Monday, September 20, 2010

North Shore 2010

On our second family trip up north, we stayed at the same place as last year: Gooseberry Park Cabins on Lake Superior. We got cabin #3, which was completely remodeled and had a huge deck overlooking the lake.

On our way up we went to Blackwoods in Duluth for lunch, and afterward made the traditional stop at Brighton Beach.


Finally arrived and took a walk down by the lake. Our cabin is in the background.


Amazingly, the kids did a great job at avoiding all of the puddles, which is more than I can say for myself!


After we got settled, we headed a couple miles down the road to Gooseberry Falls and hiked around awhile.




Got back, ate dinner, and made S'mores on the shore.


Yum!


Elsa and Lila played in the puddles until dark. Elsa was a chef and stirred them like they were bowls of soup. Lila was more like the bus girl, and washed the rocks with an old hand wipe the entire time.


Elsa and D.


We ate breakfast across the street at the Rustic Inn. The kids ate a ton of pancakes and OJ, and seemed excited to start the day.


By the time we cleaned up the cabin and headed to a morning walk at Silver Creek Cliff, those pancakes hit bottom. It was only 10 a.m. and they were too tired to walk! We made it to the top of the hill and then headed back to the car.


Elsa sat very carefully on this rock. Straight down was a cliff to the lake.


On our way home, we stopped in Two Harbors so I could take a couple photos of some icons.


This is Pierre, the Pants-less Voyageur. Elsa posed happily with him, while Lila cried and held on to my legs and said she didn't want to get eaten by the giant. We had to Google him when we got back because Elsa was very curious to know why he was there, what he used to be holding onto, etc. We learned a lot of interesting facts, but we still don't know why he doesn't have pants.


Tim had been wanting to stop at this Smoked Fish place for a long time, so we finally did. It smelled so bad I almost felt queasy. But it was cool old place, with a really great old-school bar that seemed untouched by time.


There was even an autographed photo of Andrew Zimmern!


We went to Tom's Logging Camp and took a history tour of - what else? - an old logging camp. We stayed for lunch at their new cafe and it lived up to the hype.


When we got back, we had a birthday party for Auntie Emma. Happy Birthday, Emma! This is the card Elsa made.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

First day of preschool 2010

Here they are! First day of school. Lila insisted on bringing her backpack too, even though she doesn't need one. Her ECFE class starts the last week of September. Last year Elsa went to Preschool for two days, and one day I got to stay in class with her. This year she goes 3 days all by herself. She really likes it so far, but after I picked her up she said,"Why were you gone for so long? I missed you." The class is only 2 1/2 hrs long. :)


Elsa's teacher, Ms. Marianne, has a board outside the classroom so we can see what they did that day. It's great because then I can get Elsa to talk to me about school, instead of:
"What did you do at school today?"
"Nothing!"


Last Sunday we went to my Great-Aunt Kay's 98th Birthday in Cumberland, WI. It was great to see her and to bring the kids back to Beaver Dam Lake. Here's Elsa and Grandpa on the path out to the dam.


Lila on one side of the dam, the other side is in the distance. The dam doesn't exist anymore, but everyone still calls it The Dam. It's so shallow right there, you can walk across.


Both kids throwing rocks.


My sister and me, the proud auntie! Only about a month until baby is here!


They loved the old-school teeter totter at the beach.


Last Saturday we went to Taco Daze in Scandia. Here are the kids at the parade. Elsa waved the whole time, even when nobody was driving by! Afterward they went on some bouncy castles and slides. I forgot to take pics of that because it was so chaotic. Lila actually climbed the giant slides and went down. It was a bit difficult for a kid of her size. All the bigger kids had to climb over her and nearly knocked her down as they did, but she did it.


The new popular thing around here is Lego towers. We must get them out and pick them up over 3 times a day. I might just start keeping them on the floor as permanent decor.


I had a photo of Lila's new haircut in the last post, but it didn't show the back. Very Posh Spice, no?


We have these weeds that blow all around our yard, and I don't know what they are, but we call them Tumbleweeds. They're everywhere. In the garage, in my car, and somehow they get into the house. A ton of them blew up against the fence and the kids couldn't resist jumping in.


Last weekend we went to William O'Brien State Park with my parents. The kids call it the Rock Park. Here they are posing on the giant rock.


Elsa in the river with Grandma E.


Lila standing by the river. Don't worry - someone was nearby!


Elsa is amazed by tree climbing, and asks Tim to climb the trees in our yard. She wanted to go up in this one over and over.


That about covers it! Tomorrow we leave for the North Shore. Many more photos to come.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

State Fair and New Hair

First off, a couple of gifts Elsa got for her b-day that I wanted to share. I didn't have any decent photos of them until now.
Here are Elsa and Lila in a present from Grandma and Grandpa E... a big bouncer! They go crazy in it. It's excellent for wearing them out when they get wild. It should be even more perfect during winter.


Here's another great gift. Grandma and Grandpa R got her some of her own personalized M&Ms! How cool is that? She loves them, of course.


Gotta love the State Fair. I don't think I ever loved it more than I do now. It's so much fun with the kids, and we can justify spending a lot more money!


One of the first things we tried was Little Farm Hands. It was up on Machinery Hill. Each kid gets a bucket and an apron, and then you walk through a farm, perform different tasks, and collect eggs, wool, milk, etc. At the end you get to cash everything in and choose a food item. They had canned goods, mini cereal boxes, apples, a stuffed animal, chips, tons of stuff. Elsa chose an apple and Lila chose Honey Nut Cheerios. I was surprised. I would have been all over the toy and the chips.


Lila with her bucket and apron.


I can't explain this photo except for that it must have been State Fair magic. It was Elsa's idea to sit on this pumpkin and pose nicely for a photo! And a lovely one it is.


The kids planted some seeds and dug up dirt. They had to do all kinds of stuff and it took probably 20+ minutes. It was almost too long to hold their attention, but it was good for photo ops.




Looking lost in the mini corn field.


It was fun to have Auntie Jenny and Uncle Shane meet us at the fair! Here they are with the kids in the food building.


Lila executes perfect State Fair manners and chows down.


Elsa and Shane check out the cows.


Lila liked the baby piglets in the pig barn.


The kids pet a calf in the baby animal barn. It took Lila awhile to warm up to the animals, especially the cows. She'd stare at them with wide eyes and yell,"Big, BIG!" as we walked through the cow barn. If we tried to get her out of the stroller to pet one, she'd start to cry and say,"I no want him to eat my shoes!" Tim said, "No, you're going to wear him for a pair of shoes!"


The fam.


The moment had arrived! Tim and Shane hold Elsa and Lila in front of Elsa's favorite ride, Ye Old Mill. She'd been talking about it and patiently waiting for a whole year.


We spent way too much time in the kiddie midway, but the kids had a blast. Bumper boats...


Whale ride...


Airplane ride. Elsa said this one was her favorite. They also went on the carousel, but I was too busy wrastlin' with my $8 Turkey leg to take pics.


Lila and her new haircut! The bangs were in her eyes, and the rest was always somewhat reminiscent of Nick Nolte's mug shot. Not any more. Elsa just wanted a trim. They're ready for school!