat items for the outdoor enthusiast. We also went into the Ben Franklin. If you've never hit the Ben Franklin in Grand Marais, it is like taking K-Mart and smooshing it into a store with about 1/4 the square footage! It was hilarious to see the toilet paper stacked to the ceiling, in the same isle as the Tylenol, baby teething rings, and rugged outdoor socks! The last stop for us in Grand Marais was Sven & Ole's Pizza. While we were not very impressed with the pizza itself, we had a blast joking around and playing games while we were there.

The pictures below are mostly from a stop we had on our way up in Duluth, the Split Rock Lighthouse & a couple of us at Bluefin. All in all, I think that we all would like to go back there again someday soon.

Taylor's favorite part: the pool
Ian's favorite part: the loft in their room
Panod's favorite part: the lighthouse
Lori's favorite part: the good time we had at Sven & Ole's
Toby's favorite part: the heated floors in the room & the windows that went all of the way down to the floor so that he could see out

Bluefin Bay 06

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!

Taylor (Dalek) & Ian (Chip the Chipmunk) on Halloween night

We have been so busy with getting ready for the big day - sorry for the lack of updates!

Taylor and Panod have been wrapped up in creating the ultimate Dalek costume from the show 'Dr. Who.' They cut cardboard, glued styrofoam, painted a lot of things gold and even made it have the correct weapons. We had hoped to be done before the Boo Bash celebration on Grand Ave. in St. Paul on Saturday, but we didn't make it. Taylor grabbed an old costume for Boo Bash, and we asked Grandma to join us and we all had a blast. It was a bit cold, but there was free hot apple cider and other treats to help keep us all stay warm. I hope that we make this a family tradition for many years to come!

Sunday, we spent a good part of the day cooking and getting ready for the neighborhood Halloween party on Monday. We found a great and easy recipe for Meringues, and using confectioner's paint, we painted little black eyes and a mouth on each cookie. If you use the recipe from this site, add one more egg white to what they recommend.

Monday night was spent finishing up Taylor's costume, and cutting pumpkins at the neighborhood Halloween party. The food was wonderful, and the pumpkins all turned out great! And those of us who felt the need to watch the Vikings during the party quickly lost the urge to yell for our team, and started yelling at our team!

Yesterday was the big day - Ian went as the chipmunk, Chip & Taylor finally got to wear her finished Dalek costume! The windchill was in the teens last night, and Ian only lasted about thirty minutes. But Taylor and Panod headed back out after Ian and I were done, and they quickly filled up Taylor's bag to an insane amount of loot! (Guess Panod and I will have to help her get that down to a reasonable amount.) The neighborhood kids were all so cute, too!!

Here are the Halloween pictures

Halloween 2006

Tomorrow we will be using some free passes that will allow us to see 'The Santa Clause 3' over in Roseville a day before it opens. We will be sure to update the blog and give our feedback on the movie.

**UPDATE** Santa Clause 3 -- not so good! Recommend Happy Feet as a better alternative.