A Winter Weekend

While we missed the fun that the rest of the Midwest seems to be experiencing this weekend with the first big snowfall, we still managed to have some fun this weekend.

Earlier this week Ian and I set out to Choo Choo Bob's on Cleveland & Marshall. Immediately upon our arrival there Ian went to work on the six (yes, six!!) train tables they had set up, while I set off to find Engineer Paul for some tickets to see the movie, Trains, at the Riverview Theater on Saturday. While the train movie is free, you have to have tickets from CCB's in order to be admitted to the Riverview. We ended up spending 45 minutes at Choo Choo Bob's - it was during the early afternoon and I'm guessing that since that time of the day is nap time for most Thomas the Train enthusiasts, that must be why it was probably the most peaceful part of my week last week. I would highly recommend going to CCB's on an early weekday afternoon vs. hitting it up on a weekend.

Saturday morning, Ian and Panod headed off to the Riverview with their free tickets in hand. Apparently there were some clips from The Polar Express, Thomas the Tank Engine, and other train movies. This was our second experience with these free train movies and I'm sure we'll be going back again.

While Ian and Panod were over in Minneapolis watching the movies, Taylor and I headed over to the Como Zoo for the unveiling of the Winter Carnival button. It turns out that all of the submissions for the design of the button were done by CVA students this year. The student who won had graduated back in May and it was a treat to see her again. We bought our buttons, watched the Polar Bears lick the banners, and headed inside for the rest of the celebration. Taylor made some arts and crafts, we danced to the Teddy Bear Band, and we entered some contests. Taylor ended up winning a really great stuffed camel and a $50 gift certificate to Schuler Shoes, a local shoe shop! She also had this great caricature drawing done of her - it made me laugh so hard because it is so good!! Before we left we had to go the new Tropical exhibit. We've already been a few times, but there's always something interesting to watch in there.

I have a few pictures from the zoo to share & that's about it for now. ((((All our love))))

Dec. 2

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.

First Snow Flakes, First Play & First Birthday!

As promised by our beloved meteorologists, we received our first snow flakes of fall here off and on for the past several days. That also means that it has been unseasonably cold, but still festive all the same! A few pics of our front yard are below.

Another first - Taylor had her first play, Bubble Gum At The Bus Stop, at her new school last week. The whole class did a great job! Apparently, they had to put the play on four times that day in order to let everyone see it! Taylor played a secretary who sat on a piece of bubble gum, thus making her stick to the bus stop bench, and forcing her to miss her bus! She really did a great job! Ian and I are looking forward to future works from Taylor's class! The pictures of the play are in the same album as the first snow pictures.

Snow & Taylor's Play

Yesterday, we got to help our little nephew celebrate his first birthday! What a blast! He was such a great sport - from the greeting of the guests, to the all-mighty face smeared cake, the inevitable bath that followed, and finally the presents, he really put on that charming four-toothed smile that just seems to make us all smile right back at him! We really enjoyed the food, and the company. Thanks guys for having us over!! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Kane's 1st Birthday

Finally, we had Grandpa Bob stop by for some brunch this morning. He and Gunner were making the rounds down here in the cities, and we were lucky enough to be one of their stops. The kids also got to see his new truck, which is always fun. It was a short trip, but it was great to see them!

Full of Fall Activities

Como Lake starting to get some color

Well, the MN Twins lost that game in the last post - along with two other games in a row. We are now out of the playoffs, and as depressing as it may be for those of us who jumped on the band wagon late in the season, I have read that the Twins will likely be favored as a team that will likely go into the World Series next season. That has helped ease the pain of watching them lose those last couple of games last week.

Friday night was a big night for our sci-fi loving family! Not only was Dr. Who on and we had our neighbors over, and we all shared some great pizza - but it was also the season's first Battlestar Galactica! Oh my, my! This one was about as tasty and mind-blowing as they get. If anyone out there ever needs to chat it up about a little BSG, we are always game!

We've also really been getting into the season of fall this week. Taylor and Ian made Halloween shirts that turned out really well. They also made shirts for a parade they were in on Saturday! St. Paul Public Schools celebrated its 150th Anniversary with a parade that included all of the district's schools, and a party in Central High's stadium. Since our family has two kids in two separate schools, we had to split up and march in separate parts of the parade. We had a blast that morning, and the children really enjoyed representing their schools!

Sunday was busy enough as well - Taylor and Grandma went out for some "girl time." They hit the Walker, had some lunch, and did the Barnes & Noble thing for a bit. Afterwards, both Taylor and Ian had to go and get haircuts since their school pictures are coming up this week. Ian is never one to express a deep love for the barber shop, but this time there was no screaming or crying, so there is clearly some progress being made there.

I can't wait to see if our forecasters are right about the weather later on this week -- they are talking _SNOW_! I'll be sure to post some pics if that really does happen!

Fall 06

Oct 1, 2006 - 13 Photos

Go Twins!

As I type this, Ian and I are watching the Twins play their first post-season game, after clinching the division title. All four of us have enjoyed watching the games over the past couple of weeks, and the kids are learning a lot about the game of baseball. Ian and I even got the honor of going to a Twins game a couple of weeks ago, after I won a ten-pack of tickets from Cities 97! Things are going well for the Twins -- let's hope their skill continues into the post-season.

As for going-ons right now, it looks like we've got some severe storms headed our way this afternoon. It is odd to have strong storms this time of the year, but I suppose that mother nature needs to even things out from giving us such a quiet spring and summer. Taylor had a birthday party on Saturday that she really enjoyed. It involved art and an ice cream cake, so it was a hit in Taylorland. And poor little Ian -- he came down with an ear infection on Friday and missed a day of school. He's taking his antibiotics and feeling much better now.

I hope to have some pictures of the leaves up here in the next couple of days. The trees are peeking in their color now and we would love to share them!!