Duluth October 2018

Last month we were able to spend a few days in Duluth where we ate, shopped, played and enjoyed some overdue family time. We lucked out and scored a room in Canal Park where the kids had a great time in the outdoor rooftop pool! Although air temps were chilly, it felt more like a hot tub than a pool. 

With a recent massive storm, the lakewalk was pretty torn up, but that didn't stop us from exploring every day. We climbed on rocks, did gymnastics on rocks and built with rocks. And let's not forget that Regan taught all of us how to skip rocks, she's quite the pro at it. 

Sidney spends more time upside down than she does right side up on most days. 

She is constantly with her hands on the ground. 

This photo cracks me up. While these boulders look easy to climb on, they are beyond unstable and wobbly. Regan and I were trying to capture the beauty of nature in a mother/daughter photo using my camera timer. She was set up nicely and my job was to set the camera on a rock and then run to pose next to her.....except I ended up stepping on a wobbly rock and went down quickly, flat on my back. See me laying down there below?! 

Regan took full advantage of my mishap and gave the camera a thumbs up just as the photo clicked! Thanks kiddo :) 

Although Lincoln was begging to get out to the lighthouse, when it finally came down to the walk, his legs were suddenly tired and he wanted very little to do with getting out there. It probably took at least 45 minutes to make that 2 block walk.

But he sure had fun chasing birds around along the way.

Ryan took us to one of his former stomping grounds across the border. He scored the most ridiculous sized beer for roughly $5. What?! 

We all giggled when reading the menu saying that children under 21 are allowed to drink alcohol with their parents permission. Don't get any ideas kiddos. 

After a stop at the college, and spending a crazy amount of money on new UMD clothes, we headed over to the Amsoil Arena. My cousin happens to play hockey for UMD so we showed our support cheering her on, and getting some fist bumps from the Bulldog. 

One evening I made a suggestion to check out Enger Tower at night. Shockingly something Ryan had never seen before. When we travel abroad (and even out of state, I have a thing about always finding the highest point in the city for a view). We had never seen this view at night, so it was an easy sell. 

The kiddos were hilarious running around up inside the tower (we had it all to ourselves), screaming about the boogeyman coming to get them! 

Isn't it pretty? 

I have to admit, I was a little scared to be walking around. It was dark up there. Like pitch black dark. And I have a silly mind that always thinks the worst. 

It's not always easy to convince Ryan that we should take a long weekend trip, but whenever I mention Duluth, he jumps on board faster than I can say the dates.
I'm so glad we had an opportunity to sneak away and explore Duluth once again. 

Halloween / Dia de los muertes

I’m fortunate that Sidney still wants me at her holiday parties at school. Today, despite the mountain of work piled high on my desk, I kept my promise to her (and the room parents) and made my way to school for the fall harvest party. We had a good time and I spent most of the afternoon snapping pictures and chatting with parents/teachers while helping with crafts and activities.

After school, with only her in tow, Sidney and I decided we needed a special after school snack. There’s a new restaurant in town; and this place has been packed since opening day. So packed that they literally ran out of food and had to close last weekend! Her and I dined on appetizers and strawberry lemonade while discussing the party. I mentioned to her that this may have been the last harvest party as the school is deciding whether to continue. After commenting about cost and religion as factors, we decided to look up the history of Halloween (so I may somehow help her understand the religion aspect). Pretty interesting stuff. I explained it to her by relating to the movie Coco (side note: if you haven’t seen it, go watch it. And expect tears, like crocodile tears). The movie is all about Dia de los muertos, ie: Halloween. Where if we remember those that have died, setting up a shrine on that special day, their spirit will come visit us. 

We wrapped up our day-date and headed to the evening festivities of trick or treating. 

This year, we opted to go door to door with some friends that live nearby. They took us to streets and houses I’d never been to before but right in my own neighborhood. We were having a good time, when suddenly a cute dog comes bouncing out of a house wanting to play. The owner comes dashing out after him calling: Leo! Come back here Leo!

I stopped in my tracks, smiled up to the night sky knowing I hadn’t forgotten, and neither has my dad. Love ya dad! Thanks for the visit. 

Enjoying a Minnesota Fall

We seemed to land in a massive hustle and bustle this fall. But despite all of the running, we have found time to slow down and enjoy the beautiful Minnesota fall colors. 

Regan signed up for the school cross country team again and I felt like I spent more time racing across town each week to watch her run than I did doing anything else. 

But I love watching her run, and I love seeing her shave seconds off her time each meet. 

She was all smiles coming in 3rd place and earning herself a ribbon at the second to last meet. 

I'm so proud of her for taking on cross country (and in the midst of playing ball and hours upon hours of dance lessons each week). 

We raked and raked, and raked some more.
Lincoln and Sidney set up the iPad one afternoon and created videos of them jumping into leaf piles.
Love when technology meets play time :) 

Regan cashed in on her 12th birthday gift and we went ziplining! 

Somehow we managed to reserve a weekend where the fall colors were in amazing!
It was an incredible day spent together high above the tree tops. 

Hyland ski hill offers chair lift rides to the top of the hill each fall. Another opportunity to see the Minnesota fall colors. Regan opted out of this event (apparently it's not as cool as in previous years). Lincoln adores running all the way down to the bottom, all the while I'm hoping he doesn't fall and land in geese poo. 

And fall is not complete without a stop to MN Largest Candy Store! We spend far too much money at this candy store each time we make a visit. Chocolate, suckers, pop, chips, caramel apples, you name it, we try it :) 

Happy Fall everyone!

Jay Cooke State Park

For as many times as we drove up 35W, we have never made a stop at Jay Cooke State Park. The opportunity presented itself recently and we had an afternoon to explore en route to our final destination. 

With some recent rains, the waters were moving pretty quickly, which made me panic slightly whenever Lincoln got too close to the edge. 

The beauty of the swinging footbridge is heavenly. Sadly it's tough to get a good picture because of the amount of people. I settled for a picture of Regan with the river behind her.

Sure is peaceful out there. 

These rocks were a lot of fun to climb around (plus I was very happy to see some calmer waters one one side). 

 At the top of the rocks there is a very smooth rock to lay on and perch over the river. It's scary and exciting and peaceful all at the same time! Lincoln loved perching up there, I would've been more at peace if he was in a lifejacket. 

This scene warms my heart, because as everyday life happens, they bicker and fight like two sisters do. I hope and pray that they will end up best of friends as they grow old. 

Apple orchard fun

We picked a chilly weekend day early in October and headed to an apple orchard, fall festival event. We raced around from activity to activity while trying to stay warm. Lincoln was in his glory being able to run all over the place, the kid has one speed: FAST! And he never turns off. 

They didn’t last terribly long on the jumping pillow without their shoes providing some warmth. Regan showed off  some  of her dance moves to us. I didn't catch a picture of Sidney, but she had a heck of a time just getting up onto the top...something about her slipper socks and being so scrawny she could not pull herself up. Even the staff was getting a good laugh :) 

The girls and I went apple picking, one of Sidney’s favorite things to do...it’s an apple orchard of course! It was muddy but we enjoyed finding some of the most delicious apples in the orchard! 

I do think Lincoln would've lasted much longer than the girls. He's at the prime age for these types of things, and the girls....well, they have fun for a while! 

Someone broke her Braces Code of Conduct and maybe taste tested a tiny apple just to be sure it was good ;)  

Sadly I didn't get a picture of all of us, you'll have to trust that Ryan was there too :) 

First day of school 2018

Eeek! I'm a little behind.

Regan started school a day earlier than Sidney this year. She was all smiles heading back to middle school, ready to face 7th grade with all of her friends. she seemingly enjoys school...mostly for the social aspect of it! She eagerly signed up for school sponsored cross country, adding it to her already busy schedule of dance and fall Fastpitch. 

Ready for her first day! 

Sidney got to spend that first day frolicking around the Mall of America with her bestie, enjoying rides, sweets and mirror mazes. And when it was her turn, she gave me the eye roll I had expected from Regan. 

And then this was her smile:  

It’s not that she was bothered with going to school. Nope, she was annoyed that I couldn’t tell her if she had gym class that day which impacted her clothing choice. Oh the troubles of a 4th grader!

Happy school year 2018-2019!

Fall activities

This fall has honestly been a bit of a blur. Our calendar has been chalk full of practices and meets and lessons and games. We had one week of rain that cancelled our outdoor events for the most part and we all stared at each other wondering what we were supposed to do. HA! 

It really is so much fun to watch all 3 kiddos participate in extra-curricular activities. 

I'm not going to say it isn't a lot of work. Because it is. There is so much stress on ensuring everyone is where they need to be, with food in their bellies and everything they need. 

And then there is the coordination of it all. Making sure the right gear is in the right vehicle for the right activity. 

Sometimes we get a small moment, to really *be* with our kids and take a little of their love for an activity. Like when we get to learn how to sew elastic and ribbon onto super expensive pointe shoes. only to bring it all home and have grandma Jan do all of the grunt work! 

In all of the hustle and bustle this fall, we are ever thankful at how adaptable Lincoln is with all of the chaos. He finds fun no matter where we are, usually making a few friends along the way. The girls' friends all adore him and take him under their wing, begging to be his chosen friend who gets a hug. 

He knows many of the fields they play on, and knows what to expect when we arrive, which ones have playgrounds or which ones he needs to bring along his remote control car. 

Love him to pieces :) 

And lately he's been getting his own chance at an activity, breezing through all of the swim lessons at Foss. He's part-fish this little boy of ours. Currently in classes designed for 5-7 year olds where he's learning side breaths. Incredible skills and I love to spend 30 minutes each week watching it be *his turn* at something! 

We would not have life any other way. I know it's exhausting, and the piles of laundry and papers are endless. Yet we all adore the busy-ness of this lifestyle and thrive on the strict schedule it creates. 

Warm summer days and fun festivals

It got really steamy and hot recently, and when that happens in September in MN, we stay up late, and swim in the dark. Lucky for us, the sun sets early and it's only actually 9pm!

And we were all in a bit of a celebrating mood with the local festival on the horizon. 

The temps rose to around 90 the next day and we had a fiasco of getting Regan to the starting point of the parade she was dancing in. And then get ourselves back to the end so we could swap out pom poms for softball gear and head over to the fields for some scrimmages. 

(Ryan was living it up at the Gopher football game!). 

Sidney quickly got herself suited up to help "showcase" her softball association as the festival site. It was hot and we all would've rather been swimming, but she still had a good time. 

And with all of that hoopla happening with the girls, Lincoln was right there beside us, having the time of his life riding ponies and picking up chickens like a professional farmer. 

Despite the fun day, we all promptly jumped immediately into the pool to cool off and once again, swim in the dark in September in Minnesota! 

Happy 10th Birthday Sidney!

Sidney's 10th birthday was on a jam-packed Monday yet we still did all we could to pull out all the fun and make the day extra special for her. 

I woke up extra early and dashed up to a nearby bakery for donuts and Caribou (yes, the girl loves herself some Caribou!) so she had a fun breakfast morning. 

And had stayed up extra late to craft this Pinterest Copy cat sign plastered up on her bedroom door. She woke up feeling extra special. 

She had given us a reminder that she expected TEN gifts for her golden birthday....so we had our work cut out for us. Thankfully I was on the ball this year and did some early Amazon shopping :) 

I have a tradition of taking the kids lunch at school on their birthdays. I have tried never to miss a big day, and when it falls on a weekend, we go on the nearest week-day. Ryan usually joins us, but couldn't get away from work on that particular day so went another day. It's not easy to make the trek from my office to the school in the middle of the day and amounted to several missed meetings and a 2 hour lunch break. But a wise co-worker (whose kiddos are now in college), reminded me that these extra special days are limited and encouraged me to keep up this tradition. 

From school it was on to a slew of after-school activities. I had to join Regan at her pointe class (more on that later), and Ryan headed to Sidney's practice, where we met up, swapped kids and he dashed off to Regan's softball practice. I got to linger around and open up a cooler filled with Dilly Bars for her team! (Thank you Ryan!). 

We kept the celebrations going all week, finally making it to her birthday dinner: Cheesecake Factory, where she got the most adorable birthday treats! 

I'm pretty confident that she felt the love all week long as we doted on her turning 10 years old. She is our most special middle child who lives life to the fullest and wears her emotions on her sleeves. We love you to pieces sweet Sidney!