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. 

August 1

We lost our sweet nephew, Bambos, two weeks ago due to a tragic accident. I am heartbroken. Ben, the kids and I flew to London last week to be with my brother and sister-in-law.  We attended a picnic in honor of Bambos, on what would have been his second birthday.

In hard times, I usually turn to writing to help make sense of the situation. There are no words to describe the sorrow I am feeling.

We will miss him forever.

Many have asked where to donate, how to help.  An endowment fund has been started in Bambos' name at UW-La Crosse, my brother's alma mater.

www.bambostopinkauwl.com

Or, you can donate here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bambos-topinka

Family Pictures

So...things aren't so great with the world right now, and that's an understatement. It's hard not to feel overwhelmed and helpless. I called my representatives and donated money. I plan to campaign for democrats. What else can I do?

And then there are my kids. I am so happy that they were lucky enough to be born here. They did nothing to have the advantages they have (and neither did I). It is all just dumb luck. Then I get so frustrated with them because they just don't know how good they have it. They are spoiled and I want them to be, at least for awhile. (We do talk about how lucky they are in terms of having a place to live and food to eat. And that it is important to help others who are less fortunate. Who knows how much it has sunk in.)

 Anyway. We had a few family pictures taken a few weeks ago. I am feeling lucky that we were able to do this. Here are a few of my favorites.

First Day/Last Day

It has been a rough start to summer, with sickness (the kids) and a bad attitude (me). Clare's birthday continues, because the party had to be rescheduled thanks to the aforementioned sickness. I decided I need to improve my attitude or it will be a very long summer. Here is what I have decided:

1. Let go of the to-do list. As my mom keeps reminding me, I don't remember if my house was clean growing up and my kids won't either.

2. Take deep breaths. I need to write this reminder to myself every year. When will it become second nature?

3. Enjoy the kids. Summer flies by and I don't want to ruin it with my anxiety and dark moods.

4. Make exercise a priority.  I feel better on the days I exercise, and I tend to snack less and am more productive. Now, I have to figure out how to get myself out of bed early enough to have time to do this.

Oh, and here are the first day and last day pictures. 

Seven

Clare has been telling everyone she sees (including the barista at Caribou and the cashier at Target) that her golden birthday is coming up. She is very excited about it being her golden birthday. I decorated our dining room and her room in gold decorations after she went to bed. She was pretty happy this morning, especially with her crown.

Her big treat for her golden birthday is that she is going to get her ears pierced. (Theoretically.) However, she has to wait for soccer to be over, so this milestone will not be taking place until late July.

Clare had a great year as a 6-year-old. She is still a very intense, somewhat fearful child, but each year that goes by she seems to learn to manage it better. (Although, did I write about the dog chasing her into the street while she was waiting for the bus? Keep your dogs on leashes, people!)

First grade has been a stellar school year for Clare. Reading is her best and favorite subject, but she is doing well in math as well. She is not patient with her writing. She brought home a book she had written, and the first few pages were written in a very neat hand. As I turned the pages, her writing became messier and messier. It was clear she had grown bored with the project. She is also interested in science, and I am thrilled about that. I know I've mentioned her wonderful teacher. She is learning a lot and has some nice friends.

Speaking of friends, her best friend in the entire world is Natalie. I hear about Natalie constantly. Her other good friend at school, Rainie, is sadly switching schools next year. Luckily, Natalie will still be there so the sky won't be falling too much.  Her other good friends are Elsie, Madeline, and Colin. She still enjoys spending time with her out-of-school friends Nora, Henry, James, Simon and Brendon. We'll see a lot of them this summer, I hope. (Totally a selfish hope, because their moms are some of my best friends.)

And then there's her brother. These two really do love each other and have fun together. They fight a lot, too, but I did with my siblings as well. I am looking forward to Clare being home this summer as a playmate for Christopher. She also adores her cousins Josie and Otto, and is my "Mother's Helper" when they are here. For that, she earns $1 in addition to her normal allowance. (She is still highly motivated by money.)

She has been taking piano lessons since August, and is doing really well with it. She has many pieces memorized and is learning difficult skills such as transposing a piece from one key into another. And she likes it, so that helps. She also did gymnastics, skating and is in the middle of soccer. She'll be taking tennis lessons this summer as well.

A few favorites: turquoise (pink has been demoted), pizza with black olives, ice cream, reading (we are on pause with Harry Potter; I am hoping to entice her with The Secret Garden), playing outside (especially riding her bike, swinging in the hammock, and going to the park), camping, playing with her American Girl dolls, Star Wars, Minecraft, swimming, doing a pretend cooking show while I am cooking dinner, screaming, movie night, watching TV, American Ninja Warrior, and playing the piano.

Dislikes: Food touching, frosting, pretty much everything I make for dinner, dogs, thunderstorms, being asked to do chores, putting on sunscreen.

She has expressed an interest in scouting, so we will be trying to find a Girl Scout troop for her. (Or perhaps she will join what was formally known as the Boy Scouts. This is interesting to me, because I feel like she could learn a lot more about the stuff she is interested in, but she is adamant that she do Girl Scouts. We shall see.) She also wants to try ballet again. It should be another busy year!

It is so fun watching Clare grow up. She is so like me in so many ways, but I think overall her brain works more like Ben's. She is logical and enjoys figuring out puzzles and building with Legos and doing science experiments. She wants to know how the world works. I believe I've mentioned how she "lawyers" us all the time. She will remember your exact words and throw them in your face. She has a great memory.  She is sweet, too, and likes to do things like make me breakfast in bed (it is usually dry toast and an apple, but it's the thought that counts) and make homemade cards for all of her friends and family. She enjoys crafts, and is better at doing them than I am.

She is still our little rule-follower, which is great. I can send her into the backyard with her brother and her cousin and know Clare will let me know if anything goes wrong. We all trust her on her own with the kids (obviously, she is way to young to be totally home alone with them).

Clare and I do well when it is just the two of us and she doesn't have to compete for my attention. We have long talks about all sorts of things. We clash, too, and I think a lot of it has to with my shock at her behavior when she acts her age. I have been trying to take a step back and remind myself that she is still a little kid.

I always feel like these posts fall short in describing the kids, but at least I have something recorded to remind myself what Clare was like at this age.

I am excited to see what this year will bring. Happy birthday to my best girl!