Fall in Wyoming

Last weekend we went to Wyoming Stagecoach Days. It's a pretty big deal. Lots of rides, a kiddie parade, bouncy castles, free stagecoach rides, a petting zoo, bingo, the whole 9 yards. There's even a fireworks display at night, which we can see pretty well from our yard.


Elsa in an inflatable bouncy deal.


Elsa loves the rides - she went on the swings and Dizzy Dragons 3 times each, not to mention the others. Here she is with Grandpa Barney on Dizzy Dragons.


The swings went so fast! I don't even like those things, but she couldn't get enough.


The pirate ship. I think you can click on the picture to make it bigger. The look on her face is pure joy.


Poor Lila couldn't go on any rides, but we did all get a free train (trolley) ride at the bank. There were also free balloons, free root beer floats - lots of stuff you could get for nothin'. Also, Tim and I commented a few times on how polite and smiley the Carnies were. Top notch.


Oh, and lets not forget the Wild West show. These guys were really into it. Everyone loved it except Lila. The guns were super loud.


Since it's Wyoming Stagecoach days, let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we? You can read more about Wyoming's history here:
http://www.wyoming.govoffice2.com/index.asp?Type=B_LOC&SEC={E51F7915-43F4-438C-9E00-A8A11A164B5F}

I still can't believe they tore down so many historic landmarks. What a shame. I can only pray that in 50 years we still have the mini-mall that houses Tasty Asia and Blockbuster.

Moving on. The leaves are falling and it's getting colder. The kids enjoyed some time playing in the leaves.


Yesterday we went to Pinehaven Farm. Forgot my camera. They were having a deal - $10 for season tickets, which means the month of October. Normally it's $7.50 for each admission. There's so much to do there! We'll easily go back a handful of times before Halloween.

No matter how quiet the kids are after you put them to bed, you never know what you're going to find when you go to check on them at 11 pm. Elsa ripped off her pillowcase, was sleeping with the photo albums from her bookcase, and had the stroller perched on her pillow. When I covered her up, she woke up a bit, and I called her on it. Even in her sleep, she had the most devilishly proud grin.


Last week Tim was working on a project. Project Greenlight? Hmm, maybe Project Green Room. Anyhow, it's meant to be a play room for the whole family.

The backyard shed Before:


After:


It's pretty sweet. Gotta love a guy who has the same dreams of transforming an old shed into a party - ahem, family play room.

In other news... Elsa is still adjusting to Preschool. We have tears on most days, but we talk about it a lot and hopefully it'll get better soon.
Lila can still walk, but prefers not to. After dinner tonight she walked across the kitchen floor about 10 times. We thought, this is it - she's not going to stop! But she always does. She still prefers to crawl most of the time. She talks up a storm and has started saying 2 and 3 word phrases like, Get down, Excuse me (Syoos me), and Bubble Bath. Also, if you say "One", she'll say,"Two, Threeeee!"

First day of Preschool, and more!

Today was Elsa's first day of Preschool, and Lila's first day of Sibling Care (first day being left w/ a non-family member). She generally doesn't mind strangers, but lately she's been super crabby and clingy because she's getting her molars. All she wants is "up" and to be held by me. We went in and she was smiley and excited to see all the toys and etc. I briefly spoke with her teacher, and then booked it out the door before she could see me leave! I found out later that she had a hard time at first, but they were able to calm her and all was well. Elsa had a great time at school and was really excited. She's such a big kid now!

In front of the school.


Elsa by her locker! The first time we opened it, she tried to climb in.


Last week, Grandpa Barney brought over his new apple press and made apple cider from the apples on our trees! It was super cool. Elsa had a great time watching the whole process and sampling the results.


Mmm! Nothing like fresh apple cider.


Mystery location! Where are we?


If you guessed Scandia, MN, you're right on. Ahhh, Scandia. A picturesque small town with deep Scandinavian roots. Land of blondes, the Dala horse, and... Taco Daze? Yep, their annual end-of-summer festival is called Taco Daze. I lived 5 miles from there growing up, but I'd never gone because the name always turned me off. However, we happened to see in the paper that they were having a parade, and Elsa loves parades, so we decided to stop by. And surprise surprise, it was a great time! It's definitely going to become a yearly tradition.

The kids loved the parade.



Elsa scored about half a plastic grocery bag worth of candy.


Lila clapping along with the crowd!


The scene behind Meister's in Scandia. A blow-up bouncy wonderland. And all for free! Last year we went to a birthday party and Elsa cried and cried in one of those tiny bouncy deals. This year, she went on the BIG ones and absolutely loved it. She wanted to go again and again.



Another photo of Lila and her love for glasses. She put these Mrs. Potato Head glasses on herself. Ow, it's almost poking her in the eye! She didn't care - she kept them on and played for nearly 20 mins.

Family Vacation

We just got back from a 3 day, 2 night trip to the North Shore. The kids were great considering all the stuff we did. Stopped in Duluth on the way up and threw rocks at Brighton Beach, then stopped in Two Harbors and walked out on the pier.


We stayed in Castle Danger at Gooseberry Park Cabins. Our cabin overlooked Lake Superior and had a screened in porch. We didn't know they had a little play area there; it was a definite bonus. They also had a little "store" where you could stock up on extra things you might need: toiletries, pop, movies, toys, charcoal, matches, etc. - all for free.


The rocky beach, with Grand Superior Lodge (where Jenny and Shane got married last year) in the background. We had bonfires down here after the kids went to sleep.




This is what happens when you misbehave! ha ha.


The second day we went to Gooseberry Falls, which was about 5 mins away.






After naps we went to Split Rock Lighthouse. Elsa was really into it and liked learning about the sunken ships. Lila practiced walking a lot more during this trip, but not enough to let her down. She got pretty frustrated always being held or in the stroller.


Tired after a busy day, Lila goes "night night" at Betty's Pies.


On our way home this morning we stopped at Silver Creek Cliff. There's a lookout area next to it that I'd always wanted to go to, so we finally did. Great little walk with amazing views.




On to Canal Park in Duluth. I was hoping to get a Christmas card photo at the cliff, so I had to bribe Elsa with a treat. We got to Duluth and went into her first candy store. She was, well, like a kid in a candy store. I kept saying, "There's even more, let's keep looking!" She finally chose a classic: a giant swirly lollipop. She has about two bites out of it so far. I wonder how long it'll sit in our fridge??




Lila learned to drink out of a straw at Grandma's.


Going wild at the Electric Fetus. Elsa said,"Mmmm, it smells good in here!" It totally does.


And finally: Lila walking. She keeps saying "bye bye", "glasses", and other sounds to help her concentrate. Little baby! She loves to wear and play with sunglasses. She's holding another pair in her hand.

Labor Day Weekend

What a great weekend. Tim was finally home after being gone for a straight week of working day and night. We went to the park, and Elsa had fun on the swings, of course.


Lila has been a daredevil at the park lately. She crawls up the big stairs to the slide so fast, then just lunges down head-first! Of course I don't have video of the head-first stuff. But here she is going backwards. Need I mention that the tunnel slide is obviously the most frightening slide at the park? It took Elsa until this year to go down without hesitation.



We had breakfast at the Village Inn one morning, which the girls liked. We used to go with Elsa almost every weekend.


We went to the beach both yesterday and today. Coon Lake Beach in East Bethel is my FAVORITE beach in the whole state. It has the most wonderful powder-fine sand beach, a pretty good playground, and a superior ambiance all around. Here Elsa tried out her new (Target clearance - $2!) swim ring.


Lila on a hill of powdery sand. She beached herself there for about 15 mins. All of the kids seem to love to hang out on top of this hill and roll down. It's off to the side of the beach, and we've been calling it the Secret Sandy Spot.


Lila with the Secret Sandy Spot in the background.


More fun with the swim ring.


Me and the girls.


Lila is all done and wants UP!


Eating dinner. Mmmm, Subway!


Elsa's footprint.



In other news: Lila WALKED yesterday! Across the kitchen floor, twice. Of course my camera was charging so I didn't get it on video, but I'm ready for her next time! We tried to get her to walk today but she didn't seem as interested. She can go so much faster when she crawls, you know.

Rekindled love of the Minnesota State Fair

We swore we wouldn't go to the Fair this year. The girls are too little, too much money, etc. But then Tim worked nights for a whole week straight, and we really thought we needed a fun, *new* family outing. Walking to the park and taking bike rides is getting a bit old at this point. We got there around 5 p.m. and did the necessary binge-eating of food on a stick.

First fair food: Elsa with a Pronto Pup, and Lila with some of my Walleye Bites.


Next, I went on the Ye Old Mill ride with Elsa. I forgot how dark it was - we couldn't even see our hands in front of our faces. Elsa kind of likes scary things, so she squealed and grabbed me and said excitedly,"Are there ghosts? Are there monsters?!" At the end, she said she wanted to go again.

Lila basically smiled the entire time we were there.


The next thing we hit was the Giant Slide. The slide surprised me. I think of it as a kiddie ride, but the steps going up were torture, and it's actually a little bit freaky - it's SO high and goes much faster than I remembered. We all went. Tim took Elsa, and I took Lila. I wish we had pictures! I could hear Lila cracking up the whole way down.


We went to the birthing barn and saw a bunch of uncomfortable Mama animals, and also some cute new babies. On the way by the DNR, there was a Honduran band playing flutes and such. Elsa said she wanted to see them play, so we stopped. There were about 150 people sitting there watching, and she suddenly got out of the stroller and said she wanted to dance. We couldn't believe she wanted to! It must have been equal parts sugar, excitement, and exhaustion.
Tentatively approaching the dance floor:


Elaine from Seinfeld anyone? We were cracking up! You can't hear it on the video, but so were a lot of people!

This one is cute, too. After her initial dance, a bunch of kids came out and danced with her. It was pure State Fair magic.


Uncle Shane and Auntie Jenny happened to be at the Fair the same time as us. We met them at the kiddie rides and hung out for awhile. Elsa went on the ferris wheel with Tim, and then we all went on a ride together. We were lucky Jenny and Shane were there to take some pics. This one was the whale ride that also blew bubbles at you. It was a little jerky, but both kids loved it. We were really surprised at how much Lila could handle.


The next ride: Bumper Boats. It was cool that Elsa could go all by herself. She wanted to go in the water and kept dipping her hands in, which was a no-no. Here, one of the ride guys was playfully telling her not to reach into the water, and he kept saying something like,"What's up?!" and she was doing it back,"What's up?!" It was pretty hilarious.


Before we got to the car, both kids had no pants on. You'll notice here that Lila is already sans-pants. Her diaper leaked, but it was a warm night so she was okay without them. Then Elsa had to pee in the parking lot, and it got all over the back of her pants so we had to ditch those, too. Good thing it was all at the end of the night!


We're so glad we went! The kids were awesome the whole time. I'm not a huge Fair person, but bringing the kids was a new experience.

Also yesterday, Lila turned 14 months old. She's a helper. If you're putting on shoes, she'll hand them to you and say,"Here, here". She does that with the silverware in the dishwasher, crap she picks up off the floor, etc. She can climb the stairs, and she can take the cover off the sandbox and climb in all by herself.


Elsa, like I said before, is into scary things. We have this creepy old cartoon on DVD from the 60's called, "Grinch Night". She loves to watch it and runs around saying, "I'm the mean Grinch!" She told me yesterday that she wants to be the Grinch for Halloween. Her favorite books are kinda scary, like Hansel and Gretel, Little Raccoon and the Thing in the Pool, and her new book, Elsa in the Night. Right now she's watching The Lion King. Scar, the evil lion, is her favorite. She'll say,"Mama, you're Scar. Push me to the rocks below!" Funny kid.