Bits and Pieces: August

Well, that's it for summer. Adios, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

August was okay, actually, but as usual we are all ready to be out of each other's company for awhile. Clare has been ready to go back to school for weeks, and I think Christopher is starting to get excited, too.

Now that Christopher will be in school five mornings a week I'll probably start thinking about my next steps, too. It is long past time that I go back to work, but that can be pretty hard to do after being at home for 5 years. Maybe I'll go back to school and start over like my mom did.

So, August. Clare finally cashed in her birthday present at the beginning of this month and got her ears pierced. She did well. Honestly, I wasn't sure she would go through with it because we usually have to have two people hold her down to give her the flu shot, but she did it with no tears. After the big event we had Tenney's ears pierced at the American Girl Doll Salon. She had her hair styled, too. Then Clare and I had lunch.

Clare went to a science camp the first week in August. It was through the Science Museum of Minnesota and was focused on engineering. She loved it. I am so happy she is interested in math and science. I am trying to encourage it without making her feel like it's something she has to do. So far, so good.

We had a few playdates and things this month. I even had a playdate with my friend Chrissy. (I hate the term play date by the way. And is it one word or two?) It was great to see Chrissy and Christopher had a great time with Adam and Ben. They were so nice to him even though he is so much younger.

I took the kids to visit my parents for a few days. Clare was very excited to see her grandparents and go swimming, but unfortunately she got sick and was really out of it for most of our visit. Christopher had fun, though. Especially on the day I let him watch TV most of the day. I also took him to his favorite weird indoor playground in Fitchburg, located just down the street from where I grew up. I missed out on seeing my friend Christina and her new baby because of Clare's illness, so I was super bummed about that. Hopefully I'll get to meet her little one next time I am in town. I did enjoy seeing my parents and drinking martinis, though.

Another exciting first for Clare this month: her first sleepover! She spent the night at her friend Nora's house and had a BLAST. It was easy for me, because Nora's mom is one of my best friends. I knew she was in good hands. I was looking forward to having some time to myself after Christopher went to bed. (Ben was at a meeting.) I was going to FINALLY watch the Veronica Mars movie, but then Christopher started complaining that his ear hurt. Fast forward through a sleepless night to the doctor the next day and an ear infection diagnosis. Not only did I miss out on the movie, I missed out on a beach day with friends. (They nicely took Clare, so she didn't miss out on anything.) Anyway, to continue to make this boring story even longer, Christopher is fine and I watched Veronica Mars the next night. I can't wait for the Hulu series!

Oh, and of course we went to the Fair. The best part for me was breakfast at the Blue Barn and the horticulture building, especially the Christmas trees and flower kaleidoscope. Christopher loved the animals. Clare loved the rides. Ben loved the beer. It was our typical fair experience.

We had our back to school open house last night. It was fun to see the kid's teachers and meet new parents.

And now on to Labor Day weekend. We are having a little party here on Saturday, followed by another trip to the Fair for Ben and Clare on Sunday. Christopher and I are going to Como Zoo. That is much more our speed.

Edited to add: We visited my Grandma (Clare's namesake) for her 95th (!) birthday. It was so nice to see her and my two aunts. My parents and Katie were there, too. By far the best part was our off key rendition of "Happy Birthday" which left all of us in a puddle of tears of laughter. (Christopher did his typical growling singing, which just added to the song's charm.) My Grandma said it was the best birthday song she could have asked for.

Getting her science on at the Children's Museum.

His favorite part of the museum, other than the car wash and the slide.

Before the piercing!

She did it! And Tenney did well, too.

    

My sister and I took the kids to Square Lake in Stillwater one Saturday. They had fun. We were stressed.

Christopher did not want to participate in a group picture.

Carefully putting his school supplies on the checkout counter.

My mother-in-law had Clare, Tenney, Samantha, and I over for a fancy tea party. It was really fun.

Swimming in Janesville before she got sick.

We got two new windows. Sadly, our bay window is gone but I like the way the new one looks.

Fair time. Obvs.

In the fire tower at the DNR building.

Bumper boats. Clare is sad that she is now too tall for this ride.

Not too tall for Little Farm Hands, though!

Chemistry in the U of M building.

Annual beer selfie.

Annual Sweet Martha's cookie picture.

We met my friends Anna and Liz at Minnehaha Falls this week. The kids had fun together, once Clare warmed up. It was a beautiful day!

Back to School Night and Ice Cream Social. They are just a little excited. But not as excited as I am.

June and July, in Pictures

Even though it feels like a black hole opened up and swallowed this summer whole, the pictures on my phone say otherwise.

Annual photo taken at the Lock and Dam on the Mississippi in June.

Out for ice cream to celebrate Clare's 7th birthday.

Friends at a last day of school party at our house.

Trip to the Minnesota Zoo. The kids are not that excited about the zoo anymore, so I will be dropping our membership.

Blurry Christopher, Clare, Natalie and Elsie at Clare's birthday party at the Mall of America. They had a blast, although Clare wanted to go on a lot more rides than her friends were willing to. She has a lot of fears, but rides are not one of them.

At Rock the Garden in June. It was hot, but there was cold beer, good music and great friends.

My formally nervous swimmer jumps off the diving board.

All of the swimming lessons buddies celebrate the end of lessons at Snuffy's. Clare and Christopher both passed into the next level.

After the annual Fourth of July race in Evansville. Clare ran the mile in about 9 minutes.

The small town 4th of July parade. Christopher did a dance for everyone to try to get more candy. It worked - they are still eating the parade candy. I will throw it out before Halloween.

There are about 100 tractors in the parade. Wisconsin at it's finest.

Clare went to Camp DayCroix through the YMCA. She loved it. Christopher will go next year, too.

This is what I did while Christopher took a class at the Children's Theatre in Minneapolis.

This is what Christopher did during class. Christopher loved his class, to say the least. It was pirate-themed and his name was, fittingly, Big Skull Christopher. I think theater might be in his future.

Case in point: Clare did the zip line at Como Town.

They both enjoyed our annual day at Como Town. We skipped the animals and just focused on rides.

It was a nice day.

There was ice cream.

Meema Mary Theresa and Clare on the shores of Lake Superior. We spent a few days with my in-laws in a condo just north of Two Harbors. It was beautiful and calming. The condo was on the lake, and the views were stunning. I love Lake Superior., and the trip happened at a time when I definitely needed some peace.

Hiking at Tettegouche State Park.

Ben and Christopher on the suspension bridge.

Clare and Ben on the breakwall in Two Harbors.

Captain Christopher.

The kids and their grandpa in the condo pool.

Exploring at Gooseberry Falls.

#toocoolforschool

We were there for the saddest of reasons, but we took the kids to see a few things. Clare loved seeing the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.

Clare participating in a street show in Convent Garden.

Hello?

Clare holding her cousin Marios for the first time on our last night in England. 

South Dakota

It feels like it happened years ago, but we took a family trip to South Dakota this summer. And it was really fun. I am going to attempt to remember what we did while we were there. Good thing I took many pictures.

We drove to Chamberlain, South Dakota on our first day. I insisted we stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, because I loved it as a kid. It is not at all how I remember it. For example, it now has a basketball court. So it was basically just an arena with a huge gift shop at center court. All well.

We had dinner in Chamberlain that night. 

This is Clare's face when she felt it took too long to get our food. My sister and I frequently share this look when we are hangry.

The kids had fun swimming in the hotel pool. The next day, we drove to the Badlands. My memories of trips to South Dakota that I went on as a kid include feeling like I stepped into an oven when we got out of our minivan in the Badlands. It was no different this time. I was even in a minivan. And this time we (Ben) decided to camp overnight.

It was a neat experience, actually, camping in the Badlands. It feels almost like being on a different planet. We spent the day hiking and exploring. Clare found it fascinating. She completed several activities and was sworn in as a Junior Ranger.

Christopher had fun, too, but he is just not as in to hiking as Clare. In his defense, it was nearly 100 degrees. By far the best part for him was when we were leaving the park and we saw a herd of buffalo. He loved the buffalo. Luckily, we saw many more when we were in Custer. It cooled off quite a bit at night, and we spent some time looking at stars. Clare loved that, too. We saw Mars and Venus. 

Flying the kite Clare received for her birthday. (Oh yeah, I never wrote about her birthday. Next post!)

After our overnight in the Badlands, we packed up camp and drove to Custer State Park, with a brief detour at the Dinosaur Park in Rapid City. (Another place I remember from childhood trips. I LOVED this park. My kids were less impressed.)

After the lackluster trip to the Dinosaur Park, we headed to Custer State Park. It is a beautiful place, nestled in the heart of the Black Hills. I had been there before, but Ben hadn't. He was impressed. He said it was the nicest park he'd ever been to. We spent our few days there hiking, swimming and exploring. The kids both because Junior Naturalists. (The parks have such great programs for kids.) Custer has a lot of interesting wildlife, we saw deer, pronghorns, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, burros, prairie dogs and of course, bison. The kids picked out souvenirs. Christopher's was a stuffed buffalo he named Ice Cream. (He originally wanted to name it Horny. We talked him out of it.) Custer is huge, so there is a lot of choose from when it comes to hiking trails and other activities. We plan to go back someday, perhaps in combination with a visit further west to Yellowstone. 

Our campsite was in Stockade South, and we swam in Stockade Lake. It is a bit quieter than some of the other lakes in the park because it doesn't have a lodge.

We drove along the Needles Highway in Custer. It was beautiful, but we were really low on gas. I was convinced we were going to run out of gas when we were in the middle of this one-lane tunnel

It was stressful. For me, anyway. No one else was worried.

We stopped to take a few pictures. Christopher stayed in the car. He'd had enough nature for the day, apparently.

And of course, no trip to South Dakota would be complete without a trip to Mount Rushmore. It was raining the night we planned to visit, but it worked to our benefit, because it was not crowded it all. And the rain stopped just as we pulled into the parking lot. My favorite part of the visit was Christopher's march to the patriotic music that was being piped in everywhere. It is embedded below for posterity.