SSS: Under Construction

With the amount of construction going on around our house this past summer the boys could have been licensed contractors and welders and builders by now, had they apprenticed on any of the job sites.  

To get from our house and onto a main road, every street, in every direction, in under construction.  Roads are being ripped up.  Trenches are being dug.  Water pipes are being laid.  Gas lines are getting redone.  Roofs are coming down and more stories are going up.  The elementary school directly across from us is undergoing a renovation and addition (AWESOME news because Max will be part of the inaugural class in the revamped diggs next Fall).  

All of this construction provided hours upon hours of entertainment for the kids this summer.  Other than a couple days of REALLY loud pounding of piles (big metal poles that are pounded a hundred feet underground) that caused our house to shake, all the construction is good - improving our neighborhood.  

It wouldn't have been summer in Minnesota without a great deal of construction!

Water Sign

Remember my last post?  The one where I hinted that it'd be so great if Otto is a wayfareing water guy when he grows up? 

Yesterday I picked him up from school and there were two comments on his Daily Sheet that ALSO seem support my thought that he's the one for this. 

He was put into the "advanced" swimming group.

He got to feed the class fish.

Done. And Done. 

Oh, and he was so cute and excited about how much fun he had swimming "by myself in the big pool and by myself in the little pool!"  And he loved showing Max the fish in his classroom. 

SSS: Water, Water Everywhere!

I've always lived in cities surrounded by water.

Menominee, MI & Green Bay, WI - The Bay of Green Bay
Chicago - Lake Michigan
Madison - Lakes Monona & Mendota
Minneapolis - Lakes Calhoun, Harriet, Isles, Cedar, etc

At times I've probably taken my proximity to water for granted.  I couldn't imagine being land locked.  

Here's a peek at some of our times at the water over the summer.

I love this picture of Otto.  I try not to think too much about what my kids will and will not want to do/be/play when they get older, but there are days I sure hope one of them wants to live by the water and be up early and sail ships and swim and surf in the sea.  Doesn't it just look like Otto might be the one?  This was a special morning at Lake Harriet.  It was a Wednesday and usually I work Wednesdays. But the week this picture was taken, I had Wednesday off and worked Thursday.  For some reason this minor shift in my schedule made me feel like we were playing hooky (along with a SLEW of people at the Lake early that morning).

My favorite kiddie pool we played at this summer - the park at Minnehaha Falls.  My sisters Jamie and Katie joined us on this outing and we had a blast.  It started raining, and then down pouring.  It's always so much fun swimming in the rain!

My favorite big pool of the summer - Schuster's pool and patio.  I can't get over how wonderful it is to have not in-laws with not only a pool, but with such hospitality.  John and Diane's house is our 2nd house in the summer.  They always have everything we need on hand - food, baby formula, diapers, beach towels, swimsuits.  They made it so easy for us to stop by anytime and hang out.  Auntie Jamie often made Sno Cones for everyone!

The only man-made lake we've been to in the Cities.  A chlorinated lake with a sand beach.  It was great - the kids all played...and rolled in the sand, which might have rubbed off their sunscreen.  This was the one day we all got sunburns.  

Again, trying not to project my wishes on my kids, but Otto just screams BEACH BUM!

Max and Aunt Jamie drawing in the sand at Lake Calhoun.

Otto was all about Lyla this summer. Many times "only Lyla" he'd say. What a wonderful cousin Lyla is - playing with Otto, swimming with Otto, helping Otto fall asleep for naps, etc.

Even puddles are better in summertime.

Happy 11 Months Wren

I've been staring at this computer screen for awhile now.  Going back and forth between this post and pictures and video I've taken of Wren the past month.  

Back at 6 months or so I thought Wren was a little girl and not a baby.  And now?  She's a real little girl.  

She wants to eat big people food.  And not cut up in bits and pieces "for her."  She wants the whole apple. 

*Please note that we were watching her very carefully while she was eating this. Choking hazards scare me.

I consider her 1st official step was taken on Labor Day (Sept 3rd).  It was super cute.  We were playing while she was standing up holding on to something.  Wren stopped what she was doing, looked directly at me, and in not so many words (but definitely with her eyes) said "Ok, I'm gonna take a couple steps to you now, Mama." And did it.

That was so two weeks ago.

As of a couple days ago she was getting really confident and throwing her arms up in the air and waving them around while standing. Max was so excited to tell me that "Wren's free standing and her feet are close together instead of far apart. She's getting good at it and standing a long time." 

And as of tonight, the day after her 11-month birthday, she's piecing this walking thing together...

It's clear we can't take her anywhere any more.  

Playing a little game of peek-a-boo

Trying new hairstyles...A pony tail to mix up her barrette and pig tails.

Papa Mark, this picture's for you:)  She loves all the vehicles as much as her brothers do!  And you would have loved to see Max sneak up behind her and give her one hell of a big, fast push on this little 4-wheeler.  I attempted to reprimand and Wren was giggling so much that I was not effective at teaching Max a lesson of how she could have gotten hurt.

Happy 11 Months Wren.  

Itasca State Park

Old news. That's probably what this post is. A week (or more) ago we - Joe's whole family, our family and my sister Jamie - went camping at Itasca State Park. Fifteen people, ranging from 10 months to late 60's, some who've camped, some who haven't, headed North (I think) to a b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l State Park.

It was everyone's 1st time visiting Itasca and I think we were all wowed by it. It's huge. It's where the Headwaters of the Mississippi River is. I definitely want to go back, but perhaps stay in one of their cabins for a whole week so we can spend more time on the bike trails and walking paths and multiple lakes and playgrounds.

We were there the weekend after Labor Day and had cool (ok, downright cold) nights, brisk mornings and sunny afternoons. A perfect mash-up of Summer and Fall weather.

On that note - I am ready for Fall. Sianara Summer. Hello my Favorite Season. Our "bucket list" for Autumn has a few things on it - namely a lot of hearty foods to cook, yummy baked goods to make, some fall colors to view and a living room to redecorate. ...And then cozying up in said living room under a warm blanket until about March of 2013.

AT THE CAMPSITE

Ok. As much as I thought Itasca was beautiful, I was disappointed in the actual campsites. Not to belabor it, but they were close together and the foliage between sites was sparse. It also seemed like they were "clear cutting" the trees across from our sites - maybe to make more sites?

Our kid's oldest cousin, Quintin, is adored by all. He's such a little gentleman and as shown above and below, loved playing football with Max and Otto and helping them fly kites.

Quintin and Lyla making yarn pom poms (Jamie has us all addicted to this craft!)

Perhaps the most seasoned camper of us all. At least for her age. She continues to be obsessed with stuffed animals and found a little fawn and husky puppy that Auntie Jamie happily got for her while at the gift shop.

Entertainment. Nope, not the marshmallow roasting - the ax. Had to keep my eyes on my kids as everyone wanted to practice chopping firewood. It's harder than my strapping hubby lets on. At least for us.

Something 'Bout A Truck. With all the Schuster cousins in it.

Grace and Frankie. Usually I'm not a big fan of little dogs. But there were three itty bitty dogs there and the way they sat in the bike basket, and on the kiddie camp chairs by the fire and how Otto loved taking them for walks because they're his size. These things all made me like little dogs a lot more.

Auntie Jamie and Wren

AROUND THE PARK

One of the bike paths to the start of the Mississippi.

Me & Max at the Mississippi Headwaters. It's the start of the mighty Mississippi. It's all downhill (or mostly South) from here.

Max playing in the river.

Otto getting ready to fish.

The oldest cousins taking a break from our bike ride. Unfortunately their were 30 MPH winds our main day there and they weren't letting boats onto the lakes.

Three of My Three

Brothers & Sister

Sisters? Max & Otto absolutely love the pink nightgown hand-me-downs from their cousins. Next trip to Target I'm going to see if they make any Toy Story or Bob the Builder nightgowns.

Taking Wren for a ride in a basket to play in their room.

Grand Marais Vacais 2012

This is the third summer we've gone to Grand Marais (North Shore of Minnesota, on Lake Superior). Each visit brings much of the same - playing at the Lake and Cabin, hiking and donuts. And new things - including fishing, the library (seriously) and Lutsen Mountain. Oh, and the addition of Wren this year!

Lake Superior
It's a big, gorgeous, cold Lake. Much colder than Grandma and Papa's pool or even Calhoun and Harriet in the City, learned the boys real quick. They always have a fun time throwing rocks in and wading in the water. This year they enjoyed climbing on a boulder on the shore between crashing waves one day...and then recognizing that the "rock isn't in the water anymore" the next morning when the water had stopped sloshing so much.

Nelson's Cabins

We've only ever stayed at Nelson's cabins in Grand Marais. My friend Marie tipped me off to this perfect spot for families and I'm pretty sure the boys would be devastated if we ever stayed elsewhere. They (Wren, too) would have been perfectly content playing with the trucks in the dirt, on the wooden boat and with the pedal go-kart at the cabin all week (as long as they also got to take a quick trip to the World's Best Donuts).

World's Best Donuts

On that note, what would one trip to Grand Marais be without at least a couple trips to the World's Best Donut shop. We managed to stay away from the donuts our first two days there and then indulged in them our last two days. Wren got to try her first donut - but it's safe to say the rest of us were more excited about ours. I think Wren mostly enjoyed all the oohs and ahhs over her cuteness from everyone there. This year Max branched out from just donuts and tried a "Skizzle" - fried dough with sugar on it - one of the shop's signature items. I stand by my proclamation that they have the best Glazed Raised's around!

Devil's Kettle Hike

Given that Otto insisted on hiking the whole way while at Whitewater last month, we decided to only bring a backpack for Wren. And right on cue, Otto decided he did not want to hike this trip. So Joe and I took turns carrying Otto (but Joe always had Wren this time, making it double duty for him much of the time). Max, although telling us he'd rather be playing with the trucks back at the cabin, did a great job on the couple mile hike and 260+ steps up and 260+ steps down to the Kettle.

On a previous Devil's Kettle hike the name "OTTO" was carved into the railing overlooking the waterfall. I wanted so bad to get an updated picture of Otto next to it. We could not find it this year. Max was pretty excited when he spotted his name, though. Maybe next year we can tackle carving all our names onto the railing!

Around Town

We spent some time tooling around town like we usually do. This year we took advantage of the blaze orange crossing guard flags they have at their intersection and had Otto wave it as we crossed the street for "extra visibility." The upper right picture is my current favorite of Max. We were walking home from pizza and ice cream on the beach. Shoes off, very focused on getting the paper wrapper from his ice cream cone.

Fishing in Superior National Forrest

We went to Mink Lake in hopes of catching a couple trout, but struck out. Otto's luck of catching two fish on his first two casts ala Whitewater didn't happen. We went home without any fish, but with a dozen and a half left-over night crawlers to add to our garden. That lower left picture stresses me out. Actually, most of this fishing trip stressed me out. We were on a dock with big, gaping holes between the railings. Wren wanted to move and so our time on the dock was limited.

The Library

While walking around town one afternoon a random rain shower crept in. We were just a block away from the new library (peeking out from behind the start of the Gunflint Trail) and decided to check it out. Jack Pot. Computers, keyboards, clipboards with pens for the boys (Otto's favorite! He was ecstatic!). And stuffed animals and baby toys for Wren. And Christmas novels on sale for $1 for me (such a better steal than spending $20 on a holiday hardcover at Target in a couple months when I become overzealous and think I'll be able to leisurely enjoy reading a book over a cup of hot cocoa).

Lutsen Mountain

While headed back to Minneapolis from Grand Marais Joe had the great idea of stopping by Lutsen Mountain instead of Split Rock Lighthouse or Gooseberry Falls which we've done most years past. Once there we realized the gondola was running and we could take it to the top of the mountain for a hike and lunch. It took serious finagling to get Max and Otto to agree to ride it (apparently it's "really scary" to them). But after convincing them (which included me trying to pretend the gondolas were apple cars from BusyTown (they do look remarkably similar to them), and that the ride wouldn't be scary because there was a family with kids younger than them in front of us, and because Otto could get an even better view of the excavators that were digging beneath the gondolas), we made it to the summit. Wren loved the gondola ride and giggled and jumped up and down as she stared out the gondola. It was the most beautiful day and we had an expansive view of Lake Superior and the mountain "range."

Brothers

A few very important photos follow. I need to look at these at certain times on certain days when it seems like all these brothers do is fight. Proof that I'm not always right and that they don't always fight.


Wren's Grand Marais Debut

Safe to say Wren enjoyed her first trip to the North Shore. She was right along side her brothers playing in the dirt. She particularly loved tetherball and the Bolo ball game outside and playing in the suitcase inside.

My Blondies & Brownies

Fun travel companions on all our adventures.

Going...Somewhere Together

Heads, Carolina. Tails, California.

Somewhere greener, somewhere warmer.

Up in the mountains, down by the ocean.

Where? It don't matter, as long as we're goin'

Somewhere together. I've got a quarter.

Heads, Carolina. Tails, California.

- JoDee Messina

I love country music. More than ever during the summertime. And the song above is perfect for the days you just want to get in the car and drive.

We've been doing that more than usual this summer. Sometimes packing up and heading out camping. Other times loading the kids in for a shortened "car nap" so we can get to an activity and have more time to play. Still other times timing our day just right so we know all three will be sleeping, and Joe and I can drive and hang out without the distractions and "to do's" we'd be tackling if we were at home while the kids napped.

Lucky for me, when we've packed up and headed on an adventure, Joe, who happily chooses to listen to Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and others, yet insists he doesn't like country music, doesn't seem to mind when I turn on the country station. I love this because to me country music is quintessential for summertime and camping.

Speaking of...we just returned from a cabin in Grand Marais and next Friday we pack up the car again for what will likely be our last tent camping trip of summer.

Minnesota State Fair

We went, we ate, we played, we were spotted!

Some pictures, few words...

Here we are all in our Boston Scientific t-shirts. If we get spotted we win a prize.

We got spotted! And I was told that I had the most enthusiastic response of anyone he'd spotted all day. I squealed, jumped on top of some cement fixtures and said I needed a picture. I wasn't going to leave until we got spotted. I said I'd have all five of us hold hands and walk in a wide line until someone saw us. The thing is, we were spotted about five times that day. We were only supposed to win once, but told a white lie and got two prizes: $25 gift cards to Chipotle and Applebees.

My Dad and Linda were visiting and my Dad was our good luck charm. The Boston Scientific spotters actually noticed him a few times and asked him who the employee was. Dad and Linda were great sports - it rained a lot the day we were at the Fair. And although the kids didn't seem to mind (or even notice), the weather was pretty crappy and Machinery Row was not the same as last year's sunny visit.

This year we saw a group of four older women with a TON of prizes from the games. Each of them had a clear plastic garbage bag filled with stuffed animals. I had to know how they got them. They said they've been coming to the Fair together for years. Every time they play games to win the prizes and donate them to a family member's grade school class/students. Their Mom (lady with black hair sitting on the bench) is 92 years old and the most competitive. They win most of the prizes with the water gun games.

Then we happened upon this kid and I really wanted a huge pig. Or penguin. Or Smurf. First Joe tried his hand at a milk bottle/baseball pitching game with no success. Linda - to no avail - tried fiercely to win by lifting a Corona bottle up with a ring attached to a string "fishing pole."

Finally we let Otto & Max take a turn and they won a couple stuffed dolphins (granted, it was a "guaranteed win with each play" - but I'll take it)!

Beginning next summer, I am organizing State Fair training for our family. I am re-creating the games at our house so we can practice and have a better hit rate on the games.

This year we went all out and got a BUCKET of Sweet Martha's Cookies. Tip: Ask for all fresh cookies if you get a bucket. They put day old cookies at the bottom and there is definitely a taste difference, we learned. Getting the bucket was 100% for the boys who really wanted one. I personally think Pillsbury cookies are better.

The cattle corral. I put it on my wish list for Santa. Two, actually.

Otto on the bumper boats.