loving their moment on tv

refer to earlier post to see why these guys were on tv.

Big Back Yard

Not so popular of an exhibit for some, could it have been the 90+ temps or the humidity that was off the charts? The water activities were definately a hit!

pictures to go with the talking to dino's post from earlier

Science museum

as I posted earlier, loved the Pompeii exhibit...fascinating. We spent over 7 hours here, unbelievable.

swimming

It seemed that each time we decided to go for a swim we had the hotel pool all to ourselves...which was pretty cool!
We certainly have a houseful of little fish, love the water! absolutely love it!

and a few more

I think I may have posted earlier about our trip to Underwater Adventure at the Mall of America last weekend. I also posted pictures but apparently the picture posting part wasn't working. Well here are those pictures finally!

underwater adventure...

Diggin' Dinos

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Science Museum they placed dinosaur statues throughout the metro area. Several years ago we took part in St. Paul's tribute to Charles Schulz and for 5 years we visited downtown St. Paul to search for the current Peanut figures. It usually was an all day event and became a fun summer activity. So when visiting the Science museums website I was thrilled to discover that there would be dino statues to search for this summer. So fun to watch the little ones discover each new statue, and although they appeared far to mature to show it, I caught a bit of the competitive nature between Josh and Cassandra that had been displayed years earlier as they hunted and tried to out do the other in the search for the Peanut figures as they searched this time for dinosaurs.

now appearing on a tv near you...

one of the interactive displays at the science museum...watching Rosie and Alonso was absolutely hilarious.
Yahaira could not figure out how Katie and Cassandra were inside the tv set.

Talking to the dinosaur's

this was by far Rosie's favorite exhibit...she loved! the whole experience. She would stand under the dinosaur display craning her neck to see the top of the dinosaur and say "look mommy, dinosaur!" Hearing her giggles and watching her go from display to display was simply priceless.
At a few of the displays there were "phones" set up so you could hear a bit of info about that particular dinosaur...Rosie was sitting on one of the stools with the phone to her ear and I asked her what she was doing "I talk to the dinosaur mom." Love that kid.

science museum

on my list of things to do this summer, visit the science museum to see the Pompeii exhibit. Saturday was the day...I wondered how it would go since we had the 4 little ones with us, amazingly they did better than the two adult children we had with us. Linda and family met us at the museum a little before noon...we finally left around 7, yes we did spend almost 8 hours there. The Pompeii exhibit was amazing...as was the omni show. Yahaira and Rosie were not too impressed with the movie. So glad we made the time to take in this special exhibit.

testing

no idea if this is working...but I am looking at a picture, hopefully you will too as soon as I post this.
edited:
no longer seeing the picture, sigh, back to figuring out why this isn't working.

No pictures for awhile

some days computers are so maddening. I have been unable to post pictures since the weekend. Not the end of the world just frustrating. Apparently the Internet upgrade Kevin performed had a glitch, but only with my picture program. sigh.
I am trying to figure it out, eventually I will. double sigh.

Gymnastics

Yahaira is taking gymnastics lessons twice a week this summer. She was a bit hesitant the first time, but now, well now she has no fear, loves every piece of equipment (yes they do put 3 year olds on the beam and the bars) not so sure my heart can survive watching her. Of course it helped enormously that Jocelyn was there, Yahaira thinks Jocelyn is simply all that! Every day she asks if it's time to go to j'nastix (gymnastics for those of you who don't speak 3 year old)

just had to share....

adorable aren't they?
The hat's that is...of course the girls are adorable.
Found these at the museum a few weeks ago when I traveled to Walnut Grove fro the Fragments of a Dream pageant.
Couldn't resist.

Do you realize

that at this time I have a 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year old all currently living under my roof.
WHAT IS THAT????
Oh! and let's not forget the 18, and 20 year old also spending the summer here, and on occasion the 21 year old joins us
sigh, what does this tell you?
God definately has a sense of humor.

Harry Potter book 7

last night Cassandra and I along with Linda, Katie and Jay ventured to Mankato to our local (can local be 45 miles away? in rural Minnesota it can be) Barnes and Noble. We arrived around 8:20, did a bit of mall browsing and met Cassandra and Katie back at Barnes and Nobel around 9:15. They already had the wristbands needed to buy the books at midnight. So we browsed a bit, did some trivia, had our pictures taken with Harry Potter, browsed some more and near 10 decided that perhaps we should leave for a bit, since the crowds and the characters and crowds and well you get the idea were becoming a bit challenging. So we walked to Olive Garden. As we returned to Barnes and Noble we were a bit surprised to see a line (long line, very long line) outside the door. Confident since we had wristbands we didn't worry, until we neared the door and discovered so did the rest of the people in line...so to the back of the line we traveled, sigh. As we moved forward (they were allowing people in as customers exited) we wondered if we would make it inside before the book went on sale. We did, woohoo! and entered a world unlike any other...the excitement inside the store was amazing...There were people in costume...some were unbelievable in their detail. I saw a Ron wannabe complete with bright red hair. There were grandparents, babies, families and young and old adults all waiting for midnight to arrive. As it neared 12 they started to line people up according to your wristband, we were letter "H" I opted to not stand in line with the rest, (serious issues with crowds and pushy people) So I found a spot right near the checkouts ready to capture the moment when Cassandra purchased her book. I am so glad I decided to forgo the line, beside the obvious reason that at this late hour I would have been most inclined to hurt someone if they got on my nerves :) from my vantage point I watched as people began to line up at the registers, the excitement was unbelievable, the guy on the loud speaker was humorous and annoying at the same time. First they announced 5 minutes, soon it was a minute, you could feel the tense, excited mood of those waiting in line...soon the crowd picked up the countdown 5....4...3...2...1 I watched as the first book was rang up (the clerk was so excited she was shaking) . The first person to purchase the last installment of the Harry Potter books was a women in her 50's, she walked away with the book held close with the biggest grin on her face. I continued to watch people as they checked out and walked away, all with big smiles, many already reading their book as they left the store. So cool to see young and old...so cool to watch as people who had waited in line joined their families who had opted to not (like me) wait in line, I saw families, college students, and single adults leaving the line, each excited to finally have this much awaited book in their possession, the energy never dissipated. I wondered at how a book could capture such a large audience, how it was something that was a family event, and appealed to young and old alike. Soon I saw my group draw near, snapped a few pics (a note about picture quality, since I forgot my camera at home, yes I did just admit that, I had to use my camera phone not the best alternative but it certainly was better than nothing at all) amazingly Cassandra ended up at the checkout at the end which placed her right by me, serious excitement, as her turn approached I could only laugh at her, she was shaking with excitement...the clerk was equally excited and I wondered if the transaction would be able to be completed with all the excited trembling going on. Loved that moment, loved that I was able to share it with Cassandra (last year when Barnes and Noble did the prelaunch party I opted to not attend, thinking it was so late and a whole host of other excuses this year I decided to just do it, it was the last book and at least once I wanted to be a part of the launch) the pictures above are of Cassandra purchasing the book, and when we arrived home (it was1:40, that would be a.m.) She read the book the whole way home. I had stated throughout the evening that I fully intended to read the end first, since I simply did not want to read the whole book only to discover that Harry died in the end. ...that was met with horrified reactions and I was repeatedly told (lectured) as to how I couldn't do that. Ummmm you know I did, but, I only read the last few sentences, what happens? I'm not telling guess you will have to read the book yourself. :)

Harry Potter

I'm afraid until I figure out how to post multiple pictures from multiple folders you will have to just suffer thru multiple posts.
Scenes from last night, loved the stack of boxes just waiting for midnight to be opened. I also discovered that under no uncertain terms should I ever! ever! purchase round frames...not a flattering shape for me at all.

Juice box

She can get the box out of the refrigerator with no problem. She can open the straw and put it into the box with little effort now. Of course I applaud each new accomplishment, each new sign of independance, each new milestone. That is until she is on her fifth juice box of the morning...then I tend to get a bit grumpy with the independant little thing.