MN Twins

Sunday we carried out one of our yearly traditions....attending a MN Twins baseball game.
This will be the last year we watch a game at the Metrodome, next year the Twins will be in their new stadium.
When I discovered my dad had never been to a game at the dome, we included him in this little venture to the dome.
Knowing it was his first time at the dome I did buy better seats for my Dad, Kevin, and Josh. We usually hang out in the family area, where the air is thinner :) They were behind home plate...in the bottom collage is a picture of them, completely by chance I captured them (I just took a random photo of the section they were sitting in thinking once I viewed it on the computer I might be able to see them, and it worked, although it felt a bit like Where's Waldo as I searched the photo for them) My little ones were thrilled that Gracie joined us, and that out ticket included a soda and a hot dog, great seats are not important to this age. The Twins won which is always a great thing.

Anthony

also had conferences on Friday...he didn't skip into the building like his little sister had earlier.
He approached with the wiseness of one who has done this before. As we waited to meet his teacher he checked out his new surroundings, this year moves him to a new part of the school, and cautiously approached his room and new space. He is my one who takes things slowly. Making sure he is comfortable in his surroundings before truly relaxing and allowing himself to enjoy. He had to take a reading test and was rewarded with a pack of gum, which generated a big smile. No smiles when he heard there would be homework. As we drove home he chatted about how cool it was that he could have a water bottle at his desk, and that his teacher knew Beckie, Josh, and Cassandra. Wonderful to see the big smile on his face as we drove home, a great replacement to the serious look I had viewed on the way to school.

kindergarten...

Friday we went to conferences. Where Yahaira checked out her new classroom, met her teacher, peeked at the lunch room
and met her music teacher. It goes without saying she was excited, she has been ready to go since last may when she turned 5.
She was a bit disappointed when we left, she thought she was staying. The promise of Monday wasn't received with much happiness...I am sure for her Monday seemed like forever. This one is ready for school, so very ready.

first bunch of grapes

after watching, waiting, and wondering most of the summer
last Thursday we finally picked our very first bunch of grapes from our vines.
a few were still a bit sour, but on the whole they tasted amazing. These have seeds, something my little
ones were unfamiliar with..but soon they decided that even with seeds they still tasted great!
This is the first year our plants have actually produced grapes, we had wondered if they ever would.
There are still a few bunches left, and yes there are many eyes watching them waiting for when they too will
be ready to pick...

freezer meals

last week I put together one of our go to meals for those busy mornings and evenings...burritos.
My little people love breakfast burritos, of course our mornings rarely leave time to make these thus the concept of making them ahead and freezing them. A win win all the way around. (bonus no requests to drive through McDonalds to get a breakfast burrito, a healthier solution by far.) I find it easiest to just make breakfast and regular burritos at the same time, you already have most of the ingredients out and assembling and packaging is the same. This way I have two different meals ready to go for those moments when our time is limited. Love seeing that stack of ready to go meals waiting to go in the freezer.

The seventh inning stretch wore her out.

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the end of summer

with these last few days of August it would seem my garden is ready to explode.
Tomatoes and green beans, Zucchini and new potatoes.
I have been freezing and canning (right now I like the easy pace, where I can do this every few days, soon I'm sure it will become simply overwhelming as more and more becomes ready to pick) Yesterday we froze green beans and mixed a batch of fresh salsa. love watching my freezer and shelf's start to fill, we certainly enjoy the fresh tastes all winter long. An added bonus I like knowing where my food originated, that it didn't travel miles to reach me, and I know what was added to the soil during the growing process.

going to church....

(the above picture of course has nothing to do with church or this post for that matter)
Sunday morning it becomes apparent that if I wanted to go to church I would be taking several children with me, solo.
I wanted to go, I have missed that Sunday morning connection (I have been attending mid week services with the kids)
so after reasoning the pro's and con's of taking 6 small kids with one adult I just decided to do it, after all I was leaving the most high maintenance little one at home with Cassandra and usually when both of us go to church it takes one adult just to deal with him so really the other adult deals with the remaining 6 kids, no big deal. right? (I do see holes in that theory, but we moved forward all the same)
All went well until just before the sermon, (what is it about the sermon that brings out the worst in little people?) Baby decided to venture into fussy territory, so out I go with her and the 3 year old (who leaving unattended would simply be asking for disaster) Soon we return with a calm baby. 10 minutes later, back to fussy, so I whisper to the 3, 4 year old to follow me out (knowing that a little venture out wasn't going to solve this fussy baby, and hoping to avoid the in and out spectacle that we surely were) They don't follow me of course they don't, so I stand in the back with a calm baby, apparently she just wanted to stand (of course people in other churches stand all the time during the sermons, clap their hands and wave them in the air even (not this Lutheran I'm afraid) so I watch my crew of 5 several rows ahead, praying they will behave. a prayer that went unanswered....
I have a calm baby, but know that there is no way with her in tow I am going to get the two little rebels out without a major scene, so as I look around for someone to hold her, my eyes fall on two ushers who are chilling in the lobby, minding their own business...success.
As I approach they smile in that way of can we help you (if they only knew, they most likely would have ran) I approach the closest and simply say "could you hold her? I need to remove two little ones from a pew before they destroy the church" I don't believe I even gave him much opportunity to answer as I hand her over and raced into the church, thankful the noise level wasn't off the charts, as I snag the two rebels and usher them down the aisle, getting "those" smiles from many (you know that smile, so glad it isn't me) I pause for a moment near my mother in law and ask (beg) her to go sit with my remaining 3.
The youngest three and I spent the remainder of church hanging out in the lobby...where I creatively lectured myself on the folly of taking 6 kids to church by myself. sigh.
Later as I thanked Betty for sitting with my kids she says, "well I just didn't know if I should interfere" I found myself thinking "honey if you see 5 kids determined to bring down the Church interfere for God sakes"

splits

on the steps?
why not?

cooking up a storm

playing with their felt food (thanks Kelly) (which reminds me I truly should take a picture of the sets she made for the kids)
Rosie is rocking her chef hat....

loose tooth

for weeks she has been wiggling that tooth, eating apples (emma said it would make the tooth fall out quicker)
marshmallows (another emma suggestion) and peanut butter (suggested by cassandra)
She has been quick to show every person her loose tooth.
So ready to be like the big girls, now some of the younger daycare kids are positive that their teeth are also becoming wiggly.

this morning as she played with the cars in the toy room she simply said "oh, my tooth fell out" with the biggest grin on her face.
That grin that now has a hole in it...she has shown everyone her tooth, (lost it once,sigh. major drama until the tooth was found) and is making plans on just what she is going to do with that money the tooth fairy leaves.

baking cookies

what to do on a hot summer day?

bring out the sprinkler of course...

MN Zoo

we spent Sunday morning/early afternoon at the zoo. It is one of my favorite places to visit with my kids.
This summer's exhibit was Africa. Our timing was perfect as we arrived just in time to feed the giraffes. My little ones were so excited to be up close to a giraffe and feeding it was simply a bonus.

Isabella

getting her hair done at the American Girl Salon.
We spent some time wandering around the store. Rosie trying to
decided just which doll she wanted....she has a list started for Santa.
Yahaira was excited to find a pair of glasses for her doll that match hers. (perhaps now she will wear them?)
Once again Anthony waited patiently of course he knew the Lego store was our next stop. :)

meeting Demi.....

Demi Lovato...
who you might ask....
In our house she is best known as Mitchie from the Disney Channel movie Camp Rock.
My little girls know every song, sing them every chance they get. So when Cassandra mentioned that Demi was going to be at the MOA on Saturday I knew it would be a "big" deal to Yahaira and Rosie. Sigh, of course the sane, adult, mom in me was putting forth many good points as to why this would be insane. The Mall of America on a Saturday is insane, period. Now mix in preteen girls and it has simply skipped to pure chaos. Of course we went, bracing for what sure to be an interesting, possibly disappointing (honestly what are the chances we would even get close enough to see her?) afternoon. We arrived a bit before noon (she was scheduled to appear at 1) decided food would help with attitude, peeked at the crowd and simply wanted to run but by then they knew she was going to be there, so we were committed if you will. After lunch we ventured back to the rotunda, discovering my concern of no room was truly accurate (yes we could have arrived a lot earlier, but I have limits and standing in line with a 7,5, and 4 year old for hours is definitely one of them) we moved up a floor and quickly found a space where they could sit behind some tall people and watch the scene unfold (amazing location actually they were able to see quite well) As the time inched closer to her appearance (which ended up being closer to 1:30) the noise and excitement just skyrocketed. As I attempted to direct their eyes as to where to look and watch, explaining to Yahaira time and time again that no we couldn't just push that person out of her viewing space that they were there first. Of course she wasn't doing the pushing (thank goodness) she was asking me to do it for her, sorry honey that women could take me in one swipe, not going to happen :) Really young girls can make a lot of noise, a lot. I could have used some Tylenol, ear plugs would have been a bonus.
By the time she appeared, Rosie was in tears (a bit of tiredness, certainly overwhelmed, and a whole lot of excitement at finally seeing "mitchie") Watching them wave and yell hello made the headache disappear quickly, they were so excited to be seeing her. Even Anthony (who honestly gets dragged into more things ) was pretty excited to be a part of this moment. Quite quickly the people in front of us left giving them a wonderful view (the picture of course doesn't show that, sigh distance and my cell phone does not equal a great photo)
When we returned home it seemed that Beckie and Cassandra were a bit jealous that they didn't get to see her, who knew? Quickly followed by the comments of "wow, mom you never did that with us" Love when they do that, those older kids were so deprived....
apparently I just imagined sitting at an Nysnc concert many years ago...(next to the gentlemen who used toilet paper for ear plugs)
sheepish grins followed my reminder... and since that photo is a bit dismal you can go here

Day 17

after spending the night in Hastings
we visited their local farmers market and then onto the
Hastings Museum
Another amazing museum.
Hastings is the birthplace of Kool-aid, so a section of the museum was devoted to the history of Kool-aid.
The kids loved that part.

We once again hit the highway making our way through Nebraska, Iowa and eventually arriving in Minnesota.
we arrived home late in the evening.
Completing the most amazing vacation, filled with sights, and scenery, fascinating cities and people.
Still I am processing, at times overwhelmed by all that we did see.
and yes it was good to be home.