Annual Christmin Weekend 2014

We packed a lot into the weekend as usual. We started out with a bang at the North Pole Express Santa Train in St Paul. We had Max and Adam join us too. We squeaked in at the last minute and ran what seemed like miles to be the last on the train before they took off. Whew. Hot and sweaty. But the ride was fun, all three minutes of it! Ok so it was maybe 5 minutes. But then we were at the North Pole and soon Santa came through to hand out candy and ask about what we wanted for Christmas. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. Santa had to visit all of the other train cars too. Then we rode all 5 minutes back to St Paul and headed into the Union Depot for hot chocolate and cookies. A bit of panic when the movie Polar Express was playing and it was TOO LOUD!!!! for one little one. Funny, when she finally saw the movie on the small screen she was obsessed with it. Obsessed. Santa even brought her a bell on Christmin morning.

On Saturday our Grand Adventure started with our event and ended with donuts. A bit out of order but I'm blaming that on my swiss cheese brain. We went to see Rudolph at the wonderful Stages Theater in Hopkins. Unfortunately I had inadvertently gotten tickets for Sunday when I meant to get them for Saturday. So I bravely approached the ticket window and begged to switch them, thinking maybe someone wasn't showing up for that show. The very nice floor manager found us 4 seats in the 7th row, just off the stage. Woot!

I didn't bring the headphones. My (second) bad. Halfway through the first song Katy lost it. I HAVE TO GO POTTY! Which is code for 'get me out of here'. Sigh. So we went to the lobby, bought the book and read it while we waited for the show to be over. We did rally to watch the last half of the last song so I guess that's good. I'm chalking this one up to a learning experience. Evi enjoyed it at least!

We headed to YoYo Donuts & Coffee Bar from there and it was as fantastic as the reviews said it would be. We got a bit of food into the girls before we scarfed up the donuts. We will have to return again because we didn't get any of their amazing ice cream. mmm. The day was topped off with a trip to the Children's Museum.

Sunday's Grand Adventure started with donuts as usual. Angel Food Bakery in Downtown Minneapolis is a destination in itself. You can watch the creation of pastries and cakes at a cute little counter. It's tiny so we took our rambunctious girls to the tippy table in the lobby. Evi took a time out in the potted plant and Katy wouldn't leave the entrance to Hell's Kitchen where the music was playing. The donuts were super tasty and the music was good too!

Next up was a short stop at Family Day at MIA. The girls were a little melty at this point but still seemed to be enjoying themselves so we carried on. Arts and crafts happened, paint was splattered and all was right with the world.

Finally, Evi made a guest stop at Katy's Ethiopian Dance class. As per usual, Katy wasn't in the mood to participate but they both still had a great time. It's so fun to see the dances by all of the different ages at the end of class. Someday when Katy feels like it, she's going to rock those dances too!

One thing's for sure, we get a lot out of our weekends!

3rd Annual Halloween Weekend

Since we've just wrapped up the Annual Christmin Weekend in real life, I thought I'd better get updated past Halloween before it's next year already. We love spending the weekend before Halloween up in Superior! And who doesn't love a whole weekend to wear all of the halloween costumes you own.

We take many, many pictures. Some show the idea of what our weekends are like...

And then there are those showing the reality...

Regardless, we soldier on forward! Grand Adventures always start with donuts. Our favorite haunt in Superior, A Dozen Excuses, does not disappoint. We each get a donut and then have some to share. Katy seems to like the cake donuts best of all kinds.

Next we head to Duluth (Hermantown actually) for Engwall's Corn Maze. Another favorite stop, we shoot corn from cannons, trick-or-treat our way through the maze and try our hand at the carnival games. It's always fun to pick up a big bag of trinkets and candy. Yes, fun. Keep saying that. Ever stepped on a plastic spider in the middle of the night? Fun. Yes, fun.

Since we're out and about, we stop at the lake for some rock throwing. Not as much participation here. Sure, the rocks are fun but when we get to the ship museum we lose interest quickly. Onward!

After a rest stop at home we head to the wilderness for some more Halloween adventures. I can't remember who puts on this event but the girls get to do crafts and have cookies. All good things. First they get cups puffed off their head by a big air drum. Sciency!

Aforementioned crafts...

Then we head home to bob for apples. Not sure why the lighting is crazy yellow. Never mind the hand in the bucket of course.

Little, tiny, apple parts ev.ery.where.

More science experiments with baking soda and vinegar. Evi? Totally into it. Katy, not so much. Well, maybe if I don't have to touch it...

Capping off the evening with an epic Halloween bath. Won't be too much longer and they won't fit in the tub together! We'll have to have pool parties then.

Finally getting out the wiggles with glow stick skirt dancing. It's too bad the video doesn't show much, it is fun to watch the twirling skirts.

Wiggles all gone...

Sunday leaves us with just enough time for carving pumpkins. Again, it's Evi's heaven and Katy's meh. Thanks to a bunch of help by moms, the carving is done and the girls take the credit.

They really can be sweet to each other when they want to be!

Each weekend we spend together, Rachel and I learn more about the girls and how they work and play together. And, as they get older we face different challenges. Just when we think we've figured it out, they change it up on us. Such is life! And what a great life it is. I can't wait to see these girls grow up together and hopefully embrace their differences and their 'same same' as Katy would say.

Katy's 5th Birthday

I can't believe my baby turned 5! Since we were celebrating the milestone anniversary on her birthday we moved the party back a week. Indeed she did not notice a bit and was extra excited to have yet another party to attend! Every year I want to be the pinterest mom, with all kinds of cute ideas for a Birthday Party To Remember. And yet, I am just a regular mom. In fact, I'm really ok with that. Occasionally I can pull out the big guns but sometimes you have to roll with it. This year's 'roll with it' party was at Kiddywampus, a local arts and crafts store (and more) for kids. 

We chose the Action Jackson party. I'm pretty sure they didn't know what they were getting into when Katy and her friends showed up :-) We had a short introduction to Jackson Pollack and his artwork (so cool that they do that!) and had some rules and regulations to follow. Then to get warmed up the kids did some tissue paper art to take home. Meanwhile, I had my fellow moms (God love you ladies, you save me yet again) running to the grocery store around the corner for plates, napkins, utensils and drinks because I just did not think of that at any point in the planning. At least I showed up with the cake and cupcakes and ordered the pizza!

After the tissue paper art project was done it was time for the big deal. Out came the giant shirts and big socks. Each lucky kid got to do two paintings, throwing that paint all over the wall. What fun! I could have used some paint throwing time myself I think. Surprisingly, there was very little paint on the kids at the end.

Then it was on to pizza, of which Katy only ate the green olives off the top. That's my girl, so silly!

And finally, the cake of Katy's dreams. Purple, round, banilla with minions on top. Cupcakes were added because I thought they'd be easier for the kids to eat and I wasn't sure we had enough cake. hmm. It's a lot of cake. But it was darn tasty! Thanks to The Cake Box Bakery, which wasn't very close to us but they were available and had minion figures on hand. Happy Birthday song was sung, fingers and faces turned purple and then we cleaned up for yet another project. This time it was molding clay bugs, or rather molding clay shapes, some with eyes, some without. Finally it was time to clean up and we ran out of there. Seriously, I felt like I was on a conveyor belt the whole hour and a half. We chose to cut out the present opening (not my favorite part, truthfully) and open them at Nana and Grandpa's house the next day. It's a whole lot of sensory overload to pile in a short period of time.

The birthday girl was overjoyed, but not so much that she couldn't stop and enjoy the party. I call that a win. Who needs pinterest with this girl, we can make our own fun wherever we go. Maybe next year we'll do something at home but if I had my choice I'd do this kind of party again for sure. Only I'll remember all of the supplies ahead of time :-)

End Of Summer Grand Adventure

We're making this Grand Adventure a big one to finish off the summer in style. Katy and I headed to Superior, WI for an early start to Labor Day weekend. Originally the plan was to have a picnic on the shores of Lake Superior but mother nature had other plans. Cold and rainy does not a fun picnic make. But we are nothing if not masters of last minute events.

First stop for doughnuts, of course. We checked out the newest place in Superior, A Dozen Excuses. We went later in the morning on Friday. Since we had gotten in late on Thursday, there was some catching up to do before we left. The selection was fairly limited at the late hour but we got a few raised and some cake doughnuts. They were quite tasty and moderately priced. Judging by the mess we made, they were a hit.

From there, we took off for Duluth and a secret spot for feeding the ducks and geese. It was a cemetery with a lovely pond. Katy nodded off on the way so we took a little time out while Rachel and Evi started.

More bread, coming up!

Our next stop was the Leif Erickson Rose Garden. I enjoyed the flowers, the girls enjoyed their umbrellas.

We stopped home for an indoor picnic. Not quite as interesting as the shore but we had a lot going on so it was probably best.

Browsing online for 'fun things to do with kids in Duluth' I happened upon the North Shore Scenic Railroad's Music and Pizza Train! For your ticket you get a 2.5 hour ride, one half of a pizza and one drink (beer extra of course). A great deal and a great deal of fun! Katy was not quite into it as we were driving there and was concerned about 'the spitting is coming out'. Since she had her first (since she came home) encounter with puking a few weeks ago she's a little obsessed about 'the spitting is coming out'. Indeed she was just super tired and a nap perked her right up. Eventually.

We started in the 1960's era double decker car and made our way to the 1950's car and finished the ride in the 1918 vintage car, right behind the locomotive. The 50's car was my favorite but I'm glad we had our pizza in the 60's car (vinyl seats!). Live music played in the concessions car and was piped over the loudspeakers. There was a bit of dancing in between watching out the windows. I'm so glad we found it, and that there were tickets, and we were all up for it!

The next morning we continued by heading back to A Dozen Excuses. We had a much bigger selection and yet Katy chooses the plain cake doughnut. I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed my Creme Bruleé filled pastry and I tasted Rachel's and while I don't remember what it was, I remember I really liked it. Swiss cheese brain...

We spent our down time painting nails with our cool nail art kit from the fair (similar to this, with pointy end and brushy end). The girls got their names on their fingers and some assorted flowers and then shiny pink toes. Too bad it was too cold for sandals!

Before we headed home, we stopped by Canal Park for sandwiches from Nothern Waters Smokehaus. We took our time, splashing in the fountains first. And just so you get the true feel, I've included a video with sound. Wouldn't want you to miss out on that!

Katy enjoys her first candy necklace from our stop at Hepzibah's Sweet Shoppe. Or rather, she didn't enjoy it but tried hard to. She kept wanting me to bite it for her. sigh.

As always, Katy falls asleep shortly after we hit the road. As in, she's asleep sometime in between when I buckle her and I get in the car to drive. A wonderful way to round out the summer.