Grand View Vacation

When we found out that Grandma was going to be in town for our Fall Break (MEA), we knew we needed to plan something special. So, we booked a couple nights at the Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, MN.

Our friends had been there many times and raved about it, so we thought we'd see for ourselves what a beautiful place it is.

The Fall weather had broken just the day before we left, but all things considered, we still had flowers, decent temps, and beautiful Fall leaves.

This, along with the fair, made us feel true Minnesotan -- going up north to a cabin! Notice the view out our window! This picture doesn't even do it justice! It was stunning!

The lighting and scenery was just too perfect to not snap lots of pictures!

Matching braids!

We love being with Grandma!

The lake was gorgeous too. We can't wait to go back in the summer, so we can enjoy the lake amenities too.

Crazy kiddos doing the "fashion pose"!

Kyler loves the 'ninja stance.'

We took a lot of walks, played a lot of games, watched movies, enjoyed the resort amenities like swimming, S'mores, and games. It was a great chance to just be together and relax!

The coldest day there, we took a boat ride, and the guide let all the kids take a turn driving. Kyler thought this was pretty cool!

I snapped this: my favorite picture of all time! Teyah had enough of the cold wind on the boat. She complained of her eyes being cold from the wind, so I loaned her my glasses. It was all just a bit of a sensory overload for her  -- cold wind, layers that included a life vest, noise from the boat, and the rocking of the boat was a lot for her to handle. But, she hung in there! Their faces in this picture say it all!

The resort had a fun Fall festival that included a pie eating contest! The girls, Dave, Grandma and I all participated. Of course, the winner of it all -- my cute husband with the huge mouth! Haha! He even won a gift card! The kids enjoyed the pumpkin carving, bag decorating, and hot cocoa and treats! This was a perfect weekend in a perfect place! We made great memories and had a much-needed recharge!

Best Hubby Ever

For Mother's Day, my sweet husband bought us tickets to Les Miserables AND Wicked! I was so surprised and felt so spoiled!

I had never seen Les Mis and was so excited to finally see it. I loved it! Our tickets were so perfect -- just 10 rows deep.

And if that wasn't enough, we had FRONT row tickets to Wicked! I loved being able to look down and see the orchestra! And, we could see the details of the actors' make-up. Sometimes they would look right at us!! It was so much fun! I'm sure it was a once-in a lifetime experience; I just loved it so much!

What a wonderful husband I have!!

The slipper fits

Aubrie has been taking dance lessons for seven years, but his year is a special year for her because she started pointe shoes! This picture was taken her first time ever going up on pointe, while her teacher Cheryl checked her shoe sizing. The verdict: the slipper fit!

Her ballet instructor is extremely detail-oriented and gave all the girls precise instructions on how to care for the shoes, how to sew on the ribbons, and break them in. The girls were so excited and nervous!

 The other big jump with ballet this year is that now she dances where the big kids do, at the studio downtown. To me, that means more rehearsals and more driving! But, for Aubrie, that means not only pointe shoes, but contemporary class, new teachers, new friends, more parts in the Nutcracker, and a new level and intensity of ballet! Because of this, she hasn't stopped bouncing and smiling since she started ballet this Fall! My two ballet dancers are so cute--they are definitely cut from the same mold!

1st Day of School

Fifth grade for Aubrie -- one more year until middle school (oh my goodness, are you kidding me?).

Third grade for Ellie this year.

First grade for sweet Teyah!

Teyah has a new teacher this year, named Mrs. Dobbs.

And Ellie also has a new teacher named Mrs. Larsen.

Kyler had a first day of two-day-a-week Joy School.

I'm biased, of course, but what a cute boy!!

Here's his Joy School crew for the year: Lexie, Jordan, Kyler, Rui, Benson and Lincoln. Kyler is the shortest and third oldest. This is my eighth year in a row of teaching Joy School!

If we are taking a million pictures, we might as well get a foot shot. Speaking of feet, Ellie who is four pants' sizes smaller than Aubrie, has almost the same size feet as her. I hope that means there's growing hope for Ellie!

My kids need to stop getting older! Life is just flying too quickly!

The soccer star

Ellie started competitive soccer this year. But, because when she started she was only seven, this meant she 'played up' with the kids a year older than her to what's called U9.

During her Spring season, she was the leading scorer. In fact, her coach told her she was only allowed to score 2-3 goals per game. Ellie never quite understood the purpose of this request, but she certainly developed as a complete player, and her confidence soared.  Enjoy this highlight video (you will need to click & watch in Youtube)

The Spring/Summer season lasted until July. At that time, she needed to 'tryout' for the next season. We went around and around about whether or not we should have her play up again. The tryout process became an adventure! The club we thought she was going to play for ended up not having enough people for a team, so during the very last minute, we raced across the city to attend another tryout -- all the while, Dave and I were wondering why this was such a big deal when she's only eight! When that tryout didn't go well, she decided to try for her same club that she had already been playing with. The drawback with this club is that the first day of tryouts was on Sunday. Ellie has chosen to not play soccer on Sundays, so we got permission to attend only the second day of tryouts. We realized that her chances of being allowed to play up and make a top team were basically impossible with her missing the first day of tryouts. But, Ellie was so resolute that she didn't want to play on Sunday and that she was just going to go give it her all and hope for the best. 

She definitely did just that and had an amazing tryout. With all odds stacked against her, she not only was allowed to play up, but she also made the top-level competition team with those girls! This girl sure is good at soccer and she definitely loves it!

One of Ellie's Fall season highlights is winning the Coerver indoor tournament in a shootout! This was her first experience in a shootout, and it was a nail biter for all of us, but so much fun! Ellie's biggest disappointment was the prize of a T-shirt, instead of a trophy!

A Summer Saturday to savor

"Colorful. Eclectic. Amazing" is how Dave described this place. "A Junkyard" is how Jeni describes it. The kids? We spent a summer morning venturing through this modern art collection in the middle of Minnesota nowhere -- The Franconia Sculpture Park.

The kids loved the Ghettoblaster tower.

Dave loved this crazy Lemony Snickets meets Alice in Wonderland playground.

Our day continued in Taylors Falls where we explored the tunnels, caves, and crazy rock formations of the glacial potholes in the State Park.

We took a short break to take in the beauty of this quiet little spot on the St Croix River.

Lastly, we headed out to Square Lake for some summer fun on the beach. This is said to be one of the clearest lakes in the state.  

Enjoying some air time!

With all this fun, perhaps the highlight of the day was "fishing."  No hooks, no bait, no poles, no problem. Ellie spent about a half an hour trying to catch a minnow. Finally, Daddy stepped in and scooped one up for her.

Of course, Ellie wanted to take her new friend home. I'm not sure what got into her Daddy, but he agreed that she could keep it! This fish became our families' first ever pet. The minnow stayed in the State Fair "Grandma's Cookies" tub for weeks! This fish stayed alive for four months, by Ellie feeding it sea weed! This fish, named Lily, will go down into our family folklore!

Finally Minnesota Fairgoers

During our house-hunting trip eight years ago, we received a strong recommendation to check-out the 'greatest state fair on the planet.' We resisted the crowds that year and have stayed away ever since, as the thought of manning a stroller through a sea of people in the heat seemed too daunting. However, this year we decided to brave it after Ellie won four free tickets through our county library. We received all sorts of advice from Minnesotans before attending, and Teyah's first grade teacher advised us to all wear the same color. So, in order to keep up with Teyah's demands, and to be able to keep track of our 'team,' we all sported yellow for the day.

To our surprise we actually made it through most of the day without spending a dime as the fair was full of fun, free, family activities. Our kids especially loved the Kemps "Little Farm Hands" exhibit, which allowed them to drive mini tractors, plant seeds, and do real-live farm activities, and then be paid with 'money' that they purchased real ice cream and snacks.

We saw a lot of unique things, but the butter sculptures were probably our girls' favorite. Each day a teenage dairy princess steps into the freezer booth to have her face sculpted in butter. Our kids were mesmerized as the sculptor transformed these blocks of butter into works of art.

For years, we heard the legend of "Sweet Martha's Cookies" and couldn't resist the $15 overflowing bucket of warm cookies. We devoured these cookies. They were definitely yummy!  But worth $15? Um, probably not, but I suppose we were paying for the experience? I don't think our kids will ever forget the overflowing bucket of cookies in our yellow shirts! I felt like attending the fair, seeing the butter queens and eating the cookies all added up to us finally being able to call ourselves true Minnesooootans! I truly was giddy by this!

Fun Summer Pics

Summers in Minnesota are surreal.  After the snow melts and the spring rains fall, this place turns into a lush green paradise with lots of fun things to do. Here are some of our favorite pics from the summer that help capture some of these special moments.

This first pic is entitled "Pure Joy" with Ellie soaring in the sky over the shores of the St Croix River.  We discovered this particular park that had swings that towered into the sky about 15-feet-high -- swings aren't made like that anymore!


This next one is, "New-found Freedom." In June, Teyah went from riding with training wheels to becoming a true bike rider in just a few weeks. Before we knew it, she was blazing trails around town! Her bike with no pedals, definitely helped this transition!

This pic, I will call, "Three Amigas."  These girls truly love each other and enjoy spending time together. This is taken just south of Stillwater on the St Croix River. Notice the thick book in Aubrie's hand -- that's a constant wherever she goes.


Let's call this one, "Sky Dancing." This was an Australian performing troupe (Swoon) that performed dance and acrobatic routines, while attached to 20-foot-high poles. Our kids were mesmerized as the performers glided through the St. Paul City sky during the International Children's Festival.

Our kids love riding their bikes to this neighborhood park, aptly nicknamed, "Spider Web Park."  Kyler and Ellie love scaling this "web" to the top of the 15-foot-climb -- much to my nervous dismay.  

Lastly, this pic is entitled "Best Buds." This captures the carefree days of summer and our kids' love of going out and doing. Living in Minnesota, we try to savor each warm day!

Aubrie's first boating

Having lived in Minnesota for eight years, you could say we have deprived our kids of boating experiences. I am not sure why because we are surrounded by some of the most beautiful lakes and most pristine rivers on the planet. Luckily, Aubrie's friend Sophie helped fill the void by inviting Aubrie and her friends for a boating birthday party.

Dave decided to take half the day off and join as a "chaperone."  They had fun tubing the St. Croix and holding on for their lives.

Aubrie and her buddies also spent some time coming up with creative dives into the river.  I think they called this the "mustache jump"...notice the mustache they have made with their hand as they fly through the air.

I'm pretty sure that boating on a beautiful Minnesota day doesn't get any better than that!