Sisterly Love and the Pumpkin Patch

For the longest time Elsa would act as if Lila didn't exist. She'd walk right by her like she was invisible. But lately, Elsa gives her sister hugs out of the blue, watches out for her safety, and plays with her. I'll be in the other room and hear quiet and think,"Uh oh, where are they?!" I'll find them in their room with the door shut. With an ear to the door, I'll hear Elsa reading to Lila, or asking her if she wants to play with a toy. Of course this type of banter also leads to screaming and fighting, but for now it's so fun to see them interacting on any level.

If I put in a DVD, I'll come back and find them sitting side-by-side.


Sometimes when Elsa is sitting alone, Lila will come up and plop right down into her lap. Elsa isn't always amused.


"MOM! Come find us!" Sitting in the toy box.


Ahh, of course. The sisters that play together, destroy their bedroom together.


Synchronized spinning.




Last weekend we went to the pumpkin patch for the third time, and I finally remembered my camera.



Poor Lila was afraid of the mini ponies.


Lila with her dirty graham-cracker-drool jacket. :)




While we were there we ran into my friend Kelty and her family. Her son Cael is in Elsa's preschool class. They've actually been going to school together since they were 14 months old! She took these photos with her super sweet new camera.

Elsa and her friend Cael.



Next post: HALLOWEEN!

Halloween party and playing in the SNOW

It's snowing today. Snow isn't my favorite thing, but it's hard to be down on it when the kids are so excited!





Yesterday I took Elsa to a Halloween party. They decorated cookies, hit a pinata, dressed up in costumes, and played. It was super fun! Elsa couldn't stop talking about it.

The gang at the table decorating cookies.


Elsa's preferred decor: a layer of frosting with a huge pile of candy on top, of course.


Thankfully the pinata loot was all toys.


Ashley, Maddy, Violet, Elsa and Allie in costumes.


Uh oh, the sugar kicked in!


Finally, I have to give a birthday shout-out to my sister who turned the big 3-0! Saturday night I went to her house to celebrate. They had a big wine/beer tasting and dinner party and it was just fabulous. Happy Birthday Jenny!

Walk and Roll

Last Friday, Lila turned 15 months old. We went to the doctor and they have a new reading program, so she got a book. The doctor said,"Do you read books at home?"
To which Lila replied, as she shoved the book in my face,"Read it!"
Here are her stats.

Weight: 21 lbs, 9.5 oz. 31%
Height: 30.7 inches 60%
Head: 18.25 cm 66%

A week ago today, Lila started walking everywhere, all the time.

Whenever she sees the camera she says,"cheese!" She's waiting for the flash to go off and keeps posing, haha! In the end she says, "camera".


She still falls forward quite a bit and hits her face.
Poor baby. Just waking up, with evidence of the latest road rash.


She likes to sit on, or as near to Elsa as possible.


Elsa is still in love with the Grinch. This drawing is from today. She also took the picture. The two lines underneath the name are his "mean" feet. It might not seem like much, but just a couple months ago she could only draw a circle. Now she has the eyes, eyebrows, nose, and smile, all in the right places.

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.