School days

It's back to school time!

Maisie started school on Monday: first grade! She was really excited to be heading back. As you can see from some of these first day waiting-for-the-bus pictures, she was feeling happy and silly.

There are several of her friends from Kindergarten in her class, including her best friend Ophelia. Because her school is a Montessori, they're in a mixed-age classroom - instead of just first grade, it's "E1" with first, second, and third graders all together. This is great - it means that she and Ophelia will be together for the foreseeable future.

Another reason I really like the Montessori model of mixed-grade classes is that it's easier for all the children to work at their respective levels. For instance, Maisie's math skills are at first grade level, but she's reading at a second- or third-grade level. So the mixed class makes it easier for the teacher to get her appropriate reading material.

Ella has also started school!

Her first day of High 5, Minneapolis' public pre-k, was Wednesday. She was so excited!

She was a little nervous too, but fortunately one of our neighbor kids is going to Kindergarten at the same school, and rides the bus. So right away, Ella had a bus buddy.

Her first day report was kind of scattered. She talked about going out to play on the playground, and that they had to be quiet like little bunnies in the hallway. Also, she got to wear a nametag. And, that's apparently it!

When Ella got home, Aaron said that she had really pink cheeks. We figured the bus must've been really hot. Turns out, it was probably actually her school... the school district has closed the non-air conditioned schools Thursday and Friday of this week, and Ella's school was on the list. So her first week has turned out to be a really short one. Maisie's school does have A/C, though, so she doesn't get the extra days off that Ella does.

I'll be glad once we get past Labor Day and back into our regular school-year schedule. The transition is difficult - getting Maisie used to getting up so early is not easy. Much like her daddy, she likes to stay up late! So mornings have been a challenge this week both for her and for me. But it'll work itself out and we'll find a comfortable rhythm again.

I'm sure we'll get there by the time May rolls around. :)

State Fair 2013

This is going to be a very picture-heavy post... it's a recap of our visits to the State Fair!

Yes, I said visits! On Friday, Aaron went off to visit Chris and Kim in Portland for the weekend. He had an early flight, but the girls are early risers anyway, so it was no big deal for us to see him to the train on time. Once we were there, the girls said, "STATE FAIR!!!!" So off we went! And before long, Gramma Liisa joined us there.

We did some of our usual things that we love to do at the fair. We rode the carousel - one of the girls' favorite rides.

I think it won't be long before they're too old for the carousel at the Fair, and it'll make me a little sad. It's been one of their favorites year after year.

We saw the animals. Ella called these "ghost sheep."

We also visited the Miracle of Birth center, the cows, and the bunnies. We saw a sheep being sheared - neither the girls nor the sheep particularly liked that. They did like the calf, the ducklings, and the piglets at the Miracle of Birth center - they got to pet the one day-old piglet, which was adorable.

And we ate ice cream, because it was a toasty hot day!

We also had cheese curds, roasted corn, skin-on fries, cotton candy, and Spring Grove soda. Yum!!

Then on Saturday, we were back - this time with Laura and Dylan!!

We really were this excited about it!

There were multiple trips down the giant slide -

It's difficult to get a good picture of someone coming down the slide, so this'll have to do! Laura rode with Ella, and Maisie and Dylan rode together. The giant slide is SO fun. It says it's the best ride at the fair, and I'd have to agree.

After that, we went to the bird show. Ella got kind of antsy, though. So while Laura, Dylan, and Maisie watched the raptors, Ella and I took a little walk over to the poultry barns. She loved the chickens and spotted a lot of eggs in their little pens.

She was kind of grossed out by the turkeys' big wattles, though.

Seriously. Do wild turkeys have these? This must be something that people have bred for, right? I can't imagine this working very well in the wild.

We also saw this puffed-up guy in the breeding pen with two... hens? I don't know what a female turkey's called.

But he was clearly showing off. It was the turkey equivalent of Hey pretty laydeeez!! 

After a trip through the poultry barn, what's better than a turkey sandwich? (Does anyone else think it's a little weird that the Giant Turkey Sandwich stand is right by the poultry barn?)

Dylan was like, "this could be an ad for the fair!" Which, I must say I agree. Cute, happy kid with a turkey sandwich and an Icee, outside the DNR building, wearing a John Deere visor? Love it!

We relaxed in the shade and enjoyed our turkey sandwiches (me, Laura, Dylan, Maisie) and corn dogs (Ella).

After lunch, it was getting HOT! So it was off to the river raft ride.

I rode with the kids while Laura held our bags. There was a long line... but it was worth it. We all got SOAKED. So fun!

After the river ride, Dylan wanted to check out the lumberjack show. So Laura took him and Maisie, while Ella and I went to the Butterfly House (which Maisie Did. Not. Want. to visit.)

The butterfly house is always great for pictures. Can you tell how hot it was? No breeze and lots of people made for a sweaty butterfly experience.

Sweaty but very fun.

The butterfly house was followed by rides at the Kidway, and then the parade and a snack of bomb pops.

Then it was off to the Agriculture/Horticulture building. It sounds kind of hokey, but I really like this building. There's big veggies, crop art, Christmas trees, bees and honey... it's all pretty interesting, really.

Biggest sugar beet: 15.5 pounds!

The average beet is 3-4 lbs., so this one really was a monster.

Corn, for Grandma Jo:

The crop art tends to have a liberal/progressive bent, for some reason. Last year there were a ton of "Vote No" pro-same-sex marriage art pieces; this scarecrow fits right in.

She is scary, wouldn't you agree? ;)

We also checked out the bees and honey, and some really cool Dr. Seuss-themed flower arrangements. But as lovely and interesting as the Ag/Horticulture exhibits are, the building was roasty toasty. So after that, we went out to the Produce Exchange stand for peaches and a little sit-down in the shade.

We also got cream cheese wontons and egg rolls - it was getting later in the day, and we'd been doing almost nothing but walking, so we were ready for some more real food!

There were some intense negotiations over the division of wontons and rolls, as you can see.

The day was getting along, it was hot, and there were people as far as the eye could see. So we decided that we were just about done. We made our way back through the crowds, following Laura and Dylan.

After a quick tour through the grandstand and a stop for Sweet Martha's, we headed for home. When we got home we were tired and dirty, and I was a little sunburned. (ouch!) But it was a wonderful day. We'd had so much fun with Auntie Laura and Dylan, and with Gramma Liisa the day before. (And that long cool shower felt so nice after I put the girls to bed!)

We love the State Fair!!

Miscellany...

A few random thoughts for a Monday morning...

It's the middle of August and already you can tell that summer's coming to an end. Nights are getting cooler (yay!), it gets dark a little sooner, and morning comes a little later every day. At the same time, it's definitely still summer - days are warm and sunny, perfect for bike rides and playing outside. It's kind of a sweet spot in the year. We went to the farmer's market on Saturday and bought sweet corn, which I was surprised to see already. It was wonderful; the girls ate it all and we had to go back on Sunday for more so that Aaron and I could have some too. The vendor remembered us and said "I'll be back at Midtown from 3-7 on Tuesday if you need more!" I laughed, but yeah... of the six ears we bought yesterday, there's only one left. So we might need more tomorrow.

We're two weeks away from Maisie's first day of first grade. She's SO excited to head back to school and see her friends... we've only had a few play dates and birthday parties over the summer, so she really misses her buddies. I got her and Ella's school supplies bought this weekend - thanks to Amazon Prime, I was able to do it in my jammies on Sunday morning, drinking coffee. So much easier than running from store to store trying to find the right brand of watercolors.

Two days after Maisie's first day, Ella will start High 5, which is Minneapolis' public Pre-K for kids who will enter Kindergarten the following year. Priority is kids who get free or reduced-price lunch or receive special ed. services, so we had to cross our fingers for a spot. Luckily, Ella got one! It's half days, five days a week, which should be perfect. We wanted to find a program to help her get used to being in a classroom environment before she starts Kindergarten. We felt that it'd be a really hard transition for her to go from just being at home with Aaron, to being one of 30 kids in a classroom, for a seven hour day! Unfortunately it's not at Maisie's school - her school doesn't have a High 5 class - but they'll be back together the following year when Ella's in Kindergarten.

So, two more weeks of summer. The girls are heading up north with Gramma Liisa & Dylan later this week, and we've got our State Fair trip planned. Aside from that, it'll probably just be trying to pack in bike rides and Dairy Queen runs and other lazy summer activities while we can. Fall will be here soon enough, and winter close behind.

Powderhorn Park Art Fair

There was a lot going on this weekend - opening of the Fringe festival, a birthday party for Maisie, and three separate art fairs! We chose to go to art fair at Powderhorn Park, which is 1) not half as crowded as the ones in Loring Park and Uptown, and 2) an easy six-block walk or bike ride from our house.

The girls and I went on Saturday morning and met up with friends - Beatrix, with her parents Bethany and Patrick, and Rebecca. It was a lovely morning.

Beatrix is exactly in between Maisie & Ella in age, so the three of them can play together really well. She also has curly blond hair and big blue eyes. At one point one of the vendors clearly thought they were all sisters, and asked me "Are they all just a year apart??" Bethany joked that I should've answered "Yeah, turns out that breastfeeding is not reliable birth control."

Our little group walked around the lake, checking out the vendors and taking turns keeping an eye on the kids. The girls took full advantage of the fair food offerings, and ate ice cream, popcorn, chocolate mini donuts, corn on the cob, and corn dogs. (I had a gyro, yum yum yum!)

We caught a performance from Open Eye Figure Theater...

before we headed to our respective homes for naps.

On Sunday morning, Aaron took Maisie to a birthday party at the Como Pool, which left Ella and me to our own devices. I nixed her first activity suggestion ("Go to the Mall of the 'Merica and ride on rides!!!"), so we jointly decided to head back to the art fair.

The first thing she wanted to do was to get some corn on the cob, and who am I to argue with that?

While she ate, we sat by the lake and watched the wildlife. We saw a turtle poke its nose out of the lake, snails bobbing around, a few flashes of fish (it's stocked with crappies, sunnies, and catfish), and of course plenty of birds. In addition to the usual ducks (mallards and cormorants) that live there, there was a pretty big group of Canada geese (maybe 12?) that hadn't been there on Saturday. So we watched the geese and the ducks. We saw a group of 2 female ducks that had three ducklings - we'd seen them on Saturday too, and joked that these lesbian ducks had chosen a very friendly park in which to raise their children. :) Sunday morning was quieter, so Ella and I could hear the ducklings' little peeps as they called to their moms.

At one point the geese started getting REALLY interested in Ella's corn...

They sidled up a lot closer to us than we were expecting. It was a little nerve-wracking, to be honest - I think of those geese as kind of nasty, and they were pretty big birds! I was happy when they finally decided to go for a swim and leave us alone.

Ella and I walked around a bit and took our time exploring the booths. When we made it back to the south side of the park, we saw that Open Eye was getting set up for another performance! Yay!

So we found a place to sit and wait for the show to start. We passed the time by eating ice cream (Ella) and potato salad (me), and playing with a new doll I'd bought her from one of the vendors. Oh, and taking selfies, of course.

After the puppet show, I wanted to walk around a bit more, but Ella was ready to head home, so home we went. Maisie and Aaron still weren't back from the birthday party, so Ella asked me to put on a show for her. She said she wanted to skip her nap, and just rest on the couch a little bit. Then this happened...

The art fair was very fun. It made for a great summer weekend!

Southside Sprint

As I mentioned earlier, we've been doing a lot of biking lately. Maisie wakes up and wants to go for a bike ride almost immediately. It's fun for both of us.

Yesterday we all biked up to the Kingfield farmers market - me with Maisie on the tag-along, and Aaron with Ella in the Burley. Unfortunately, Aaron got a flat on the ride home! So I ran up to the nearest open bike shop/art gallery, Bikes and Pieces, to pick him up a new tube and tire.

Much to my surprise, there was a whole bike race going on! It was the Southside Sprint, which I'd never heard of before. They closed off streets to make a 3/4-mile track, and there was a whole festival atmosphere - local bike shops and other businesses had set up booths, and people were having fun and watching the races.

Given Maisie's newfound love of biking, I figured this'd be a lot of fun for her, so the two of us headed up there. We saw the tail end of the kids' race (which was SO cute!) and then watched the whole men's race. I didn't think she'd be that interested, but I was completely wrong. We pulled up a shady section of curb and sat there for an hour, watching the race.

We were really impressed by how fast they went (it was hot out!), and how close they rode to each other. I have no idea how they managed to avoid crashing into each other, at those speeds and with those small distances separating them. Lots of practice, I suppose.

When the race wasn't in front of us, we spent our time taking pictures of ourselves...

 And of each other!

My face looks SO red! It was hot out, what can I say.

We also ate popcorn from the Parkway (as you can probably see in our pics), had snow cones, tried to answer trivia questions that we knew nothing about (how many times did Greg LeMond win the Tour de France? Which American had the highest finish in the Tour de France this year? Which nation has the most wins in the Tour de France? I have no idea.), and just enjoyed being outside together on a sunny summer day.

Maisie's thinking about entering the kids' race next year. Or rather, I'm encouraging her to think about it - she's still not sure. But whether she races or not, I think this is going to become one of our regular summer activities.

Como Town

Yesterday, it was hot. Well, not just yesterday - we've had a heat wave this whole week, and yesterday was no exception. The temperature got up to a steamy 98 degrees, from a low of 79. It was humid out, too. Gross!

But despite the tropical weather, Gramma Liisa took Maisie, Ella, and Dylan to Como Town for the day!

They all had a blast - they rode tons of rides, and played on the splash pad to cool off.

And no Gramma Liisa-led trip to Como Town is complete without face painting...

Not sure why Maisie looks so serious...

Ella's turn in the makeup chair

Check out the finished product!

A tiger, a blue kitty, and a red puppy with yellow spots.

I wasn't home from work yet when they got back, but apparently they were completely wiped right out! (Unsurprising, given the heat.) Ella fell asleep on the floor while Maisie and Dylan played Minecraft. By the time bedtime rolled around, both girls were completely exhausted. They stayed awake long enough to complain bitterly about getting their faces washed, and were practically asleep before their heads hit their pillows.

Thanks for a fun day, Gramma Liisa!!

Biking!

Last year, we got a trail-a-bike from a neighbor whose kids had outgrown it. We never got around to hooking it up, though. Maisie was enjoying riding her bike with training wheels, and her balance didn't seem to be quite steady enough for a trail-a-bike. I didn't want her to pull us both over!

This year, however, we hadn't yet gotten out on our bikes. First we had a long, chilly spring that was not great biking weather. Then it rained every day for weeks. Then when we finally had good biking weather, Maisie's bike had a flat tire! We tried to pump it up but it needs a new tube.

Enter the trail-a-bike! I found installation instructions online and on Saturday morning, Aaron and I got it hooked up to my bike. Maisie and I started out slow, going up and down the alley. She was pretty wobbly and first and kind of uncertain... but before long, she really got the hang of it!

On Saturday, we went to the Midtown farmer's market (4.5 miles RT), accompanied by Aaron with Ella in our Burley trailer. Then in the afternoon, during Aaron's and Ella's naptime, Maisie and I went up to the 48th & Chicago shopping area twice (2.2 miles RT), for a total on Saturday of about 13.5 miles. On Sunday, she woke up and immediately started clamoring for another bike ride! We went to the Kingfield farmer's market (2.5. miles RT) in the morning. We saw neighbors there, hit up a craft fair across the street, and Maisie was impressed by how many bikes were on the rack. There's something about biking to the farmer's market that just feels like the most south Minneapolis thing ever! Then in the afternoon, after the weather had cooled down, we all biked up to Walgreen's (just 1.5 miles RT).

Today, my legs and lower back are pretty sore! With my own solo rides, I probably only went about 20 miles over both days. But that's a lot for me, after a whole winter of not biking! And I know that when I get home Maisie's going to want to go for another bike ride. :) It's well worth it. It feels much safer on city streets than having her bike alone - since I'm in control, more or less, I know she's not going to go shooting out into traffic or something.

But mostly, I like that we're really spending time together and enjoying our mutual love of biking!

Everything I need to know...

So, Maisie's kindergarten year has come and gone.

Here she is, on her first day of school back in August...

so excited! And look how short her hair was!

Here we are, waiting for the bus in the morning and so excited for her last day...

 And here she is, school year complete, now a first grader.

Why Ella's clinging onto her arm like that, I do not know. But it makes for a cute picture!

Aaron and Ella made Maisie a cake to mark the occasion. It was yummier than it was photogenic, which is fine, because cakes are for eating, not for photographing. We also let the girls stay up a little late watching a movie of Maisie's choice - The Secret World of Arietty. It was a nice evening and a lovely way to celebrate the end of the school year.

Maisie's kindergarten year was wonderful. She had a great teacher, and she learned and grew so much. A number of years ago there was a schmaltzy book out called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. So, I thought I'd share with you some of the things she learned this year, which I think will serve her well for the rest of her life.

• Love of reading: Minneapolis schools use the Scholastic Leveling Chart to measure students' reading ability and progress. Maisie started the year at level B, and finished at level I, which is a little ahead of the curve. She enjoys reading on her own (she brought comic books in her backpack to read on the bus!), and especially likes to read nursery rhymes to Ella. (Ella likes that too!) We're very happy that she's developed a love of reading.
  
• Love of art: as a Montessori school, Maisie's school incorporates art into almost everything they do. They really encourage the children to be creative and artistic, and Maisie's definitely taken this to heart. She draws all the time - both things she's made up (princesses and fairies are popular) as well as things she sees around her. If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she'll tell you that she wants to be an artist. She's well on her way!
  
• Curiosity about the world: She loves to ask questions and try to figure out why things are the way they are. Her science classes have done a wonderful job at fostering and encouraging this curiosity. Even if her hypotheses aren't always correct, she's putting a lot of thought into them. It's so fun to hear her say, "You know what? I bet this is this way because..." and then to explain her ideas and thoughts.
  
• Speaking and listening: Maisie's a champ at expressing her ideas, thoughts, and feelings. At the beginning of the year, her first reaction to any frustration was to burst into tears, but as the year progressed, she got better at expressing herself in ways other than crying. She does still cry when frustrated, but she's able now to use her words to tell us exactly what's going on. She's also very empathetic; seeing another child upset will upset her, too, and she will do what she can to remedy the situation. These traits combine to make her a wonderful friend and a positive person to have in any group.

So, that's a lot of what Maisie learned in kindergarten this year. There was a fair amount of more academic work, but I think that these things might serve her better, in the long run, than knowing how to tell whether an animal is a mammal or a reptile. (Not that that's not important! But, you know.)

Dinosaurs at the zoo!

First, one note: tomorrow is Maisie's last day of Kindergarten. OMG! So if you see me, I might be a big weepy about it. Be nice to me... and tell her congratulations!

Last Saturday, the girls and I headed down to the Minnesota Zoo. There are two new exhibits there for the summer! One has African animals, and the other has dinosaurs. Yes, dinosaurs at the Zoo! Just animatronic... this isn't a Jurassic Park situation.

If you haven't ever been to the Minnesota Zoo, let me take a second to explain its layout. There's one main building that has customer service/ticketing, a cafeteria, and the gift shop, and several indoor exhibits: Discovery Bay, the Tropics Trail, the penguins, and the Minnesota Trail are all in the same building. Then outside, there's a main plaza with a fountain/splash pad and a lot of trails with outdoor exhibits. Russia's Grizzly Coast, the Northern Trail, and the Family Farm are all outside. Dinosaurs and the African animals exhibits are outside, along the Northern Trail.

We had sunscreen, sunhats, and were ready to walk the trails to get to Africa and to see dinosaurs. Sadly, there were other plans for us! When we got to the zoo, we were told that a bison had escaped its enclosure, so nobody could go outside until it was recaptured. WHAT!

So, instead we spent the morning doing activities to help Maisie earn her Girl Scouts Minnesota Zoo badge. Ella was not exactly pleased about this arrangement.

But, what can you do.

Eventually we did all Maisie's activities (How many species of frogs are in Minnesota? What are three bird on the tropics trail? Draw your favorite fish on the coral reef. Draw a food chain of animals you see on the Minnesota trail.) and got the all-clear to head outside. FINALLY! We were off to see the dinosaurs!!

This is a dimetrodon. I don't know why, but I think its fossil looks much scarier than the robot version. Maybe because you can see the teeth so much more clearly? Or maybe it's the freaky spines... hard to say.

Either way, I'm glad we don't have to worry about running across one of these in the wild.

By the time we got through dinosaurs and the African exhibit (not as great as advertised - one giraffe and a bunch of ostriches was really all we saw), the girls were hot and tired. Fortunately, we went through the central plaza with its splash pad/fountain on the way back. They were ready to cool off and weren't going to be stopped by not having brought swimsuits!

A quick pose on the wolf statutes on the way out...

 capped off a great day at the Minnesota Zoo!