Paddling around

Had a great day today - took the boats over to Hartman Creek for some kayaking. We paddled back to Marl Lake and went swimming with the kids and packed a picnic lunch. The promised 94 degree heat didn't quite show up - which was ok except that the spring-fed lake seemed kindof cold.

Jacob tried out his remote control fishin buddy boat. He launched it for a while from the dock and later he and Allison were running it from the kayaks. He liked it - but we did not tie the fishing hooks to it so I don't know what'll happen if/when it catches a fish.

Two kids were sleeping in the car on the way home. We decided to keep the boats down out of the rafters in the hopes that we'll get in again later this week. It's so nice to paddle along and listen to birds and watch the turtles, geese, fish, and dragonflies.

Back to School, Already?

We went school supply shopping yesterday. I think Allison was excited, and the kids were notably well-behaved in Target. We still need to get gym shoes (which must be left at school) and black expo markers and a 12x18 inch drawing pad. I found 12x16 inch and wondered if that was acceptable - but figured I could try another store before going "non-standard." Last year, the big search was for "bingo-dobbers."

It's weird that next year I'll be buying supplies for two. Fortunately, we don't need to do a lot of clothes shopping this year. I will probably look for some clothes for Allison, but Jacob moved up a size late winter / early spring, most of which still fit.

It still seems early to be school shopping, but next Friday we leave for Disney and then when we come back, Jacob and I go back to school.

Maine

Brian and I managed a get-away sans kids (thanks to Grandma Sue) to Bar Harbor / Acadia National Park in Maine. We packed a lot into our few days there. We had a great time, and maybe in a few years we'll return and bring the kids with us.

We rented bikes one day and rode along the carriage trails in the park to a place called Jordon Pond, which is famous for it's pop-overs. They had very good and exceptionally fresh food - as I got a free meal due to the caterpillar that I found wandering through my salad.

Here's us at the pond with the mountains in the background:


That night we also made reservations to take a sunset sea kayak tour of the harbor. Unfortunately, it rained, so we were very wet.



The next day we explored the some parts of the island recommended by the B&B innkeepers. We found this "you may enter cautiously at low tide" sea cave, which we entered at low tide and both managed to slip and fall in.



Then, not realizing we were choosing the "adventure" parts of the recommended stops, we climbed the Beehive. Here it is from the bottom:


Here it is mid-way up. This was a "ladder" climb, which meant they had graciously anchored metal rungs and ladders along parts of the trail. We still found ourselves clinging to the side in a few places - as you can see the "ladder" in the image. (Erica - I do not know how you rock climb).



Here is us celebrating at the top - where we dined on wild blueberries. Yum.

Reunion

I'm switching between recent and past activities. A few weekends ago, we went to our 15-yr high school reunion. We took the kids to IMSA in the afternoon and they had fun exploring the campus. It seemed to us that fewer things had changed since the last time we were there. The building itself had some fresh paint, but was starting to look like the 25-yr old high school that it was.

Here are the kids:


In the "hamster wheel"


The reunion itself was nice, but not well attended. We got to see some people we were excited to see - but all in all there were only about 40 people there (including spouses). The kids hung out with grandma and grandpa for the night - and had lots of fun doing that. Jacob, in particular, liked the view of the harbor.

Sleep minus 2

Last night we had a BBQ for some of Brian's coworkers. The kids were up late. Do they sleep in? No, of course not (6am). So this was our day with minus two hours of sleep.

First - pottery. The kids are taking a pottery class at the Y. It's for 4-6 year olds, which is perfect because then they can both take it and it fulfills my requirements that Allison be at the older end of the spectrum for age ranges. Last week went pretty well. This week there were more kids and it did not go so well. So I've been requested to stay for the pottery class and help. Bye-bye 45 minutes of quiet book reading time.

Then today was riddled with impulsive behavior from Allison. Like drenching a doll's head in orange juice, throwing a hat and whacking Jacob in the head, and playing a game of Sorry that involved rolling around on the ground in between every turn. What I wish more people understood was that we (as parents) cannot predict nor control behavior on days like this. (trust us - we've tried). There are consequences for her actions that seem appropriate to me - loss of doll and OJ for the day, timeout for 15 minutes in room for hitting, and - well - the last was just a game that went VERY slowly. But not much is really a deterrent. It's more fires and fewer tools in the arsenal.

Today, it wasn't just Allison. Jacob was out of gas by the end of the day, which is his parent/child sports class at the Y. I had to stand in for Brian because I forgot to bring his shoes along. Jacob spent the better part of the class pretending to be a frog. The sport tonight was football. When the teacher asked his favorite football team he said "the blue one." At least he didn't say Packers. He was not as excited about football as he was soccer because he kept trying to kick the football rather than throw it. European football. But it was fun, when it wasn't kindof embarrassing.

Catchup Part 1

Fourth of July - Allison, Chloe, Kellen, and Jacob

Race

The kids ran in their first race last night. It was 1K at the Kimberly Paperfest. They ran the whole way (as did Brian and I along with them), and got a goodie bag and a medal - that they put on again first thing this morning. Yes, Allison went with the broken toe. She had been so excited, we figured if it was bothering her that she would walk. She ran it.

In the goodie bag was a water bottle (nice) an ice cream coupon (nice), a brochure for sports physicals (ok) and coupons for the Mall of America (??). You know, for the next time you're 4 hours away in Minneapolis.

The kids library reading program has also earned them coupons for a meal at Texas Roadhouse and free Cinnistix at Dominos. They are accumulating a wealth of free stuff that will end up costing us in the end. It's more like two free kids meals with two paid adult meals at a restaurant I have zero desire to go to, and free cinnistix with the order of two medium pizzas.

Paperfest, by the way, was the worst excuse for a community fair I remember attending. Granted, it was early Friday night and kindof raining, but it was still bad. The 5K run was separated by the rest of the event by a long and not obvious walking path (there were no event maps anywhere). There were like 5 scary looking rides and several inflatable bouncy things ($1 for one ride down little the inflatable slide). I was given directions to the location for beer bracelets, then decided it wasn't worth the trek across the grounds to some other place and drank a pepsi. Then there was the world's worst karoke. Who messes up Happy Birthday??