Fun at the Science Center

Bemidji has a very small but very fun science center. From first glance, you'd think that the kids would get bored there; there's no flashy lights, no monstrous exhibits, nothing to play on. It looks like it is from the '70's and it's filled with a bunch of odds and ends science exhibits. But, the kids have such a blast there and it is one of the funnest science centers that I've been in. First off, it's always quiet, the staff is always willing and ready to let animals out of their cages and are good at helping the kids understand concepts, every exhibit is hands-on, and they have awesome toddler classes every Wednesday. I'll need to remember to take more pictures next time. But, here are kids holding one of the many snakes that they have on exhibit:

First Snow

We woke up Saturday morning, October 10, to snow. Sadie was beside herself with excitement. She kept going on and on about all of the things that she was going to do in the snow. She even woke me up and invited me to go outside and play in the snow with her at 6:00 in the morning!! Needless to say she had to wait a little bit before she could have her snow play, but she got it. First thing we did was go shopping for a winter coat for Sadie. As you can tell by these pictures, she still doesn't have one and was forced to wear her spring rain coat with lots of layers underneath. It turns out that 2T is a very popular size...

The kids had to go sledding. I think the people in Bemidji were thinking that the people with the Ohio license plate were crazy for sledding when there was barely any snow on the ground. Not to mention that the wind was blowing a gazillion miles an hour and it was cold especially when you don't have a winter coat! But, we did it anyways.

Sadie and dad built this lovely snowman family. I'm the one with the crazy hair!

The snow has since melted and it's supposed to be in the fifties this weekend with the sun shining. WooHoo!! The snow can wait awhile before it sticks around for good.

Minnesota Canoe Trip

We borrowed our friends canoe one beautiful fall morning in September. You can't tell by looking at us in our sweatshirts (and my hat!) but it actually warmed up to about 80 that day!The canoe ride was so pleasant. The water was calm, the loons were out, and we had the whole lake to ourselves. It was rather peaceful until we ran out of snacks and the kids were tired of paddling us in circles, but we all enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

Eli's Preschool

Eli started attending a new pre-school called Enchanted Garden. It is a Waldorf inspired pre-school so it has lots of music, lots of natural toys and focuses on imaginary play and creativity. The class is held in his teacher Frances' house here in Bemidji. There are only 6 kids in his class and he is the only boy. Frances sent me these pictures. It is interesting to see how Eli's participation changed from the beginning of the month to the end. Usually, he is so shy but you can slowly see him starting to emerge from his shell in the pictures. It was cool to see.
Frances tries to take the kids outside everyday come rain or shine or 20 below days. They go on hikes and do lots of exploring.Tuesdays are soup days. Each child brings a vegetable to school. They cut the vegetables and make a soup, then eat it for snack that day. Frances says he "tries the vegetables" but Eli says he likes the "butterflies" (pasta) the best.

Eli has done a few art projects at school which is surprising because he didn't do any last year!

Having a tea party with Leanna and Scout (blonde hair). Leanna's mom is a Dr. out at Cass Lake, she works with Dennis. Eli loves Leanna.

They do lots of music activities. I guess this is how Eli dances with a scarf, which is an improvement from the pictures earlier in the month when he is just sitting and watching the girls dance.

A little violin time. (Frances teaches Suzuki method in piano, violin, cello and harp. She also teaches orchestra at one of the charter schools in town.)

House Tour Part 1

Per request, I'm going to post a few pictures of the house. We bought a house that for being 25 years old is in excellent shape and has never had little kids living in it. The home has been maintained in a way that Dennis and I can only dream of maintaining a home. It only needed a few cosmetic changes which we are slowly getting done. Here is the kids' bedroom. It was mauve, now it's a (little too) bright green. Our house has lots of angles and nooks, which is why I love the house. This little nook, which is part of the dining room has become the kids' art corner. It was one of the first areas of the house that was completed as I always wanted the kids to have a little art space but our old apartment just didn't have enough room. Now they can color, draw, stamp, stencil, sticker, cut and paste and create to their little hearts content. They do spend a lot of time in this corner.I'll post more pictures as time goes on. We're in the process of finishing up a few more rooms but they still need stuff on the walls or they're lacking little details that makes it our space. I'll keep you posted!
I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but please come see us. Bemidji is a lovely place to visit. You can see more of this great Northern Minnesota travel destination here.

An Eli"ism" and a Sadie"ism" too!

The Eli "ism": Last night we were dancing in the kitchen to some pretty groovy tunes and Eli was showing us his funkiest moves. I asked him where he got all of his moves from. He stopped, looked at me very seriously and replied, "from Target!" and then went right on dancing.

The Sadie "ism": We were in the car. Eli started the conversation, "Some cars are old, some buildings are old, some roads are old." Sadie added, "and dad's old..."

A Wedding

I know that this blog is supposed to be about the kids, but it isn't very often that Dennis and I are in the same picture, let alone a picture when we're all dressed up and looking pretty good! How lucky for us to go to one of Dennis' very good friend's wedding this weekend in Minneapolis/St. Paul without the kids! Yes, for the first time since we've had the kids, Dennis and I got to spend a WHOLE WEEKEND alone while Grandma watched the kids. OK, so we weren't really alone, we were hanging out with all of Dennis' college friends and we had an awesome time. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've had so much fun (or the last time that I stayed up past 2:30 in the morning partying). We ate good food (Nye's polka bar, which is completely still in it's perfectly retro form which was perfect for my current obsession with Mad Men and they had really awesome liver pate which rivals Whitey's, and breakfast at Keys with Dennis' sister and brother-in-law), I did some shopping in Uptown while Dennis watched the Vikings game with the guys, caught up with great friends, and partied like it was 1999!

The bride and the groom went all out. On Saturday night, they rented out the bar at The Turf Club and had 2(!) bands one of which was an ELO cover band, and was such a blast (Dennis even danced, and for those of you who know Dennis know that that rarely happens). The wedding was on Sunday at Nicollet Pavillion and was whimsical (you should of heard the string quartet playing Sweet Child of Mine), the bride was dressed beautifully as a 1940s starlet and, of course, Chuck made everyone laugh. They even had a photo booth for pictures (you can see ours here).

I guess this my really long way of saying that I really love my kids, but it's really great to get away from them every once in awhile. I promise that we won't be doing this every month, but hopefully our next getaway won't be four years away!

Welcome Home Jewel!

Jewel made it home on Friday, September 11. There has been no lack of love for this kitten. She has been pretty much held non-stop for the past few days and we all adore her to pieces. She has been the source of many arguments: "It's my turn to hold her." "NO! It's my turn."

We plan on Jewel being an indoor cat, because we live on a very busy street. But, we had to take her outside for a photo op! When Dennis first met Jewel at the Humane Society he called her "the laziest cat ever" because she was super mellow. Well, she's livened up a bit, but she still lets the kids do pretty much whatever they want to her without even a meow. She just loves all of the attention.

The Mighty Mississippi

When we lived in Ohio, people would ask me where we planned to live after Dennis finished school and my reply was usually "west of the Mississippi" not thinking that we'd end up living NORTH of the Mississippi. Itasca State Park is known as being the "headwaters of the Mississippi River". And here it is folks in all of its glory. The headwaters is shallow enough so you can say that you "walked across the Mississippi River."
Here is Sadie walking across the Mississippi. Crossing the river on the rocks:Crossing the river on a log (it doesn't look like it, but about 1 second after this picture was taken, Eli was trying to push his sister in. Sadie screamed like only Sadie can scream. They make their mother so proud!)This is the tallest white pine in the United States...Ohhh, Ahhhh....
If you come visit, I promise that we'll go. You can even get a ribbon that says "I walked across the Mississippi." Seriously. I know you want one!

The Fire Ring

The latest addition to our backyard is a fire ring that Dennis and kids built. We've been enjoying it quite often considering how cool it is in the evening in Minnesota.
The kids like to roast marshmellows, but they do not like to eat roasted marshmellows. They like their marshmellows straight from the bag!Mmmm.... SMORES!!Enjoying the fruits of his labor:

A New Family Member

We'd like you to meet Jewel, our newest family member. Jewel is an 8 week old 1/2 Siamese, 1/2 domestic short hair kitten. She is still living at the Bemidji Humane Society until she is fixed (their rule) which isn't until Sept. 10. We can bring her home on Sept. 11. We have been going to visit her everyday. Playing with kittens is a great way to spend an hour. Eli and Sadie have really taken to her. They talk about her all day and can't wait until she comes home.

Luckily, Jewel is super laid-back and can tolerate the kids and their silly games. Sadie carries her around like a baby, tries to force feed her, and comes her fur constantly. Eli tries to get her to chase a jingling ball but she usually just runs and slides across the floor. She is so adorable, and cuddly. We love her already!

Down On the Farm

I'm not sure how many kids you can legally have on a tractor, but 6 fit ok along with an adult so we'll go with 7. While visiting Grandma and Grandpa S. they got the tractor running and rides were in order!!

A Little Peer Pressure Never Hurt

Eli's best buddy in Columbus, Luke, learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels last weekend. We showed the video to Eli and he said that he too wanted to ride his bike without training wheels. So, we removed them and about 5 minutes later he was riding. He still needs some work on starting himself, steering while keeping his balance and stopping, but he is staying upright as long as he's going straight. I think the other things will come pretty quickly. Nothing like a little peer pressure to motivate a four year old.

Eli's 4th Birthday

On Sunday, August 16 we celebrated Eli's 4th birthday. He had a dinosaur themed party and invited the few friends he has here in Bemidji. This is the smallest party Eli has ever had, but it is the first time that family has been able to attend a birthday event so he was tickled even if it wasn't huge.The kids decorated little pails with stickers then went on a dinosaur dig out in the sandbox.They got distracted by all of the frogs that we have in the backyard and had a frog race too.
The birthday boy opening presents. He was very pleased with his haul. He got a soccer ball and net, a wheelbarrow, a remote controlled car, tons of new matchbox cars and a beta fish that he has named "Dorfy".Grandma Z. made Eli a "meat-eater cake:Making a wish:

His actual birthday was a much much quieter day. We just went out for icecream at Coldstone. Eli got mint with M&Ms and marshmellows. I can't believe he's four. Time does go by so fast!!

Lake Bemidji

Lake Bemidji State Park is only a hop, skip and a jump for us. The kids enjoy playing in the woods, going for bike rides and playing in the sand. They're really not lake swimmers yet and really I don't blame them. It's been way too cold in the northland this summer to swim and the water is icy! Maybe it'll be warmer next year!

COUSINS!!!

In our first weeks here we went to the annual Sperle family reunion in Park Rapids, MN at Uncle Greg's and Auntie Michele's house. The kids had a blast with their cousins. Eli and Sadie went tubing behind the boat. Eli thought fishing was more his speed but you couldn't wipe the smile from Sadie's face. (I was too nervous to look.) Here is a silly picture of Eli and Sadie with their cousins. Why do they all have beards? Ask Emily and Ashley.

Saying Good-bye

Wow! Sorry I'm so hopelessly behind in posting pictures. I'll play a little catch-up today. Oh, and it is Eli's birthday today, but I didn't take any pictures of his party, a good friend did. So, as soon as I get them from her, I'll post them here.
These pictures were taken in Columbus before we left for Minnesota. Here's Eli and his good buddy, Luke making things out of pipe cleaners at our last TOPS (tour of parks) playgroup.

This picture was taken in the last minutes before we left Buckeye Village for the last time. I was a mess and had a hard time saying good-bye. Eli still talks about Sofia and Sataya daily. He still claims that he "likes our old house better because I had a lot more friends." So true. Very very good friends at that.Moving is fun when you get to put your carseat in a u-haul!

Priorities

We have a ton to do around the house, but that didn't stop us from having a little zip-line fun in the backyard. I really can't explain why Sadie is wearing her bike helmet and her pajamas except that she's two and she has a mind of her own!