Summer List From This Week

With the end of summer fast approaching (*sniff*, *bawl*), we continued to make memories this week by crossing activities off of our summer list.

• Quarry Hill.  A nature center, hiking and biking trails, butterfly garden and more.  There are also mini nature classes offered that I'd like to sign Maggie up for next summer.

 

• Make forts.

• Make a pie.  We (I) chose to make triple berry, primarily with raspberries from our patch.

 

• Make clover necklaces.  Growing up, I loved it when my mom would make me necklaces and crowns.  Maggie insisted I make one for her Belle doll, too.

 

She shared a clover with her brother.

•  Photo booth.  We grabbed some random accessories and had fun for a few minutes.

•  Give Asia a bath.  Yeah, I just added this one.  She was stinky.

 

• Make a sandcastle.  We didn't make it to a beach this summer, but Maggie knew it was on the list so took charge one day and built one in our sandbox.

 

 

From our list, we also:

• Went to the Rochester Farmer's market. We already crossed off Farmer's Market since the kids went with Aunt Angie in Princeton, but we hadn't been to Rochester's yet.  It was very cool! 

• Painted Very Hungry Caterpillar pictures.  They turned into random whatever pictures.

• Visited the Humane Society.  Very nice, but disappointing as we felt we couldn't pet the cats or even see the dogs unless we were serious about adopting.  The one we used to visit in Coon Rapids (where we got Toby) was pretty lenient about that.

 

 

And some other things we've been up to:

 

We finally bought a fire pit since moving to our new house, so we had to have our first bonfire at home and enjoyed hot dogs and, of course, s'mores.

 

 

 

I also did a few simple projects this week. 

 

In preparation for the start of the school year, I thought I would organize some activities for our sitter to do with the kids while I work.  I think it's easy to forget everything there is to do at home, so I organized a list of toys, games, and recipes/directions for other activities (by room!).  I hope it's helpful!

 

 

This is the second cabinet that I have salvaged from the garage, left by the previous owners.  I thought this particular one could be a patio drink bar for when we entertain outside.  I'm currently searching for a mini fridge that will fit behind that lower door.

Before

After a very quick fix.

 

 

Then there was this project.  I had intended to build a coffee table for our living room.

 

  After I power washed, sanded, assembled, and stained it white AND had struggled to transport it halfway inside, Steve paused and suggested that it was too..."Heavy?" I prompted.  No.  "Big?"  No. "Rustic?"  He thought that was a polite way to put it, I begrudgingly agreed, so it ended up finding a home as another side table for our patio.

And to conclude my very long and random post, here are some pictures of my sweet children just being themselves.

A very committed flosser.

And lest you think the above photo is an accurate summary of the utopia that is our lives, let me inform you this lasted approximately two minutes before Bode tried stealing the Kindle from Maggie and Maggie started screaming at the top of her lungs.  :)

Maggie-ism Monday: A Buck Naked Girl

Some Maggie anecdotes from the past couple months.  There have been scores more, but these are the ones I remembered to write down.  I recorded them mostly for my own memory, but maybe you'll enjoy them as well.


I was sitting at our patio table watching the kids play when Maggie rushed up to me, exclaiming, "Wanna hear something exciting?"  Um, of course! "Grammy and Bapa know Eli and Grandma and Grandpa!  ...But they don't know Buster." (Amazing that different sides of the family can know each other!  Buster the dog is new, so that is excused.)

We biked to swimming lessons one day, and I let Maggie leave her clothes in the bike trailer outside the pool entrance since she already had her swimsuit on.  Afterwards, as we were leaving, I remembered her clothing was still outside, so instead of changing in the locker room, I intended to put a towel around Maggie, and bike home with her in her wet suit.  With this intent, we walked out to the parking lot, and I set to work buckling Bode into the bike trailer When I finished, I turned around to see Maggie standing there...in public...very nonchalantly, I might add...buck naked.  AHH!  I rushed to shield her, frantically throwing her clothes on.  Thankfully, it seemed the only ones that saw my sweet daughter's birthday suit were a couple of shocked elementary-aged girls.

I recently gave Maggie an empty powder compact for her to play with.  After I showed her where the applicator pad went, in its own compartment below the powder, it seemed to make more sense to her: "Oh, it's like a toilet seat." Um...okay.

While driving home from Rochester one day, I heard Maggie say, "I love you, Bode." She frequently proclaims her love for me, but I don't hear it as often directed toward her brother, so I chimed in "Aww, that's so sweet."  She paused for a moment and then clarified, "Not that much."

"Bode cracks me." (...up?)

While driving in Rochester, I was amazed that Maggie could identify a building as a doctor's office even though we'd never visited it and there were no medical symbols in view.  I asked her how she knew.  Her reply?  " I used my eyes,  my special blue eyes." 

And here's the one that pulled at my heartstrings.  When I asked Maggie today how she got to be so pretty, she replied, "I teached (learned) it from you!  You're the most pretty girl in the whole world!" Awwww.

 

A Purple Room

Remember this very bright, blind-your-eyes-pepto-bismal-pink room? 

 

 

We overhauled it.  I would have considered keeping it (maybe) if Maggie was in love with it, but she wasn't.  She never really used the chalkboard border except to scribble on it every now and then.  And she REALLY wanted a purple room due to it being her very favorite color.  So we added "Paint Maggie's room purple" to the summer list and got to work about a month ago.

This is what we got.

Pardon the dim light.  I took pictures while the kiddos were preoccupied yesterday evening. Who knows if it will ever be this clean again.

Décor is a random collection of new (quilt and rug), thrift store (bedside table and shelf), and crafted items (pom poms, branch and lei headboard, "M" and frame).

Bookshelves made from a pallet we had sitting in our garage.  I've recently scavenged and collected some more pallets from the elementary schools in town, so stay tuned for more pallet-based projects.  I'm thinking coffee table?



Maggie loves her new reading nook. 

When asked what she wanted on the walls in her room, Maggie replied, "doggies, kitties, and Disney princesses."  I just can't bring myself to plaster her room with cartoon characters, but here's the doggy and kitty she asked for. 
The dresser still needs a makeover...someday.

Shortly after completion, Maggie adamantly decided that her favorite color is now pink (I think after everyone everywhere asking her if her favorite color is pink, she decided it should be).  I informed her the room would be staying purple.  She's ok with that.

The Summer List in July

So what have we accomplished on our summer list these past few weeks while we've been here and there? (Note: I have taken the liberty to edit our list activities if we do something fun and new that I didn't originally list.  I can do that.  I created it.  Hehe.)

Branson:

- Car activities, including a scavenger hunt.

- Fish hatchery.  The biologist and fishergirl in me really enjoyed that. :)

 

 

- Tie dyed T-shirts.  It was offered at our resort's activity hall.

 

 

- Kids made their own stuffed animal puppies.  Similar to Build-a-Bear, it was also offered at the resort.

 

 

-Mini golf.

 

 

While with Grandparents:

-Fished


Caught one!

-Caught fireflies

-Put on a puppet show

-Picnic

- Drive-in movie.



Cars made in Fairmont, used in Princeton.

-Farmer's market (with Uncle Jim, Aunt Angie, Eli, and Lily.)

-Isanti County Fair



(And more s'mores.)

And since we've been home:

-Smashing baked cotton balls.  Didn't shatter as much as I had hoped.

 

 

-Made mailboxes.  They weren't too interested in this.  Bode had fun putting letters through the slot for awhile, and Maggie just liked coloring it.

 

 

-Minnesota Children's Museum in Rochester

 

 

-Made pinecone bird feeders.

 

 

-Picked raspberries.

-Harvested and ate some (more) food from our garden.

There may have been more we've accomplished these past few weeks that I just can't remember.  But we have crossed them off!  Approximately 29 to go!

Here and There

After almost two full weeks out of state, I am quite behind on documenting our summer happenings.

On July 12th, we did a test run in the van in preparation for our long car trip.  We had less than 3 hours to travel to Steve's parents for the night, but we ended up getting stranded an hour from our destination with car problems.  This was after the $900 tune up we just had.  *sigh*  Steve's dad came and rescued us and then they were kind enough to lend us their car for vacation while our van went to the "doctor," as Maggie said. 

We had another brief panic when their car wouldn't start the next morning.  Steve was able to jump it so I could make it in time for a 5K that I ran with my friend, Evie, that morning.  It was her first one, and she did great!  It was also fun for me to be able to be the top female finisher that day.

After church on Sunday, we started our vacation to Branson.  It was pretty low-key, but fun none-the-less.  Steve put together a video to show the highlights:



We returned home Friday night after a full day of driving, washed clothes and repacked Saturday, the helped to celebrate our nephew's 1st birthday in Minneapolis on Sunday.  He is adorable as was the party.

Getting after the cupcake.

I feel like these pictures pretty much sum up Bode's personality.

The cousins had fun popping bubbles and giggling together.

My parents were in heaven.

Monday morning, we spent some time at the Mall of America before my mom and sister took Maggie and Bode home with them so Steve and I could leave on our own vacation.  It was our first vacation without kids! 

We spent four nights in Las Vegas before driving to visit my younger brother, Andrew, and his wife, Kate in Loma Linda, California.  Our time with them Friday evening was definitely a highlight.  They brought us to a really cool brewery at a hangar and then out for Thai and handcrafted ice cream.  Yum!  In the morning, Kate and I ran a niner (whew, you pushed me, girl!) and then she took Steve and I to experience our first Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf latte.

We saw the Cirque du Soleil "O" show.  Awesome.

 

Fountain show at the Bellagio.

Morning trip to see Hoover Dam.  The heat was stifling all week.

Trying a Coca Cola world sampler in Vegas.

I've always been curious to see a wax museum, so we went!

We had a very long night of flying with a layover Sunday morning, but we were refreshed and soooo ready (at least this mama was) to see our sweet babies.  They didn't miss us a bit after getting to see both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Steve wants to make Vegas a yearly trip...we'll see. :)

Summerfest

It has been a full and fun week. After returning from Wisconsin Dells last Tuesday, we jumped right into the Fourth of July Festivities here in Stewartville. They do it big here. Thursday morning started with the Summerfest runs. I raced in the 5 mile then jogged the 3 mile with my mom, and then also got to accompany Maggie on her very first race (1/2 mile). She walked and ran through it, with minimal stopping. During one burst of energy, she exclaimed, "Bapa was right! Unicorns are fast!" (referring to the unicorn she had gotten painted on her face right before her race.)

 



 

 

After enjoying the kiddie activities, grilling out with my parents and sister, attending the parade, and taking in the fireworks from our driveway, we were ready to head to Fairmont on Friday for the rest of the weekend.  I got to see a few dear childhood friends and their babies and then we crossed some more activities off our summer list.  We visited Grammy and Bapa, Maggie camped in the backyard with Grammy and Bapa, and we enjoyed blueberry pancakes and bacon from the grill for breakfast Saturday morning.  Now THAT is one of my favorite summer smells.

Now we have a week at home before leaving for our Branson vacation next week.  Have I mentioned I like summer?

 

 

Another activity checked off our list - tea party.

And her first dentist appointment this morning.  She did great!

Two Day Vacay

Wanna know what's great about summer?  Lots of things, but one in particular is Steve's more flexible schedule so that we can take mini vacations like the one we just took to the Wisconsin Dells.  I have to say that I think this was our most enjoyable family vacation to the Dells thus far.  Bode is old enough to enjoy splashing and playing with Maggie, and Maggie gained confidence we weren't expecting.  She loved the lazy river, swam and jumped in confidently with a life jacket on, and even took the step to go down a longer water slide instead of the tiny kiddie ones.  I was sad to see it end, but then reminded myself of all the summer fun yet to come!

Steve put together a little YouTube video of our time there: