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!

Wish list

Last night Maisie announced she wanted to write a letter to the Easter bunny. I thought, why the heck not? We do letters to Santa, right? Makes about as much sense. Here's what she produced, all on her own:

Der Eastr
Bunny
Can you
pease get
me toys
from Maisie

Not bad, eh? :)

Going for a walk

Aaron, Ella, and Ella's bunny took advantage of yesterday's unseasonably high temperatures to go for a walk (and send me silly pictures).

Sent from my Windows Phone

Playing Barbies

First, I said that the picture-a-day was an aspirational goal, right? I will keep trying...

Second, the girls got a lot of Barbie's for Christmas from Grandma Jo, and a Barbie dollhouse from Santa. They spend a lot of time playing Barbies these days. The dolls' conversation when I took this picture really made me laugh...

"should we all get married to each other? Girls can only marry girls, not boys. Let's go to Texas and get married!"

I think Texas is about the last place for two girls who want to get married are going to go... I wanted to tell them they could just go to Iowa instead!

Yard sale score!

I've been looking for some backyard toys for the girls for a while now. I wanted something they could climb and play on... something that they wouldn't outgrow too quickly, but that would still be fun now. I initially figured I'd buy new, but the kind of thing I was looking for ran upwards of $200! Ridiculous!

But then today, driving back to work after lunch, I ran across a yard sale that had a two-level climber with a slide for only $30! I couldn't believe it - what a deal!

Dylan and Gramma came over to help us test it out...

Verdict: it's a hit! Fun for all ages - even 6 year olds. It's versatile - people can slide down the slide on their tummies, backs, or bottoms. And it even lends itself to being a castle or a pirate ship.

All in all, I think it's $30 well spent!

Three random things

Three random pictures for your enjoyment.

First, Maisie's outfit this morning:

You can't quite tell just how cute and crazy it is from this carseat picture, taken on the way to daycare. She's wearing a pale pink turtleneck sweater dress, red fleece pants, white shoes with twinkle lights, a purple and black striped hoodie, and the pumpkin hat her Grandma Jo made her. It was quite the ensemble. I've totally given up on trying to dress her so she matches. Now, as long as she's weather-appropriate, I'm happy. Mornings are a lot easier that way.

Second: what I found in my bag when I got to the office:

A few times when Maisie's been too sick to go to daycare, or if daycare's been closed, she's come into work with me while Aaron went to a morning class. She really enjoys it - I have her watch videos on the portable DVD player so I can actually get a little work done while she's here, and people usually bring her chocolate and candy and pay a lot of attention to her. She thinks my office is one big party. Not usually! But she'll sometimes stick things in my work bag that she thinks I need. Today, apparently, I needed this Barbie (a.k.a. dancing baby, at least at our house).

Third: reserved parking.

I used to think the "stork parking" was so, so silly. But now that I have sciatica and various other pregnancy-related complaints that make walking pretty difficult and sometimes painful, depending on how far I go, I totally appreciate it, and make use of it when I can. Thanks, Sears!

Illness/recovery

Sorry no posts for over a week, but poor Maisie's been dealing with an ear infection (and we've been dealing with poor Maisie!).

She was home from daycare Monday through Thursday last week, and got to see her pediatrician twice before she recovered enough to go back to school on Friday. So while we had some cute photo-worthy moments, like discovering the magic of Play-Doh on Tuesday, we also had lots of tears and complaining, which does not make for cute pictures.

Fortunately for all of us, the antibiotics her doctor prescribed worked their magic, and we're all back to our normal routines!

Lately Maisie has been very big on "helping." Sometimes she's really helpful, like when we're picking up toys and putting them away. Other times she's less helpful, like when I'm, say, vacuuming. When I'm in the kitchen, she always brings in a chair and wants to help with whatever I'm doing.

Today she wanted to help wash dishes! I ran some warm, soapy water, put in some spoons, bowls, and plastic cups, and gave her a sponge. She really went to town! She poured water into the cups with the spoons, and then poured it from cup to cup and back into the sink. She was incredibly focused and working really hard! It was very cute. The soapy water got everywhere, of course, but now the counters and floors are really clean!

Cook!

Maisie is getting really good at imaginative play these days. She drives her little matchbox cars all around, changes her doll's diaper, and puts Elmo on the potty. But her favorite imaginative play has got to be cooking.

This girl loves to cook! Which makes sense, because she also loves to eat. I think her love of cooking started over 4th of July weekend, when we stayed at our friends' cabin and she and Sophia played cooking, but it's really taken off since then. Now it's pretty much her favorite thing to do.

We have started to get Maisie her own cookware, because she was taking all the measuring cups and steamer baskets and various other things out of the kitchen to play with, and it started to get annoying. Where did I put the potato masher? Oh yeah, it's in the toybox.

We got her some wooden utensils at IKEA, some toy metal cookware at Target, and our friends Jen and Jo got her a wooden stovetop at a thrift store. She loves to cook "eggies" and "noodles," and pretend to feed them to us and to her dolls. I can't wait until she's old enough to really help us in the kitchen - I hope she is still interested!

Backyard bbq

Our friend Brian had friends over on Sunday for grilling and general hanging-out good times. It was really fun!

We knew our friends Wally and Mary Jo would be coming with their little boy, Jack.

(they actually brought both their little boys, but Charlie is just a wee thing and slept in his carseat the whole time. Good baby!)

So we brought sidewalk chalk to help keep the kids entertained while the grownups watched the Olympics and chatted. Because even though Jack's a little older than Maisie, all kids like sidewalk chalk, right?

First, of course, Maisie had to instruct Jack in the proper use of said chalk.

Finally, and with some parental involvement on both sides, they were able to resolve their issues ("MINE!" "Maisie, share...") and draw together.

I like to think they enjoyed each others' company, at least as far as the sidewalk chalk and drawing goes. Or maybe I am just hoping and projecting, because I like MJ and Wally, so I want our kids to be friends? It's hard to say.

It's especially difficult to figure because, when they got tired of the chalk and we broke out the Tigger kickball, it was an entirely different story - there was no sharing to be had at all!

That's right - Maisie took her ball and tried to go home. Sigh. Sharing is a lesson we're still working on!

As promised...

a full Maisie update to start your week off right!

On Saturday, we went to the Uptown Art Fair. Maisie wasn't really interested in the art, but she is interested in getting on the other side of the camera. So here is her first picture, a portrait of her daddy (with stroller).
While we're talking about Aaron, for those who don't know, this is his last week at his current job! Yes, he's finally leaving the ticket office after six and a half years. He'll be taking a few weeks off (yay!) and then going back to school at the end of the month! We're all very happy.

After the Uptown Art Fair, we went home and strollered up to the Powderhorn Park art fair where we met Dylan and Gramma. We saw some art, played with puppets (Open Eye Figure Theater had a booth), and perhaps most exciting for Maisie, had some roasted corn on the cob.

Maisie really loves corn on the cob, much more so than almost any other food. She wasn't at all interested in my delicious fried rice or spring roll. Well, maybe that's because we let her have all those mini donuts earlier. Anyway! She ate almost the entire cob by herself! Although she is getting pretty good about sharing.

It's cute - she will hold it up to you and say "Bite?" Then once you have a bite she says "My turn!" and takes it right back. She's sharing... but not much. Which, for an almost-two-year-old, I think is pretty good.

Maisie is 21 months old today! She really is looking grown up, isn't she? She's a good sleeper and eater, and is social and funny and smart. She has a lot of words, and is even putting together three- and four-word phrases! She says "hi" and "bye" to everything - when we leave in the morning, it's "bye bye kitties, bye bye house," and she says "Hi!" to pedestrians as we're driving. Her favorite toys are her crayons, her blocks, and her cars, and she also really enjoys pretending to cook. If you ask her what she's making, she will always say "eggies!" She pretends to feed the eggs to her Elmo, and to me and Aaron. It's ridiculously cute.

It's hard to remember what our life was like before she came around. I'm pretty sure we got more sleep. But I'm equally sure that we laugh more now, and that our lives have a lot more love in them.

Artist at work

Happy solstice, everyone! It's officially summer, and we know it here. Although it's been raining a lot elsewhere (and we think of our Iowa friends and family often!), it's beautiful and sunny here, and we haven taken the opportunity to get some much-needed yardwork done.

Yardwork used to be a real challenge, what with Maisie wanting to help trim the hedge and mow the lawn and all that. But now we are able to be more productive, thanks to perhaps the best $5 we have spent on Maisie: a bucket of sidewalk chalk.

Like most kids her age (I think), Maisie loves to scribble with different colors. When we bring out the crayons inside, it's a perpetual battle of "No, Maisie, crayons stay on the paper. On the paper! Don't color the kitty, okay? No, not in Mommy's book! On this paper!" But with sidewalk chalk, she is free to scribble away as the mood strikes her. We also sometimes draw pictures that she can color in, but she really prefers her free expression.

It's also a great way to keep her occupied while we do yard work. Today we were able to mow the lawn, weed a bit, and trim the hedge while she colored.

It was a very productive day!

Weekend update

Wow, it's been a long weekend, and I am exhausted!

Maisie's weekend actually started on Friday - daycare was closed, so she and Aaron stayed home.

It was a beautiful day, so they went to a park near our house and played for a long time. Maisie had lots of fun on the teeter-totter and the swings!
(I went to work and had a reasonably all right day. It was fine, but it was no tire swing in the sunshine. Maisie definitely has more fun than I do during her days.)

Yesterday we went to the zoo.

Maisie's Uncle Chris (who you can see in this picture, behind Aaron) was in town with his girlfriend Kim, visiting Kim's family. Hi Chris and Kim! We had fun at the zoo with you. Here, Maisie and Aaron are checking out the flamingos and some African ducks. Maisie is a big fan of birds, so this is a highlight of any zoo visit for us.

Today, we spent a LOT of time outside working in the yard. We planted a bush that my mom gave me for Mother's Day, popped a bunch of dandelions out of the lawn, mowed the grass, and cut down some scrub trees that are popping up a little too close to the house. It was a lot of work! We tried to grill, but our charcoal didn't light, so we ended up cooking brats and corn in the kitchen. It was good anyway.

Maisie ate grill food (even if it wasn't grilled) for the first time! She put away half a wild rice brat (from Chase Brook Farm, yummmmm) and as you can see here, dug into my mom's corn on the cob!

This is going to be a very fun summer!

Crafty interlude.

So as I mentioned before, I've been working on crocheting - I thought I'd share some of my creations.

I made a hat and some baby booties for baby Trixie recently!

The purple booties go with the hat; the orange booties are for someone else, actually. Both the hat and the booties were quick and easy to make - the booties more so just for their size. They are so wee!

As you can see here, they're actually a mary jane-style bootie, with a faux strap and a sewn-on button. I know buttons can be a choking hazard, and I usually don't put them on things for babies. Don't worry, I sewed the button on really tight! Plus, any babies with feet small enough for these booties won't be able to pull off the buttons.

But so it turns out, I really enjoy making toys - no pesky sizing or swatches needed, they work up quickly, and they're fun for both giver and recipient. Everybody wins!

My most recent creation is a crochet Cthulhu.

I made it using the pattern found at the Cthulhu Crochet blog. Cthulhu, if you didn't know, is a colossal ancient monster from H.P. Lovecraft's writings. I mean, though, it's obviously a horrible monster and not at all cute, right? I made him for my friend Kyle who's a huge Lovecraft fan, using yarn that Jo gave me last time we were in Iowa.

I also recently made Maisie a dinosaur.

I got this pattern from Jo last time we were visiting. She is clearly my crafty inspiration. Thanks Jo! It was fun to make, although the pattern is kind of weird and I think I have figured out how I will be modifying it next time I go to make a dinosaur. I think it looks very happy, although sometimes Maisie uses it to attack my feet while she says "RAHR!" Super cute.

I'll end with another monkey.

I think he looks like a Chicago Bears fan, don't you?

Monkey!

I made Maisie a monkey!

Front view:


I made one with a bright pink sweater for Maisie's cousin-to-be when we were in Iowa, and had to made one for Maisie too. Grandma Jo supplied the yarn. Thanks Jo!

Isn't it cute? I think there might be more monkeys in the works, just as soon as I get some more brown yarn. They work up pretty quickly, and are fun to make. But I have used up all my brown yarn!

The only thing I might change is that I feel like the sweater is kind of short. I keep wanting to tug it down, and that's not really possible. Perhaps this monkey needs some pants.

Side view:


Anyway, overall I really think it turned out well, and am happy with the monkey. Generally I am really enjoying this newfound craftiness. And don't worry - I promise, the next post will have pictures of Maisie, who last weekend learned how to say "hi." I just had to show off my monkey.

I want to ride a tricycle

Aaron has caught the "fever virus", so Maisie and I went over to Auntie Laura and Dylan's house tonight for dinner by ourselves while he napped.

Maisie likes most of Dylan's toys, but tonight she was especially captivated by Dylan's tricycle. Her legs aren't quite long enough yet to reach the pedals, so we all took turns pushing her around the house. Dylan showed us his new bicycle, which Maisie also wanted to try. But she is far too small for that!

We had a good time, as always - yummy food and fun toys! Thanks Auntie Laura and Dylan for having us over tonight!

Hard at work

Maisie takes her work - er, play - very seriously. Yesterday she spent a long time building towers with her blocks, then taking them apart, and rebuilding.

She was working really hard at it! And when she got the tower built, she was very pleased with herself.

We sure seem to have a lot of pictures of Maisie in her jammies up on this blog! I'll try to get some pictures up of her actually dressed in normal clothes. This coming week is Spirit Week at her daycare, so each day has a different theme. It should make for some interesting pictures, especially Wednesday's Wacky Hair Day.

I think their Spirit Week is the cutest thing ever and I am really looking forward to it. If anyone has any ideas, though, what to do for Mix & Match Day (Thursday), let me know! I am stumped...

16 months!

Maisie is 16 months old! As you can see, she's a very happy girl, especially when she is playing with her dolls.

She is really in to dolls these days, and always seems to be carrying one or another around by its hair. In this picture she is holding the dolly that her Auntie Clare gave her for Christmas, and another that she got from her Grandma Jalonen is on the couch next to her!

Maisie comes out with a new word just about every day. This weekend she said a few words for the first time: doll (natch!), toast, Gramma, Dylan... and NO! That last one has reappeared more than once since then. I guess it's a preview of things to come as we head towards age two.

We love balloons

Maisie and I went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's today. At checkout, the cashier was making friends with Maisie, and asked me if she would like a balloon - they are tied to the cash registers, and Maisie was pointing at them and saying "Dat! DAT!!"

We were like, are beans green?? Maisie would LOVE a balloon!!

The cashier tied it to Maisie's wrist, and there it stayed all day. We took it off at one point and tied it to a toy, because it was getting a little tight and because Maisie needed a bath. But the kitties chewed through the string, so now it's floating free in the house.

(We didn't see it happen, but we suspect Cool Hand Luke was the culprit... he seemed awfully interested in the balloon.)

Anyway, I know this isn't the greatest picture but I hope it gives you some sense of just how much joy Maisie got out of this balloon. It was really sweet - and honestly, it's one of the reasons we're Trader Joe's shoppers.

A simple balloon may not seem like a big deal, but to me, it's the difference between a happy smiley toddler and one who's screaming and angry. And to me, that is worth driving out to St. Louis Park!

Driving lessons

Last picture from last weekend, I promise! This was Maisie's first time on one of those coin-operated cars that you see at the big-box stores.

She took her firetruck-driving responsibility very seriously, as you can see. You wouldn't want to crash Sesame Street's firetruck!

Although with Ernie riding shotgun, I think she was fine. He is a good copilot.

Happy new year!

Happy new year everyone! Maisie did not want to miss a minute of January 1, and got up at 5:00 a.m. Ugh! Fortunately Aaron and I were not out late for New Year's Eve. Then later, we went to Best Buy. Aaron had a gift card to spend, and Maisie wanted to try out the Mario baseball game for the Nintendo.

She had fun with it, even though she struck out.

We're not buying her a Nintendo, though. :)