And Baby Makes Three

Two missing bottom teeth

2012-02-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Isabel lost her two bottom teeth, her top ones are still tight in place. She also has 1 of her 6-yr molars coming through; it is about halfway through right now. She is pretty excited that she has 3 adult teeth right now.

MN Children's Museum

2012-02-07T13:17:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we took the kids to a family concert at the MN Orchestra. I love that we are able to provide out children with these opportunities to explore and learn.

After the concert we went to the children's museum. This first picture was taken in the Grossology exhibit, which is a traveling exhibit. I am not exactly sure what she is climbing, I just knew to take a picture quickly and keep an eye on brother.

This is in the exhibit room where they get to pretend they are a bunch of city/town workers. she loves to dress up as the mailman and deliver/pickup mail. Her brother, on the other hand was more interested in pretending to be a fireman or a grocery store clerk.

This was part of the Storyland exhibit (last day was Sunday) and was about Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom.

Both kids are showing me where the coconuts are. Henry was really in to putting the letters on the tree as they went around.

Cocoa with Santa & Mrs. Claus at the Art Center

2011-12-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

This was the best picture I could get of them with Santa. Plus he's a much better looking Santa than the one at Wal-Mart that we paid to have pictures at. He was creepy and the pictures were awful and it was not a good experience. They rushed the kids and it was not fun, just stressful. This was good. The kids were not rushed.

The first picture is of Isabel telling Santa what she wants for Christmas and what Henry wants. The second picture is of Santa showing his special pocket watch to the kids.

Our family with Mrs. Claus who was playing Christmas carols on the piano while kids waited in line to meet with Santa.

Enjoying a cookie & hot cocoa with daddy.

Only picture I could get of both of the kids looking in my general direction at the same time.

Showing her jingle bell that she recieved after hearing the story of the Polar Express.

Eating her candy cane from Santa.

Listening to the head librarian read the Polar Express.

State School Orphanage Museum

2011-12-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

Isabel was so suprised to learn that our house used to once be the home of the headmaster for the State School Orphanage, before it closed and the house was sold moved to it's current location.

Daddy wasn't so sure that this wouldn't be way over her head, but the girl is so in to Annie that it wasn't. She was very curious about all of it and even through she doesn't quite get that living in an orphanage isn't desirable (she just sees the fun of being with your friends signing & dancing) I think seeing some of the stuff & pictures from the orphanage gives her a little idea that she has it really good.

Speaking of which, the whole Toys for Tots things is working itself out in her brain and today she has been playing "donation site" and made up bins and asking us to come put toys or money in the bins to pretend donate. We do have some more toys to donate, so I think it will be more meaningful this time around.

Canadian Pacific Holiday Train

2011-12-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to see the Candadian Pacific Holiday Train (which was not easy since it was cold and they are little & it was hard to see over people so I had to hold them both up - good thing I have been working out!)

Anyways, there was also a firetruck there decorated up that the kids sat on for pictures.

The train was quite long, at least a dozen cars that were all lit up and decorated very brightly. And then in one of the car it opened up into a stage and there was a band inside that played a concert for Christmas songs for a half hour.
Santa was also on the train and he got off the train and came out to greet the kids and gave them mini candy canes.

I would go to this again, but will need daddy to come along for assistance. It was just too much by myself. The kids did enjoy seeing the decorated train and hearing the music. Isabel liked meeting Santa; Henry is scared of him.

Fall Dance 2011

2011-12-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

Isabel loves taking dance with Miss Tia and we will continue to take it as long as she can.

This is her new dance outfit for this year. She received it as a birthday present from us earlier this year.

This is the start of their dance to "It's a Hard Knocked Life', and you can watch that video here.

There were 21 girls in her class this year, didn't quite get them all in this picture.

Kindergarten Christmas Concert

2011-12-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

They sang 7 songs total and here they are singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

This is about all of the kindergarteners in her school, didn't quite get them in the frame, but there is about 65 of them.

Isabel is wearing her new holiday dress and the new glitrery flower hair ties I made her.

First Snowfall of the Season

2011-11-19T15:11:00.000-08:00

Operation Christmas Child, Toys for Tots & Hat/Mitten Drive

2011-11-18T15:28:00.000-08:00

I wanted to get Isabel in the spirit of giving and understand that there are other less fortunate than us and to give to them is a Christ-like thing to good and feels good. I admit, it is going to be a work-in-progress, but we a start. I did buy a scarf for her and one item. She was ok with buying loads of other items knowing that she got a couple new things too. She came shopping with me for a lot of the items and picked them out herself.

When she was picking out hat/mittens/scarves she wanted them all to match (relatively closely) and to give all three because she didn't want anyone to have anything cold. So, we purchased 3 sets of scarves, hats & mittens. I have not seen any signs yet for a Hat/Mitten/Scarf drive, but maybe those signs will start to pop up soon, otherwise we will deliver them to our county public health department for them to give to clients they need. They take in pretty much any donations that clients will need, at any time. Last year we went to Bath & Body works and bought a bunch of soaps & shampoos and donated it to them to pass out to clients during the holidays.

Toys for Tots boxes just started popping up this week, so we have several to choose from. Last year we didn't get our donation done very early and had to call around to find a place that the box was not picked up yet and luckily we had found one place that it was still there and their scheduled pick up was happening about an hour after we brought our items. This year I think I will take her out right way this weekend to make our donation.

Operation Christmas Child is a new one for us. The church we have been going to participates in this one and we asked for a box. With this one, Isabel can write a letter to the recipient and they may write her back (I won't tell her that just in case they don't). But because I paid for the postage online I get a reference number and we can follow the box online and see when it gets delivered and to what country. So, that will be a good lesson in geography for her.

We stuffed the box as full as we could including many of the suggested items (school supplies, toys, hygiene) that we could. In all we got in 20 items in the box and this weekend is the dropoff for those boxes. With OCC you get to pick a gender & age range of the child who will receive it, so we picked to have this box go to a girl who is 5-9. It was much easier for her to think of the things she likes and pack a box accordingly.

Usually the school will also put up a tree with tags on it for local children in need of Christmas presents. So, we will be keeping our eyes open for that and then I can take her shopping again.

1st Quarter of Kindergarten

2011-11-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

Isabel had a really good first quarter of kindergarten. The quarter ended last week Friday and report cards came home on Wednesday. The grading system here is X = mastered it, D = developing skill, not yet mastered but showing improvement & N = needs work, little to no improvement shown. She got X's on all the areas that they were tested in for 1st quarter.

Also in her report card as a letter from the teacher asking that she participate in the AR (Accelerated Reader) program. I told her about the program and what it entails as a kindergartener in the program (she brings home an AR book and we read it to her once or more if needed, then she reads it to herself a couple times, then we ask her comprehension questions to prepare her to take a quiz on computer that consists of comprehension questions.) She is very excited to do this and yesterday was sent home with her first AR books (about bats - the animal, not the sports equipment.) She is only 1 of 4 kids in her classroom of 23 that are in the program. The other 2 kindergarten classes also have kids doing it.

And if that isn't enough to be proud of, she got an award/ribbon from her gym teacher for doing well and showing good effort. She said that he gives one out each month to a kid in each class, so she got one for October.

I am such a proud mama!

I've only bragged to a couple of friends who have kids who do not go to the same school as her and are not the same age because I don't want to be that braggy mom at our school. I know we have some friends whose children are still developing skills & some that did not agree with their teacher's assessment of their child's skill, so it's hard to mention how well Isabel did without coming across as braggy. I'll let the grandmas do that to their friends. :)

Art Work

2011-11-18T15:14:00.000-08:00

Here is Isabel's painting for the Kids ArtsVenture at the Art Center this coming Tuesday.

Both the top picture and the next two are art projects from school.

This last one is a coloring she did at the Frbo Kids' Harleyween Party and won their coloring contest.

Gymnastics

2011-10-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Isabel takes gymnastics again this year. We started in the summer. She says she likes taking gymnastics, but doesn't like how sweaty it makes her. She gets to take class with her friend Lili, whose mom is the one who took these pictures.

What a sweetheart!

Doing a straddle jump over the blocks.

MOA Fun With Friends

2011-10-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to the Mall of America right after school with a bunch of friends to go the MN SEALife Aquarium (we are really getting our money's worth from the membership), then met Sponge Bob.....

We are missing 2 kids that didn't want their picture taken with SpongeBob.

Then on to Legoland, and dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, and another trip through the aquarium.

Our friends Rebecca, Scott, Casey & Dani are moving in about a month, so we won't get to do all these fun trip with them anymore as they are moving to Arkansas.

Kindergarten Volleyball

2011-10-15T09:42:00.001-07:00

This is about half the kindergarteners that were in volleyball. Guess a lot couldn't make it for the lats practice. Isabel had a lot of fun and I could see so much improvement at this practice compared to when they started 5 weeks ago.

Faribault Waterpark

2011-08-19T13:13:00.001-07:00

Mini-Golfing at Adventure Greens

2011-08-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

Beaver Lake Beach

2011-08-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

So, I have been having a heck of a time with brother's blog. I have 2 things as drafts that are not posting, so we'll see what happens with this one.

This was our first time to this beach. Isabel played in the sand most of the 2 hours we were there she played in the sand.

SCFF

2011-08-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

Mall of America

2011-08-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

MN SEALife Aquarium

2011-08-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

SCFF Art Projects

2011-08-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

Summer Cheerleading Classes

2011-07-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hot & Cold

2011-07-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

YES! This was in the same day! Isabel & mommy went ice skatng indoors earlier then we came home and played on the slip & slide in the yard. Crazy, I know!

Swimming Videos

2011-07-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

2 Videos

Isabel Swimming

Laughing & Swimming

Bay Beach

2011-06-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Chalk Playdate

2011-06-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

Isabel's friend Isaac gave her a chalk set with 3D chalk and chalk paint for her birthday, so she invited him & his youngest sister to come over for a playdate to use it. The chalk paint didn't last long, but they sure had fun with it.

Visiting Grandma & Grandpa on the Farm

2011-06-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Super Saturday

2011-06-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

We started out our day with a trip to a (new-to-us) park for playtime & a picnic. Then to the barber shop for haircuts for daddy & Henry. Then the kids got to go to the candy store for a treat.

Then we came home and watched Gnomeo & Juliet while brother napped.

Then it was tim to play in the pool that we blew up & filled in the morning.

And in between all of that Isabel would play in her box house she made up. She had a "couch" and "bed" in it, some snacks, and a small couch & bed for baby dolly. This was all of her own creation.

And the day ended with roasted marshmallows. FINALLY! Isabel had been asking for about 2 months to have a campfire with roasted marshmallows and we have just not had good weather when we have been home, until now.

Baby Animal Day @ MHS

2011-06-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Beach Weather

2011-06-04T11:44:00.000-07:00

These top two collages are from when we went to the beach as a family on Memorial Day. The water was a bit chilly for swimming, but the kids had a blast playing in the water and sand.

By 4 days later, the water was much warmer and we met one of our playgroups at the beach for some fun & the sun and water fighter. We brought some water balloons to share with others and have a water balloon fight. The water was warm enough to swim in. We thought about going back to the beach today, but have filled up our kiddie pool (larger size rectangle one) and have it warming in the sun to use this afternoon.

Isabel Graduates from Preschool

2011-06-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Isabel is not officially a a kindergartener. Such a bittersweet occasion. She is becoming such a big girl and so independent and is needing her mommy less and less. She is growing up too fast. I told her the other day she was going to be a kindergartener soon and after some dicussion about all the grades that come next I told her I wanted to keep her little forever, to which she told me she couldn't stay little and had to get bigger. And then I told her that she will grow up and go to college and move away and leave me. Then she told me, "Mommy, I'm not going to leave you. I can still live in MN and be a princess. I just need to find a castle." Awwww. My little princess. :)

Little Tykes Sports Skills: Soccer

2011-05-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

I enrolled Isabel in a 4-week, once a night class on different sports skills. It meets on Tuesday nights and this week it was soccer. Next week it will be T-Ball. I really hope she likes the T-Ball because she is signed up for 5 weeks of T-ball that meets twice a week and starts in 2 weeks.

Family Birthday Party

2011-05-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Isabel was such a lucky girl and was able to celebrate her birthday for 3 weekends in a row. The final party was a family one. We did invite one family that our whole family is friends with. For this party we did frosted brownies. She picked out purple frosting and did the sprinkles herself.

Playgroup Birthday Party with Amelia

2011-05-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Another one of the many parties that Isabel had. This one was a joint one with her friend Amelia who turned 5 only 5 days after Isabel. They are in the same playgroup, so we celebrated by treating all their friends to supper, cake & chalk in the park on a rainy day. The rainy day was a bonus. I was very surprised how many families still showed. Most of the kids, however, thought it was wonderful that they got to play so much in the rain. It's not often that you actually go to park when it's raining and get to play on the equipment.

Preschool Field Trip

2011-05-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

Isabel's preschool field trip was to the River Bend Nature Center. Mommy went along to chaperone. They had a scavenger hunt to do, but Isabel also brought along a notepad and marker to draw things that she found interesting (something her friend Casey did when we went on a nature hike with them to Kaplan's woods recently.) She had a great time and it was a beautiful day for a field trip there.

Lego Kidsfest

2011-05-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

MN SEALife Aquarium

2011-05-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

We also went to the MN SEALife Aquarium for her birthday too. We bought a membership there this fall, so we might as well go often. This time we decided to do the question scavenger hunt, which we had not done before. At the end she had time to color a picture of Sharky and then gave it to him when she met him.

Nickelodeon Universe

2011-05-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

Isabel got an unlimited ride wristband to Nickelodeon Universe on her birthday from NU. As long as your sign up on their website and bring the email they send you as well as proof of birthday & come on the actual birthday (sounds like lots of hoops, doesn't it, but worth it for a free unlimited ride wristband that is worth $30) you get it for free. It's really an incredible deal. And because of her height, there are some rides a chaperone gets to ride on free with her and other rides she has to ride on by herself (or we can pay to ride with her).

We did buy a points wristband so we could take Henry on some rides and everything he was able to go on he got a free chaperone, so we just had to pay for him. There was just one ride that Isabel went on she could have done by herself that we paid to go on with her.

Eating Cotton Candy!

Daddy & mommy each got to go on a different roller coaster ride with her because she wasn't tall enough to go on it with out a (free) chaperone. She liked the one she went on with daddy, but the one with mommy was too fast & scary. In total she went on 12 rides (I think!). She was very happy and fell asleep as soon as we got in the car that afternoon.

Rainforest Cafe

2011-05-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

We took Isabel to the Rainforest Cafe for her birthday. She dined on Mac&Cheese and chocolate milk (typical kids meal she chooses) . At the end of our meal they brought her a complimentary birthday sundae and sung to her. You can tell by the picture she was a little unsure about a bunch of strangers singing to her, even though she was excited for it. The top picture is of her & daddy working on the puzzles in the kids meal booklet.

Happy Birthday Isabel!

2011-05-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

This was the morning of her birthday. We did the same thing we did last year and had birthday pancakes for breakfast as her "cake" on her birthday. With multiple parties, cake can get tiresome. This worked out well last year and she enjoyed it, so we did it again. It's just regular pancakes with syrup, but also whip cream and sprinkles and a candle. I also made bacon, which she loves and some apple kiwi strawberry juice, which she loves too.

She opened up presents from mommy, daddy & Henry this morning. Henry gave her a new Barbie & Ken doll set and some new Princess games. Mommy & daddy gave her a new bike helmet, the huge Princess Celestia My Little Pony (the one thing she asked for), a new chapter book, a new dance outfit, and Melissa & Doug wooden birthday cake.

BBQ in Oconomowoc

2011-05-08T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Isabel having fun at a BBQ at Elizabeth's house in Oconomowoc on our weekend visit.

Isabel & Rachael

2011-05-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of collages of Isabel and her friend Rachael. They went swimming at the hotel pool together, went out for gelato, had a sleepover, played inside & outside, went to a bbq and just plain had fun together.

5 Year Old Pictures

2011-05-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures I took of Isabel in our friends' yard. The top one is my favorite and is the one I am going to make copies of for friends and family.

She looks so grown up in this one and like she has so much teenage angst. uh-oh!

I like this one because she was being playful and silly.

She didn't want to look directly at the camera. She had this thing about look just off to the side today. Not sure what that was about, but I got some cute shots from her.

Onalaska McDonalds

2011-05-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

Great Serengeti Waterpark

2011-05-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

Here are just a couple of pictures from Isabel at Maizee's birthday party.

Posing

2011-04-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

She asked me to take these pictures of her. She just wanted to sit cute with her jump rope. Honestly, I think she was a little jealous that there was so many pictures of her brother from the bounce house (since he was with me all the time and she wasn't.) She does look cute regardless.

Pump It Up

2011-04-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today there was no preschool, so I scheduled a playgroup with some preschool friends and some other playgroup friends to go to the Burnsville Pump It Up! They had so much fun. The picture above is of her with three of her friends there, there is one more friend that wasn't in that bounce house at the same time. This bouncy place had 4 different bounce structures with slides, two of those had obstacles to get to the slide and the other two were very tall slides. And it also had 3 other bounce houses that were for bouncing (1 was a basketball court). They also had out a couple of Little Tikes Coupes for little ones and hula hoops. I was impressed with the price of snacks. They were all 50-cents, all juice boxes & a good variety of bagged snacks that were larger in size. The other thing they offer there is a monthly Sensory night that is geared towards autistic children and kids with sensory issues. They also do birthday parties. Can't wait to go back again!

Science Night

2011-04-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

An area church sponsored a free Science Night for preschool and young elementary children on Thursday this week. This collage just shows some of the activites they had for the kids. There were several other things we did but didn't get pictures of and a few things we never got around to doing because we ran out of time, but they gave the parents instructions on how to do everything so we could do them again home again (or for the first time.) It was a good program and I was very happy they provided it. Isabel loves to do experiments at home.

Alpaca Show

2011-04-10T19:27:00.000-07:00

Isabel wasn't as hip about the smell of the Alpacas, but she got use to it and really loved that many of the alpaca farms had candy dishes for the guests.

April in MN

2011-04-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

It was above 70 degrees, actually was 73/74 when we were out playing. We filled up the water tables and little kiddie pool and put swimsuits on the kids. They thought it was great. Too bad it might not happen again for another month.

As the cold front started to move in during later in the afternoon, the winds really picked up and were consistently strong. It was perfect kite weather. I have never so successfully flown a kit before. We had a good time with this.

In between these two pictures, brother took a nap while I took Isabel to meet her BFF and her mom and we all saw the Movie "Hop" together.

MOA Day Trip

2011-04-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

Isabel didn't have school on Monday this week, so we met some friends at the Mall of America to have some fun and check out some of the places that had made some changes since we have been there last. The MN SEA Life Aquarium (formerly Underwater Adventures) recently reopened with more animals and a larger exhibit. They reopend in March. Also, Legoland reopened with new statues & play areas in December (I think.) There were no character visits at Nickelodeon Universe on this day, so Isabel asked if she could at least have her picture taken by the murals. We also had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which is a fun experience too, but I didn't take any pictures there. It was a good day and we got to spend times with 4 other families at the MOA.

Spending Xmas Money

2011-04-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

Three months later and the kids are finally spending some Christmas money from Grandma & Grandpa S. Isabel picked out a mermaid Barbie and she has a couple dollars leftover which she is saving for rummage sale season, which is almost upon us, and the rest goes in her bank account.

Pool Birthday Party for a Preschool Friend

2011-04-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

One of Isabel's friends from preschool had a pool party for her birthday. This was the third birthday party for precshool friends that she has been to in a month. I know there will be one more next month, as well as her own party with her friends, which we have decided to limit to a specified number of preschool friends that she will get to pick out.

Yellow Playdate

2011-03-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

I decided that today's playdate would be a the theme yellow. I like to have themes and plan activities for our playdate. We first made yellow suns that kids painted with yellow & orange paint and then could glue on glitter, crepe paper and various items for rays in the colors of yellow & orange (popsicle sticks, construction paper or foam paper.) It was interesting to see that the boys didn't want rays on their sun, but the girls did. Then we made rice krispie bars and put in yellow food coloring and some easter egg sprinkles (that had yellow in them). Next up was lunch of mac&cheese, corn & pineapple. And of course there was time for free play to do whatever the kids wanted. I had another activity planned, but we just ran out of time.

Isabel's Pictures

2011-03-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

Isabel took these pictures at the RADZoo yesterday. She took about 40 pictures and here are a few.

Sleepover with Maizee

2011-03-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Isabel had a sleepover at our house with her friend Maizee a couple weeks ago and these are some of the things they did while they were here. They planted tomato seeds, made rainbow popsicle stick puzzles and had a fashion dance show.

Not sure how they had the energy to do any of these things in the morning since they stayed up way too late. I actually made Isabel go sleep in the guest bedroom because they would just not stop giggling and talking. And when two (almost, but not quite) 5 year olds are still up at 11pm, something has to be done.

Winter Dance Recital

2011-03-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

Fun Times

2011-03-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

Slide-a-Palooza

2011-03-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

Yarn Flower Hair Tie

2011-03-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

I made this for Isabel a couple weeks ago, I'm just behind on updating the blog. Haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately, but I will get updated with what I have.

Dress-a-like Day at School

2011-03-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

Outdoor Play Today

2011-02-13T18:21:00.000-08:00

Today topped out at 42 degrees at our home and we are in for about a week of this weather. It's really going to melt some of the snow. I am sure there are some who would want my head for saying this, but I hope after this warm spell we get back to the 20's and some snow for a week. This mama still has some winter sports she wants to do and do more of.

Anyways, we went sledding late this morning and them went down the park to play. We had a lot of fun. The snowsuits were necessary to keep up dry, but boy did we sweat in them.

After naptime we had some friends come over to play in our driveway with us. We have such a nice long cul-de-sac driveway that stays plowed. So, with the warms temps, sun being out, good plowing and asn asphalt driveway, we had a large area to play outside with bike and soccer balls. And Henry reminded me that daddy had hung two of the swings in the garage, so the kids enjoyed being able to do more swinging (did some this am too!) After almost an hour outside this afternoon, we went inside to play and then had supper together and some more play. The daddies were both ice fishing with each other all day. Daddy caught a Northern that he brought home and he fried up tonight and we all had some. It was good. I hadn't had fried fish in quite some time.

Indoor Fun Today

2011-02-13T18:02:00.000-08:00

After lunch, during naptime we had some indoor fun. Mommy taught her how to use mousse and scrunch her hair to add the curl back in. She thought that was pretty neat and has been wanting to use product in her hair. I am not sure why since I usually wear my hair in a ponytail, altough daddy puts gel in his hair everyday so he could be the role model there.

She was taking differnt soaps, lotions & hair products from the bathroom and mixing them and said she was trying to do an experiment. So, I told her I would give her some white solids and clear liquids to use and she could figure out what each was and what happened when she mixed them together. Her white solids were: Flour, sugar, salt & baking soda. Her clear liquids were; Water, Vinegar & 7th Generation dish soap. She had a fun time.

Timberland Play Park - Round 3

2011-02-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

Water Dome - Round 2

2011-02-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

Timberland Playland - Day 2

2011-02-07T17:16:00.000-08:00

It is such a great workout running through all the tunnels and climbing structure. She is the perfect height for the climbing structure as she can easily get through everything yet she doesn't have to duck. Mom, on the other hand, has some strained neck muscles from ducking for an hour straight as we ran through all the passages trying to make sure we went down every slide today.

Right now she & daddy are at Cubby's Cove waterpark (Henry was just too tired). She will have been there 3 times on this trip.

WI Dells: Wild Waterdome

2011-02-07T11:23:00.000-08:00

This was visit #1 on our third day in WI Dells. It's naptime now and afterwards we plan to hit the dry park again and then another waterpark after dinner. Isabel just loves the wave pool.

WI Dells: Timberland Play Park & Cubby's Cove

2011-02-06T18:50:00.000-08:00

This evening (during part of the Super Bowl), just Isabel and I headed back to the waterpark at our complex. During the hour we were there, it was just the two of us and a lifeguard. As we were getting ready to leave, 3 other moms with kids came to the waterpark (presumably kicked out of their condos at halftime.) We had a blast. We got to do everything with no waiting and no worrying someone was playing water basketball by us & might his us in the head. It was just as cool as when you go to the movies and have the place to yourself.

This afternoon we took the kids to the one dry play park there. We had a lot of fun. Lot of crawling through tunnels and throwing balls (or trying to escape being thrown at.) I think we will head back there again before we leave.

WI Dells: Wild West Waterpark

2011-02-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

This is actually the waterpark we missed out on going to last time. It's open very limited hours, but we made it this time. There is more big kid stuff here, but without getting my camera wet I couldn't go to these area, so taking pics in the smaller kids area has to suffice.

She acquired a head cold yesterday and is bothering her a bit today. Actually, it's better when we are in the water cuz I think all that humidity & activity just makes everything just drain. This afternoon she used out in-room jacuzzi again. I think it has become her favorite way to get the chlorine off her body. After she wakes from her nap she is hoping to go hit the dry park they have here.

WI Dells Vacation

2011-02-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

We drove to WI Dells today and on the way we stopped at McDs in Onalaska. Isabel had a fantastic time. It is the best McDs Play Place we have ever been to. It has a huge climbing structure, a separate enclosed play area with balls for 3 & under, 3 arcade games with vintage games, plus whack-a-mole, a foosball table and a kids reading area.

This year we sprung for a 2 bdrm condo. It's huge & very nice and Isabel loves that we have a 4-person whirlpool in the room. The first night we went to Cubby's Cove Waterpark which is in the same resort area as us. This is the one that is meant for families with small kids. It's perfect.

RADZoo

2011-02-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

We had not been to the RADZoo in a while and Isabel asked if we could go this week. She got to fee the turtles and tortoises again and this time she got to pet a kingsnake. They also took out a treefrog (can't hold that since their skin is so delicate) and the cockatoo so we could have a closer look.

More pics from ice skating/bonfire

2011-01-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

Ice Skating and a Craft

2011-01-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

I belong to a "Creative Cirle" group that meets about twice a month. And whereas most women at it crochet, some of others do other crafts. So, I made the above "paper" dolls for Isabel to play with in the tub at our last meeting. The idea came from Serving Pink Lemonade. I thought this idea was genius. It sticks so good. She stayed in the bathroom for 45 minutes playing with these dolls, well, until her baby brother woke up and I stuck him in there with her and he amputated an arm on one of the dolls, but that is simple enough to make another one.

These are pictures from skating tonight. I planned out a playgroup family event at a skating park that has a bonfire on Saturday nights. It was so much fun to roast hotdogs and marshmallows in January. I hope we can get out to do this one more time this season. I am sure we'll get out ice skating more, but the bonfire is what I am talking about. We had seven families join us.

Isabel Meets Baby Dina

2011-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Isabel was so excited to meet baby Dina. My friend Cheri gave birth to Dina 2 weeks ago.

3 Other Below Zero Science Experiments

2011-01-21T11:15:00.000-08:00

These were so much fun to do, mainly I think because I had never done them before and so I was able to experience them for the first time with Isabel.

They are all relatively simplet to do.

The bubble experiment is just blowing bubbles in the air and if it's cold enough they freeze and don't pop when they touch the ground, or don't fully pop. The picture of the single bubble is a full bubble; the picture of multiple bubbles are actually popped but they stayed frozen and the open part is where it "popped'. Then Isabel was touching them to see what happens when she pops them and basically what we found out is that it flakes away. Here we are teaching how the cold air turns a liquid into a solid. Very interesting.

This next experiment ideas came to us compliments of our friend Rebecca who had done it earlier in today. You blow up a beach ball as full as you can, then place it outside and watch as the ball implodes, this happens quite quickly at -20 below. Once it looks like it is done sinking in, bring it in the house and watch as it appears to reinflate. Then you can talk about how the cold makes the air molecules contract and heat makes them expand. We talked about this while the ball was outside and when I explained what was happening, she knew exactly what would happen to the ball.

For the egg experiment you crack an egg outside ( I did it in a pie tin) and time it to show how long it takes to freeze. This demonstrates how fast frostbite can happen. Then to take it a step further, when you unthaw it you can explore how part of the egg changed in color & consistency due to frostbite. What we found is that it immediately stated freeezing on the thin edges right after we cracked it into the pie tin (which was in the house, could you imagine if we had frozen the pie tin first). Then at 12 minutes, all but the thickest parts were frozen. At 20 minutes the entire thing was one very solid frozen mass and you could see thta part of the egg were changing color due to the frostbite. We brought it inside and after 20 minutes it was still mostly frozen. So, Isabel decided to experiment with 1st blowing bubbles on it (which did nothing to help thaw) and then putting liquid soap on it (which did nothing to help thaw) and finally put warm water on it (which thawed it, these were all her own ideas to try), but then we found that the discolored areas stayed that way and their consistency changed as well in the frostbit area.

What fun experiments! But now we are staying indoors the rest of the day. It's 1:30pm and we haven't reached 0 yet.

Below 0 Experiments - Boiling Water

2011-01-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

Today was the perfect day to try a few science experiments in below 0 weather, since we are significantly below zero (with windchill it feels like -35.)

First thing I learn is it needs to be boiling water, not just hot water. Hot water only steams a little bit, but boiling water steams alot and most of the water pretty much just evaporates immediately.

I did a couple videos of it (I had 3 mugs of boiling water in my teapot, so we did this 3 times.)

Here is Take 1 of the Experiment and Take 2 of the Experiment.

Craft Projects

2011-01-19T09:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning we got to stay at home (it's nice to have those mornings once a week!) and we did some crafting and made some footprint & handprint creatures.

Below I made some felt food for the kids' kitchen in the playroom. I worked on these last night at Creative Circle. Most everyone else knits or crochets, but I brought this along to work on.

Now, to give credit for these ideas:

Hand/Foot Print Moose: Little Learners Lounge

Foot Print Butterfly: Just for Fun

Hand/Foot Print Lobster: Just for Fun

Tri-Colored Felt Bow-Tie Pasta: Frugal Family Fun

Felt Fried Egg: Chasing Marcus (I want to do the bacon on this website, but I need to go buy different colors of felt than I have.)

Win an iPad!

2011-01-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

Go to Frugal Family Fun Blog to enter to win an iPad and an assortment of children’s books courtesy of Target!

Ice Skating & Kicksledding

2011-01-16T18:40:00.001-08:00

We had an active weekend. We really needed to get out of the house & burn off some energy and it's so much easier to do that on the weekend when daddy is home to hang out with Henry since he wouldn't be able to take being in the cold as long, he'll get there, just not this year.

So, yesterday we first went swimming as a family (all four of us) at an area community center pool. Then it was home for supper and then I took Isabel ice skating at our snow park. Just as we arrived a youth group came to play broomball and they let us borrow some and I grabbed a ball out of our trunk and we played some ourselves. Although, I think Isabel's favorite thing to do it to play tag with me (although, she always wants to be it, which is fine because I can skate around more.)

Today we started out the afternoon with kicksledding (see the picture below) and it was quite the workout. Last year we did kicksledding on an icy path & this year we were in the snow, so there is a lot more drag which is a lot more work. We went to River Bend to do this.

Next up was swimming again as a family, home for supper, then off to Morehouse park to do some ice skating & ice hockey there with friends. We decided that we are going to plan a family event to come back on Saturday (weather permitting) as a family event when they have their bonfire and w can bring marshmallows and hot dogs to roast. How fun is that!

After Supper Projects

2011-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

The idea for this project came from Frugal Family Fun. It was simple and fun to do. And Isabel loved how shiny her snowflakes were. I might try this activity again, letting her use sequins instead of tinfoil so that thye can be colorful & shiny!

The other thing we did last night (which usually we try to do on Monday morning) is her Scholastic reader that I subscribe too for us. And finally she played with some play-doh.

Pile'o Pillows & Blankets

2011-01-14T10:15:00.000-08:00

It's her new thing. She like to watch tv in a cave made out of blankets and pillows.

Snow Play

2011-01-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to play at a snow fort & hill that a friend's neighbor created in an empty lot in their neighborhood. It was so neat & so much fun. Isabel loved playing hide & seek in the tunnels & caverns.

Learn to Skate Class

2011-01-09T19:08:00.000-08:00

Tonight I took Isabel to a Learn to Skate class. It was bring a friend free night and I thought we would try it out. She did pretty good, but she's been on the ice before and does better and better every time. She had a good time and she really enjoyed watching the older ice skaters there. I kinda wish we could put her in the class, but it costs roughly $13 a class (for a half hour class). That is just too much money for a class. I will just have to take her ice skating and she'll have to figure stuff out on her own or from watching others. Sorry baby girl, but figure skating is not something mommy & daddy will be paying for.

Christmas at the S Family

2011-01-06T12:41:00.000-08:00

Isabel is more willing to open presents (well, eager to, in fact) and willing to pose for pictures. So, I was able to get some more pictures of her this day than of her brother.

McD's Playland - Abbotsford, WI

2011-01-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning

2010-12-28T20:24:00.000-08:00

I just love Isabel's expressions as she would open her Christmas presents from Santa. The only thing she told Santa that she really wanted was a pink unicorn pony. And she told that to every santa she saw & in her letter to him. So, she got 2 different pink unicorn ponies and some other new ponies. The girl loves her ponies.

Christmas Eve: Family Presents

2010-12-24T19:07:00.000-08:00

Isabel had such a hard time waiting all day until it was time to open our family Christmas presents. Her big gift from mommy & daddy was the new play kitchen, which she has had a great time playing with already. Her brother gave her some wooden cutting food, which goes so nicely with the wooden kitchen. The other thing you can see in the picture is some new pink jammies that she received from mommy & daddy. The other presents she received from mommy & daddy is a couple books, a new puzzle, an art set, and a sock monkey. The homemade items that mommy made her were story blocks, a hat, and a dress. And baby dolly received a homemade knit scarf and mittens set that matches Isabel's hat.

Sledding & Tailgating

2010-12-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

Isabel & mommy went sledding at the hill at the park today with our friends Caitlin, Amelia & Gavin. They brought along hot cocoa for all of us, so the kids got to experience some tailgating. We had a good time, even if the girls get a little whiney about walking back up the hill.

Christmas Present from Kendra

2010-12-20T20:06:00.000-08:00

Isabel's Christmas present included a kit for making sugar cookies and what was neat about the dough & frosting was that it was white in the package, but as soon as you added the water it turned pink. Isabel had very little patience in waiting to make these. We had a good time.

Sparkly Trees Craft

2010-12-20T19:56:00.000-08:00

Isabel & I made these trees. They were inspired by some that Martha Stewart had created. Although, if we ever make them again we will use hot glue instead of school glue because the sequins have been falling off. But they sure are pretty.

Christmas at the M's

2010-12-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

Santa @ Frbo Library

2010-12-20T19:48:00.000-08:00

We had no idea Santa was going to be at storytime. If I did know, I would have made sure she picked out clothes that matched. Sometimes the outfits she picks out can be quite interesting. She was pretty happy to see Santa again. Of course, she told him she wants a pink unicorn pony (which she has told all the other Santas, she has seen him 4 times.) Santa gave all the kids a candy cane a d stuffed penguin, which she thought was way cool, that Santa was giving an early present.

Northfield Winter Walk

2010-12-20T19:42:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to the Northfield Winter Walk this year. I had never been to it before. Lots of carolers & instrumentalists, all the free apple cider & cookies you could want, free sleigh rides, face painting, ornament making santa's helpers walking the streets & Santa. There were also plays & puppet shows & another holiday characters to meet and other things that we didn't get a chance to do. But we had fun.

Sledding

2010-12-20T19:40:00.000-08:00

Friday I took Isabel to the park to go sledding and took this picture before we went down the hill (many time!)
This was sledding we have done in our own yard. With all the snow we have been getting there is plenty of opportunity to sled here with all the huge snow hills we have.

How to Make Snow Ice Cream

2010-12-20T19:31:00.000-08:00

Step 1: Collect fresh clean snow from outside

Step 2: Measure out 8-10 Cups of snow in a large bowl (I usually go with 10 and it's fine, more fluffy that way)
Step 3: Pour in 1 tsp. vanilla
Step 4: Pour in one 14 oz. can of sweetened condenced milk

Step 5: Mix together until evenly covered.
Step 6: Enjoy! You can freeze this, but it will end up having an ice milk consistency when you scoop it out again.

St. Nick's Day

2010-12-08T19:16:00.000-08:00

So, this year Isabel wrote her letter to Santa on the iPad and we left it by their stocking for him to read when he came to check on them. Then Santa wrote her & Henry back a letter. Her St. Nick presents included a christmas plate, a christmas book, christmas ornaments, some candy, a bracelet & purse.

The other lesson I learned about her Santa expectations (see brother's blog for the other one) is that all the presents in the stocking are supposed to be wrapped. In the past they always have been and I was feeling kinda lazy this time and asked daddy if I had to wrap them and he said no, so I didn't. Anyways, she remembers they were always wrapped. Guess they will actually be wrapped on Christmas Day.

Playdate with Gavin

2010-12-08T19:12:00.000-08:00

Our family friends came over on Sunday, what I mean by family friends is that it's not just that I am friends with the mom from our playgroup. Our whole family is friends with their whole family. The dads were working on making their next adult beverage (they finally started drinking some of the beer they made, as it takes a long time, and they did a good job and made something edible) and watching the Vikings game. While that was going on, Isabel & Gavin were playing together and making crafts (Christmas train & decorated ornaments.)

Christmas Crafts

2010-12-08T19:03:00.002-08:00

Our friends Cheri, Cole & Jacqueline came over on Tuesday and we made the above crafts with them: baby food jar santa, fingerprint lightstrand & Christmas train.

Today, Isabel's BFF Maizee and her little sister Berklee came over for a playdate. They had fun playing dress-up and making crafts (candy decorated christmas tree and jewel decorated tree {not pictured}).
These are the ornament crafts she made on Saturday when her friend Amelia was over for a playdate.
These were crafts that she made at our ECFE class on Tuesday night. She made a dog biscuit ornament, a snowman, and a yarn ornament.
This is such a crazy picture. She is in some dress-up clothes and did her own hair. She made these crafts on Monday when her friend Aleah came over for a playdate. The painted christmas tree is a little container and they also made christmas cards.

Ninjas

2010-12-08T19:03:00.001-08:00

Another Sleepover

2010-12-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

Her friend Amelia came over for another sleepover and they couldn't wait to get outside to play. It was cold, so they had to come in for a while and then back out again to play some more. They had a good time and made some ornament crafts that night.