End of Summer

Well our summer is officially over. Booo! We finished it off by going to the Minnesota State Fair with my mom and dad. We got there early on the first day and had great weather, but it did get a little warm in the afternoon. The kids rode about 10 rides each and we ate a bunch of junk while taking it all in.

We went through the Little Farm Hands exhibit again. It was really slow and hot so I think we'll pass on this if we go to the fair again next year.

In other news, we've been "raising" monarch butterflies for the last month or so. My dad kept finding tons of the caterpillars up by their house, so we rounded up some big jars and gave them sticks to climb on and milk weed to munch on. We have released probably 7 or 8 so far at our house. We have one cocoon left, which should be ready to go any day now. It has been a lot of fun doing this! Here is one that we released in Siren.

Lara started 1st grade last Friday! She was very excited about it! We had picture/meet your teacher day last Thursday and she brought all of her supplies in. She is very excited that she has her own desk this year instead of sitting at tables. Her "boyfriend" is even in her class, and one other girl that is a friend of hers from her Kindergarten class. Her grade has 6 classes, so there are tons of kids to get to know! She tells me that the boy she sits next to is quite naughty so I always enjoy her stories when I pick her up. She is enjoying it so far and really hasn't had any homework yet. She reads every night in bed so that makes me really happy. : )

That's about it for now. Nothing too exciting is going on in our lives. We're hoping to make it back to Como one more time while the weather is nice, and looking forward to making a trip to the apple orchard soon! I can't believe where the time has gone!

Time to Catch Up!

I just noticed it's been 4 months since I last updated so I figured I better fill you all in on our summer. It has been quite a wild one. We've been staying busy doing lots of things. In June we finally got to go to the Taylor Swift concert. We had such a good time! You can't beat 4th row seats! Well I guess you can, but I'm not complaining. We were literally right next to the stage.

The same week of the concert, Lara had her 3rd dance recital. It was such a busy week for us. I didn't get too many pictures because we couldn't use our flash, and I also wanted to just watch it instead of spending the entire time getting pictures and missing the dances.

She also was in soccer for her 2nd year this spring, and improved a lot from last year.

We also went to the harness races in Forest Lake back in June. That was a lot of fun, and I came out ahead for once.

We got bad news a couple months ago that my dad has cancer so we are all trying to stay busy having fun and staying positive and hopeful but it has been a very emotional summer. Last week the girls and I went to Fargo with my parents for the Pyrotechnics Guild International convention. We saw lots of cool fireworks that you don't get to see anywhere else. This week we are heading down to Milwaukee with them to go to a Brewer game and hopefully to the zoo. My brother, dad, and I also made it to a Twins vs Brewers game last month. That was my first time at Target Field. It was a lot of fun! Of course, we left early because it looked like the Twins had the win but the Brewers came back and won, and we missed all of the excitement!

 We "officially" moved in with Henry the end of April. By officially, I mean got the rest of my crap that I don't use out of my apartment in River Falls, which we hadn't stayed in since last September. Things are going great over here, and we're actually going to be moving again, hopefully soon. Henry is in the process of buying a different house, so we're just waiting for that to all go through. We can't wait to move! He opened another restaurant in Stillwater in the beginning of April, and the new house is MUCH closer. Lara will have to switch schools, but since we're still not living there she will most likely start 1st grade at her old school, which I am kind of happy about. I had a hard time when Kindergarten ended because I loved her school so much. I'm glad she'll be able to see her friends again, and get to say good bye to them once we do move.

I am now sitting on a waiting list for the Medical Assistant program at CVTC in Eau Claire. I will start next fall and be done spring 2013 if all goes as planned. I was bummed at first about having to wait another year to start, but now I am happy that I can spend this time with my family.

I think I covered most of our summer so far. Here are some other pictures from the past few months, in no particular order.

Lara at the beach in Prescott

Ayla at the beach in Siren

One of the polar bears on our trip to Como earlier this summer.

Lara was on the family/neighborhood float in the 4th of July parade in Siren.

Ayla driving the boat with Henry

Float time on the river

My mom and dad came down for a ride too.

Ayla swimming at our hotel in Fargo

That's about all I can think of that we've done so far this summer. I will do my best to update more frequently after this! Have a great rest of the summer! Oh yeah, Henry bought me a snowmobile a couple weeks ago. That kind of scares me. I've never driven one before. I guess I'll have to start! See you soon!

Happy 6th Birthday Lara!!!

Today Lara turns 6! We had her first ever "friend" party last night at St Croix Valley Dance Academy in Baldwin. Seven of her friends came, and they had such a good time. (Of course Ayla was there too, and she fit right in.) They got their hair glittered, nails painted, ran through an obstacle course, learned a dance, ate pizza, and of course had cake and watched Lara open her presents! Lara got a lot of fun things like a jewelry kit, make up set, lots of fun markers and things to draw on, a Bop It, and a few other things. Her BIG gift, which I got her, was kind of over-shadowed by all of the fun toys. We are going to see Taylor Swift in the 4th row in June! I think she will realize how special it is when we go, but it's almost 2 months away still so she seemed more interested in the other presents. Here are some of the highlights of her big day....

They passed around a card for everyone to sign for Lara

Everyone in line for the obstacle course. Lara, Ayla, Alayna, Hanna, Taylor, Lauren, Brenna, Courtney, and Madelyn. They were all so sweet! (My mom made the tutus for the girls!)

Most of the girls

Ayla getting her nails painted

Learning their dance

Time to open her presents!

And yes, Lara loves that Hello Kitty shirt she has on. (As seen in previous post at Ayla's birthday party) I promise she doesn't wear it EVERY day! : )

Happy Birthday Ayla!

Ayla turned 3 on Friday, March 25! We had a party up in Siren on Saturday. We had some neighbors over to help celebrate her big day. Tim, Donna, and Norah, Ken and Sheri, and Doug and Deb joined us. She got some cute outfits, fun toys, and some good things to bake so she could use her new apron. After lunch and presents we ate her princess cake that she talked about quite a bit. She really had wanted Little Mermaid but ended up with Disney Princesses, which was fine with her! What Ayla really wanted for her birthday was a baby sister, but after seeing how she didn't want to share anything with Norah I think maybe she has changed her mind. Ayla was being a stinker, not letting Norah sit in her Dora chair. She carried it all around the house and would sit in random spots so Norah couldn't have it. Somebody needs to work on sharing! Here are some pictures from her day...

I haven't taken any pictures of the girls together since Florida so I had to get a couple.

Lara's new face. Isn't she cute?

Ayla helped peel the eggs for deviled eggs, but I think the only things she ate were black olives, a little jello, cheetos, and cake. 

Here is the Dora chair that she would not share.

Norah!

Time to open presents!

Here is 1 of about 8 "cards" that Lara made for Ayla.

Ayla's Build-a-Bear, who we have yet to name because Lara won't let her name it Flower.