Long Overdue

One of the good things about my "blog a day" month was that nothing accumulated, and I was able to keep up with the events in our lives without many exciting things piling up. One of the bad things was that I didn't end up getting much else done in the evenings during that month because I really only have about an hour of free time in the evening. And now I'm back to where I was before, with hundreds of unsorted photos and many events that should make it into the record book, but I did crochet a blanket and a half instead so all is not lost!

That said, I'm just going to dive in and post some of my favorite pictures and events from the last however long it has been.

The sun arrived and we were able to start playing and eating (and drinking white wine in the sun) outside!

Father's Day! Ben decided we'd been to Fuddrucker's too recently to go again for Father's Day, as is the tradition, so we went to Outback instead so he could have the ball of deep fried onion he's been thinking about for weeks that I kept refusing to share with him. I know, I'm cruel. He made sure to wear his Father's Day shirt, so there's that at least.

We had a nice time, and added another photo to the Father's day series.

2008

2009

2010

2011

We went to the Zoo a few times and discovered this thing...

Took the train to the "big city" and went on a fountain tour...

Adele discovered sand...

Adopted a baby...

(This is a terrible picture, but she really fell in love with babies recently and I can't find a better one)

And started to insist on feeding herself... with some success and an enormous amount of mess.

She will also sign "more" if she REALLY wants something. Like milkshake. She has about 15 words now, but still mostly communicates with grunting and pointing.

Fiona found a lot of caterpillars and she and a friend collected some of them up in a bucket...

Yeah, that's a lot of caterpillars!

She was very excited about all her new "friends". This next video comes in two parts. There's a gap because she falls over and needs to be rescued, then finds another "friend" who wants to join her on the slide.

We did some other stuff too, but it's time for bed and this is long enough, so I'll leave you with this link to my sisterinlaw Cathy's blog. We did this today, and the girls had so much fun. Fiona loves hanging with her cousin Emily and the big girls, and it turns out Adele is part fish, so we all had a lovely time.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Today we enjoyed the lovely warmer weather and took a walk to the park, and had a quick trip to Ikea to look for basement furniture.

Here's a riddle for you... If a train leaves the station at 8am and I make 8 orange frosted cinnamon rolls for breakfast, then Ben eats one, and Fiona eats two, how many do I end up eating before my post-vacation diet begins tomorrow? If your answer is "however many were left" you'd be correct. Shameful, I know. But ooooooh so good!

This evening Ben put the rear speakers up in the basement and we finally got the electronic dartboard we've had for a few years hung up. We didn't have a good spot for it before, but now we do! After some super fun darts matches on vacation I am determined that the next time I play with other people I will be less bad than before ;-)

Here's the new practice area (and speakers)...

Fiona chowed down on the chocolate egg Michael and Julia (and the cousins) gave her. She was so excited to eat this! She didn't eat the whole thing, and I am trying my very hardest not to sneak into the cupboard and munch on the leftovers myself... If the picture makes it from Ben's phone to my email before I am done, I'll include it :-)

So far, they have not. I'll post those tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Busy Monday

I work for a group at the University of Minnesota, and this week we're doing a bunch of events for graduate student appreciation week, so it's going to be a very busy week for me. This morning the girls accompanied me on a couple of trips up to St. Paul to deliver goodies to give out to the students, and in between those we had a trip to the park...

Fiona is funny sometimes. She wanted to climb a ladder that started out vertical, but then twisted to be sideways and horizontal. She began climbing and insisted she could do it because: "I'm a toddler Mummy, I'm so big!". Once the ladder began to twist she changed her mind and said "it's just too scary, I'm only a little girl". She makes me laugh.

On our way back from our 2nd St. Paul trip we stopped to have some lunch. Fiona loves to eat soup at the co-op, but Adele is quickly overtaking her in the amount that each girl eats at meal times.

After lunch we headed home for about 45 minutes, during which Fiona amazingly fell asleep on the couch. I think it's possible she is getting sick because she NEVER does this.

Sadly we were off for our next adventure - the car dealership. My car was in just last week for repairs but since then developed a weird squeak in the back. They have a playroom so the girls were entertained, but it was still a pretty boring 2 hours. Luckily they fixed it, and it's still under warranty so it was free!

Fiona loved rocking this bear in a cradle... she kept telling us to "shh" and that we'd get time outs for being noisy while her baby was sleeping. And this meant any noise whatsoever. So after 2 hours of that I was ready to be done!

Adele entertained herself by trying to chew on the metal windowsill. After 2 hours I was ready to be done with that too.

Then it was home time. Dinner. Then we went back to the park for a little play ebfore bed. Fiona played with Daddy while I pulled pieces of playground rubbery stuff out of Adele's mouth.

Then it was home to bed for the girls, and then I worked until 11 which explains the dullness of this post! And now I am off to bed.

Visit Part 2

David and Ali left on Thursday evening, and we had lots of fun in the second part of their visit too.

Ben took Tuesday off work, and we went to Chinese buffet for lunch. David and Ali like Chinese food a lot, and Fiona had a fun time screeching, eating cake, and crumbling fortune cookies onto the floor.

After that we headed over to the Summit Brewery to go on their tour. We leaned a lot about the history of Summit, and how beer is made, and then Davis and Ali toured the inner workings of the brewery. Fiona refused to wear the protective eyewear provided, so Ben and I kept her company while everyone else toured.

After the tour Summit gave everyone the gift of three free beer tokens! Despite our best efforts, we still had a pile left over when we were ready to leave. We considered trying to take them to bars and claiming our free beers later...

On Tuesday evening we partied at Bill and Ginger's house with cousins and second cousins. It was a lot of fun. Ben's cousin Josh and his family were passing though, and their son Max was born only one day before Fiona. It's fun to see them together, though he's toddling around and Fiona's still crawling. We gave her a pep-talk, but she still prefers to be carried.

She did learn a fancy new trick though... Fiona can now climb up onto the couch, and climb off again. We used to hide the TV remote on top of the back cushions, but now we'll have to find a new place...

Not only that, but she's also started saying 'hi'. She likes to pretend to answer the phone and say hi. She also holds other random stuff up to her ear and says hi... like a duplo block, or a ball, or a sticky yogurt container...

Here's a video showcasing both new talents!

On Wednesday we went to the mall, and then in the evening Ali, David and I went to see Cirque du Soleil's travelling Kooza show. Despite being terrified at some points that the performers were about to at least break some limbs if not fall to their death, it was really incredible and we had a great time! The most impressive part of the show was the 'wheel of death'

The guys inside walk and run round the wheels to stay upright (think hamsters) while the contraption spins round. Then the less mentally stable performer swings round to the outside of the ring, and performs various insanities such as jumping rope, running as fast as he can so he doesn't fall off, and generally leaping around like a loony...

It was very impressive, but completely terrifying!!

Then on Thursday we had a picnic at Minnehaha falls. There is almost no water in the river, so the falls are completely dry, and kind of sad looking!

The disappointment was softened later when a wild Turkey ran out in front of us. Very exciting!!

After that we headed home for packing and napping, then after a traditional American dinner of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (in a box). Despite this dish being a staple for children all across the country, Fiona flatly refused to so much as taste it... maybe it was the glowing orange tones that put her off...

Later, we packed David and Ali off to the airport and waved goodbye. We were all sad to see them go, but we had a super fun time with them!! Thanks for visiting! Who'd like to visit next?

Duthie Park Adventure

When we were little, we'd go to Duthie Park a lot, usually on Sunday. there are lots of paths for walking, swings and chutes and things to play on, and the 'winter gardens' which is a big indoor greenhouse with fish and plants and cacti and a big frog that jumps up out of a pond and scares you. There's also a really big hill to climb, that makes you super tired by the time you are at the top. So today Me, Dad, and Ali took Fiona there for a walk.

The first thing I saw was... spring!! Which gave me hope that one day flowers will once again bloom in my garden in Minneapolis.

Then we walked to the giant hill... but wait... it shrank! What happened to the hill that took 20 minutes to walk up and required a rest on the bench halfway? Yet another sacred childhood memory ruined by adult perspective.

Next we visited the Winter Gardens. It was also smaller than I remembered, but still fun. Fiona really liked looking at the fish. Next to the fish, nestled subtly in with the flowers, was the world's most polite sign... it said "please refrain from feeding or handling the fish. Thank you". I wish more signs used words like "refrain". I think it would create a more genteel world, where people open doors for others and cover their mouths when they cough...

We walked round and found the pond where the big frog lives... here he is, lurking...

After quite a wait, he leaped out of the pond... no... wait... he quietly rose to the surface and bobbed about sadly for a minute before sinking back down... I'm not sure if I remember it was much more exciting when I was 2, or if McPuddock (yes, that is really his name) is just tired from jumping out at children every few minutes for the last 25 years, but it was an exciting moment of nostalgia nonetheless.

And speaking of nostalgia, here I am at the winter Gardens with my Mum and Granny (Mum's Mum) back in the day...

Fiona seemed disinterested in McPuddock, but did have a good time hanging out with Aunty Ali.

We then had some fun playing on the swings and see-saw. Fiona loves the swings!

And after that it was getting cold, so we headed home. Here is one last picture. She had fun at the park!

Minnehaha Park Adventure

Since today's high was a balmy 31 degrees (very nearly 0 C!!) Fiona and I decided to leave the house and go to the park. We got all bundled up and took the train down the road to meet our friends Dasha and Tomas. We all walked to Minnehaha park and had a look at the waterfall.

The falls are still very much frozen... They are sooking all the water out of the bottom so they can do some maintenance and try to help with the erosion, just like they did to Niagara Falls. Pretty fancy, huh? Here's a proposed before/after so you can see just how amazing it will look by Summer...

Before:

After:

I think it will be lovely!

Then we walked around the park a little before heading back to Dasha's house for a warming cup of tea.  Fiona took a little nap on the way.

We had some tea and played for a while, then Fiona and I went home. It looks like a long walk... and by then, it was pretty cold again, so it felt like one too!

I guess as adventures go, that wasn't particularly exciting. But just wait... tomorrow we're going to have an adventure at the Minneapolis Development Review Department in the Minneapolis Public Service Center. Stay tuned!!