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.