Summer Happenings Part I

The fair is in town this week. It is the county fair, and if the state fair is the "Great Minnesota Get Together", this county fair is the "Great Thief River Get Together." Everyone goes.

Heading to the fair...Elise and Anja's favorite part of the fair is the animals (it's mine too !)Mmmm...the fair food dinner...popcorn chicken, followed by cotton candy.

We are headed back to the fair today, the kids can't wait! The first thing Anja said when she got up this morning was "fair?"

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Only in a Small Town?

Just about every small town up here had some kind of celebration last weekend, including a parade. I know first hand about two parades where at least one float passed out beer instead of candy. One float had a keg on board. The float riders were enjoying it, and periodically the float would stop and pass out a glass or two to spectators.

Book Review--The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

I really liked this book, one of the better ones I've read in a while. Edgar is a mute boy and this is the story of him, his parents and their life together. It is patterned after "Hamlet" (I didn't know this until after I'd finished it but when I found it out I thought "oh! That explains a lot!" ). It was hard to let this book rest, I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. Edgar really is a tragic figure, thrown into a situation he didn't create but that he has to maneuver within. I could see him making bad choices and wanted to say "no!" But he is a boy and a product of his experiences and a slave to his emotions. A really good book, five stars out of five (I know!! It really is that good!)

Book Review--Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

This is a Junior book, intended for grades 3-9, depending on the kid. I read it in preparation for a Kids' Book Club at the library that I lead. I really liked this book. It reminded me a lot of Harry Potter, but with Greek Gods. It was very enjoyable. For it's genre, four out of five stars.

Anja Updates

Oh, my sweet little Anja. She is a firecracker, this one! She will be three in the fall. For months I've been sitting her on the toilet and potty chair to try to start the potty training process. And for months she has willingly sat there, smiling the whole time, taking no action then saying "all done!" and hopping down. I didn't push it, figuring she would figure it out. And last Sunday, all of a sudden, she asked to sit on the potty and she peed!!! Every day since then she has peed right away in the morning, and before bed. I'm still not pushing the other times yet, I'm just so thrilled she's doing it at all! It just had to be her idea, I guess.

Elise Updates

I can't believe it is almost the 4th of July! When that rolls around I feel like the summer is on the downward slide.

Elise has had a busy summer. She loves soccer and scored a goal last week! She is also taking swimming lessons for the first time. She really loves swimming lessons. After the first day she came home and asked to go to bed at 6:00 because she wanted the day to be over so the next day would come and she could go to swimming lessons again!

We changed daycares in May, and it is really working out well. They transport the kids to summer activities, so Elise has been able to take tennis lessons as well. She is a busy girl and enjoys it all. Each night at bed time she asks "what are we doing after nap?" (meaning "what are we doing tomorrow?"). She likes to have something to look forward to.

SLC Trip: Day 5 Going Home

Day 5 we woke up, got packed up and drove to the airport. Fortunately the airport was not busy and everything through check-in went really smoothly. Unfortunately, my girls were really tired (I let them stay up too late the night before after the wedding, playing with their cousins). Anja was by far the worst. A two year-old who is tired is not a good fit with an airplane ride. She squirmed, whined, tried to run up and down the aisle, and cried any time I didn't let her do what she wanted to do. Oh, did I mention she has a temper and also hit me when she got mad when I told her "no"? We were about half way through our 3 hour flight. I was holding a squirming Anja on my lap because she kept trying to crawl under my legs to escape into the aisle. Elise was crying because she wanted to sit on my lap but couldn't because I was restraining Anja. It was at this time a man sitting kitty-corner behind me leaned forward and said "Ma'am? Could your children be suffering from painful ear pressure due to the altitude?" I turned to him, trying to restrain Anja as she pulled my hair and hit my face and screamed "LET ME GO!!!" And with all the self-control I could muster (which was not much, I admit) I said "No, they suffer from being over-tired. They suffer from being small children confined in an small space." I saw the wounded look on the man's face and I felt a little bad, so with my best faked smile on my face I said "but thank you anyway." And then the man said (can you believe he is continuing with this?) "I just thought, maybe if they chewed on some gum that might help." Yeah, buddy, that's just what I need, to give my two year old some gum. Then I wouldn't have to worry about her hands in my hair, because I'D HAVE GUM IN MY HAIR!!!!!! Oh my GOD, unless you are asking if you can help me by entertaining one of my children and therefore making my life easier, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!

Anyway, we did make it home. Very glad we went!