bath time

These pictures are several months old. 

I didn't post them to the blog because they are NAKED pictures.

And, you know, you shouldn't put naked pictures of your kids on the internet.

But man, every time I've looked at them, I've smiled at the sheer joy of these kids playing in the bathtub together with rubber duckies.

I will always remember these times together. And I hope that these pictures get preserved in my blog books and the kids can enjoy them someday too. And in the meantime, that others will smile too.

Victoria has since decided she prefers baths by herself so she can spread out. But, for a little while, we got to enjoy shared bath time :).

Brittanies in the fall

Yes, fall is long over, but I'm slow sometimes about getting photos on the blog. Recently I was searching through my phone and found some really cute ones of our pups.

The below photo is very unusual because a) normally the dogs aren't on our bed and b) normally our bedroom blinds are closed. But one day we opened them (I assume for a house showing, to let light in), and when I took a nap later I decided I needed warm bodies to snuggle with. Piper jumped right up; Hannah needed to be lifted, my poor old girl. Both of them instantly turned around (ignoring mom) and laid facing the window. Mom! We can watch outside from up here! They loved being comfortable and watching birds and critters and who-knows-what-else at the same time.

Maybe in our new house I have to find them some sort of comfy platform to watch out the window.

Our apple tree produced a ton of apples this year, and every time I had to peel apples I would see four big brown eyes staring up at me. Our peeler produces long thin strands of peels, so one night for my own amusement I started to feed the dogs apple peels.

They each took an end, a la Lady and the Tramp.

Thanks to aforementioned movie, I kept imagining spaghetti.

A healthy snack for the pups, and amusement for mom late at night ... totally worth it.

Plus, I ended up with some awesome results ... applesauce (V reminded me, "no peels in the apple sauce mom!")

 

And, our very own, very American, apple pie:

... which was exclusively for the humans (sorry pups!).

parklet

I just got out of a wrap-up meeting regarding one of our summer projects: Duluth's parklet.

What is a parklet, you may ask. They have appeared in cities around the country, turning one or two parking spaces into temporary public spaces for people to gather. Genius, huh?

The Healthy Duluth Area Coalition wanted to conduct a pilot project to see how parklets would be used. With grant funding, and tons of volunteer help, they built one with benches, tables, and planter boxes. I coordinated on the City Planning end, and it was really fun to see the end result: people talking to each other, or drinking coffee, or having lunch ... outside!

My job is so fun!

playing dress-up

Victoria and Alex LOVE playing dress up! Right now, our dress up selection consists mainly of princess dresses and jewelry, and a multitude of hats. Alex loves hats. But he also loves jewelry, especially bracelets and necklaces. So, it was easy on this particular day for Victoria to convince Alex to put on a tutu and twirl!

Here's the video ...apparently getting him to wear the tiara was more difficult.

fall day on Skyline

Still doing some catch-up on all our fall fun. In September, we took a nice long drive along western Skyline Parkway, looking for some fall color.

Skyline Parkway was around in the days of Duluth's "tally-ho" parties. People out for a day of sightseeing needed rest stops, and this lovely spring-fed fountain, you can imagine, was a perfect place for horses and people.

Or, for curious kids to freak out their parents by playing in the water.

Our kids were a little ... um ... shall we say uncooperative? Tired?

It was clear they were not in the mood for pictures, anyway.

This is the best one I could get - at least one kid is happy!

Until these photos, that is. Walking back to our car (a whiny three-year-old kept saying it was way too far to walk), Victoria picked up a beautiful leaf. And somehow, in the sunlight with nature's beauty all around her, she was transformed in my eyes from troublesome preschooler to a little woodland fairy dancing and singing, in her element.

Her deep, inquisitive soul came out on display.

And I fell in love with her for about the thousandth time. I think I will always remember this moment.

Love you, beautiful baby girl.

Gooseberry

This fall we took the kids to Gooseberry. We brought our awesome new wagon (it folds for all the trips up and down stairs!) and let the kids explore, over logs and trees. I had to watch Alex like a hawk, as he seemed a fearless explorer.

I really wanted to take his picture sitting against these cool old tree roots. As you can see, he seemed to be telling me he wanted to go explore anywhere but where I wanted him to sit.

Then I tried to get a picture of both kids sitting on a log. Or even behind it. Or, any place they wanted to sit as long as they sat together. At the SAME TIME. Ha.

Alex loved pointing out, "ahh-oooo!" (his word for water).

And, here is my little buddy exploring the water up close for himself:

house hunting part 2

Back in August, I reported that house hunting was "slow and painful." If it seemed slow in August, I wouldn't know how to describe it now. Nonexistent? Depressing? We've continued to have a slow stream of showings on our house, but it hasn't sold. And because it hasn't sold, we aren't even looking at other houses right now.

It was fun for awhile, though. The last house we looked at, my uncle and aunt came to the showing in their convertible. Alex was very nervous about it at first, but once he got in the driver's seat ... look out!

And as I reported before, the kids love playing with Uncle Ron!

brother and sister

Victoria and Alex have such an awesome relationship. Sure, like any brother and sister, they will fight over toys. They will tattle on each other, and Victoria will complain that Alex pushed/hit/bit/kicked her (I'm sure Alex would complain of the same, if he knew how to express it in words. Then again, he often seems to take a few kicks in stride. Must be a younger sibling thing). When they are tired, they will fight over mommy's attention, too. (Those are the moments I remind myself to take a deep breath, and tell myself - remember, you will never feel this loved again. So true. I'm blessed!)

And yet, they seek each other out ... constantly. The first one to wake up in the morning will go in search of the other. When they play, Victoria will offer suggestions (Alex, ride on the car! Alex, let's play house!) and Alex will usually go along, sometimes a little clueless about how to play house, and other times just mimicking Sister, copying words and gestures whose meaning he doesn't know, but which he figures must be awesome if "Deedee" does it. Sometimes Victoria teaches Alex things, and sometimes he just annoys her because he doesn't know how to put puzzles together right. Even in moments of annoyance, you can see a deep respect and love between them.

Even on days when it includes sitting next to each other at the counter, one moment kicking the other's stool, and the next acting so cute for the camera.

They watch movies together.

They ESPECIALLY love riding on this car and their toy four wheeler, pushing each other around or carting toys around and being silly.

They both love blocks (and can actually play side by side without yelling at each other about 50% of the time).

Here is a moment last summer where they sat on our bench just talking to each other and sharing snacks. I stopped what I was doing to soak in the sibling moment.

at the movies

You might glance at this post and say, "this is nothing but movies about Jenn's kids watching movies."

And ... you would be right.

Maybe this is something only their mother loves. I admit it ... I thoroughly enjoy how engrossed they get even in movies (like Curious George or "Monkey George" to them) that they have seen dozens of times.

Check out Alex's excitement in this video ... his hands, how he has to pat Sister's leg to get her attention and show her the movie, how he nearly spills his popcorn. (Speaking of popcorn, HUGE hit at our house. Alex calls it "caw-corn" and Victoria always asks to help make it.)

Similar scene ... both just riveted ...

This was taken last summer. The kids were watching "Cars" in the car, and Alex continually said, "Cars! ... Go ... Go ... Go ..."

Alex had a lot to say about this scene in the movie:

One of my favorite things to do with the kids is on those nights when dinner and PJs are done early, and we can sneak downstairs for some movie time. They both want to snuggle with mommy (awww ....) and I will put an arm around each of them as we all relax together.

playing money

My dad has a huge (I mean HUGE) roll top desk in my parents' den. It takes up like half the room, and my brother and I poked fun at this desk when he first bought it. I've since discovered that the size of this desk is absolutely perfect for "playing money" with the grandkids.

I'm not sure exactly when this started ... I believe it was before Alex was born. I imagine that my dad was paying bills or taking care of something in the den, when his little granddaughter walked down and wanted to play with grandpa. What did he have to play with? Since there aren't many toys in the den, he probably gravitated to whatever he had at hand ... money! Ever since, Victoria loves to go "play money" with grandpa, and recently Alex has joined in. Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, a few troll dolls, and a skateboarding California raisin (don't ask).

Grandpa has told Victoria that as soon as she can remember the names of all the money, she gets to keep it all! Something tells me Grandpa will then find more coins to keep at his desk, so he can enjoy his special one-on-one activity with the grandkids.

p.s. Don't you love Victoria's hair? She insisted on 3 ponytails and lots of pretties!

A big girl's trip to Texas with daddy

Yes, this post is very long. I really wanted to be blogging about this trip from the very start, but for the first couple of days I couldn't say anything or else I'd risk ruining the surprise for Granny Gail! So, here in its entirety is the long story of the Texas Trip.

A couple months ago, Matt got the email from his dad. His stepmom, Gail, was turning 60. Would we travel to Texas and surprise her?

It would've been great for the whole family to go, but looking at the budget and the number of miles Matt had saved, it was decided we could only get two plane tickets. Without hesitation, I suggested that Matt take Victoria. 

Our little girl has taken two airplane trips before, but she doesn't remember them. So for weeks leading up to this trip we talked about Texas. And airplanes. And airports. We had a calendar on our fridge where she could cross off days and write the Texas weather that day. One morning, out of the blue, she asked Why can't you bring water on airplanes? Another time, I was trying to explain the process of boarding the plane and I was interrupted - Mommy, what's a STOW? (It's not a thing, honey, it's what you do when you put your luggage away). All the times she has watched Daddy pack and leave for trips, and asked if she could go with him, and FINALLY she could go! She must have felt this was a very big-girl thing to do. She told everyone who would listen: "I'm going to Texas with Daddy. Not Mommy and not Alex either. Just me and Daddy. For Granny Gail's birthday."

She modeled her pre-travel behavior after Daddy's. She reminded Alex and I we had to "be good while we are in Texas" and that if we were good she would "bring us a treat."

Finally, the big day arrived. She had a hard time sleeping the night before and had to wake up at 5:00 to get on the plane while it was still dark. Matt texted me this photo from the Duluth airport:

Look at those red eyes!

  

When Alex woke up that morning,  he immediately went to Sister's room. "Deedee?" (one of his pet names for her). He pointed in her dark room, then walked into our room, "Deedee?" I said, "Alex, Sister's on an airplane. With Daddy." He walked to the top of the stairs and yelled towards Matt's office: "Dada? Dada?" I don't think he realized right away what airplane meant. Finally I explained again that they weren't there, that they went to the airport and got on an airplane. His eyes got big and shocked and he stomped his foot, "No! No!" Cute little boy ... upset that he didn't have his sister.

I dropped Alex off at daycare and went to work.

When they landed in Minneapolis, Matt texted immediately. I asked how she did and he responded that she did great with takeoff and everything. I asked if I could talk to Victoria on the phone.

Phone rings. Thanks to Facetime I can see her cute face and her very unruffled attitude.

Me: "Victoria! Hi sweetie! How was your flight?" (I'm expecting her to be giddy, excited, talkative).

V: "Hi Mommy. Can I talk to Alex?" (Clearly she wasn't the only Moses kid missing her sibling). 

Me: "Alex is at daycare." Then (again) - "How was your flight?"

V: "It was fine. We only took one flight. Now we're going to take a second." Shrugs nonchalantly. "But first we have to take a train and go find breakfast. Ok bye!"

Not even 4 yet, and already she has places to go and things to do ... 

Their second leg, MSP to SAT, was uneventful (thankfully). I heard that Victoria watched Frozen on Daddy's iPad and Matt spent money to get internet access on his phone so he would have "something to do." They also bought a box of snacks on the plane, which I'm sure Victoria thought was very cool.

Matt picked up the car rental and they headed to the hotel. When I talked to V on the phone that evening, she was very excited about the "big bed ... all to myself!" She used Facetime to "show" mommy the room, just like Daddy does when he travels.

Later that night, Matt's sister Karen and niece Madi flew in. I texted Matt while he and V were at breakfast the next morning, and heard that Victoria was very shy when they walked into the hotel restaurant and sat next to them.

Matt said she had bacon for breakfast every day!

Victoria warmed up shortly after though, happy to be with her BIG COUSIN.

After breakfast, they hit up the hotel swimming pool.

Karen started texting to send me photos while they were swimming. Silly, Minnesotan, me ... I was shocked to learn the pool was an outdoor pool. Of course it's outdoors! It's TEXAS! ha ha ...

Warming up to cousin Madi and loving using her arm floats in the pool.

Victoria told me later that day that the best thing about the whole day was going swimming ... TWICE! Spoiled girl.

Gail still didn't know everyone was in town. But Matt's dad had an appointment that day, so he snuck away for lunch with the fam.

Love these two cousins!

After a little nap, it was time to get ready for the birthday celebration. V donned one of her favorite dresses that we packed just for the party.

She created a card for Granny.

 

Matt wanted to send a video to Mommy, so he started recording, and our goofy girl started talking about ... pickles?

They gathered at a restaurant and waited for Grandpa and Granny to arrive.

Karen, Madi, and Victoria

Friends Hugh and Kathy Miller

Finally, the big moment!!

Victoria told me Gail was "so surprised" and Matt said she had tears in her eyes. Even from Minnesota I felt a little giddy waiting to hear about the moment when she walked into a restaurant, expecting it to be just her and Earl, and instead saw both kids, two grandkids, and friends as well! They later figured out that she hadn't had her whole family together on her birthday since 1998.

 

Karen sent me this photo, and my first thought was that I didn't think I'd ever seen Gail so happy :).

After dinner, everyone drove out to Granny and Grandpa's house. Victoria was very excited when she called and told me, "they have dominoes!" She had remembered the dominoes they had when we were there two years ago, and had really hoped for dominoes again.

Apparently, she was also excited about hanging out in the dog beds. I saw more than one photo of her cuddled into them ;).

Speaking of dogs, I texted Matt and said - take a picture of Annie and Star! I sure do love Brittanies :).

The next day was Halloween (this is one of the reasons we took the kids trick or treating early, at Boo at the Zoo). I had packed her Halloween shirt ("so cute it's scary") that had been sent from Granny Gail, and Matt sent this picture from breakfast the next morning:

He also took some pictures in the hotel lobby:

Do you see the dolphin shape in the greenery?

Speaking of the hotel, Matt told me that every time they walked to their hotel room, he asked Victoria to find which room was theirs:

She learned to identify "207" :).

At some point that day, Victoria made the below "bridge to my bed" -

Later that day, the whole gang ventured to Sea World:

They watched the dolphin show and saw Shamu. Victoria said the dolphin show was her favorite.

Eating a churro

I simply love seeing V with her Granny

She got to pick out her very own Shamu to bring home. It has been a favorite of hers (and Alex's) ever since.

Victoria was growing more tired by the day, with all the fun and few naps. She crashed in the hotel bed.

On Saturday, Matt and Victoria spent a lot of time at his parents' house. He texted me this simple picture of the family together, and I thought, This one picture makes the whole trip worth it.

On Sunday, it was time to check out, return the rental car, and head to the airport.

Victoria was excited to buy snacks for the plane, especially a can of Pringles (to my knowledge she'd never had them before. Perhaps chips in a can is a novelty?)

The plane flights home were uneventful. She finally fell asleep on the very short plane flight from MSP to DUL. Matt had brought a car to the airport, but Alex and I decided to surprise Victoria at the airport anyway. We waited at the bottom of the escalator to baggage claim. Alex and I were so excited! Victoria appeared at the top, and it took her a few minutes to spot us. She waved emphatically, and ran over to us. I held out my arms to give her a hug ...

Me: "Victoria, hi sweetie! I missed you so much!"

V: "Yeah. Alex, I got you a present!" (proceeds to dig in bag)

Me: "Victoria, can I have a hug?"

V: (gives me a quick hug. Continues digging).

Me: "Did you miss me?"

V: "No. Just Alex."

Well, there you have it. She didn't need mommy, which I suppose is part of growing up. I suspect this emotion is something I'm going to have to get used to. At the very least, I am thrilled about the bond between her and Alex.

She insisted on walking with Daddy out of the airport, and on riding with him in the car home. Here is our little traveler after her trip with Daddy:

 

Love.