If you guessed "Mexico", then you're wrong. We went to Northern Minnesota's most authentic Mexican restaurant, Mi Rancho!!!
We all got to get in on the crazy birthday hat wearing action:
It was the perfect way to end a very long and exciting day. Happy Birthday to Sadie!! You are quite the girl and I truly enjoy every moment!
She chose sparkly pink flowers and was beside herself with excitement.
After we left all she could say was, "I just can't stop smiling. I just love my new earrings so much!"
The kids really like piano so I predict more recitals in our future. Eli is wondering when he can play cello or violin or guitar or the drums...
Before you get too excited, I should tell you that Eli did NOT lose a tooth. Eli, in all of his six year old wisdom, found a shark tooth that we had laying around and decided to see if the tooth fairy would bring him money for the shark tooth. So, he put the tooth under his pillow and in the morning he was very excited to see that the tooth fairy did manage to make it our house. She left a note that stated that she does not accept shark teeth, but that it was worth a try and that she appreciated the effort. She also said that he will lose a tooth eventually, but it might not happen as soon as he wants to. Instead of money, she left him a book called "Throw Your Tooth on the Roof" which is about tooth traditions from around the world. Eli was tickled nonetheless. He'll keep on wiggling those teeth and he'll keep on eating apples until a tooth does fall out and the tooth fairy delivers some cold hard cash!!
To say that Sadie was excited about her birthday would be an understatement. That girl just couldn't wait. She turned five with a smile on her face and it never left the whole day. She gave a gazillion hugs and told everyone that today was her birthday.
She also got a very cute ice cream cone necklace. The necklace will make more sense in a later post, but she was thrilled.
Sadie is a huge Shel Silverstein fan so Dennis got her his latest book. She also got about 8 Biscuit books, since she is just starting to read and a sewing kit. Oh, and how could I forget the pink boots... You'll be seeing lots of pictures of her in her new pink boots.
There they are... the glorious chocolate chip birthday pancakes!! She ate a lot. She had to fuel up for what turned out to be a very busy and exciting day. Sadie will celebrate her birthday on Saturday with a party at the gym bin with all of her friends.
It's good to know that there are always routines and traditions that remind us of the repetition of the seasons . Carving pumpkins is a favorite tradition in this house and one that we do without fail year after year. This year we had to do our pumpkin carving in phases because Eli wanted to get his pumpkin weeks ago and could hardly wait to carve it, while Sadie wanted to wait until the last possible moment.
Sadie carved her pumpkin and made the little one as a craft project at storytime at the library.
Eli, apparently, has turned into a boy of many faces...
Woooooooo!!!.... Ya'll should come trick-or-treating at our house. Last year we got one family! It would be great to have at least two families come this year!!
It's official: Sadie and I adore the chickens. You might think we're crazy, and 7 months ago I never would have guessed, but it's true, we're head over heals in love with these girls. We've been letting them out every day for a little free-range pecking. It's crazy how good they are at staying in the yard (ok, they do visit Jeff's yard too) and staying together. If one girl gets separated from the others she squawks as loud as she can until she finds the others or until Sadie goes out and scoops her up and carries her to the others. Mabel and Penny easily allow Sadie to pick them up, Brownie and Annie are a little more reluctant, but they're realizing that she's not so bad!
Penelope, Brownie and Mabel are laying but Annie just poops in her nesting box, the crazy girl. We're hoping soon. I can even tell which eggs belong to which chicken. Brownies are shaped like a torpedo, very long and lean. Mabel's are more stout and egg-shaped. Penny's are the biggest. I'm curious if Annie lays white eggs because she's all white or if hers will be pale blue/green like the rest?
Sadie and I are starting to find our daily/weekly rhythm now that school has been in session for a little over a month. Wednesday is Science Center day as they have a pre-school class that morning. The teacher, Kitura, is the cat's meow. She is so awesome, never misses a beat with the kids, and the activities are age-appropriate and interesting and so scientific. You just can't go wrong. When the class is over, we linger at the science center until it's time to head to school (after eating lunch in the car, which, by the way, is Sadie's favorite place to eat lunch). Sadie's favorite thing to do at the science center is hold all of the snakes and she does. She holds all of the snakes. All of them. Every. Single. Time.
And then she holds a bunny. So crazy that girl.
Outside the house there is a yellow road where you can sign your name.
Along the path there are munchkin photo opps. There is also a museum with lots of photos, some of her belongings and the actual carriage that was in the Wizard of Oz. The museum used to house a pair of ruby red slippers (there are 3 other pairs, one pair being in the Smithsonian) until 6 years ago when they were stolen!
After the museums, we had a late lunch and made the 80 mile trek back to our house and arrived just as Eli was arriving home from school. Sadie will tell you that she loves our time together and I love it too.
The major reason for our trip to the cities was for Eli and Dennis to go to the Vikings game on Sunday afternoon. The guys got to the stadium early for breakfast tailgating with Dennis' friends Mike and Jon.
Even though the Vikings lost (as usual) against the Lions, Eli still had a great time.
Instead of going to the game, Sadie, Mick, Mel and I went out to lunch at Punch Pizza then went to Como Zoo. I have no pictures because Dennis had the camera at the game. We finished the trip by going to Trader Joe's and stocking up on a few of our favorites. Man, I miss that store. And because the Viking game went into over-time we had to waste some time at the Lands End store and Sadie walked out with a few new dresses. It was a good day for everyone!
We took a trip to "the cities" for a quick weekend visit. We stayed with Mick and Mel and they showed us the local sites. Funny how we went to "the cities" to visit a farm, but well, that's just how it goes sometimes (there are way too many pine trees in Bemidji for an apple orchard!). The kids really wanted to pick apples, so we found this fun little orchard that has animals, hayrides, and apples!
The apples were big and beautiful and tasty. We picked enough for eating, and pie baking and maybe even some applesauce.
I think the kids enjoyed the corn bin best of all.
They could feed the goats...
And hold the babies...
and feed all of the apples that have fallen off the trees to the cows.
There was also a hayride where we got to pick gourds and popcorn, that will be dry enough to eat come January. There were also lots of other animals too: peacocks, sheep, pigs, lots and lots of chickens and even a super-friendly farm cat. This little orchard was big on family fun.
Sadie didn't just cross the Mississippi once. No, she crossed about 30 times.
Sadie was bound and determined to touch this duck. The duck would have none of it though and swam away as soon as she made it to this rock.
We also saw Minnesota's largest white pine and did a short hike to see what used to be Minnesota's largest red pine until a storm blew it over! We also hiked to the top of the fire tower.
The leaves were already starting to change and now, a week later, it feels like fall. Good-bye summer, hello fall! We welcome you as long as it doesn't get too cold!
Sadie has been waiting for pre-school since we toured last spring. We drive by everyday and she says, "there's my school!" She will be going Mon, Weds, and Fri. afternoons from 12:30-3:00. She was all gung-ho this morning and got ready in her new first-day-of-school dress. She was ready for pictures outside of the church. As soon as we went to walk in, she said, "I don't feel very good." So, we talked about feeling nervous and that it was ok, but that still didn't stop her from crying when I left. I was sort of expecting it considering she'll cry when I leave her with Dennis when I go for a walk. So, I did what I did with Eli on his first day of pre-school. I walked around the building a couple of times, went in and checked on her and she was fine. Same as with Eli only this time I didn't have Alyssa to coach me through it!
Eli's pre-school in Ohio was at a Trinity Lutheran Church too only they called it "Trinity" here it's called "TLC".
This is Sadie's teacher, Cheryl. She's new to TLC this year so I don't know anything about her. Sadie was all smiles when I picked her up and she said she had fun. I have no doubts that Sadie will be her usual self on Wednesday!
Today another milestone: Kindergarten. Eli attends the Paul Bunyan Kindergarten Center and was excited to meet his teacher, Miss Albright. He was a little anxious this morning, but was happy to see that two boys from his class last year are in his class. There are 21 students in his class and he said that there are more girls than boys. He will be riding the bus to and from school each day and he is happy that Wes and Roy are his bus drivers again. He'll be gone everyday from 7:30 to 3:20. That seems like a lot of time. We're going to miss him around here.
Sadie can't wait until it's her turn, but until next year she'll just have to live vicariously through Eli. Really, it isn't too bad for her to get to spend all day with mom. She'll start pre-school next week.
Eli was surprised to see that his classroom has a bathtub! I was sort of hoping that he'd come home spic and span everyday, but, alas, it's a cozy little reading area!
