Stella gets the Pink Wristband!

 Swimming wristband triumph!
At the YMCA your lil ones have to take a test to get a wristband to determine what they can do in the pool. If they don't have a wristband, you have to be within arms reach at all times. To get a blue wristband, which allows the kids to not be within an arms reach of a parent, your kid must do a 10 second front float and then flip over to do a 10 second back float. Both L&S got the blues in 2015. However, they still cannot be by themselves in water above their armpits.
Its been a long arduous process to get up to the next level. The pink wristband. This color pretty much allows your kid to go in any pool, any depth, on the water slides etc.
This test entails jumping into the "deep end" treading water for 30 seconds, then going into a front float for 10 seconds, and then back to treading water for 10. And while not technically part of the test, the LF still made her swim a half length of the pool. It may not seem like much but let me tell ya, trying to get a 6 year comfortable with treading water when they can't touch can be daunting. My girls can pretty much do anything as long as they know they can drop those toes and hit the bottom.

With that being said, it was pretty fantastic when, at their last swimming lesson for the winter term, Stella just kicked it out. She was like.... I need to get down that water slide, I can pass this test!! And she did. Great motivation for her twin to get moving too:) Good job Stella!

Another MN State Park summer fun day: Afton & Frontenac!

Yesterday, Saturday, was a scorcher. With temps in the mid-nineties, it was no time to be without air conditioning... and guess what? We were/are without air conditioning. Our system blew. So instead of attempting to organize garage sale stuff while 'hoping' the whole fam remained chipper whilst hanging out inside our house at a (cooler than outside but still) 87 degrees, we decided to hit the road.

We packed food and swimsuits and off we went! We decided to check out Afton State Park first since they have a swimming beach. We arrived and learned there would be a bit of a hike down to the swimming area, which was fine, but naturally we had a lot of stuff... plus a stroller. This actually worked in our favor since we ended up throwing everything in the stroller and carrying little G.  It's a good thing to know if you haven't been there, that there is this walk, and if you have anything that you do not want to carry down the stairs, you have to take the bike route to the beach... and this is a bit longer, probably 0.8 miles instead of 0.5 miles (for the hiking/stair route).

Right before we got to the beach itself, we saw the hike-in campground and also a gorgeous picnic area overlooking the St. Croix River. There is a fishing dock here along with a bunch of picnic tables, grills, and a couple of fire rings.

The beach is awesome. It is lined with trees and is mostly shady, the water was perfectly cool, and the kids had a blast. It seemed to get deepish fast, so we just had the girls stay close to the shoreline. If you walk down the beach to where it turns there are also a couple fire rings right on the beach. 

It was apparently supposed to rain so we packed up after a few hours so we didn't get caught in it on the hike back up to the parking lot. We succeeded and then continued to drive across to the Wisconsin side of the river to find a place for a snack or who knew? We drove through Prescott, WI which seemed to have some cute places to eat, but continued on to Diamond Bluff. We found this great overlook at Freedom Park with awesome views over the river and some bald eagle sightings to boot! We actually had one circling us so frequently that I asked Dave to snatch up little G because i started thinking this eagle was planning something, ha!!

Finally, since the storm never actually showed, we continued the drive to Frontenac State Park which was only 10 minutes south of Red Wing. I have driven past the entrance to this park so many times and never gave it a second look. It is gorgeous. We drove in right at sunset and saw some amazing views of the Mississippi and Lake Pepin. We also drove through the campsite loops and it looks like a neat place to camp. They have drive-in and also cart-in options.

It was a great "surprise adventure" day and we decided to officially join the MN State Park passport club! We have visited 3 parks in the last week, now only 72 more parks/stamps to go!

Summer Fun, Fort Snelling MN State Park

The girls are on their first real summer vacation this year- or maybe its more about me, since this is the first summer that I have had to truly re-acclimate myself to having them around the majority of the day!!
I guess I took for granted the 7 hours they were at school 5x a week for the last 9 months in Kindergarten!
Its been a little nutso over the last week with all 3 ladies in the house and me still trying to pretend I work part-time from home, ha!

Anyway, L&S are in a 2 hour park program every morning this week (through our awesome new hometown- Mendota Heights), which has helped ease me into the new status quo for the summertime.

Before I get into our Fort Snelling adventure, I have to throw in this quick anecdote. After their morning camp fun, I let the girls play for a bit on the playground. S proceeded to trip over something and face planted (and bounced) off some playground equipment that led to a bloody nose etc. I threw the gang in the car and proceeded to the local Subway to hopefully grab ice for her nose (since I wasn't sure what the bruising situation was going to be like). There were a couple of Mendota Heights cops sitting outside enjoying their lunch. I figured instead of hauling all 3 inside I would ask one of our lovely public servants if they wouldn't mind asking someone inside to fill a ziploc bag I had with some ice for S's injury. They were more than happy to oblige. And then the other cop came to my car to take a look at her to make sure she was OK; he stayed with us for quite some time informing me of my options in case I was worried, such as taking her to urgent care OR (since I lived in Mendota Heights), I could just give the police precinct a buzz and they would send someone over to check her out at our house...! It struck me just how different a place we live in now! Especially considering, even after we called 911 during the riots in Bmore, no one came! There's no place like (our new) home!!!

So... after that heartwarming interaction we stopped home, packed a lunch and hit Fort Snelling State Park which is literally minutes from our home. This was the first time back for me in over 10 years. I had all 3 girls and there was a threat of rain, but that's all it was. It was windy, but gorgeous...and virtually no one was around.

View or Summit Lake beach and picnic area

A little windy and chilly @first; Greta sleeping

We stopped at the swimming beach area which is a little hidden slice of paradise. The space is huge. Its on Snelling Lake, the water is beautifully clean and refreshing, there is a small playground and TONS of space to picnic and grill.  There are restrooms, a changing room building, and you can rent canoes. One thing that's maybe not for everyone, but we loved, were the planes. You could watch plane after plane come in to land at MSP airport.  It was really quite entertaining. Though it looks cloudy and dreary in these pics, it cleared up minutes after, but even in the clouds it was beautiful. We are not playing in mud, the sand was just wet:)

The girls and I played in the water and sand and L found a baby turtle which was so cute!!  But eventually we had to move on since G kept trying to grab the tiny thing and put it in her mouth! There was also what appeared to be a "Goose Family Day Out" of sorts, we counted 5 pairs of adult geese and almost 50 goslings all in one big group.We drove around the park and saw a quail (?) and a few deer along with a lot of neat dragonflies. I am so glad we spontaneously decided to check out this fabulous park today- we will be back!

First time to Deep Creek Lake

Back in March we 'won' an item we bidded on in a silent auction for the girls' preschool. It was a week at a cabin on Deep Creek Lake in Western, Maryland--- and I don't think anyone saw this one, because we were the only ones who bid and therefore got it for a fraction of what it was worth ($600 for a week, valued at something around $2800)!

Deep Creek is a really popular vacation destination in Maryland all year round with beautiful terrain,
the lake, and ample skiing in the winter. We have wanted to visit for a while and here was our chance for one week, with a 4 bedroom 4 bath lakefront "cabin" to boot.

So we hit the road for the 3.5 hour trip (a breeze compared to our recent cross-country trip) and met my parents at the cute blue house on the lake that exceeded our expectations. There was a well appointed kitchen, big stone fireplace, dining area over looking the lake, a bed and bath on the first floor (which worked nicely for my mom and dad), and 3 beds and 3 baths upstairs. The room with the two twin beds was perfect for the girls with pink beds, sparkly purple curtains and twinkle lights- even their own bathroom. The master was awesome with its own balcony and jacuzzi tub. There was a wrap around deck, its own dock, and an outdoor whirlpool- sweet!

My Dad relaxing by the fire

We had great weather a little more than half the time (and worth noting, NO mosquitoes the entire time). The first several days were beautiful and warm (but not hot). We chilled on the dock, tied up tubes so we could, well, just float, We swam and hiked. On our last day before the cool weather and rain came in Dave, my Dad and I rented wave-runners! I have to say I was surprised that my dad was willing to go- and he seemed to have a great time! I wasn't so sure I "should" go due to the beany baby I was carrying, but no one seemed to think anything of it so Dave and I shared one (we didn't get crazy though, so we kept the bouncing to a minimum).

We were lucky enough to be able to snag a pontoon one day as well. I had scoped out the marina with the best value rentals and they told me that they go quick. We had the pontoon for 4 hours. My Dad and I drove it back to the cabin to pick everyone else up (along with the tubes for towing). We explored almost the entire lake. And even though it was in the 60s, Dave and the girls hopped on the back and went tubing! It was great watching S & L's expressions back there for their first tube ride ever:)

We also went to the county fair that started during our stay. It was raining pretty much the whole time, but all the rides were running and there were no lines for anything. You couldn't really beat the $10 admission ticket that included unlimited rides on everything. We rode rides, ate food, and said hi to many many goats, bunnies, pigs, and cows. It was really fun (despite the weather) and kind of nice that the size was manageable to hit a couple hours. The last night we were finally able to hit the outdoor hot tub that we were finally able to get open- It was a great week!

Ocean City, MD

We were able to stay with our friends Tiff & Ryan's parents' beach house in Ocean City, MD in mid July. We hit the pool, the beach, consumed a ginormous pizza and devoured some fresh crabs during our stay. The girls weren't so sure about the salty paradise when we first arrived, but it only took their second dip in the ocean to become hooked. There were a couple 8 year old boys staying with us as well and it was pretty neat how they all actually had fun playing together, what are the chances?? Was it because there was no one else around? Maybe, but still pretty cool.

Lucy and Mom chillaxing on the beach; Stella on duty

  

The boys and girls on the kitchen floor of the beach house playing cars; the troupe in a beach hole; and the massive zah

Charleston

I am a little late to post on our trip to Charleston, SC in May, but a few other things took priority:)

We hopped in the car Wednesday May 22 for our trek to South Carolina for the first time. Our midpoint on the way down there was Huntersville, NC, which was a bit out of our way, but worth the extra time since we got to see some family, Karl & Merna Hesse! We arrived at their farm around 6 and were able to chat for a bit and then take a ride with the girls on the golf cart to see the goats and horses. Then we meandered over to the chicken coop and the girls got to collect some eggs for breakfast in the morning. We ended up cracking two of them (as the girls were 'tossing' them in the bucket); we learned that the chickens will actually eat the eggs- if they are cracked.
After a great dinner and discussion about the history of the greenback and the general concept of money, we hit the hay to prep for our drive the following day. Full of oatmeal, berries, and eggs- we continued our trek to the next Carolina in our journey.

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*Karl and Lucy after dinner; Merna and the girls the morning we left checking out the Hesse library.*

We chose South Carolina so we could visit our friend Brian, who has a beautiful daughter the same

age as our girls. We knew Brian when he lived in Baltimore and haven't seen him in quite some time (too long)! He graciously let us stay in his home for our 4-day stay. We were able to go to Folly Beach twice and checked out Charleston proper a couple times as well. Every night of our stay we had the bonfire going out back with good brew and good conversation. Of course, the best part of the visit was being able to see an old friend and watch our kids play. It's an entirely different dynamic in your friendship when you can see your own offspring interact with an old friend's offspring. There are unspoken truths that we both can understand now as well.

Sitting outside of Magnolia's restaurant on Memorial Day

Some of the places that we experienced, that I want to remember for next time!

• Folly Beach 
• Farmers Market in Charleston
• Heart Woodfire Kitchen
• Piggly Wiggly: the only one around where you can get growlers from about 100 draft beers on site!
• Black Bean Co. restaurant (feel good food, but in the not-fried and fatty way)
• Magnolias restaurant (feel good food, but in the fried and southern way)... I am sure there were healthier options but we got the seafood and cheesy grits and a fried green tomato BLT... yum

I can't believe they are TWO!

Everyone says time flies with kids, and I know they are only two, but it feels like it has whizzed by! Of course the weird thing about time is that it also feels like the day they were born was so long ago... how does that work?

We planned a birthday celebration in just a few days and I think we pulled it off. I went park hunting a few days before the big event (on July 22) with the girls in tow. We were looking for a place where we could have a BBQ, that was easy to get to, and had a playground (doesn't sound too hard right?). Well, it was a little more complicated with all the summer festivals and fun-runs going on, translating to neighborhoods and streets blocked off; to top it off I94 was shut down for several miles as well.

Needless to say we made it work. We decided on Minnehaha Falls Park. The Wabun picnic area had everything we wanted and more. There were picnic tables amidst tall trees- not one but two playgrounds right next to each other, and as a bonus, there was a great wading pool with a fountain to boot!

The next challenge we had to conquer was how to make sure we got one of the two picnic areas that I had my heart set on. So... even though the party didn't start until 12, I woke up, got a latte, and headed over to the park at 8:30AM. I got the spot. It's a good thing I did, as about 15 minutes later someone came over and respectfully said she was bummed out because she was aiming for the same place.

I set everything up with table clothes, balloons, flowers, set out the bowls and plastic ware, set up the toy area- then it started to rain. Of course:) I succeeded in getting everything to a dry place and then Dave came to take over the "watching of the table". I went back, got the ladies, and we arrived around 11:30.

Our spot in the park-- I think Luna might be dipping into the cake early!

Stella and Lucy with their birthday boas getting ready to party!

Lucy having her cake and eating it too.

Stella and the huge balloon

The five ladies... kickin' it in the 2 inch deep water at the wading pool

We had a great time! We had a good number of folks that were able to make it- which was great on such short notice:) Thank you to our family and friends, and family friends who came to help us celebrate the big number TWO x2!!

House Guests bring the heat!

The sis and niece, Luna, came to visit last weekend.. bringing with them the sauna-like weather from Minnesota. It sounds funny that they "brought" the hot hot weather from the northern mid west; we are the ones that are supposed to have the hot weather down "south", right?? The entire 4 days they were here we had heat indexes in the triple digits.

Stella, Luna, Lucy

Luna- 10 months

Friday as we were cooking up some food in preparation for the big #1 party, our lovely energy saving plan kicked in. We are using Peak Rewards which will cycle the air 15 minutes on and 45 minutes off in peak usage times. This was going on for almost 6 hours and with the baking etc., our house was a balmy 88 degrees virtually that entire time. Thank goodness for kiddie pools!

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Rocky Gap State Park

We have now completed camping trip #2 with the girls (still sans puppies). We decided on western Maryland this time- a bit further away than our suburban camping experience. The campground was considerably nicer at Rocky Gap however; I don't think I have seen cleaner bathrooms while camping... ever.

Dave spent a good half an hour attaching the stroller to the roof of the truck so we could bring it along this time. We never ended up using it however since we didn't want to spend the time taking it down:) We also brought a 2nd pack n' play along with our little noise machine. I attribute better baby sleeping to 1) They each had their own bed (one did not have to go on the floor next to us 2) the noise machine added a nice wave-seagull ambiance to the tent (it was like we had an ocean front campsite!); 3) they have started to get used to camping!

Stella

Lucy

Dad with Stella

We went to the beach at Lake Habeeb for the girls' first swimming experience. Lucy was not a happy camper when we put the sunblock on her - but once she was in the water she was all smiles. It took Stella a bit to get used to the whole experience but she was soon having fun as well- especially when we started playing with the mini pine tree-looking seaweed! I should note that Stella was the first one in the water!

The only thing that we kind of messed up on is that we did not prepare very well for the cold nights (i had checked the weather before we left and it appeared that it was not going to go below 75 at night, but it was wrong!). None of us had warm clothes with us so we had to get a bit creative. The girls used their own blankets plus a few of Daddy's t-shirts and we ended up using the girls play blanket as an extra cover.

Saturday night, after the girls fell asleep and we were chatting around the campfire- we saw a UFO. At first Dave pointed at the blinking light in the sky through the trees and said "Look at the satellite!"; all of a sudden it shot across the sky. We then thought maybe it was a shooting star, because satellites do not move that fast... right? All of a sudden it shot back- it was moving all over the place up there! We were pretty convinced we were having a super natural experience. And then, right before our eyes, the UFO zoomed down towards my face. This is when we realized that we had been watching a lightening bug the entire time.

After all was said and done, this experience went a lot smoother than last time!