Sidney recently

We are just 10 days shy of having a 3 year old in the house. Everyday, and I mean EVERYDAY, she makes us laugh. And not just us, but anyone who stops over. The girl is really quite hilarious. The things she says, her mannerisms, and her cute voice have us doubling over most days. She is just one funny girl. She is very matter-of-fact in telling us things, which just adds to it. We love that girl to pieces.

Her voice is something else. I am asked at least 4-5 times/week if she has a cold. No, she doesn't have a cold, she just has that adorable raspy voice that I so love. I've grown so accustomed to it that I don't really "hear" the raspy-ness anymore. But our friends do. Click HERE to listen to it, and you can be the judge.

The other thing I am constantly asked is...do you curl her hair to get it to look like that? Um, NO! I do not curl this squiggly, squirmy, can't-sit-still 2 year old hair. But thanks for asking, I like her perfect "Nellie" curls.

Hiking and creeks

I took the girls down a hiking trail tonight and they begged to get into the water. So much for my hike. They both have a love of dipping toes in water and making a mess. So we ditched the hiking idea and got wet instead.

Of course, Regan can't do anything without a dance so tonight, she danced in the water.

Where did the time go...

My best friend, Kari, and I are in the midst of celebrating 20 years of friendship...best friendship. Twenty years. That's a lot of ups and downs, happy times, sad times, gains and losses. This weekend she came to spend some time with us and for a few hours, we were able to get out of the house/mommy role and have a great time just the two of us! We laughed so hard our bellies hurt; that's some good exercise! We also took in pedicures (with Regan in tow) and some shopping (with our serious shopper Sidney). What a great weekend!

Great MN Get Together 2011

As we do every year, we went to the State Fair last Friday....and we were in good company:

Grandma Sheri and I took the girls over 3 hours earlier so that they could get their ride-fix. It was round and round, up and down, laughing, giggling fun.

And once Ryan and Arnie joined us, it was on to eating and more up and down. What's the State Fair if we don't go down the Giant Slide a time (or two)??

Regan was brave the second time around and went on her own burlap; the grin on her face was priceless!

The girls were mesmerized by the animal barns this year. Despite the adverse smells, Sidney didn't want to leave! Regan took one look at the giant 1100+ lb pig and asked "is he dead?".

Shane and Amy searched high and low for those darn chickens....and they couldn't find them. But I did!!! Oh wait, you wanted to see them alive? Sorry Shane.

Let's not forget all of the food! Slushes, pickles, cheese curds, pizza, frozen bananas, chocolate covered jalapenos, fried pickles, french fries and frozen grapes. Not a bad year!

Shane gave us his rendition of Def Leopard (who was warming up in the Grandstand). I think he secretly wanted Amy to buy him tickets.

And after all those rides, all the eating and miles of walking, we had a lot of dirty feet. Ewww!

Happy MN State Get Together!

(minus Arnie who took the picture)

Logie's back!

The only good thing about the end of summer is that Logan returned to college this fall which means she's coming over weekly to have dinner with us! And all 4 of us couldn't be happier to see her more often! Tonight we kicked off Wednesday night dinners and enjoyed some beautiful weather playing outside.

(click on the picture below to see a close up of Sidney's precious giggling face as Logs, AKA: the shark, caught her).

Welcome back to college Logan! We're happy to have you again.

T minus 2 weeks

In two weeks from tonight, I might shed a tear. Scratch that. I'll probably be crying my eyes out. This sweet, brown eyed, sun-dyed blondie will be heading to Kindergarten! Hard to believe the time has come to send her off into the world of school. In all reality, I might not be crying, because truly, I am so very excited for her. My parents were always ones to help me embrace the next chapter in life rather than dwell on what has already passed.

I think I'll try that advice in two weeks.

Because she's ready for Kindergarten.

We've prepped her as best we can. Reading to her, practicing her writing, learning to work with others, learning to keep her emotions in check. This girl is ready to meet new friends and head into the world of Kindergarten.

So I'll follow her lead and embrace this chapter in her life. But you can believe this mama's going to bust out of work early to hear all about her day!

Boys will be boys

These two knuckleheads met up for lunch downtown today.

Big lobster sandwiches and salads; they were both in heaven.

7 years ago today....

Ryan and I started our marriage. It was a beautiful day, where we were surrounded by hundreds of family and friends, in the midst of a whopping party. Just a couple of pics that remind us of the day and how much fun it was:

Happy Anniversary!

Wii

Regan's classroom has some fun technology that allows the kids to grow up and learn about computers, hand held devices and video games (there are clear limits to these activities in terms of time, games, etc). Nothing like the classrooms we had growing up, but things are different and we are embracing technology and the fun it brings.

One of her most favorite (technology-focused) activities has been playing the Wii at school; because the games surround dancing...always. My guess is that we are asking Santa to bring us a Wii this Christmas. However, in the meantime, I got resourceful and did a search on YouTube. Viola. Wii online.

So in between arts/crafts, toys in the toy room and swimming, Regan is constantly begging to to "play" the Wii. Funny thing is, she isn't holding a controller and yet she says "mom, I just started the song and look how many points I already have"! Here's a picture, and click HERE or HERE for videos.

Beautiful days

We're stuffing in as much pool time as possible lately. Despite what started out as a dreary Saturday morning, we were blessed with a perfect day poolside yesterday. A dear college friend and her kiddos made the 1.5 hour trek and it turned into a glorious day of eating, chatting, swimming, more chatting and more eating.

Sidney and Lucy played so nicely, which is not always easy for 2 year olds who are missing precious nap time. This play time provided Jen and I the opportunity to sit and visit for a good portion of the afternoon...heavenly!

Lunch around the pool means quick clean up for the moms and quick re-entry to the pool for the kiddos.

Regan is our fashionista lately and would walk around like this all afternoon if the towel would stay on. She stops, strikes a pose and then keeps walking.

But getting a picture of all 4 kids looking at the camera at one time was a bit too much trouble. So we'll settle for what we could get.

Thanks again Jen for coming up with the kids; we had a great time and the girls are still talking about it today!

A visit from Hope

Every year, my cousin, Hope, comes to stay with us for a visit. She's been doing this since I moved to the cities 10 years ago; prior to that she'd come to stay with my family at least once/month. Hard to believe she is 16 years old and for the first time, drove herself to our house! I was 16 when she was born, Wow, how time flies.

It doesn't take long for the girls to warm up to her. So after a swim in the pool, it was onto polish time where only Hope would suffice for Sidney.

And then there was some excitement by the yard waste can, click HERE to read about it.

I stayed a safe distance away.

But at the end of the evening, she/I got to go out to a movie and spend some quality time together! Thanks for coming to visit us Hope! We love you!

Park days

(click to enlarge)

Stay-cation Day #4

We FINALLY got into the pool today after a hiatus for the last several days. It felt great to be swimming again (though we had to crank up the heater because it's been chilly overnight lately which dips the water temp). I'm afraid our pool days this summer are numbered.... :(

We also ventured to a nearby park this morning while the pool heater did its job and then tonight, got together with our lovely neighbor who adores our girls as much as we do. She actually played with them all day, swimming, dolls, make believe, you name it. Man we lucked out.

And then tonight we got a little crazy and added blue to their hair for a little extra pizazz!

Parks and creeks

I took the girls to two parks this morning as we make the rounds to places we haven't visited the last two months. Swimming has consumed a lot of our time recently but with the cooler weather, we're having fun catching up with other summer activities.

First off, we headed to a ginormous park, closer to our first home. Sidney went down the slide belly-side down and I had horrible flash backs of doing that nearly 25 years ago, falling off and breaking an arm. Shockingly I let her go down despite that.

She's alright. No broken bones.

After a snack in the car, we headed closer to our current home to play at a local playground and venture down to the creek. This place is simply beautiful. Had we been thinking ahead, we would've brought a picnic lunch. It was perfect!

They were in heaven when I let them splash their toes in the water and make a mess of all 3 of us.

And that picnic, although we didn't get it near the creek, we ate lunch in the tree-house, and what more fun is there?

Hyland Lake

We are fortunate enough to live nearby this gorgeous preserve which makes for some great back-drops along with some exploring of nature. The girls spent the morning wandering and pointing out various flowers, rocks, noises, etc while I caught it all on camera.

Their favorite spot at the preserve is the band shell; AKA: the stage.

Regan continues to be our little performer and just wants to show me her moves while singing made up songs. Sidney played right along and enjoyed getting her turn in the spot light when Regan would allow. I think the old fellas sitting nearby on the park bench were smiling and wishing they had just an ounce of the energy coming out of these two girls.

(click on the collage to make it bigger)

Weekend fun.

This weekend, we headed to New Ulm to celebrate Uncle Ben's MN reception. It was a busy and exhausting weekend and I'm guessing everyone will sleep well tonight.

Saturday morning, I was fortunate to golf with Ryan, Ben and Jason while Regan/Sidney were in good hands getting a golf ride with Papa. I haven't swung a club in nearly 6 years so it was definitely interesting. But on my first drive of the day, I hit it past Ryan's ball, and the words out of my mouth were "like riding a bike". Ryan just laughed because he knew my second shot was unlikely to turn out as well.

The girls thoroughly enjoyed the cart ride, asking for more and more and more throughout the day.

Thankfully the reception was just inside the club house so we weren't late for the event :) Here is MN meets MD all over again.

And when you start celebrating at 11am, well, let's just say the "jazz hands" come out in full force! Sheena was tired of looking at cute smiles and insisted on a fun photo, she always knows how to make me laugh!

Ah yes, more golf cart rides for these two cuties. Thankfully, I worked at this course for nearly 10 years and know it like the back of my hand. I'm still pretty good at navigating around and weaving in/out of golfers without getting killed by a flying golf ball.

And what trip to New Ulm is complete without a walk up to the top of Herman the German?! The girls just love to go up there and lit up when we announced where we were headed.

Parenting lessons

I'm learning that sometimes, Ryan and I have to do a little better with our parenting, doesn't every parent want to be better sometimes? When there's a strong-willed 2 year old involved, life is sometimes trying. There's the sweet, loving little girl and then there's the demanding, whiny side. Lately it's been a lot of the latter. Occasionally, when Sidney asks for something and the answer is "no", she whines. Not just a little, but A LOT. And occasionally, we give in. Because frankly, it's just easier.

Well, someone's been watching that "giving in"......

Here's a little background on the story: last week, in the car while Ryan was driving, the girls asked for a mint from my purse. I obliged and gave them each a mint (despite the fact that Sidney will ALWAYS spit out the mint stating it is too spicy). However, Sid wanted to pick out her own mint, not take the one from my hand. In an effort to avoid a melt-down, I gave her the tin and she picked out her own. Fast forward to today. The 3 of us left the grocery store parking lot and they asked for a mint. Fine, have a mint. So I dug in my purse, grabbed them a mint and handed them to the back seat. Sid screamed saying she wanted to pick out her own. My purse is no longer in my lap, I'm driving and it's not a good idea to start rummaging around. I said "no. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit" (we say that a lot). She was quiet, grabbed the mint and I thought to myself "Sweet!, no whining". Alas, not the end of the story. Regan proceeds to lean over and tell Sidney "just keep whining and you'll get to pick it out yourself".

Ahh, smarty pants Regan. Not cool. So not cool.

Princess Bubbles

The girls dressed up in their tutus and blew bubbles this afternoon. They looked so adorable in their princess-like-ballet skirts blowing bubbles around the front yard.

Sidney completed her outfit with flip flops. That's my girl.

Escapades at the park

Last night, we headed to a local park for some fun. We had about 30-40 minutes of play time ahead of us. Plenty of time. Or so we thought.

First Sidney had to pee (something she "forgot" before we left home).

Then Regan had to poop.

Then Sidney had to poop.

All total, I spent 18 of those precious playtime minutes standing in front of the mini-biff.

But isn't this face precious?

Alas, we were off and playing. Regan has managed to learn how to do flips on the bars and I must say it's impressive to watch her. She struggles getting her legs up near her feet, a little uncoordinated, but she does it and is so proud of herself!

And a stop at the car wash makes the night complete; with two giggling girls in the backseat watching the water and soap spray the car before their own bath. They were in their glory!