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!!

We have been a little busy!

Panod, his parents & Ian in Miami, FL this weekend

I was trying to think of everything that has gone on since the last post. I'll try to get everything on here, but if I forget something that you know about, please let me know!

Ian's school had an ice cream & pizza social where we got to go and meet some of his friends & see his school. He really enjoyed showing Taylor his school and we really enjoyed meeting some of his new little friends.

Taylor had an open house at her school a few days after Ian's event at his school. She showed us some of the art projects she has been working on (I'll have to scan some of those in when they come home), and she gave us the grand tour of the classroom. She's clearly proud of the school, her friends, and especially how hard she is working!

This past weekend was a milestone in our little family -- Ian finally got to meet his other Grandparents! He and Panod took a flight down to Miami over the weekend to see his parents & it sounds like they had a BLAST! Ian found a real coconut on the beach, saw the ocean for the first time, went swimming in their pool, and enjoyed Grandma & Grandpa's company. Panod's web album of pictures can be found here.

And while Panod and Ian were away this weekend, Taylor and I took off to Brainerd to go and see my dad. We had a pleasant drive there and the trees up there have already gotten so beautiful with their fall colors! We were treated to the finest in dining cuisine & enjoyed our walks in the woods with the dogs & grandpa -- even if Toby enjoyed running away more than he should have! I have some great pictures that I will get up and post here shortly.

Lastly, today was Grandparents day at Taylor's school. Taylor would really like to thank Grandma for taking time off of work today, and braving the morning rush hour in both Minneapolis & St. Paul in order to make it over here this morning. It sounds like the grandparents even got to spend some time in the classroom with their grandchildren, where there became a deep level of appreciation for Taylor's teacher and the level of work that the children do on a daily basis.

Otherwise, all is well on our end! We are glad to be back home together after spending a few days apart. Taylor has another fun birthday party to go to this weekend where they are going to hit the art crawl here in St. Paul! How cool is that?! Oh - and Dr. Who is returning to SciFi this Friday!!!! That is the big event in our house this weekend.