Daddy's birthday

Maren was super excited to hear is was going to be Daddy's birthday. She was drawing pictures and coloring, and talking about what she would get him for his birthday. One night at dinner she says to him, "I could get you wipes for Baby Lilly!" She was just so excited she wanted to get him everything. 

She said he had to have a cake so we picked up cake mixes and frosting at the store and on his birthday we made two marble cakes before I went to work. Maren cracked all the eggs and helped with the mixer. 

They loved the batter. Who wouldn't?

She had told Dad he could have a horse (what she had on her cake for her last birthday) or a kitty (what Lilly had) on his cake. Dad wasn't up for either. Somehow it was decided that "Dark" Vader would be on Dad's cake. I am NOT my mom but the cake was baked, layered, frosted, and decorated before Dad got home from work.

Maren was ecstatic!

We had a nice dinner at home. I had stopped at the liquor store and got a bottle of wine that they import from our favorite little Italian town San Gimignano, vernaccia. Then we went to the grocery store and put together a meat and cheese plate with olives and crackers. It was a hit! Happy Birthday, Dad.

Now someone tell me which store has a cart with two seats for kids but a partition in between. Lilly kept pinching Maren then pulling her hair and then she's put her head on Maren's lap and say, "cuddle, cuddle." For real?

A new chapter

My daughter will be three and a half this week. Three and a half and this is her first day of day care. Boy, I am so lucky to be able to say that. She's been babysat and taken care of by family before by never day care. And Lillian she's 15 months old and she has the same story. I am very lucky to be able to say that. I am lucky that I was the one to mold their young minds in the safety and security of our home for so long. 

Now, a new chapter.

Here's their first-day-of-day-care breakfast.

Maren called them snakes. 

I found a gal, Kelly, in St Paul just south of downtown that has an in-home day care. She is a licensed Pre-primary educator with her Masters degree. She is super laid back and I felt at ease after one visit. She has two boys of her own both about 6 months behind my girls. She doesn't mind that I don't know my schedule for the week until sunday evening, and get this, she's even cool with Lilly's cloth diapers! I know! Awesome! She's real reasonable and is only charging me 50 cents more an hour than I make. So tips is still all extra. I had no anxiety leading up to this day. Thank you, God.

Drop off:

Binky and Blanket go with, of course.

Lilly's dressed to the nines with her beads. She is always wearing beads.

It took them all of 3 seconds to hop on the bikes and ride off. I stayed a few minutes but wasn't noticed so off I went!

It felt a little odd leaving them behind but before you know it I was back to pick them up and Kelly said they had a great day. They were there for just over 4 hours and I didn't worry about them for a minute. What a great find! This week they went swimming in the kiddie pool out back and they painted and did   sidewalk chalk. Thanks, Kelly! 

Puppets

I couldn't believe Lilly's excitement about wearing these bath mitts around the house. When she sees a bunny she says "hippy hop"

I heard a lot of that.

If they fell off she would bring them to me and say, "help, help"

I heard a lot of that.

Something else she really gets a kick out of that I can't believe: balls. She plays with them and just screams with joy! She holds a ball up over her head and throws it straight down with gusto. So fun!

Fruits of my labor

Straight from the garden, home grown watermelon. What a snack. It happens to be a favorite around these two kids. I was happy to get two small watermelons out of my garden this year before my vines just dried up. The downfall, they were full of seeds. Lots and lots of seeds. 

Lesson learned: Seedless, store-bought watermelons are worth their weight!

State Fair!

I can't explain how much I love the State Fair!

It's such a fun time. 

However, it is yet another sign that summer is almost over.

The kids love it almost as much as me (which I'm pretty sure I inherited from my mom, thanks ma). I gave Gram a ticket for her birthday (last week) and we took the girls during the day. 

First stop: the miracle of birth center. It's a great place to see the animals up close and the babies too! Maren told stories about the video she saw of a calf birth (chains and all - she said they pulled it out of the mom's butt :)).

Lillian figured she belonged inside of the pens as she attempted with all her might to crawl right over the fence. My little monkey.

Maren sucks her thumb when she's overwhelmed or when she touches something silky. We are trying to discourage it more as she gets older but THIS is cute.

We scored free frozen custard for having good timing at Custard's Last Stand!

A big cup full. Lucky girls. We'll stop there every year now. It was great. Find them right outside the Grandstand.

Note: I am not a fan of strollers at the fair but during the day is USUALLY slower and Grandma and I can only handle so much so we packed the kids into them.

We trucked it to the pet building and watched an Australian Shepherd demo. They asked for a young volunteer, to which my mom and I offered up Maren. She got to go in the ring and pet the dogs. She loves dogs. She gave one a hug around the neck, which was pretty much the point of asking in a youngster. Way to go, girl. It did make Lilly pretty jealous. She wants to do whatever her sister does.

Right behind us, the Great Sing Along! A Karaoke set up, new this year at the fair. Maren is a total performer. She ate this right up.

sure she can't read the screen but she didn't care. 

- the song: Purple Rain, Prince. Can't tell? I know, too much laughing. Everyone loved her. I laughed so hard I was crying while taking this. (Hence the unsteady hand. I mean, how could you NOT laugh?)

We watched almost all of the parade and then it was getting so late we had to take the kids home for a rest. They slept like rocks for almost 2 hours when we woke them up to head back! Yep, once Matt got home we packed 'em back up and went for more! We ride the bus in. It's so easy(and free). Not to mention it is like an amusement park ride in itself.  

When I go with Matt we brave the evening crowd by using the backpack. We hit up the milk ($1 for all you can drink). While there Lilly saw everyone eating those Sweet Martha's Cookies. I can eat 1, maybe 2 so we never buy them as they only come in large quantities. Since the girls are so lucky (or maybe it's because they're so cute) they managed to have someone offer them the rest of their cookies! Amazing! Now, cookies and milk and it's not even dinner time.

 Maren had to walk by the kid-way earlier today and it wasn't easy. I told her she could pick one ride and go with Dad later. She had her eye on the Sky Glider. And that's what she picked as her one ride. Up and over the grounds they went!

...right up to the Great Sing Along for the last 3 songs of the night. We even ran into a friend! Hi, to Alex and Millie from ECFE!

Maren continues to belt it out.

The kids did great. We were home by 9 or so and they were still up. They crashed hard. Lillian slept till 9am the next morning! Thanks for an amazing family day, guys.

Why I can't get enough of Lilly

It's not the shortest set of video clips, for that, I apologize. I know you are all very busy and don't have 2 minutes, more or less one minute, to watch blog videos but this one will leave you smiling I promise!

She is just so fun! She has that funny squished up nose face, her "n ga n ga" which means all done, and then her vibrato laugh, and her squeal that lets you know when you've guessed what she wants. If only they were 15 months old forever.

More Breezy Point

This year Lilly goes down the water slide! This is such a hit! Thanks Leisure Suites for putting it in! Maren would do it all day if she wouldn't fall asleep in the water. This year Lilly got to try. She went down 2 or 3 times w/ Grandpa or I. Maren went down on her own, just like last year. This time she would go with no one catching her if she had a life jacket on. She's brave!

Here's Lilly in the life jacket:

 

Of course she doesn't like swimming in it. She likes to be IN the water. Look at that happy face.

We hit up Sweet Scoops and their awesome ice cream. Delicious!

I love the foot up on the stroller. She's quite relaxed.

We stopped back to change into beach gear and Lilly discovered how much fun the suitcase is. She'd play peek in there with her sister. They are so sweet!

We walked down to the beach, my kids love the beach. With the extra hands we were able to really indulge them. Lilly is NOT afraid of getting dirty. 

She found an abandoned sand castle and really knocked it down. I kept filling buckets and dumping them over and she kept squishing them. 

Pretty soon she just laid on them and said, "sleep." Yes, she may have been that tired. 

 The next day arrives and we know we have to go home. I have to work that night. We hit the outdoor hot tub at cabin 8 where Great Aunt Debbie and Great Uncle Mike have the same timeshare week as Gramma and Grandpa. (psst... they are one of the great parts of the Breezy week) 

A highlight of the summer, without a doubt. Also a sign that summer is almost over. 

I am lucky enough to spend the last four years up there w/ kids for at least part of the week. The freedom of being a mom is priceless. Thanks mom and dad for letting us crash your vacation! Love, Me.