Mia's First Bike Ride

 After almost two years, we've finally decided to attempt a family bike ride.  This is Mia's first time in the Burley.  She was all excited to get in until we put a helmet on her.  Then the waterworks started.  Luckily she had Evan in there to keep her company and cheer her up.  We bought a tag-a-long last year, but Evan wasn't quite ready to check it out.

 This was Owen's first major independent riding excursion.  He was really excited and did great.  In fact, he determined our route.  He lead over streams,

 down hills,

 under bridges,

 

and eventually to a new park.

 It was freezing, but we endured it for a half hour of swinging,

sliding,

climbing,

 




 and peeking.

Jim spotted this creature far, far down the hill.  This zoomed in photo still does not confirm our argument about what it is.  I say muskrat.  He says beaver.  What do you think?

After we chased the unidentified mammal, we made a chilly break for home.  I whipped up a late dinner with the seasons first corn on the cob - one of Owen's favorite.  We have learned that we have to clean the table off right after dinner now days.  If not, this happens:

Five little fingers found their way into the squishy butter.  I'm a bit envious of Mia.  How fun is it to get to discover things for the first time without any inhibition?  Wind whipping through your hair on your first bike ride.  Your stomach flying as you reach the peek of a swing.  Your fingers sinking deep into a stick of soft butter.  It reminds me to take utter pleasure in the little things.

Farnsworth at the MCM

I was lucky enough to chaperone another field trip with Owen's class today.  There were so many lucky chaperoning parents, that my group consisted of Owen and two other boys.  I could not believe how well behaved the kids were. 

When we got to the Children's Museum, we put our coats away, listened to the one and only rule (don't run) and headed for the "ant room" a.k.a. Earth World.  On the way up, most kindergarteners stopped to paint their faces.  I just love this photo of all the boys watching Dej Chia paint her face.

My group: Xuchee, Julius & Owen.  I adore these kids.

"Whoa Chicken!"

Dej Chia wasn't in our group, but we did our best to stick with her group. 

Xuchee was really into these Legos.  I think he could have stayed here all day.  Usually Owen isn't that into Legos, but watching his friends create inspired him.  It was so great to sit back and watch him have fun with his friends.

This was a really neat exhibit that was hidden in a corner.  These tubes turn so that you can change the characters, plot and conclusion of the story.

Owen almost never wants to go to the art room, but when the boys saw some classmates with binoculars, they had to go make their own.  Todays' art room theme was inventor's workshop.  My group all made the model craft.

Out binoculars were also kind of like glasses in that we made them so they could attach to your face.

Best Friends.

Oh yeah.  I forgot to mention.  Owen lost his second tooth yesterday.  Another bottom one.  The new tooth is already growing in.  He wanted everyone to see it in this picture.

What a fun day!

Turkey!

 Yep.  In our yard.  And it's not really all that new to us.  In the span of 10 years at the other house we had a turkey, several deer, a snapping turtle, a resident ground hog, two brilliant indigo buntings, a nesting pair of ducks, bee hives, and some idiot birds who insisted on building their nest year after year between our deck and garage even though they'd lose their eggs every year.  But, we've only been here a few weeks!

 So, we're sitting in the sun room, Evan & Owen are wrestling and it's starting to get ugly.  Finally one has enough and tattles.  I turn my head to get the details, but my gaze catches something big moving outside.  Coming down our hillside is this goofy turkey.

He walked right past the windows, around the house, up to my car and then crossed the street.  AND, just yesterday, I was putting the boys' to bed when Jim came whisper yelling into the room, "Quick!  Look outside!"  Right out the window, not far from where this turkey is, were three frisky raccoons jumping in and out of the rain gutter and all over each other.  The boys' named them Alvin, Squirrely, and Theodore.  I can't wait to see what else shows up in our yard!

Easter in Osseo

After our Easter egg hunt at home, we loaded up the car and headed to Osseo for lunch at my aunt's house.  When we got there, they were all outside getting ready to do an Easter egg hunt in their vast yard.  She had baskets for everyone.  Evan and Mia walked around the front yard, while Owen raced with Graham to the backyard attempting to get ahead of the others.  

When all of the Easter eggs had been found, the kids started picking up golf balls.  Greta declared that the prize for finding golf balls was to get a ride in the golf cart.  So they all piled in the golf cart and with Graham driving, off they went.  This is what kids do in the country.  They drive.  Gus is one year older than Owen and he's been driving the golf cart for years.

The weather was too nice to stay in for long, so after a quick lunch, we all headed back outside.  One group when for a hike to the sand pit.  Owen and Evan were too busy playing with Peggy's toys, but soon they meandered outside to join Gus back in the golf cart.  Gus promised to go slow and he did.  They had so much fun, I just couldn't say no.

Finally we coerced everyone inside to decorate Easter cookies, courtesy of Tracy, my cousin's wife.  Most of the cookies disappeared within seconds of decorating, but some made it to the plate.  We conveniently left our cookies sitting on the counter when we left, but I'm sure they were enjoyed by somebody this week - especially the ones with 2 inches of sugar sprinkles piled on top.

Thank you Peggy & Dave!

The Easter Bunny Made It

 

 Evan is always our late to bed, late to rise kid.  Owen was up at 8 a.m. Easter morning.  He crawled into our bed with an egg in hand that the Easter Bunny apparently had put right in his bed!  I guess the Easter Bunny found us.  After about 15 minutes of snuggling and no badgering on Owen's part, we said it would be OK to wake Evan up and start the Easter egg hunt.

I decided to give them one basket to collect all the eggs in.  It seemed to work really well.  All the kids had fun working together instead of making it a race and a competition.

 

Easter baskets were a hit as well.  Just a few toys, books, a couple chocolate bunnies, some jelly beans, and a bag of cotton candy.

I had a hard time filling Mia's this year, but I found these Elmo eggs that I knew she would love.  Mia's favorite Easter candy is jelly beans.  She looked just like a chipmunk, walking around with one in each cheek.

The kids new where to bring their candy to be opened.

 

Best toy of the day.

The Easter bunny could have limited the egg hunt to the first two floors.  Once the kids reached their baskets, they lost interest in the hunt for about an hour.  If we didn't have to get ready to head to Osseo, we could have spent the whole day looking for eggs.  Oh well.  There is more fun to have today.

Letts Family Easter 2011

Jim and I hosted his family for Easter today.  I hid 60 eggs in the basement with the hopes that it would take more than 2 minutes to find them all.

The kids had a blast looking for them and the older kids were great about helping the littler kids once they had found their quota.

Evan spent a lot of time recounting his eggs, but at least he kept at it this year.  Last year he would stop and eat after each thing he found and therefore had only a couple eggs in his basket.

Margaux seemed to know just what to do: sweetly give the egg to an unsuspecting aunt who can't resist opening it and letting her devour as much candy as she wants.

Soon all the kids caught on.

We tried to supplement the sugar with some healthy food, but most of the kids ate fruit and muffins for lunch.  Oh well.  It's Easter.

And the smiles before the sugar crash are so worth it.

Getting Ready for Easter

We hosted our first holiday in our new home this week.  To get ready, we unpacked a lot of boxes, cleaned the best that we could, and made these DELICIOUS bird nest treats.

 

Then we quickly died some Easter eggs.  Well, apparently we weren't all that quick when I found out that my nieces did over 3 dozen eggs in a matter of minutes.  Mia used the spinner for her first Easter egg dyeing experience.  You might not be able to see it, but her eyes are crossed in this photo.  She is concentrating so hard on doing it herself.  When she finished she said, "I did it!"  Evan and Owen really worked on making artful Easter eggs this year.  They all ended up looking very nice.  I was proud of them.  

Note: Evan apparently does not like wearing shirts or socks anymore.

Charlie's Here Today

"Charlie's here today.  Charlie's here today. Yaaaaaaaay Charlie!"

or if you do ECSE (like Anna)

"Charlie's here today. Charlie's here today. Charlie's here today. Yaaaaaaaay Charlie!" 

Since I am a two time ECFE drop out, we'll sing a different song...

"Lend me your ear and I'll sing you a song and I'll try not to sing out of key."

 "Thank you.  Thank you very much.  You're beautiful. MWAH!"

We just enjoyed two wonderful days with Anna & Charlie.  Such a treat.  Mia and Charlie played so well together.  I think they know they're cousins.

 

The almost adorable video of Mia and Charlie playing their first piano concerto at 18 months.  Hopefully when Charlie plays Carnegie, his mom won't come up on stage to smell his butt.

Settling In

 

 Everyone is starting to settle in and find their spot at our new house.

  
My mom has settled in by bringing every thing she has ever saved from my childhood. As if I won't notice a two story Barbie Dream House among all the boxes.

The kids have had to entertain themselves a little more these past few weeks, but they are really enjoying trying out all the new spaces: watching movies in the basement, climbing in their tree, brushing their teeth at their own sinks, eating in the kitchen ...

But sometimes old spaces are cozy too.

Mia loves her dolls.  That's Pup Pup on the left.  She's the most important doll.  Evan picked her out at the store when I was pregnant and we found out Mia was a girl.  He brought it to her on the day she was born.  It sat in her room on a shelf for months.  One day Mia noticed her and reached out.  It's been her favorite doll since.  Evan and I named her Pippi for Pippi Longstockings because of her hair and legs, but Mia calls her Pup Pup and that's stuck.

The crib was mine and my mother's when we were girls.  My great grandfather made it for my mom and her sisters who would climb in it just like this.  My mom and dad refinished it and gave it to Mia for her Welcoming Ceremony.  If they hadn't, I have a feeling it would have been snuck in this week.

(I've been such a bad blogger the past two months, I just had to throw in some unrelated stories and photos.)

Sleeping Under the Sharks

 Owen's school, Farnsworth Aerospace Magnet, has overnight trips each year for the kids in each grade.  The PTO (called FSA - Farnsworth School Association) raises money along with grants written by the Aerospace Coordinator in order to send the kids on these trips for little to no cost.  In the upper grades, kids go to Space Camp in Alabama or to Seattle for a VIP tour of Boeing.  This year the Kindergarten and first grades had the chance to spend the night sleeping under the sharks at Underwater World in the Mall of America.

When I first heard of this field trip, I knew that we would sign up.  I also knew that I would not be attending with Owen.  Sleeping on a mat with a sleeping bag on a cold floor constitutes as camping, which falls under Jim's responsibilities.  Besides, I had a living room to paint.

 I think they had a really great time.  Owen's lifelong friend, Connor, was there too.  Owen got to do the tour with the first graders so he and Connor could be together.  I'm sure Jim was grateful, as well, to be with a parent he knows.

 In addition, some of Owen's table mates from his classroom were there.

 Sizing up: Connor, Owen, Christian, & Ka Zoua.

Although these guys make Ka Zoua look tiny, Owen and Christian are among the tallest in their class. (Notice Owen's head is cocked and his legs are spread.)  Ka Zoua is about average height, but off the charts with cuteness!

Here are some of the amazing things they saw during their tour of the aquarium.

 These little worms, called Garden Eels, fascinated the boys and their dads.

Chris actually took this photo of a jellyfish with his cell phone!  AMAZING

Captivating seahorses (also taken with Chris's cell phone.)

And then this dinosaur.  Seriously.  How does something this primitive looking still exist?  Jim said that this thing swam over them in the morning and that it was monstrous.  How many people can say that they've slept under a sawfish.  
(Another photo by Chris Barclay.)

The first thing Owen told me when he got home was that, "they expected (them) to stay up until 11:00 and get up at 7:00 a.m.!"  I think a little sleep deprivation is worth an amazing experience like this.  Don't you?