Nature Center Field Trip

Parker's class took a field trip to Westwood Hills Nature Center last week.  We went there this spring for a friend's birthday party and I was excited to go back.  Jimmy was also excited because he took many trips here as a kid.  There were short paras to go along and Parker needs one on one attention at times like this, so they asked if a parent could attend.  I got to ride the bus with him, which was a new experience.  It's been a long time since I was in a confined space with that many kindergarteners.  It was so loud with all the chatter, but Parker didn't mind.

 I tried to get a picture of him exploring, but this was the best I could do.  They had a fun puppet show, but Parker refused to sit and watch, so we took a walk outside. 

 Once the show was over we took a nature walk and learned about the different kinds of leaves on the ground.  I one below is a white oak.  Parker did great on the walk, holding my hand the whole time.

In the Apiary, where the bees live

Every student brought an apple and we used them to make cider.  We crushed the apples with a crank and pressed the juice out.  Parker took a couple sips, then dropped the cup.  I was bummed because it was really tasty.

 We ended the trip on the playground.  This is a new addition to the nature center and the kids had a blast.  If you look closely you can see they made the uprights look like tree trunks.  It was a really fun day and I can't wait for another one!

House Project Recap

We have had plenty of projects keeping us busy even though the new house was move in ready.  Pictures and shelving to hang, a little bit of painting and all sorts of stuff in between.  Here is a quick recap of some of our projects over the last two months.

Our previous kitchen table fit great in it's space, so we left it.  This left us without a table, so we headed to IKEA for a new set.  It was pretty easy to build and fits great in out new space.  It has a couple leafs and can easily seat 8, which can be seen in this post.

Another early project was gaining some privacy in our master bathroom.  My parents had used frosted glass spray paint in theirs and we thought it would worth a try.  I couldn't get the window sash out, so I created a little paint guard in place.

Seems to be working pretty well right now, but I may need to touch it up a bit.

The entire main floor had a fresh coat of gray paint, but we wanted to give the kids' rooms some personality.  We painted Parker's the same yellow as his old room, but we added an orange accent wall.

Esme has never had her own room, so I was very excited to plan one for her.  Her room is a light purple and the future curtains will tie in the teal and dark pink.

The flower decals below were added a couple weeks ago.

Not really a project, but our old furniture didn't work great in the new room, so we found a smaller one for our upstairs.  We added a shelf behind it as a place to set drinks and to keep it away from the wall and maintain air flow from the vent.

Several of our door handles/locks weren't working properly.  It turns out they hadn't been fully bored for more current handle sets, so I broke out the chisel and fixed them.  It's been so nice being able to fully lock our deadbolt!  Radon was the only major issue that came up in our home inspection.  As part of the mitigation we needed to get a new sump pump that was submersible, meaning it is installed in the basin and not above.  My dad came over to help and it only took about 30 minutes to switch out.  The previous one sat outside the basin and sometimes woke Jimmy when it ran at night.  The new one can't be heard at all upstairs, another plus!

The fan for the radon was hooked up and we are officially pumping it out of the basement!  We still need to have it retested, but should be in a good place.

Another project we've been slowly tackling is replacing the outlets and light switches.  They just painted the almond ones white and that started to chip pretty quickly.  There are also a lot of two prong outlets and we wanted them all to be tamper resistant.

Our most recent project is prepping for our new-to-us swing set.  We moved a bunch of landscape rock from the area it will be to the side of the house.  The egress windows were installed this spring and there was a forest of weeds.  I am not a fan of rock, but it will be a good solution for this spot.  

With the weather turning colder we need to finish up a few more outdoor tasks before heading in for the winter.

Esme June - Eighteen Months Old

Esme is 18 months old today.  I can't believe how fast the months are going.  She is wearing 18-24 month and 2T clothing and is in size 4 or 5 shoes.  Spring and fall can be tricky times of year for dressing kids.  It's often in the 30s or 40s in the morning, but can warm in to the 70s in the afternoon.  Her official 18 month measurements are below.

Weight: 24 lbs, 69%

Length: 31", 24%

Head: 47 cm, 70%

There was some mild concern about development after her last appointment, but that is no longer the case.  She is doing lots of talking and is on point for other milestones.  She dropped over 20% in length, so they will recheck her when we go in for Parker's next physical.

She is such a ham and I love watching her relationship with Parker grow.  He likes to agitate her, but she holds her own.  They had a pretty cute interaction a few nights ago and the video is at the bottom.  It will only get better from here!

Work River Cruise

My work hosted a Mississippi River cruise on Monday night.  I have been on a few on Lake Minnetonka, but never on the river.  It was a little chilly, but had great views.  We had tacos and fajitas for dinner, played games, and just had fun!

 The fall colors were peaking and sunset was a gorgeous soft pink.

They also hosted a go-cart night, but it was the day before we headed to Bayfield.  Discount Steel for the win!  Another reason I love my job!  Look how excited Rick was, we had so much fun.

Bayfield Apple Fest 2017

Our annual trip to the Bayfield Apple Fest was last weekend.  We left on Thursday morning for our drive to Ashland.  It's tough to get a car selfie with all of us these days, so we'll settle for two.

First stop for lunch, always at Coop's in Hayward for the pizza buffet.  

Both kids enjoyed it a lot this year!  Parker didn't want to sit still, which is pretty common these days.  It didn't help that there were some Halloween decorations to play with in the window.

On to the main street shops!  I scored some fun sweatpants and mittens on clearance and then we hit up the candy shop and bakery.  The kids shared a yummy fudge filled chocolate chip cookie!

The sugar wasn't too much because both of them fell asleep for the final leg to Ashland.

We've stayed at another hotel in town a couple times and decided to try a new one this year.  It has a great pool area that the kids loved.

Esme loved the slide and wanted to climb up the stairs herself.  She slipped and got her first skinned knee.  Parker was almost the same age when he got his.  She cried a little, but walked it off.

Tough day of traveling and swimming tired all of us out.  Both kids went down very easily, which was nice since we are all in the same room.

The free breakfast in the morning was a hit for all!  The kids shared a waffle and eggs.  Jimmy and I just grabbed coffee so there was plenty of room for festival food.

The weather this year was beautiful.  It was in the 50s already when we arrived around 10:00 and the sun was shining!

Parker's favorite has always been the mini donuts.  They had a new flavor this year, apple cinnamon, and they were delicious!  Apple brats with apple mustard are my first stop ever year!

We tried an apple cider freezie, which was just a skinny ziploc filled with cider.  Both kids enjoyed that.  They had a chance to run around the park for a little bit and burn off some energy.

Jimmy was eyeing up the grilled cheese stand and picked out the bacon one.

Parker wasn't interested, but Esme loved it as you can see in the video below.

We finished up with island noodles and pizza.  I love all the craft booths and got a few good ideas to try and replicate.  

Night two went just as smoothly back at the hotel.  We really like it and will probably make it our new place to stay.  Until next year!