tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-377155642024-03-18T20:01:35.161-07:00Maisielicious
Watching Maisie and Ella grow.Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.comBlogger446125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-10654257136034081862016-01-25T06:55:00.002-08:002016-01-25T07:02:01.017-08:00Continued adventures in fencing!Happy new year! (somewhat belatedly...) I hope 2016 is off to a good start for you and yours. For us, life continues on in it usual hectic manner. Aaron started working again in December, so we're all adjusting to having both of us out of the house full-time. It's a big change but a very good one.<br />
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Since I last posted, Maisie's fenced in two tournaments!<br />
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The first was in December, Windy City Super Youth Circuit (SYC), in Chicago. This was a tournament of many firsts: her first traveling tournament, and her first time fencing kids from other sword clubs. She did quite well!<br />
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She and I arrived on Friday morning. Her event was Saturday, but we didn't know at what time, so we came down a day early so as not to cut it too close... and to have some free time in Chicago! After checking in at the hotel, we hopped on the El to downtown. We stopped by Cathy and Jim's office for a brief but lovely visit, then we went over to the Christmas market! I'd heard a lot about it but had never been before. Maisie had hot apple cider, in a keepsake little booth-shaped mug, to warm up!<br />
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The whole time she was like "My friends are in school and I'm in Chicago!!" like she couldn't believe it.<br />
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Saturday was the big tournament day!<br />
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Maisie was ready to go. There were 9 girls in her age/weapon group, and in fencing tournaments, the top 8 are awarded medals. So her goal, which seemed really achievable, was to medal. (Also I did NOT want to see how upset she'd be if she were the only one who didn't medal!!) So with that, we were off and fencing...<br />
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The tournament itself wasn't the best-organized for the girls. There were 3 strips going, so as soon as one bout finished she'd get her mask off but would immediately be called to her next bout. There wasn't a chance to take a breather or listen to her coach!<br />
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At the end, she made her goal, placing 7th.<br />
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I was (and am) so proud of her! She worked really hard. I think she was a little disappointed in herself, but it ended up a very positive experience.<br />
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Then yesterday was another small tournament at our home sword club. This one only had TWO girls in the age/weapon category - Maisie and her buddy Inga. They fenced two bouts - a seeding round that Maisie won 5-3, then they did the final bout, which goes to 10. Maisie got down 1-6, fought back to bring it to 9-9, but ended up losing the match point. She was <i>incredibly</i> disappointed, cried a lot, and asked to go home immediately afterwards instead of sticking around to watch other fencers. <br />
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She perked up when I asked if she and Ella wanted to go to the Mall of America to ride the rides, and even ended up putting her medal back on and smiling about it.<br />
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Next up for Maisie is the North American Cup, in Salt Lake City in March. I've never been to SLC before. I'm looking forward to it! She's excited about seeing mountains for the first time, and seeing some of the girls she met in Chicago.<br />
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She's really enjoying fencing, and I'm really proud of how well she's doing. She's working hard and seeing the results! It's a lot of fun to watch.Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-67977983527406840772015-11-09T07:56:00.001-08:002015-11-09T07:56:27.463-08:00Maisie is 9!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Last week was Maisie’s 9<sup>th</sup> birthday!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Instead of a friends party this year, she asked to go up
north to The Edge. The Edgewater is a hotel with a waterpark that she and Ella
love! Happily, her BFF Ophelia was able to come with us. It was a quick trip –
the girls were off school on Friday the 30<sup>th</sup>, so we went up in the
morning, hunted for agates on the shore of Lake Superior...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYLO-jiBk6vikp3afjNFGOPPHeb-vFX_aFv7pIh59HgjLmIqiR8UsL4FIUl8kpVQ-wZ9cAZqxIq66SY9jg7FVTUV2hLCfeSP5skKFJ7Sej6fjFM_ulTeEQvEzETboatE93i4tuEA/s1600/20151030_105246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYLO-jiBk6vikp3afjNFGOPPHeb-vFX_aFv7pIh59HgjLmIqiR8UsL4FIUl8kpVQ-wZ9cAZqxIq66SY9jg7FVTUV2hLCfeSP5skKFJ7Sej6fjFM_ulTeEQvEzETboatE93i4tuEA/s320/20151030_105246.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
watched the bridge go up, and then got an early lunch at Grandma's. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZJdkmy32FnYVul2J-8OezA1K6xV9fmDcBNMzXFv-TKQZuPJEFF36eHsCj6XgqOdb3nQPFe8_RZqkqVLxLWaCpGntLUb2qe3Oq4hOj0ysvKcI86edY8_tfSEiNq_MMUhk6_uTeQ/s1600/20151030_113753.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZJdkmy32FnYVul2J-8OezA1K6xV9fmDcBNMzXFv-TKQZuPJEFF36eHsCj6XgqOdb3nQPFe8_RZqkqVLxLWaCpGntLUb2qe3Oq4hOj0ysvKcI86edY8_tfSEiNq_MMUhk6_uTeQ/s320/20151030_113753.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch complete with hot chocolate - it's colder by the lake!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
By noon we were swimming and playing
in the waterpark!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwV2P89imDWTOjhz8kt2brbCJZHHFZgd8S6b0U1Z_dJ5rgrVi9yVcESlep3_yTUqsE39bCmSIaokmjBoOeUh0cD_nYey5ijceEwS8uXvJiuzVeZLMOxdIwsQkjwRyNtnHUOKvh9A/s1600/20151030_162214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwV2P89imDWTOjhz8kt2brbCJZHHFZgd8S6b0U1Z_dJ5rgrVi9yVcESlep3_yTUqsE39bCmSIaokmjBoOeUh0cD_nYey5ijceEwS8uXvJiuzVeZLMOxdIwsQkjwRyNtnHUOKvh9A/s320/20151030_162214.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ella, Maisie, Tiki Tom, and Ophelia</td></tr>
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Saturday morning the girls got up early. After a quick
breakfast, it was back to the waterpark for a few hours, before it was time to head
back to Minneapolis for trick or treating. We had so much fun at the Edge with Ophelia. It was a great
alternative to a birthday party!</div>
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Maisie’s actual birthday was on a Tuesday, so we went to
dinner at her favorite restaurant (a buffet place on Lake Street) with Gramma
Liisa. Our server caught wind of the birthday, and they brought her out a
little dessert plate with the most amazing candle! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKUdbynaNJWWxDH_6hOPCtGTTrrw8WPb5T2cNy3kk6BEueQW8O-T-Eh_gdQ82aQ2Dn2YsxsXJm92eYsg-iurptag394jixs0OLGf61mZi2euDuAEcNxe5GV_g93VaVFmzZCX_7g/s1600/20151103_174123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKUdbynaNJWWxDH_6hOPCtGTTrrw8WPb5T2cNy3kk6BEueQW8O-T-Eh_gdQ82aQ2Dn2YsxsXJm92eYsg-iurptag394jixs0OLGf61mZi2euDuAEcNxe5GV_g93VaVFmzZCX_7g/s320/20151103_174123.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
It looked like a firework at
first, and then opened up to reveal a flower, with a little candle on each
petal. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-MY7MzMYj_55tr6rWnvZR80FLT7FjAWSXvuhZnEUTEZiQZSN5D2q2t0kd24CZYXIekfhBzV-O7HKbATxoRemg-DmSyU_2l0j5DoRHOEMRixC-HL6GaoQjquuSGMGz2j3tJhtDg/s1600/20151103_174130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN-MY7MzMYj_55tr6rWnvZR80FLT7FjAWSXvuhZnEUTEZiQZSN5D2q2t0kd24CZYXIekfhBzV-O7HKbATxoRemg-DmSyU_2l0j5DoRHOEMRixC-HL6GaoQjquuSGMGz2j3tJhtDg/s320/20151103_174130.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It was so cool. Maisie was completely delighted!</div>
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Then this weekend, we had dinner with Auntie Laura, Dylan,
and Dan at their house, which was awesomely fun. Check out the Portal cake they made for her – she loved
it!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RuCycTZ2G1Sa71UAUl-BoD3mUA58GeY_j8afyjHroq3oJpIix87HRrYDOnRIp_cPUtYXg_e8CARjYBTLfng7qp5PeCsjvMmnriaPV7t_FZ-ONMfqRMt6DW-0CYBf6OjwC0aYYg/s1600/20151107_174522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RuCycTZ2G1Sa71UAUl-BoD3mUA58GeY_j8afyjHroq3oJpIix87HRrYDOnRIp_cPUtYXg_e8CARjYBTLfng7qp5PeCsjvMmnriaPV7t_FZ-ONMfqRMt6DW-0CYBf6OjwC0aYYg/s320/20151107_174522.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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At 9, Maisie is just a great person. She loves Pokemon, anime, her family,
koalas, reading, drawing, and cooking. She’s beginning to act a little tween-y
sometimes, but still loves to snuggle and be read to.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBb-oVuvFElbxx8beGMSeytNlgy420-QPB8C72S8YpG2A2LO7jGJD4mmHXzHYREXTPFc9DDiYhyphenhypheneE5eiA9MqVePHZE7ycOxGBLl9_lIKTZQrR9Ch1ukNd-YxxlumRh1-0DHTuEQ/s1600/20150704_194208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBb-oVuvFElbxx8beGMSeytNlgy420-QPB8C72S8YpG2A2LO7jGJD4mmHXzHYREXTPFc9DDiYhyphenhypheneE5eiA9MqVePHZE7ycOxGBLl9_lIKTZQrR9Ch1ukNd-YxxlumRh1-0DHTuEQ/s320/20150704_194208.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Convergence 2015 - she loved this person's cosplay of Lucy from Fairy Tale, a favorite anime.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
She’s smart and funny,
a caring friend, and a fierce fencer.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YP-Uo1UERlOiUhYc5wcbb3YiDGEkaNxK7kkbV3twZACjY-6vCo29kmU_-uFdL1Gi88RVFIHYajJRGuSMxR17Me4C98SUo5FmogmOvsbv4Z8qmE2xEXyWaRNghAd2N-XUpugEXQ/s1600/20150923_191614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YP-Uo1UERlOiUhYc5wcbb3YiDGEkaNxK7kkbV3twZACjY-6vCo29kmU_-uFdL1Gi88RVFIHYajJRGuSMxR17Me4C98SUo5FmogmOvsbv4Z8qmE2xEXyWaRNghAd2N-XUpugEXQ/s320/20150923_191614.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She told me the other day that she’s glad that I’m her mom.
I told her that I’m glad she’s my kid, and it’s true! She’s a wonderful person
and I can’t wait to see who she grows up to be.</div>
Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-85713387419228938582015-10-28T11:45:00.000-07:002015-10-28T11:45:08.778-07:00Colonial Williamsburg vacationEvery year, Minnesota schools have a short fall break in mid-October while the teachers' union has their annual conference. A lot of families like to take a family vacation during the break, and we are no exception! Last year we went to Chicago; this year Gramma Liisa, the girls, and I went to Colonial Williamsburg!<br />
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Many many pictures follow, with the trip narrative...<br />
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We got a VERY early start on Wednesday morning, leaving before 7:00 a.m.! The sunrise was really beautiful, though - not a perspective I'd seen before. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl64YVO1CgRAFJnyphtc0AMYiGGpSr92NsbS0rb4aA6XnOBj5YWOlKA9RHJddDPkcSyyPrzGLv60-tu-52lVtOUs00MSBGZqJn1jaMuYCHnYPnwUfDwdsrpk6LLvaL4f6opo8VZA/s1600/20151014_064933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl64YVO1CgRAFJnyphtc0AMYiGGpSr92NsbS0rb4aA6XnOBj5YWOlKA9RHJddDPkcSyyPrzGLv60-tu-52lVtOUs00MSBGZqJn1jaMuYCHnYPnwUfDwdsrpk6LLvaL4f6opo8VZA/s320/20151014_064933.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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We landed in Richmond, VA, picked up a rental car, and were off to Williamsburg! We didn't have much in the way of plans... it'd been a long travel day, and the girls had been very patient which meant they had a lot of pent-up squirrely energy to get out. So first thing we did was to go swimming at the hotel!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqCnem_kgQCToxVvLaesF2xxSawmgvCZ-_3Kem7ibRKFATKWJorTdv22LSrzfIZ6E-t7kZIdBn7L0y8dZOr1YGiRYHJtHPfEsPJQ3WSEQPbYamnTxL5IkuxNmhF7r97YzeNqpTg/s1600/20151016_093245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqCnem_kgQCToxVvLaesF2xxSawmgvCZ-_3Kem7ibRKFATKWJorTdv22LSrzfIZ6E-t7kZIdBn7L0y8dZOr1YGiRYHJtHPfEsPJQ3WSEQPbYamnTxL5IkuxNmhF7r97YzeNqpTg/s320/20151016_093245.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This is a favorite activity on any trip!<br />
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After swimming, we went to get dressed so we could go to dinner, and guess what... SOMEONE forgot to pack Maisie's clothes!! (it was me) All she had in her backpack was swimsuit, pjs, socks, and underwear! So she put back on the clothes she'd worn before, and we went to dinner... with a stop along the way at a nearby outlet mall that had a Children's Place store. Oops!<br />
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Thursday morning, it was off to Williamsburg! They had a costume rental place at the main visitor's center, so of course the girls needed to rent colonial costumes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItFmFW8EYhsgW5IR241gaIs5jxYhp5Uy4efS5Q10Y3156eU3cUJXOH_TRDS8yAnmrjYzMyNYFpLsFwD8GB71oo6PlVZMseQ_TkdezPlzwTrp9xUfoapitqwIeednc_IL5b1WeeQ/s1600/20151015_102146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItFmFW8EYhsgW5IR241gaIs5jxYhp5Uy4efS5Q10Y3156eU3cUJXOH_TRDS8yAnmrjYzMyNYFpLsFwD8GB71oo6PlVZMseQ_TkdezPlzwTrp9xUfoapitqwIeednc_IL5b1WeeQ/s320/20151015_102146.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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People took their pictures all day, which was really funny... their footwear was totally not period.<br />
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The Colonial part of Williamsburg is about six blocks long and three blocks wide, right in the middle of the town. We walked around it all morning, with the girls playing a scavenger hunt game that led us through different houses, stores, and all kinds of places. The weather was beautiful on Thursday - sunny and mid-60s. Perfect!<br />
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These pictures are from the magazine... <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNtFTvhv3XNiFxZ5jj69_8vnwHXFiRmj7q4BehQ1Y8hh-vhbJjsmTuka8Cg7fMwOIfk1yce5yOzBJP2KzQ9r18k1DcxkGg0SaKTKVHCmqhfwpT-svvaxcQIMw9zv5poI1meRkDg/s1600/20151015_112044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNtFTvhv3XNiFxZ5jj69_8vnwHXFiRmj7q4BehQ1Y8hh-vhbJjsmTuka8Cg7fMwOIfk1yce5yOzBJP2KzQ9r18k1DcxkGg0SaKTKVHCmqhfwpT-svvaxcQIMw9zv5poI1meRkDg/s320/20151015_112044.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh641_fSEFpqz43WB-8CNiiYzbsY75YKuA3ks2ObycVM-SeFpWjimWcts5YmKiCDvnMxyDpEm9olyx8zeICqWi5xgzAyZomnKfJx355vm9Xa1huahdAnS4YlDl-p8w9L4Bw5W6CNw/s1600/20151015_112110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh641_fSEFpqz43WB-8CNiiYzbsY75YKuA3ks2ObycVM-SeFpWjimWcts5YmKiCDvnMxyDpEm9olyx8zeICqWi5xgzAyZomnKfJx355vm9Xa1huahdAnS4YlDl-p8w9L4Bw5W6CNw/s320/20151015_112110.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">box of sabers!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LYIg4cUqJwbpTtOevbMD7TA7TQep2_Du0CI1I1yJ8yt8qHAs9SCSWs7BG2V3SdqZI5sIug6nU7k7CDxtr19Qh9dUsn3cS318sPgcqN1Z28bGa9EM8UuZmU1ijz8coC6zWebXRA/s1600/20151015_112052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9LYIg4cUqJwbpTtOevbMD7TA7TQep2_Du0CI1I1yJ8yt8qHAs9SCSWs7BG2V3SdqZI5sIug6nU7k7CDxtr19Qh9dUsn3cS318sPgcqN1Z28bGa9EM8UuZmU1ijz8coC6zWebXRA/s320/20151015_112052.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There was a town square outside the magazine, where these two people started playing some really fun music. That's the courthouse in the background.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdsaYcsGkc3s8iFZP6W-cKPxGGReaDu45tbsJGNUoim72mEqxGLnQRkzCp0XwDaTnZYEv_O3UcreMAMWPdbHXVw6J4Q9D7_aEvMVI8mFNlc_GmCwbDzeFbfN_iwHNPYL6gxQdJug/s1600/20151015_112315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdsaYcsGkc3s8iFZP6W-cKPxGGReaDu45tbsJGNUoim72mEqxGLnQRkzCp0XwDaTnZYEv_O3UcreMAMWPdbHXVw6J4Q9D7_aEvMVI8mFNlc_GmCwbDzeFbfN_iwHNPYL6gxQdJug/s320/20151015_112315.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We took a tour of the George Whythe (pronounced "with") House, which General Washington used as his headquarters during the Revolution. Here's his bedroom!<br />
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You can see Washington's red saddle, towards the rear of the room on the left.<br />
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George Whythe taught Thomas Jefferson to read law in this room <br />
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He then went on to found the law school at William and Mary. It was amazing to see these rooms... some of the houses are partially or fully reconstructed, but many of them are original, down to the floorboards.<br />
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We also took a "tour" of the jail, which wasn't quite as spooky as we'd thought it might be. We held shackles and manacles, and talked about the court process. We then went into the jailer's house, which was quite nice. The interpreter talked about how most of the people of Virginia at the time would live in one room with their whole family, maybe 8-10 people, with dirt floors and log walls, so to be a jailer and have the housing as part of your job was quite a coveted position, even though it meant literally living with prisoners, with cells in the attic and basement and your family in the middle.<br />
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We didn't get to see the cells that were downstairs (men) or upstairs (women), but we did get to see the ones out back. Some were for particularly violent offenders, and others like this one<br />
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were for debtors. The interpreter said "It's not illegal to owe money, but it <i>is </i>illegal not to pay it back. So we come out and hold you, take your things, and then sell them to pay off your debts. Once your debts are paid... or your things are gone... you're free to go." <br />
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So after a long day with much walking... <br />
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It was back to the hotel for more swimming, then dinner and bedtime. Friday was another full day!<br />
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We started off at the "sanitarium," which began with this view of a patient's cell. (Note the shackles embedded in the wall.)<br />
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Maisie and Ella quickly said "I don't like this place!" so we headed to the connected colonial folk art museum, which we all LOVED. The art was great! This is a jar of SAND!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGpCMc59SFsLB3RIj44gWbFSoymKQq4TQhLERMVYZGQ_AozTZZCyLqP-TPy2ln6zN0tXN7z9IdupO5IUkCnwKBNvXMtfO3wA1ajefHKuESopp-nIYUZE3LceotAHy1luZiQ99qA/s1600/20151016_130149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGpCMc59SFsLB3RIj44gWbFSoymKQq4TQhLERMVYZGQ_AozTZZCyLqP-TPy2ln6zN0tXN7z9IdupO5IUkCnwKBNvXMtfO3wA1ajefHKuESopp-nIYUZE3LceotAHy1luZiQ99qA/s320/20151016_130149.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"From Nannie to Nellie" the artist who made these would sell them for a few dollars each. Can you imagine the patience??</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfXLa4JzvSDaPIAwlE1c1Jy72-ibeRZ3iXnl06t8jnA8YBwa6C37Cg_GSz5VLFs2fAugUJ0CjwpE8i7spE4gNKgDKeGK38aKzsuyTJB7RX3k_UmqO7j8bNTMDB9RuYMRWRHi12gA/s1600/20151016_132636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfXLa4JzvSDaPIAwlE1c1Jy72-ibeRZ3iXnl06t8jnA8YBwa6C37Cg_GSz5VLFs2fAugUJ0CjwpE8i7spE4gNKgDKeGK38aKzsuyTJB7RX3k_UmqO7j8bNTMDB9RuYMRWRHi12gA/s320/20151016_132636.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I just loved this jug... the sun looks so chill.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdxp3BOcNBI77uiQ3v-s-LnwlIZjwLHPHWtwtseHBjVCbwWSgRRy0u-z0T2ICzOr3NJLiix8bsBbeQAIjfxMMyC8SKqf9Cia1yUuEy_Sce4kKqGyas99EnVyfvdaE5Y3VdMEO7Q/s1600/20151016_133509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdxp3BOcNBI77uiQ3v-s-LnwlIZjwLHPHWtwtseHBjVCbwWSgRRy0u-z0T2ICzOr3NJLiix8bsBbeQAIjfxMMyC8SKqf9Cia1yUuEy_Sce4kKqGyas99EnVyfvdaE5Y3VdMEO7Q/s320/20151016_133509.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maisie liked this guy.</td></tr>
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It had been a rainy morning, but by the time we were done with the art museum, the sun came out! So we wandered back to the colonial village. We took a tour of the Richmond house, which was owned by Payton Richmond, President of the first and second Continental Congresses, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and owner of 27 slaves. It was a difficult discussion - the interpreter spent a lot of time inviting us to imagine how it would feel to be a slave - forced to stand and serve for hours, while Richmond talked to his friends of freedom... listening to people like Patrick Henry say they'd rather die free than live a slave... knowing that at any time, you could be sold away from your family. We toured the house, and saw the contrast between the sumptuous beds Richmond and his family slept in, and the pallets for slaves in the hall. It was not fun - at the end, poor Maisie burst into tears - but I think it was important, and I'm glad we went on that tour.<br />
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Afterwards, we got a little snack and then walked around a bit, over to the courthouse. It was one big room with two smaller rooms, one on each side, for jury deliberations, witnesses, and the like. It was funny - technology aside, it wasn't really all that different from a modern courtroom!<br />
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Outside, the girls had to try out the stocks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIdVLNJqjgeEPLgmUJ2qj_eYUKMSrH_1fEIOC5CB91xszPOB7pbzBTIq4uohxjqpJwMYge9acA6iWuyf9n_2ELZRrQFZbbnheBulp1RfUhFQ3DmQtx29OtWlzNikhUUlPbz3jkA/s1600/20151016_153053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIdVLNJqjgeEPLgmUJ2qj_eYUKMSrH_1fEIOC5CB91xszPOB7pbzBTIq4uohxjqpJwMYge9acA6iWuyf9n_2ELZRrQFZbbnheBulp1RfUhFQ3DmQtx29OtWlzNikhUUlPbz3jkA/s320/20151016_153053.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(different from a modern courthouse)</td></tr>
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We also visited the weavers' house, and the girls got to try their hands at carding wool and picking cotton. It was a favorite stop!<br />
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A few blocks away is a pedestrian mall with shopping, so we wandered over there for dinner and souvenirs.<br />
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Then back to the colonial part...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3GYEkqCsBnMOnXLBb2Q_4LCpMQs8AC7mIsxbxCZCSggo0u4dS_lcG1fVXGJQVWKmHH5dBmUrezptOVhXNmbgmwD_x1Vwa8MaN6E2_kFchDzlJB3QnsBRzUeO709sjUp2dzf-1w/s1600/20151016_182918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3GYEkqCsBnMOnXLBb2Q_4LCpMQs8AC7mIsxbxCZCSggo0u4dS_lcG1fVXGJQVWKmHH5dBmUrezptOVhXNmbgmwD_x1Vwa8MaN6E2_kFchDzlJB3QnsBRzUeO709sjUp2dzf-1w/s320/20151016_182918.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maisie in front of the one-room courthouse</td></tr>
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For one of our favorite activities of the trip... the ghost tour!!! Ella got to help carry the guide's lantern from the first stop to the second...<br />
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Immediately after this picture was taken, though, Ella said she was too creeped out! So she and Gramma Liisa went back to a Barnes & Noble a few blocks away to read books and enjoy a treat. Maisie and I continued on the tour and heard some of the best ghost stories we've ever heard! It was a great way to cap off our trip.<br />
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Saturday morning, it was back to the airport in Richmond. After a brief layover in Chicago... <br />
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where we had pizza, because hello, we were in Chicago...<br />
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it was back home to Minneapolis. Everyone had a great time, and we were happy to be home having learned a lot about colonial times! (Myself included!)Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-48690327329710999922015-09-17T08:35:00.002-07:002015-09-17T08:35:50.253-07:00State Fair State Fair State FairSo yeah, I love the State Fair! It's a highlight of the summer for me - I try to go a couple different times, usually with the girls, with my mom, with my sister and Dylan... and sometimes by myself or with a friend, too. All the times I go are different experiences for me - depending on who I'm with it can be a whirlwind of rides, taking time to really look at the creative activities, watching lambs be born and chicks hatch, eating your weight in fried food, dancing to live music... there are so many things to do, and I love them all.<br />
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This year I had the good fortune to go four times! The first day was the first Saturday of the Fair, just me and the girls.<br />
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The first thing we had to do - of course - was to find Ella's blue ribbon!<br />
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Both girls had entries in the Creative Activities competition this year - Ella for a color photograph, and Maisie for a mixed-media poster she made with Dylan. Ella won first prize! She got a blue ribbon and $6. The photograph is a tiny blue damselfly on a day lily leaf. You can't quite see it in the picture above, but it's framed perfectly, right in the middle in the big splash of sun.<br />
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After that, there was some food (roasted corn, pizza, corn dogs, root beer) followed by the kids' favorite part... rides! We started out with the turbo jump, where you are hitched to bungee cords and jump on a trampoline. Ella got up REALLY high.<br />
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And Maisie managed to do a flip! Once she figured it out she was spinning away up there.<br />
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Then it was off to the Kidway! (Like the midway, but smaller rides for smaller people.) <br />
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Then, snack time!<br />
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Shaved ice for Maisie, and s'mores for Ella. Then back home for the time being.<br />
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On Monday I went to the fair with a friend, which was a lot of fun. Then on Wednesday after school, the girls and I returned with Grandma Liisa and her friend John! Highlights of this visit included the butterfly house, where Grandma was very popular...<br />
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and a stop by the KARE-11 (our local NBC affiliate) barn, which included a photo op place that looked like the set of The Voice! <br />
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Maisie loooooooves that show, so she was really excited to get a chance to be a Voice judge.<br />
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Our last trip to the fair was Sunday before Labor Day, with Auntie Laura and Dylan! We started with breakfast: a corn dog for Ella,<br />
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and French toast with pop rocks for Maisie!<br />
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This was actually not the crazy sugar-bomb you'd think it'd be. The French toast itself was not too sweet, and then it had a tart berry sauce on top. It really balanced out the whipped cream and pop rocks!<br />
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We did all kinds of activities with Auntie Laura and Dylan, including checking out the crop art (and making some of our own), the river raft ride, and the haunted house!<br />
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We also took the skyride, and some silly selfies along the way - </div>
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we revisited the Voice chair, <br />
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and snacked on the kids' very favorite food, cream cheese wontons. <br />
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So all in all, we had GREAT fun at the State Fair. Thank you Auntie Laura and Dylan, and Grandma and John, for coming to the fair with us! It's even more fun when you can share it with friends and family.<br />
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Can't wait for next year! Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-26478875670867843002015-06-29T07:07:00.002-07:002015-06-29T07:07:58.064-07:00Maisie's home!Maisie is home from Salolampi!<br />
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She had a great time, and definitely plans on going back last year. So far, I've figured out that she managed to lose a dress (!), a hat, a small makeup bag that had her earrings in it, sunscreen, bug spray, and a bug bite anti-itch stick. I'm not yet sure what else is missing!<br />
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There are some pictures of her on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Salolampi?ref=eyJzaWQiOiIwLjA1NTg3ODc5MzU0MzkxMTkiLCJxcyI6IkpUVkNKVEl5VTJGc2IyeGhiWEJwSlRJd1JtbHVibWx6YUNVeU1FeGhibWQxWVdkbEpUSXdWbWxzYkdGblpTVXlNaVUxUkEiLCJndiI6Ijk0YWQwYTU1MTZkN2E4ZDdhOGFlZmIyZjgzYWFmMmU4ZTQyNGIyNTYifQ">the Salolampi Facebook page</a>, and even more can be found on <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/100801877246378649143/posts">their Google+ page</a>. This one above is from their Google+ page. Their photos are great, and looking through them really helped Maisie tell us about her time at camp.<br />
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We're so happy to have her home!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-50382393749983288612015-06-26T08:58:00.000-07:002015-06-26T08:58:19.028-07:00Salolampi summer, and Ella's 6th birthday!Like last year, Maisie has headed up north to Salolampi, the Concordia Finnish Language Village. Unlike last year, though, this year she went for a two-week session!<br />
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The day before she left, we had "Maisie day" where she got to choose our activity. She said she wanted to go hiking, so we headed down to Minnehaha falls! We actually started the day by renting a surrey, which was exhausting (for me and Aaron, who had to do all the work) but still a really fun way to take a family bike ride!<br />
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After that it was time for an ice cream break at Sea Salt...<br />
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before starting the hike! You can see the falls in the background here. We paused for a quick picture then kept going... <br />
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all the way down to the pools at the bottom. There were a TON of people there, as you can see! The weather was warm and sunny so it was perfect for splashing in the shallow, cool water. <br />
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While Maisie's been gone, Ella turned 6! We didn't have a party - yet - we're saving that for when Maisie gets back. But we did have a really fun day! We started with breakfast with Gramma Liisa and her friend Jim at Ella's favorite restaurant, Tiny Diner. Then we picked up Dylan and headed to the Mall of America!<br />
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Our first activity (as chosen by Ella) was to visit the aquarium, which name I can never remember. I still call it Underwater World, the same way the park in the middle of the MOA will forever be Camp Snoopy. Anyway! we spent a LOT of time looking at the rays in the touch pool.<br />
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Ella got splashed by a couple of curious cow-nosed rays. We got some shrimp to feed them, but Dylan was the only one of us brave enough to do it!<br />
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After the aquarium, we went to ride rides! <br />
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What you don't see is that these goofballs made me ride some roller coasters that I NEVER would've ridden on my own! But Ella wanted to go, and Dylan wasn't old enough to be her chaperone, so it was roller coaster time for me. He kept joking that he was going to make me ride the roller coaster that corkscrews and goes upside down... no thank you!<br />
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We had a late lunch at Skydeck, which is a restaurant that has games where you win tickets. Kind of like a Dave & Buster's, or Chuck-E-Cheese, I guess? It's a lot of fun to go play skee ball and air hockey, anyway. After lunch it was back for more rides!<br />
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Maisie comes home tomorrow (June 27) and we're having Ella's birthday party then. I miss Maisie a TON and can't wait to see her! Ella is so excited to get her sister back, and to see all her friends at her birthday party. It's going to be a great day!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-56142502441860799692015-05-18T06:41:00.001-07:002015-05-18T06:41:24.752-07:00MSP ComiConSunday (yesterday) we woke up to thunderstorms. I wanted to do something fun, but being outdoors was not an option! So after a quick Google, we decided to take the girls and Dylan to <a href="http://www.mcbacomicons.com/" target="_blank">MSP ComiCon</a>!<br />
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Put on by the Midwest Comic Book Association, MSP ComiCon is an annual
event held at the State Fair grandstand. There were a bunch of tables
with comic book dealers, publishers, writers, and illustrators selling
their merchandise. In addition there were some kids' activities, a
costume contest (and a bunch of awesome cosplay!), and cool Lego
displays!<br />
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I loved this cosplay! (Deathstroke and Black Canary, from Green Arrow. And if you don't watch <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2193021/" target="_blank">Arrow</a>, I highly recommend it!!! Past seasons are on Netflix!)<br />
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Maisie and Dylan spent what seemed like <i>hours </i>looking at Pokemon cards, trying to decide which ones to buy. The prices ranged from $0.50 to $30 per card!!!!! which seems insane to me. <br />
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They picked out a couple of cards that were more reasonably-priced, and were very happy with their purchases, which is what counts.<br />
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At one point the rain let up and we stepped outside for some ice cream, and saw a photoshoot!<br />
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I believe these folks are part of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mnsuperheroesunited/info" target="_blank">MN Superheroes United</a>, but I'm not 100% sure. What I AM sure about is that I love the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel cosplay happening on the left of the group there. Also, it was pretty windy, which made all the capes look awesome!</div>
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It was a very fun event! It was less interactive and more shopping-focused than CONvergence, but still a really good time. We'll definitely be returning!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-88375079289934031692015-05-17T14:22:00.000-07:002015-05-17T14:22:07.099-07:00Orlando pictures, part 2!A lot less narrative, a lot more pictures on this post :)<br />
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Early morning flight out of Minneapolis<br />
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Day 1: let's swim in the pool!<br />
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Day 2, at the park!<br />
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In Diagon Alley... a bunch of muggles outside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes<br />
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Looking down Diagon Alley towards Gringott's<br />
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Inside Gringott's<br />
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Knight bus!<br />
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enjoying ice cream from Florian Fortescue's outside the Three Broomsticks<br />
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Peeking into the windows of Honeyduke's... so many choices!<br />
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Then back to the hotel for more swimming!<br />
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Park, Day 3 - the Hogwarts Express<br />
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We tried pumpkin juice... it was really good!<br />
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Rawr!!!!!<br />
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Day 4... heading for home.<br />
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So much fun! We can't wait to go back.Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-85141636276759218182015-05-13T09:59:00.001-07:002015-05-13T09:59:12.094-07:00Orlando vacation & picture dump (part 1 of 2)Oh my gosh you guys. My sister Laura and I took our kids to Universal Studios Orlando and it was So. Much. Fun.<br />
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This is going to be the recap post with pictures from my phone. I also brought my camera but can't find my sim card reader! So, once I either find it or buy a new one, there will be a post with better-quality pictures. But I didn't want to wait any longer to write up our AMAZING vacation!<br />
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We started with an 8 a.m. Sun Country flight on Thursday May 7, which meant getting up even earlier than we do on a normal weekday! It was an easy, direct flight and by 1:00...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sistercation!</td></tr>
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we were poolside with Laura and Dylan!<br />
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We stayed at a Doubletree near Seaworld, and it was beautiful! We'd talked about heading over to Universal on Thursday afternoon, but Laura convinced me not too. Everyone was having too much fun swimming and running around in the sun after an early morning and a three-hour flight!<br />
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As you can see, the pool (pools, actually - there were 3 of them!) were outside. What you can't tell is that they were salt water! It made for a really pleasant swimming experience, without the super-dry skin and gross chemical smell you get from a chlorine pool.<br />
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We swam, played, relaxed, and chased little geckos in a futile effort to catch one. Ella said she wanted to grab one by the tail so it'd drop its tail, which she could then bring home! I am glad she didn't succeed!! Dylan managed to catch a few of them - he has faster hands than the rest of us!<br />
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Pretty soon the early morning, hot sun (it was 85 and sunny!), and exercise took its toll, and deck chair naps were had.<br />
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The next day it was time to head to the park, bright and early!! It was great going early, and on a Friday - the crowds were very light, and we hardly had to wait at all, even for very popular rides like Minion Madness. (That one was a particular favorite for some of us!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had to get it for her! It had her name on it!</td></tr>
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The rides were very cool. Most of them were 4D, where there's a screen in front of you (sometimes 3D) that shows some kind of wild ride, and then your seat moves like you're bouncing around on a roller coaster or zooming through space. It was a LOT of fun!<br />
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After a few rides, we went to DIAGON ALLEY!!!!!!!!!!!! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was a huge draw for me (and the girls, but let's be realistic, mostly me) and it did NOT disappoint! When we walked through the brick wall hiding it from Muggle eyes, my jaw dropped. It was like walking on to the movie set!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Edible Dark Marks, Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Fainting Fancies...</td></tr>
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We also caught the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade, which was ALSO amazing! The castle was beautiful and the attention to detail was astonishing. I could've hung out in the Three Broomsticks all day!!<br />
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All the employees working in the park were 100% in character the whole time, which I was not expecting but really enjoyed. Whenever I'd buy something they'd say, "On the Muggle plastic" when I gave them my card. And when I bought the girls animals at the Magical Menagerie, they told me my total as "your adoption fees today come to $42.50..." It really added to the whole immersive feel of the experience!<br />
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Also, butterbeer is delicious. They served it hot, cold, or frozen like a slushee. Cold was good - it was like a butterscotchy cream soda - but frozen was AMAZING and totally worth the extra $1, especially given the heat!<br />
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After a full, fun day at the park it was back to the hotel for dinner, swimming, movies, and a solid night's sleep. On to Saturday! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purple minion on the loose in King's Cross Station!</td></tr>
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Ella'd gotten a bit of a sunburn on her shoulders on Thursday/Friday. She wore a tanktop to the park on Saturday, but the sun was pretty quickly hurting her shoulders, so I let her pick out this shirt. And we HAD to get the minion goggles to match!<br />
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Saturday was more of the same... Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and a few favorite rides from Friday that we wanted to go on again. The Simpsons, E.T., and (one of my favorite movies) Men in Black! It was a "training exercise" for new recruits - you had a laser gun to shoot aliens that'd escaped from a prison transport. The line was longish but it went past some cool things. like the MiB break room, featuring some of my favorite characters from the movie!<br />
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After a full day at the park and a delicious dinner, it was time to head back to the hotel for our last night. Because in the morning...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Airplane nap</td></tr>
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back to the airport to head back home.<br />
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It was an absolutely amazing trip and I cannot WAIT to go back! There are so many things I want to see that I missed, and so many things I want to do again!! <br />
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And, a very special thank you Laura and Dylan for being such completely awesome travel companions!! We will go on vacation with you again any time.Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-66103859473424714362015-04-22T07:14:00.000-07:002015-04-22T07:14:50.773-07:00Salolampi weekend 2015After missing a year due to scheduling issues, Minnesotan Suomi-koulu returned to Salolampi, Concordia Language Village's Finnish village, for a relaxing family weekend!<br />
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Last time we visited, which was two years ago, there was tons of snow on the ground. This year, the weather was more cooperative - it was in the 60s and sunny during the day, and not too cold even at night. It was perfect!<br />
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We arrived on Friday evening and got situated in our cabin, Savo.<br />
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Maisie was excited that this was where we'd be staying, because it was one of the boys' cabins last summer when she was a Salolampi camper!<br />
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She was also excited in general to be returning. She took a lot of pride in showing us around - this was my cabin, this was where we hung up our swimsuits to dry, this is where I had class. It was great to see how excited she was about Salolampi!<br />
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Friday night was pretty laid back - we just hung out and played games in the main dining hall as we waited for the families to arrive. There was fresh-baked pulla and lots of coffee and tea, so the adults chatted and snacked, and the kids played outside.<br />
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Saturday morning was sunny and warm! After breakfast, some of us decided to check out the hiking trails. <br />
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The trails are well-maintained, nice and flat, and made for a beautiful walk through the woods - even for little legs! Ella and I were joined on our hike by her B.F.F. Lillian, Lillian's little brother Oliver, their mom and dad Tonya and Reid, and Reid's mom Roxy.<br />
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Roxy is a member of the Minnesota Mycological society, and a naturalist, so she knew a lot about all the different things we were seeing in the woods! Ella especially enjoyed learning about some of the different kinds of mushrooms that were growing out there.<br />
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Roxy found a lot of a kind called "chaga" that grows on birch trees. It looks like it's charred on the outside, but when you break it off it's orangey-yellow. She said you use it to make a very healthful tea - just pour hot water over it. We all learned a lot from her!<br />
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There was time for a few photo ops...<br />
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And then we were back at camp. Time for some Finnish schoolyard games! <br />
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Maisie, it turns out, is aces at kyykkä!<br />
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Check out the arm on her!<br />
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While Maisie and I played, Ella and her friends (with parental guidance) went down to the beach.<br />
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They found all kinds of cool shells, and generally had a good time until someone threw a rock at someone else, which put an end to the beachy fun. Lunch, naps, and sauna followed.<br />
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Later in the evening, Maisie and I headed down to the beach with some of the older kids.<br />
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We found shells, driftwood, and even some bleached bones that we thought might be from a deer. When it started to get dark, we headed back up to the main dining hall for dessert, tea, and silly selfies.<br />
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Soon the little ones went to bed, while the older kids stayed up and watched movies. <br />
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Sunday morning it was time to hit the road and head back to real life. Sad! We had a wonderful, relaxing weekend at Salolampi. Maisie's more excited than ever for her next summer session (two weeks!) and Ella wants to go now, too!<br />
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We can't wait to go back!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-46493256354512416392015-03-30T06:55:00.000-07:002015-03-30T06:55:37.023-07:00Visit to the MIASaturday mornings are pretty busy. Twice a month we have Suomi-koulu, and once a month Maisie has Girl Scouts. When those aren't happening, there's a fencing class. This past weekend was fencing, so Ella and I decided to do something different, and took a trip to the <a href="http://new.artsmia.org/">Minneapolis Institute of Arts</a>!<br />
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We started out with breakfast at a restaurant on Nicollet called <a href="http://www.copperhenkitchen.com/" target="_blank">the Copper Hen</a>. I had never been there before, but the menu looked good so we decided to give it a try.<br />
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Ella told me jokes and drew while we waited for food to arrive.<br />
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I must say, the food was really pretty tasty. I had a skillet scramble with roasted root vegetables, mushrooms, and cheddar. Yum! But as good as mine was, Ella was SERIOUSLY excited about her order.<br />
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They have a "toast bar," which is $3 for four slices of buttered toast, and you can order different toppings. Ella chose cinnamon sugar, and got her own shaker! She also got scrambled eggs, which she did not put on her toast, but ate on the side. There are a lot of different choices, both savory and sweet, so you could really make some unique toast creations. :) <br />
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After we finished eating, we headed down the block to the MIA. Ella plans to be an artist and a scientist when she grows up, and really does enjoy looking at art. (Although she thinks it's weird that there are so many naked people.) She also liked finding her name on a staircase!<br />
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We walked all around and looked at different collections. She liked a lot of the contemporary sculptures and installations, was excited to find the Chuck Close that she saw on a field trip to the museum last year, and generally had a lot of fun. Ella also enjoyed imitating some of the poses and pictures we saw:<br />
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And she insisted that I do one, too!<br />
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It was a really fun morning, and we definitely plan to head back there soon!<br />
Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 3rd Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404, USA44.9585493 -93.2740537999999919.4365148 -134.5826478 70.4805838 -51.965459799999991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-82661986599768519262015-01-29T06:27:00.003-08:002015-01-29T06:27:35.433-08:00FencingSo I don't know if I ever mentioned it here, but a while back (spring? summer?) Maisie started taking fencing lessons!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY5wR85fsClfF_p9BUz_DE0793OF62z4RKCvi9RSxmUkCn2QApxPASyOeVliSB3rAseDM67rD0P54rTEmYOv9VCWcEylv0I7krCVoE4KPLMnpMG4l4zXsD-WgkYBpa8mRbq3QYAw/s1600/CAM00493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY5wR85fsClfF_p9BUz_DE0793OF62z4RKCvi9RSxmUkCn2QApxPASyOeVliSB3rAseDM67rD0P54rTEmYOv9VCWcEylv0I7krCVoE4KPLMnpMG4l4zXsD-WgkYBpa8mRbq3QYAw/s320/CAM00493.jpg" /></a></div>We are fortunate to live just down the street from the <a href="http://www.mnsword.com/">Minnesota Sword Club</a>, which has fencing lessons for people of all ages. (Well, as long as that age is 6 or older.) They even have medieval fighting classes, which my friend Kyle has been taking for a while now. They're really nice people and the kids we've met there have been great, too.<br />
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So anyway, there's more to this post than just a commercial for the Sword Club :) Last night after her class, the owner of the sword club pulled me aside to chat about Maisie's progress. He told me that they have an invitation-only group that trains specially for national competition, and would she/we be interested in her specializing in sabre and joining the team?<br />
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I was super flattered, but also very surprised! When we started her fencing it was just supposed to be for fun. To hear that she has the potential for being nationally competitive? That was not something I expected! <br />
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So Aaron and I talked about it, and Maisie's interested, so we're going for it! She'll be spending more time at the Sword club, doing more group classes as well as some individual lessons. We're going to try to let her lead it... Aaron and I definitely don't want to be "dance moms" pushing her so hard that it isn't fun any more. But as long as she's enjoying it, having fun and making friends, we feel like this could be a great opportunity for her!<br />
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See you at the sword club!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-70942320266946138132015-01-27T08:33:00.000-08:002015-01-27T08:33:25.817-08:00Happy new year!Belated happy new year, but the wishes are no less sincere for being late :) We had a lovely winter holiday season, and I hope all of you did too!<br />
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Maisie's Finnish dance group performed at a <a href="http://www.finnfaca.org/facaweb2_010.htm">Joulu</a> (Finnish Christmas) event sponsored by <a href="http://www.finnfaca.org/">FACA</a>, the Finnish American Cultural Activities group.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuFQkEIfK-z-3k_FIMkZog6GxM1CXQGCQfrigvyj1fbv7Rl2WNhLYGB7K-FB1NO5RoZTxj4x5WKrdTT-p3H5ccgIFXJi6bxyM5_eULCqXe-zCxbV6sGdMysJMt0pnD-jjSGX2Kw/s1600/CAM00796.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIuFQkEIfK-z-3k_FIMkZog6GxM1CXQGCQfrigvyj1fbv7Rl2WNhLYGB7K-FB1NO5RoZTxj4x5WKrdTT-p3H5ccgIFXJi6bxyM5_eULCqXe-zCxbV6sGdMysJMt0pnD-jjSGX2Kw/s320/CAM00796.jpg" /></a></div>Isn't she the cutest little tonttu?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2pqS1HUs4PxuuBowFOuIQIyNfvTpsg9MYLX4cHueTu_CeINpWiDkf_Oh2PJxR5DBgykLcR8sZ0QR2tZtdm08ZgxKrhxnqnhVdk9KS4ivoeyh_fcMQ2h_kgBTHHqGjDjx-lf9eA/s1600/CAM00804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht2pqS1HUs4PxuuBowFOuIQIyNfvTpsg9MYLX4cHueTu_CeINpWiDkf_Oh2PJxR5DBgykLcR8sZ0QR2tZtdm08ZgxKrhxnqnhVdk9KS4ivoeyh_fcMQ2h_kgBTHHqGjDjx-lf9eA/s320/CAM00804.jpg" /></a></div>She even picked up some <a href="http://www.aarikka.com/en/">Aarikka Christmasy earrings</a> at the bazaar!<br />
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On Christmas Eve, we celebrated the holiday over at Auntie Laura's house... I can't believe how tall Dylan is!<br />
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I swear, Ella is in the picture, hiding behind her new pillow pet!<br />
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On New Year's Eve, we hosted Dylan and Maisie's BFF Ophelia for a sleepover.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpMCWZoJp1473kJf8hRzW3YI_BGwfKlSeoxHB_ERpUdmU7pJQEdOmk4B4AlbrBe9H4CQmSuYiImP72dABq8qHgopiZimqL6SyWnEsx4pnqIEbSJh3DfezhSmTHCKJEQ9HzBabsg/s1600/CAM00851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZpMCWZoJp1473kJf8hRzW3YI_BGwfKlSeoxHB_ERpUdmU7pJQEdOmk4B4AlbrBe9H4CQmSuYiImP72dABq8qHgopiZimqL6SyWnEsx4pnqIEbSJh3DfezhSmTHCKJEQ9HzBabsg/s320/CAM00851.jpg" /></a></div>There was movie watching, popcorn eating, root beer float drinking... not much sleeping though!<br />
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So now we're through the holidays and into 2015! The girls are back at school, I'm settling in to my new job (I started a new position here at the bank in mid-November), and life continues on. The girls are already starting to plan their costumes for CONvergence this summer - Ella's going to be Beast Boy, and Maisie's going to be Raven, from Teen Titans Go!. Maisie's also going to go back to Salolampi for two weeks, and we're talking about getting a family vacation in again, since we had SUCH a great time in Chicago in October!<br />
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We're ready for a great 2015 and hope you are too! :)Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-25890160584292913482014-12-23T07:44:00.000-08:002014-12-23T07:44:14.857-08:00Christmas CraftingIt's almost Christmas! This year the girls and I found a really fun and easy craft project. It's probably all over Pinterest but I don't have a Pinterest account, so I feel special. Please don't burst my bubble. :) We decorated mugs and jars with Sharpie paint pens!<br />
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Here are some of our tools:<br />
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We picked up Sharpie brand paint pens at Home Depot, some scrapbooking letter stickers at Michael's, and plain mugs at the dollar store.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWZUiJgkE3Rw4VaT4CRE-Y4e6ZXLyEw3u-FwhIVqO9yOdjICIIC_g5MJb93WAt3jkX-DuQ2wdUegYAsrCyV2L6fCqpegS9bCzanntXyEwZXLYVkOq4j3oR-VgLi58wr92ep7SbzQ/s1600/CAM00821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWZUiJgkE3Rw4VaT4CRE-Y4e6ZXLyEw3u-FwhIVqO9yOdjICIIC_g5MJb93WAt3jkX-DuQ2wdUegYAsrCyV2L6fCqpegS9bCzanntXyEwZXLYVkOq4j3oR-VgLi58wr92ep7SbzQ/s320/CAM00821.jpg" /></a></div><br />
We stuck the stickers on the mugs and jars, and then used the paint pens to draw around them. For the jars, we also put stencil-type simple designs on paper on the inside of the jar, then traced it on the outside.<br />
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Once we had the outlines, we filled in the rest of the design. The dots look really cute, or you can color it in, or freehand draw... whatever you want! Once your design is done you bake it to set the design... start with the jars/mugs on a baking sheet in a cold oven. For glass, bake 20 minutes at 300; for ceramic, 30 minutes at 350. Then let it cool and you're all set! I took one to work yesterday with my breakfast in it and washed it afterwards and no paint came off! I think you could probably run it through a dishwasher, but I don't have one (aside from Aaron) so I can't say for sure. :)<br />
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Don't they look great?? Super easy and fun!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-55540658771809532052014-12-15T06:58:00.001-08:002014-12-15T06:58:47.243-08:00Weekend updateLong time no blog! Life has been even a little busier than usual around here... hence the long silence. In early November I took a new position at the bank, so work's been keeping me busy! It's a lateral move, but with more growth potential than my old position. I've also changed locations; instead of working in downtown Minneapolis, I'm in a suburban location now. I'm very happy with the change, but there's definitely a learning curve/adjustment period that's been taking up a lot of time and energy. Hence the lack of blog posts!<br />
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We had a great Thanksgiving at Gramma Liisa's house, and are now getting ready for Christmas! Every year <a href="http://www.finnfaca.org/">FACA</a> (Finnish-American Cultural Activities) puts on a Joulu (Christmas) celebration, which was this past Saturday.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgLf2Iq8XKyW9t6cYL0qOMwmhjgj50iQdLYe1t5cCP3zwfVB_kCkyi7PRBF1OyOTcEnVml4atoWGRnKiPCxVhhxM-t7t_diNWkyuAXP-4J0CwM_yo-5z7jysV5o_VqwhSo2VEKg/s1600/CAM00805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgLf2Iq8XKyW9t6cYL0qOMwmhjgj50iQdLYe1t5cCP3zwfVB_kCkyi7PRBF1OyOTcEnVml4atoWGRnKiPCxVhhxM-t7t_diNWkyuAXP-4J0CwM_yo-5z7jysV5o_VqwhSo2VEKg/s320/CAM00805.jpg" /></a></div>There's a Joulutori (Christmas marketplace), children's Christmas movies and activities, a delicious dinner, and a sing-along of Finnish Christmas carols and songs. This year, a group of kids from Suomi-koulu performed songs and dances during the dinner and the Joululaulut - including Maisie!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1aMivQ6mKbZ59Y6mB2EHhdTn0WIHvZJPL1uPtZ2769xdJNiO-iImSunTqzKEUgrZ-FZCQ5a0EyLv0LAir8S02rzwDLILk-YK1norIr2VVTJt7AKgeG-ttA4O0BkVDS29RBRCtFw/s1600/CAM00796.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1aMivQ6mKbZ59Y6mB2EHhdTn0WIHvZJPL1uPtZ2769xdJNiO-iImSunTqzKEUgrZ-FZCQ5a0EyLv0LAir8S02rzwDLILk-YK1norIr2VVTJt7AKgeG-ttA4O0BkVDS29RBRCtFw/s320/CAM00796.jpg" /></a></div>Isn't she the cutest little Joulu tonttu (Christmas elf)? And Grandma Liisa made the vest and skirt she wore - she got a lot of compliments on them!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj61xLzmzWYJPzhQ8Br9w3sLu8Q0HVnvJ78-c5wSOZvk3Ylw0_uPgAHVLkfchHL2RGj5UYJoDWmsRFzkyTfDmTZRbal9ucKRX-SUZXlrnTNELWaFrdzrBgaKl_ryUy0PaFd092abw/s1600/CAM00800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj61xLzmzWYJPzhQ8Br9w3sLu8Q0HVnvJ78-c5wSOZvk3Ylw0_uPgAHVLkfchHL2RGj5UYJoDWmsRFzkyTfDmTZRbal9ucKRX-SUZXlrnTNELWaFrdzrBgaKl_ryUy0PaFd092abw/s320/CAM00800.jpg" /></a></div>She had a lot of fun dancing and singing - she really loves performing for an audience!<br />
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On Sunday morning, I realized we hadn't been to the Science Museum in a while, and their butterflies exhibit was closing soon, so we had to go check it out! Maisie's not a big fan of any kind of insects, so Ella and I went to the butterfly house without her and Aaron. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZl9rp3sLEzj9NxVSt_YpG26mPxYrrnb2OCdZIlswGox5n9OCglWATlZhMTvsbTQ94UqWJIaQkxh-gaQ0VSHMulrzVLrHwcaeIN6MOkFOSfrAz4GWbcrwELmWd-Wr1Srpo5Hyj1w/s1600/CAM00812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZl9rp3sLEzj9NxVSt_YpG26mPxYrrnb2OCdZIlswGox5n9OCglWATlZhMTvsbTQ94UqWJIaQkxh-gaQ0VSHMulrzVLrHwcaeIN6MOkFOSfrAz4GWbcrwELmWd-Wr1Srpo5Hyj1w/s320/CAM00812.jpg" /></a></div>There were a ton of Monarchs in the butterfly house, and the Omni theater movie is also about Monarchs - their life cycle and migration. It was really interesting and I learned a lot from it!<br />
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Ella is a huge fan of all kinds of insects, so she was happy to let them crawl all over her. She's very careful not to touch their wings and is very gentle. She loves all kinds of insects, and has talked about wanting to be a scientist who discovers new kinds of spiders when she grows up. <br />
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So, that was our weekend in a nutshell! How was yours?<br />
Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-75442910449724632452014-11-03T10:55:00.000-08:002014-11-03T10:55:59.588-08:008!Maisie is eight years old today!<br />
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We celebrated her birthday with local family yesterday, which was super fun! Auntie Laura and Dylan hosted us, Gramma Liisa, and Jim. We had dinner followed by a beautiful cake that Gramma Liisa made. Maisie loved her presents - lots of clothes, all of which she liked (everyone seems to have her sparkly tops & knit pants style down!), a beautifully fuzzy blankie and cute knit owls from Gramma Jo, and a book she'd been wanting from Jim.<br />
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8-year-old Maisie is delightful. Her favorite things right now include fencing...<br />
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She absolutely LOVES fencing! As a leftie, she's got a natural advantage. I think she'll keep up with it for a while - we just finished our first three-month session and she's ready to go back for more!<br />
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She loves reading and writing...<br />
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Maisie always seems to have a journal with her, and is constantly drawing pictures and writing about things that she sees. Some of them she shares with me, other things she keeps private. She also loves to read - we're currently into book 6 of the Harry Potter series! She's also really into the Emily Windsnap series. She likes to bring a book wherever she goes, and will happily read to herself, or read to Ella and keep them both entertained!<br />
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Maisie loves Ella...<br />
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Yeah, they do fight sometimes. But most of the time they're each other's best friends. Sometimes on the weekend, they wake up and tiptoe out into the living room to watch Netflix or build with Legos before Aaron and I get up. They're never really all that quiet, so we usually do wake up. But we stay in bed and snooze and let them play. It's pretty sweet.<br />
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She loves her Finnish dance group, Pikku Kisarit...<br />
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Kind of random, right? But she absolutely loves this activity. The Finnish-American community here in the Twin Cities is really active and a great group of people, so I'm glad that she's having so much fun. She had a great week at Salolampi last summer, and is excited to go back for more. And of course, I think it helps that she has a Finnish pen pal! They send each other little gifts and letters. It's adorable.<br />
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At 8, Maisie is growing into a delightful person. I can see the beginnings of the young woman she is becoming, and I am excited to see who she is. Even now, though, Maisie brings a lot of joy into our lives. She's smart and funny, caring and considerate, enthusiastic and creative. We can't imagine life without her!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-14639018735057112482014-10-20T07:18:00.000-07:002014-10-20T07:18:05.729-07:00ChicagoEvery October, the Minnesota teacher's union has a conference, so all the Minnesota public schools are closed for three days. Even though the union changed its name to Education Minnesota a number of years ago, the break is still mostly called "MEA," after the union's old name, Minnesota Educators' Association.<br />
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About a month ago, one of my coworkers went to Washington, D.C. with her family. I was super jealous because I knew they'd have a great time with their kids seeing all the great museums and sights. I wanted to do that, too! But then I thought, hey, we could go to Chicago over MEA! So, we did! The girls were SUPER excited about the trip, and were counting down for days. On Wednesday morning Ella woke up at 5:45, saying "It's time to go to CHICAAAAAAAAAAGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"<br />
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We'd decided to fly, instead of driving. I found super inexpensive tickets on <a href="http://www.spirit.com/Default.aspx">Spirit</a> - I'm sure it ended up costing less than gas + roadside food. Plus, that way it only took us an hour to get to Chicago! The girls were excited about their first airplane ride.<br />
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(Technically not Maisie's first, but since she last flew when she was not quite 2, she didn't remember it at all.)<br />
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Ella was more excited than Maisie, who was super concerned about her ears popping and asked a bunch of questions. What does it sound like? why does it happen? will it hurt???? The actual ear-popping experience was pretty anticlimactic once it actually happened.<br />
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I know a lot of people have negative things to say about Spirit, but for what it's worth, both our flights were great. Their thing is the "bare fare" - your ticket gets you and one personal item from Point A to Point B. Nothing else is free... no free drinks, no free carry-on, no free nothing. The personal item has to be able to fit under the seat in front of you, so it can't be larger than 16" x 12" x 14". That was plenty big enough for us! The girls each had a backpack, I carried an old diaper bag, and Aaron carried a messenger bag. We filled them up but it was totally enough room for us for everything we needed for the trip. Aside from that, the flight attendants were sweet to the girls and the flights were on time. No complaints from us, and we'll definitely fly them again!<br />
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Once we landed, we hopped on the blue line train...<br />
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And headed off to meet my mom's cousin Cathy at her office! She and her husband Jim live on the south side of Chicago, and they very kindly offered to let us stay with them during our trip. We were happy to accept! We dropped off our bags at Cathy's office, and walked over to the <a href="http://www.artic.edu/">Art Institute</a>!<br />
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We only had an hour and a half there before they closed, but even in that short amount of time we saw lots of beautiful and famous artworks.<br />
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After that, we stopped by a comic shop where the girls picked out some comic books. Then it was time for dinner, and back to Cathy and Jim's for bedtime. Everyone was exhausted!<br />
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The next day we had great plans. First we went to the <a href="http://www.sheddaquarium.org/">Shedd Aquarium</a>!<br />
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We saw dolphins and Beluga whales, a giant puffer fish, seahorses, an octopus... so many interesting animals! Ella spent a long time at the tidal pool where you could touch starfish and sea urchins.<br />
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We spent a few hours there, stepped outside to admire the view...<br />
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Then we walked over to the <a href="http://www.fieldmuseum.org/">Field Museum</a>!<br />
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There we saw lots of cool exhibits. Aaron's favorites were the Hall of Gems and the jades. Ella's was the insects, and Maisie's was the ancient Egyptian artifacts. After a few hours it was back to the Shedd for more!<br />
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That evening we met up with Cathy, Jim, and their granddaughter Iris at <a href="http://giordanos.com/">Giordano's</a> for AMAZING Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Iris is 2 and completely adorable. Ella was completely smitten, and I think it was mutual. :) <br />
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Friday may have been the girls' favorite day of the trip. We waved goodbye to Jim and Cathy, hopped on a train and then a bus, and landed in Schaumberg. We were going to <a href="http://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/chicago/">Legoland</a>!<br />
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We got there a little early, so we had a little down time at Starbucks.<br />
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Once we were there, we were off to the races! There were awesome Lego sculptures everywhere...<br />
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There were rides, and play areas, and of course a store.<br />
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I recently re-read Thinking, Fast and Slow, which discusses brain processes and how your brain can be "primed" for certain activities by seeing certain words. So, the prominence of the word SHOP made me laugh. It was literally the only word on this play structure. GO SHOP NOW! EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP!<br />
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Maisie enjoyed building with the giant soft blocks - this is her Christmas town.<br />
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Ella liked the Duplo pool!<br />
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We were leaving pretty early Saturday morning, so we spent Friday night in a lovely hotel (O'Hare Renaissance) right by O'Hare. We swam! We watched cartoons! We went to bed really early because we were all tired! And then we were home by noon on Saturday, so we had most of the weekend to relax before heading to work/school Monday morning. :)<br />
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So, it was a very full three days and lots of fun. The girls are great little travelers - there was a bunch of hurry up & wait which is sort of the nature of public transportation, and it gets tiring, but they were very patient. They did great. I should add that we got our admission tickets through the <a href="http://www.smartdestinations.com/chicago-attractions-and-tours/_d_Chi-p1.html?pass=Chi_Prod_Go&dest=Chi&gclid=CMDRj9GQicECFQqQaQodUmYAxw">Go Chicago card</a>, which was really convenient. I had them electronically delivered so it was right on my phone. Super convenient and definitely a money-saver, plus you get to jump the lines!<br />
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Thank you Cathy and Jim for your hospitality!<br />
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We are already thinking about our next trip. The Museum of Science & Industry and the Children's Museum are definitely on our list... it turns out we all love visiting Chicago!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-49202717518686222362014-09-09T08:15:00.001-07:002014-09-09T08:15:56.619-07:00State Fair 2014The Minnesota State Fair is one of my favorite, favorite events of the summer... and I'm not alone in that! It's the largest fair in the country by average daily attendance, and the second-largest by total attendance (Texas' fair draws more people, but it's also twice as long!). I always like to go at least twice, once with the girls and once on my own so I can spend as much time as I like in the Creative Activities building checking out all the crafts. :)<br />
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This year, the girls and I went on opening day, joined by Gramma Liisa!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEied_a_WNZr2hhBWsH8xKIw-s9xK3akyiIUrClopYnMBAkL-5bxPcsX5m4tqj_-GTjaq43T0XYVUfqT7EMvGiFkET0wn_X1n-3k_lNahi7zEHXUnP5ZhXEzA4877JIGwg7mBcMZhA/s1600/CAM00517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_780629="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEied_a_WNZr2hhBWsH8xKIw-s9xK3akyiIUrClopYnMBAkL-5bxPcsX5m4tqj_-GTjaq43T0XYVUfqT7EMvGiFkET0wn_X1n-3k_lNahi7zEHXUnP5ZhXEzA4877JIGwg7mBcMZhA/s1600/CAM00517.jpg" dua="true" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>It turned out to be a great day to go. It was kind of cool and cloudy, which was a pleasant change from years past when it was over 90 degrees. It also rained earlier in the morning, but the rain had totally stopped by 9. It was a perfect day for walking around outside!<br />
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There are a couple things we always make sure to do at the State Fair. Ella particularly loves the butterfly house.<br />
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Ella actually loves all things insect and creepy-crawly. She handles millipedes, beetles, worms, and butterflies equally carefully. Maisie, on the other hand, does NOT. Unlike Ella, who is planning on being a "bug scientist" when she grows up, Maisie says that butterflies (and all insects) creep her out. When we were planning our activities, Maisie insisted that she was NOT going in the butterfly house, thankyouverymuch! So, Gramma and Ella went... until Maisie changed her mind.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi56GorDs7fDjrOzpQCUnSyffNmeye5J961KueoFi_UuM2vYYx8G24AhbovTFbY27KXMOGY1LbHF8U_XJZTt-OY9LpRpP_87QbTKSXuvyiB_ML1ykYagMN3yTsnyhHTnFBpZs4fJQ/s1600/CAM00524.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" closure_lm_780629="null" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi56GorDs7fDjrOzpQCUnSyffNmeye5J961KueoFi_UuM2vYYx8G24AhbovTFbY27KXMOGY1LbHF8U_XJZTt-OY9LpRpP_87QbTKSXuvyiB_ML1ykYagMN3yTsnyhHTnFBpZs4fJQ/s1600/CAM00524.jpg" dua="true" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>We were so proud of her for going in! She wore her hat the whole time so they wouldn't land in her hair. But she didn't swat at the butterflies!<br />
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Unlike the butterfly house, EVERYONE loves the Giant Slide - me included! It's hard to get a picture of someone going down the slide (or take one while you're sliding), so the girls always like to pose with these cutouts near the bottom of the slide.<br />
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The carousel is near the giant slide... it's another favorite of the girls.<br />
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So sweet!<br />
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Another family favorite is "Little Farm Hands." It's an interactive thing where the kids pretend to be farmers, and walk through a series of exhibits/activities. They get to plant seeds, harvest crops, feed chickens & collect eggs, etc. They also drive tractors around.<br />
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This year was probably the last year that Maisie'll get to drive the tractors... you have to be below a certain height, and she was right at the edge of it this year.<br />
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You can see how small the tractor looks... she actually had a hard time pedaling because her legs were too long for it.<br />
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We stopped by the AFL/CIO and DFL booths...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I feel woefully underdressed next to the First Lady.</td></tr>
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And of course ate a ton of yummy food.<br />
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I think Ella ate two ears of corn BY HERSELF!<br />
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We had a great day with Gramma Liisa at the State Fair. At one point Maisie said, "when I'm a teenager I'm going to come to the fair by myself with just my friends!" And yeah, the girls probably will be doing that before too long. So for now, I'm happy that they're not too cool to have fun hanging out with me. :)Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-82061641797981368522014-09-04T12:11:00.003-07:002014-09-04T12:13:43.954-07:00Chris & Kim's WeddingOn Saturday, August 23, Aaron's oldest brother Chris got married to his longtime partner Kim. Lucky for us, Kim's family lives in Eden Prairie (a suburb of Minneapolis), so the wedding was local for us!<br />
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Most of Aaron's family got into town later Thursday, so we didn't see them then. (Instead, the girls and I spent the day at the State Fair with Gramma Liisa, which will be its own post!) On Friday morning, Jason (Aaron's youngest sister's husband) was looking for something to do with their older son Sullivan. So, why not go to the State Fair with me and the girls?!??<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyHRhXef7Ba_VYxykUl2pstPLidj_FVehZs1P-ZB4nFkiFK3DXeuLaXCY7VdF3pWiNKhaphKagd7FbRTxAMNjqXZjHAm0DnS7DNL-XkJab8MF4peX4BDBpMhVksNqGZJj53h1sg/s1600/CAM00558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUyHRhXef7Ba_VYxykUl2pstPLidj_FVehZs1P-ZB4nFkiFK3DXeuLaXCY7VdF3pWiNKhaphKagd7FbRTxAMNjqXZjHAm0DnS7DNL-XkJab8MF4peX4BDBpMhVksNqGZJj53h1sg/s320/CAM00558.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-Tilt-a-whirl selfie. We all had fun even though Sully looks REALLY apprehensive!</td></tr>
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After all, I'm almost always up for a trip to the fair! :) We had a lot of fun riding rides, eating yummy food, looking at animals... Jason was especially impressed. I think they're planning a trip up to Minnesota next year, so they can spend some real time at our awesome fair. YAY! Friday evening was the rehearsal dinner in a local park, and then home after a long day so we'd be ready for the wedding!<br />
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Saturday we arrived at the wedding venue around 12:30 for family pictures. Everyone liked the girls' fancy dresses (especially the girls themselves).<br />
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The wedding began at 2:00, and was over by 2:08. Nice work Chris and Kim - short and sweet! :) The girls had fun playing with cousins... there were whole packs of little kids running around so there was never a shortage of playmates.<br />
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We got them to sit down for dinner, which marked a first for us - our kids were (more or less) ready for a kids' table! The grownups - us, Aaron's siblings & their spouses - sat at one table, with the kids all at the next table over. It was surprisingly successful for a first kids' table attempt!<br />
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Then, it was time for dancing! First Chris and Kim had their first dance...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5IwcOvigKShsrGKKubuygvhxIAKzHyhtP5bs3To7KTEjfR2XTlRZSBd72Tu83K4-iuAIPmC_pUubRSsDUWVLJUAMl-jHSHXjokt_zjUv_LprcfjYsvK_T9Xd7uNQLnT0g4M-qw/s1600/firstdance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5IwcOvigKShsrGKKubuygvhxIAKzHyhtP5bs3To7KTEjfR2XTlRZSBd72Tu83K4-iuAIPmC_pUubRSsDUWVLJUAMl-jHSHXjokt_zjUv_LprcfjYsvK_T9Xd7uNQLnT0g4M-qw/s320/firstdance.jpg" /></a></div>
Then everyone joined in.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's Maya, Ella, and Maisie twirling...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and whirling!</td></tr>
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The girls would've liked to have danced all night, but it had been a long few days so we left relatively early. At least, it seemed early at the time... but they both collapsed into tears over nothing much at all during the car ride home, so I really think we made the right choice to leave when we did. :)<br />
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After a good night's sleep, we were ready for MORE cousin time on Sunday... this time with the Dieter Shedecks at the Mall of America!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyTi03fkuLWjiZzxS6916xOjAm3n8RYSz6QupNqQejphYv3zaz3jjC3PJVpNdsD01UQihp6RpdA0tQPgaJpLJ47hyphenhyphenO2Xu5GCj_oz3q-eRS2-d7RBhROiQVSxSxX3qtfyvSlqETQ/s1600/CAM00596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyTi03fkuLWjiZzxS6916xOjAm3n8RYSz6QupNqQejphYv3zaz3jjC3PJVpNdsD01UQihp6RpdA0tQPgaJpLJ47hyphenhyphenO2Xu5GCj_oz3q-eRS2-d7RBhROiQVSxSxX3qtfyvSlqETQ/s320/CAM00596.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ella has a penny on her nose, because why not?</td></tr>
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We spent a few hours hanging out at the MOA with Clare, Kyle, Maya, and Rowan riding on rides, eating lunch, and doing a little shopping. It was an especially nice sort of split, because Maisie and Maya are so close in age and size, and so are Ella and Rowan. So, while we spent some time doing things with all 4 kids, there were a number of rides where the "big girls" would split off.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for the log ride...</td></tr>
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Congratulations Chris and Kim! We had a wonderful time at your wedding, and the whole weekend. What a beautiful reason for family to come together to celebrate!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-17458189422519655592014-07-21T08:50:00.000-07:002014-07-21T08:50:15.195-07:00Key Log Rolling InvitationalI have been getting a lot of questions about log rolling since I mentioned it in the last blog post! So, here's the scoop.<br />
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About two months ago, a friend of mine mentioned that she'd been taking <a href="https://www.ywcampls.org/fitness/swimming_and_aquatics/log_rolling/">log rolling classes at the Midtown YWCA</a> (where we are also members), and I should join her. I was like, log rolling??? I told Aaron about this and he said that he'd seen people rolling while he was with the girls at their swim lessons, and it looked like fun. The member's price for a class was pretty cheap ($27 for a four-class session), so I decided what the heck, I'd give it a shot.<br />
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Turns out, it's really fun! My first class was <i>terrible</i> - I could hardly stay on the log at all. But at the end of the class, my stomach hurt from laughing so much. I was positively hooked! And I wasn't the only one... Maisie and Dylan spent the whole 45 minutes of my class session hanging off the rope that separated our class space from the free swim area, watching and cheering for the rollers.<br />
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When it was time to register for the next session, I asked Maisie and Dylan if they wanted to sign up. They gave a resounding YES! And it turns out, they're much better at it than I am. David, our instructor, told me that kids always do better than adults do... they have a lower center of gravity, so they're more stable on the log. Plus they weigh less, so the log doesn't move quite as much under them. We had the first class of the new session yesterday (the kids' second session/5th class, my 3rd session/9th class) and they've blown me out of the water. My P.R. is around 10 seconds, while Maisie's at 18.47 and Dylan's is over 27 seconds!<br />
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So anyway, as a part of <a href="http://www.aquatennial.com/">Aquatennial</a>'s <a href="http://www.aquatennial.com/event/show/78408643">Beach Bash</a>, there was a log rolling tournament this weekend at Lake Calhoun. It was sponsored by <a href="http://www.keylogrolling.com/">Keylog</a>, a company that does classes and also manufactures and sells a hollow fiberglass log (which is much more portable than a real log that weighs upwards of 400 pounds). If you haven't seen it, MPR did a nice profile of the family that runs Keylog... you can find it <a href="http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/07/17/log-rolling-family">here</a>.<br />
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I competed in the adult prelims on Saturday afternoon/evening, and didn't make it too far... but had a lot of fun anyway. :) I discovered that the Keylog log is REALLY different than what we're used to rolling on at the YWCA. The fiberglass surface is much more slippery than the indoor-outdoor carpet that our logs are covered with. It took some time for me to get used to it... and by the time I did, I'd lost my matches. :)<br />
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With my experience in mind, we all made sure to show up early on Sunday morning so that Maisie and Dylan could get some practice time in with the Keylogs!<br />
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Instead of rolling against someone, as the adults did, the kids were doing speed rolling - seeing how many complete revolutions they could get in a minute, first with a front step, then with a back step.<br />
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One other feature of Keylog logs is that they have removable fins, which look like the paddle wheels on a paddleboat. They slow the log down, so it doesn't roll as fast, so a beginning roller doesn't get frustrated and quit. But with speed rolling, it presents a challenge... you want to stay up there, but you have to be able to get the log around! <br />
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Both Maisie and Dylan ended up choosing to use one fin. Maisie started with two, but it turned out she was then too light to spin the log at all.<br />
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And at the end of the contest... she won a blue ribbon!<br />
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She was very proud of herself, and I was proud of her too! There were a lot of people watching, and it would've been easy to get nervous about it. But she did a great job!<br />
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As it happened, only five kids registered and they were all in different classes, so everyone won a blue ribbon. :) I'm glad it worked out that way... while Maisie and Dylan have only been rolling for a month, the other three kids have been rolling for several years.<br />
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We can't wait for next year's tournament! And in the mean time, we'll keep rolling and practicing and improving. The competition won't know what hit 'em! :)Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-87819840298840026482014-07-14T07:38:00.000-07:002014-07-14T07:38:41.615-07:00Busy busy summerThis summer is positively flying by. It's hard to believe we're halfway through it already... but time flies when you're having fun, and we are definitely having fun this summer! Here's a peek at some of the activities that've kept us busy busy busy.<br />
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First, Maisie spent a week at Salolampi!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFVJngKn8dstEmtg-saVP2mVqfQMb-SjrDOX6PlpHYaGb-8Mt-z7AZGptnfxzOKyUWfIINOEKmKJC2wFskT3XESy5ux6wPysUCNS-487JHbooCBbkzPBsIdI2dywOeRrdLm_KObQ/s1600/Salolampi1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFVJngKn8dstEmtg-saVP2mVqfQMb-SjrDOX6PlpHYaGb-8Mt-z7AZGptnfxzOKyUWfIINOEKmKJC2wFskT3XESy5ux6wPysUCNS-487JHbooCBbkzPBsIdI2dywOeRrdLm_KObQ/s320/Salolampi1.jpg" /></a><br />
"Maija" - her camp name, pronounced "Maya" - had an absolute blast. She came home saying that she wants to go for two weeks next year! She learned quite a bit of Finnish, and enjoyed making friends and the camp activities. Her counselor's report that we got shortly after she got home said she worked hard, learned a lot, and even won the camp award, a discopallo (disco ball necklace), for being a good student and working hard. I'm so glad she had such a good experience!<br />
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It was a long week for us without Maisie! We wrote her letters and got a few in return, and also got to peek in on her camp experience through their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/#!/Salolampi">Facebook page</a> and their <a href="http://www.concordialanguagevillages.org/blog/salolampi">blog posts</a>. (This pic is from the blog) If you look through their Facebook from June 16-21, you can find Maisie in a lot of their pictures!<br />
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The girls have both been taking swimming lessons at <a href="https://www.ywcampls.org/">the YWCA</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAaMQkeTHoq-6rzzNwh7Y1iqclurkfBWzbRg-CF6qV5yx0qIE_ZqeQ1E7ugqHsIO3ZBJPNzd8crMMoVjr6VIfbzyqrHNO6JnckEyYdof7v59ImwRIIICdgUGyHMvmsJvP_X6yr5g/s1600/CAM00092.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAaMQkeTHoq-6rzzNwh7Y1iqclurkfBWzbRg-CF6qV5yx0qIE_ZqeQ1E7ugqHsIO3ZBJPNzd8crMMoVjr6VIfbzyqrHNO6JnckEyYdof7v59ImwRIIICdgUGyHMvmsJvP_X6yr5g/s320/CAM00092.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Over the summer, the Y runs swim lessons almost like little camps... they're the regular length, but instead of once a week, they're daily for two weeks. Both Maisie and Ella have made GREAT strides in their swimming ability. Ella's gone from being unwilling to get her face wet, to loving jumping in and swimming underwater! Maisie is becoming a strong swimmer too, learning different kicks and strokes.<br />
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Of course, there's more to do in the pool at the Y than just swim...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-xVU8JohJah7XdbM5tpEIg5BeHBjkq59Zw0wDCRZcB_IRee_O9Q0y4HOT1ZQbb0tmszpE4zARmAVrv1ggeLpS1yAVZmXy2rhZKdnoeE-RSA6632XcYQo73s1wQAA0fsKNRAsgA/s1600/IMG_1620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-xVU8JohJah7XdbM5tpEIg5BeHBjkq59Zw0wDCRZcB_IRee_O9Q0y4HOT1ZQbb0tmszpE4zARmAVrv1ggeLpS1yAVZmXy2rhZKdnoeE-RSA6632XcYQo73s1wQAA0fsKNRAsgA/s320/IMG_1620.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rollin' rollin' rollin'... as Aaron and Ella watch!</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Maisie, Dylan, and I have also been taking log rolling classes! (Ella would too but you have to be 6 to roll, boo!) It's really fun... I started a few weeks ago, prompted by a friend who's been rolling for about a year. Maisie and Dylan came and watched once and were instantly asking to sign up for the next session. Of course, they're already MUCH better than I am - they're shorter (lower center of gravity) and lighter (so the log doesn't roll as much under them). My P.R. is around 10 seconds, but Maisie's is 16, and Dylan's is 17! I worked much harder for my 10 seconds, though!<br />
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The kids took their usual trip up north for the 4th of July on the Range. This year, Laura and I planned the big kids' costumes with an eye on First Prize in the costume contest. Presenting... George Washington and Betsy Ross!<br />
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They got SECOND PRIZE! Apparently they lost to two girls who were not dressed up, and just holding a sign that said "Happy 4th of July Gilbert!" We were ROBBED. Dylan and Maisie were less upset about it than I was, though. They won $10 (which they split evenly) and enjoyed getting their picture taken as they walked in the parade. Maisie reported that everyone said they should've won. I agree!<br />
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And of course, we went to <a href="http://www.convergence-con.org/">CONvergence</a>! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXbRZs-Dhb-c_zitGQ9GypwY-sOHUcjzKdjFNPocjxXjvICNI9JnvTA1-RWfG0ZSF9Fj6sgNiHhTQGdnk2hruPpc3ddiAKe9lOblqoFnkSPE6r3F7TL54fcgXAzhRi-rNCe_VyLw/s1600/CAM00393.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXbRZs-Dhb-c_zitGQ9GypwY-sOHUcjzKdjFNPocjxXjvICNI9JnvTA1-RWfG0ZSF9Fj6sgNiHhTQGdnk2hruPpc3ddiAKe9lOblqoFnkSPE6r3F7TL54fcgXAzhRi-rNCe_VyLw/s320/CAM00393.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bubbles, Wonder Girl, and Venom acting very silly!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
This year Dylan joined us on Saturday and Sunday, after the kids got back from their trip up north.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5sW2B6_T_Pp36P-QFBCDZHYZcFsxUjOTi67Rm5CoCNk2WGlNuxEhQdu0_EUiUPNrj64wUh1r4L2Z6aonsI9i7e4k-0liryCf-oq6spkaZaosDsLIk1H-gq-aiTBkRz0KhMjamQ/s1600/CAM00402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5sW2B6_T_Pp36P-QFBCDZHYZcFsxUjOTi67Rm5CoCNk2WGlNuxEhQdu0_EUiUPNrj64wUh1r4L2Z6aonsI9i7e4k-0liryCf-oq6spkaZaosDsLIk1H-gq-aiTBkRz0KhMjamQ/s320/CAM00402.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steampunk Princess Elsa with Bubbles the Powerpuff girl</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
We all had so much fun watching movies and anime, doing crafts, checking out the cool costumes, collecting badge ribbons, watching boffing and taiko drumming, shopping in the Dealers Room, and of course eating too much candy. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiriuOgvndAIxsHM325cTcOUC0cFHve4o2dIBeMAasrYzUPiXpTWgPNR3mMKFx8bOw5KVDkhVbwJtwHpAKrlKOUIUzYLZEOocRWR_Nl5k1aQS4j7LxB1gNatOKu_IF2KEg4mHiyDg/s1600/CAM00414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiriuOgvndAIxsHM325cTcOUC0cFHve4o2dIBeMAasrYzUPiXpTWgPNR3mMKFx8bOw5KVDkhVbwJtwHpAKrlKOUIUzYLZEOocRWR_Nl5k1aQS4j7LxB1gNatOKu_IF2KEg4mHiyDg/s320/CAM00414.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spidergirl vs. Venom</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
The kids are already planning our CON experience for next year!<br />
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So that's our summer so far... still to come we've got more swimming lessons, <a href="http://urbanartsacademy.org/">art camp</a>, Chris and Kim's wedding, and of course the State Fair! I'm sure it'll fly by, and before we know it we'll be putting the girls on the school bus. We'll make the most of it while it lasts!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-70358220317345895252014-06-23T06:37:00.000-07:002014-06-23T06:40:23.417-07:00Panda Party!Friday was Ella's fifth birthday! She had a very fun day that included a trip to the Children's Theater with Gramma Liisa. After I got off work, I met Aaron and Ella at the Mall of America. She got to ride on rides...<br />
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And got her face painted, too!<br />
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We had Ella's birthday party on Sunday at <a href="http://minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=185">Lake Hiawatha Park</a>. It was really fun! The weather cooperated, with maybe 10 minutes of light sprinkles... a far cry from the thunderstorms we were expecting. We celebrated with Ella's friends from high 5 (including the teachers!), her best friend from Suomi-koulu Lillian, Auntie Laura and Dylan, and Gramma Liisa and Jim. It was a great group of people! The kids played on the playground and had lots of fun while the grownups chatted.<br />
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The party was, naturally, panda themed. <br />
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I didn't make the cute sign... I bought it from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/ForAHappyDay">this shop on Etsy</a>. I think it'd be easy enough to make, though, if you had the time and the inclination.<br />
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Dylan and Auntie Laura made this AWESOME panda pinata!<br />
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And yes, he does have a mustache!<br />
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Everyone thought it was awesome... the adults loved the design and the kids loved the candy! Ella's best friend from High 5, Charlotte, cracked it open. That kid has quite the arm on her!<br />
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We even had panda cupcakes!<br />
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Again, I didn't make these, although I think they'd be easy enough to do... we got them from the Richfield Target. Thanks Target!<br />
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Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes for Ella. She loved all the gifts and the celebrations. She's fortunate to have so many people who care for her.Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-70031132202467202132014-06-20T05:56:00.002-07:002014-06-20T05:56:30.615-07:00Ella is 5!Today is Ella's 5th birthday!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ice skating lessons at the Augsburg ice arena</td></tr>
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5 year old Ella is an amazing, wonderful person. She's physically confident, and loves to swim, skate, run, jump, swing, bike... anything! She's a girl on the move. Right now she's saying she wants to learn to play soccer! She's got a good kick - I'm sure she'll do well.<br />
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She's incredibly silly at times, even though she'll insist that Aaron is the silly one in our family. She tells silly jokes and stories, and likes to make people laugh. She makes the funniest faces!<br />
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She's also very affectionate, and likes to give people hugs. Her preschool teacher said that everyone has a bucket inside of them that you can help fill up with kind words and good feelings. That image really resonated with Ella, and she talks a lot about helping fill up our buckets. It's so sweet.<br />
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Ella also enjoys making art! She's really pretty good at drawing, and loves painting too. Our house is full of her artwork!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing at the Big Bugs! exhibit at the MN Zoo</td></tr>
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Right now Ella is SUPER interested in insects, and has been for a while! Maisie does not share this interest, and actually refuses to go into the butterfly houses at the Zoo or the state fair. But Ella loves bugs! She was really the driving force behind <a href="http://maisielicious.blogspot.com/2014/04/willie-millipede.html">the whole millipede thing</a>. She loved <a href="http://mnzoo.org/events/big-bugs-2014-06-20/">the Big Bugs! exhibit</a> at the Zoo, especially when she got to see and hold real insects! She told me once that when she grows up, she's going to be a scientist who finds new kinds of spiders. I believe her!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snuggling with Auntie Laura at the Highland Park pool</td></tr>
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Ella still loves to cuddle, especially when she's feeling sleepy. (She fell asleep on Laura's lap about 10 minutes after we took this picture!) She asks to cuddle Aaron at bedtime every night. She also has a whole collection of stuffed animals (pandas, mostly) and blankets that she snuggles up with. As grown up as she seems sometime, she's still a real cuddle bug, which is just the sweetest thing ever.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modeling her flower crown at the American Swedish Institute's Midsommar celebration</td></tr>
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Ella's a wonderful person. We're so fortunate to have her in our lives. Happy birthday Ella!!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-38277911685491996872014-06-06T07:05:00.000-07:002014-06-06T07:05:23.729-07:00Last day of school!It's a beautiful sunny summertime Friday and it's the last day of school!<br />
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Ella will be off to kindergarten!<br />
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I think Aaron and I were a little nervous about the whole High 5 thing. We weren't entirely sure what to expect, since the public pre-K was going to be very different than what Maisie did at her Montessori preschool. Happily, it's been a great year. Ella's learned SO much! She made a lot of friends and is really well prepared for kindergarten. High 5 was a great way to begin her school years.<br />
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And of course, Maisie's on her last day of first grade!<br />
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It's been a challenging year in some ways, but mostly a really good one. We had homework struggles, pen pal letters and packages, lost teeth, and best friend sleepovers without much sleeping at all.<br />
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We've got some big plans for the summer - swimming lessons, <a href="http://urbanartsacademy.org/summer-arts/">art camp</a>, <a href="http://www.convergence-con.org/">CONvergence</a>, Chris and Kim's wedding, and even a week at <a href="http://www.salolampi.org/">Salolampi</a> for Maisie. Can't wait to get started!<br />
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Happy summer everyone!!Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37715564.post-39882563220498597862014-05-27T07:26:00.004-07:002014-05-27T08:31:12.726-07:00"Bike" by Maisie JeanSummer is here! Summer is here! To celebrate one of her favorite activities, Maisie wrote (and illustrated) a poem...<br />
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bike<br />
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evry one likes bikes.<br />
evry one flys fast too on thar <br />
bikes but it gos to home<br />
and it leads you some where<br />
new.<br />
by Maisie Jean.Leahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12849834478486513166noreply@blogger.com1